She was very much surprised at what I said; for in her complete ignorance of the spitefulness of her own sex, she had never thought that they would have taken any notice of her harmless flirtations. She also said that she had erred entirely through ignorance, and because she was so unaccustomed to having a lot of men about her; and she promised to be more careful in future.
She kept her promise for a few days, then she appeared to forget all about my warning, and carried on as before in a perfectly open and innocent way. I occasionally took her over to Monte Carlo, and giving her a sum of money, let her try her luck at the tables, much to her delight, as she was fond of gambling, like all her sex.
But she always lost her money in a very short time, and then she would come to me for more in the coollest way. I, myself, had an occasional run of luck, and on the whole I came off a winner, but not of much; for I am not a gambler, though I like now and then to have a go at the tables.
So the days went on, and Frances amused herself with her admirers; but I saw that one of them, named Brooke, a handsome young Englishman about twenty-five years old, had attached himself to my sweetheart more closely than I liked. And she seemed fond of his company.
I was quite sure that the girl had not the slightest idea of anything wrong, but I felt pretty sure that the man meant mischief; therefore I determined to let Frances know that I disapproved of her being so much with young Brooke,
It was a beautiful afternoon, so I told her I wished her to come for a walk with me, and she at once put on her hat, and we left the hotel. I took her to the sea-shore where we sat down on the warm, dry sand under the lee of a large rock, which hid us from the sight of every one. The scene was a lovely one; in front of us stretched the perfectly calm sapphire sea, dotted here and there with the white sails of yachts, or coasting craft; behind us, fringing the sands on which we sat, were a number of oleanders, and a few scattered palms; while further inland, rose the purple mountains.
“Frances,” I said, “you must not go about so much with Mr. Brooke. I know you do not mean any harm; but I do not like his being so constantly in your company. Moreover, people are beginning to talk.”
She took my hand, and looked up in my face, with her clear blue eyes. “On, what a shame it is for people to talk about Mr. Brooke and me! I like him better than all the other men; for he is so nice. But you don’t suppose I love him as I do you, Charley,” she said, nestling close up to me, and pressing her rosy mouth to mine in a long kiss.
“I believe you love me best, Frances; and I have perfect confidence in you; but I expect you to obey me. You must not allow Brooke to follow you about in the way he does.”
She earnestly assured me that she would in future keep the young man at a distance; so I kissed her, and then we took a walk through the lovely country lanes. We wandered, hand-in-hand like lovers, between hedgerows of fuchsias and roses, passing trellises of vines covered with bunches of purple grapes; and skirting gardens of orange trees, laden with golden fruit, finally reaching the hotel just in time to dress for the table d’hote dinner.
Next day, I took her to Monte Carlo, where we spent several hours very pleasantly, dining at a hotel, and in the evening playing a little at the tables.
A week passed, and I was pleased to see that though Frances still flirted a little with her admirers, she no longer allowed Brooke to monopolize her company, I was quite satisfied with her, and so the time slipped away quietly.
But unfortunately the quietness did not last. Brooke had evidently taken a violent fancy to Frances, so he was always trying to get her by herself.
Then, after a few more days, I noticed that she again allowed him to be constantly with her; and, much to my annoyance, I often saw the other women shrug their shoulders, and look scornfully at her,
And one night after dinner, she sat in the dusk, out in the veranda with Brooke for such a long time, that I got quite angry; but not wishing to make a scene, I went away to our sitting-room, fully intending, when she came in, to give her a bit of my mind, and something more.
In about a quarter-of-an-hour, she came into the room; and though I was feeling very much annoyed, I could not help admiring the lovely girl. She was dressed in some arrangement of silk and lace, that fell in a filmy cloud about her graceful figure; every part of her attire being perfect in fit and taste. Her cheeks had a delicate pink colour like the petals of a rose; and her beautiful white arms and shoulders were bare; she was smiling, and her big blue eyes were dancing with merriment. She sat down on a chair, and stretching out her little feet looked at the tips of her smart shoes, saying:
“Oh, Charley, Mr. Brooke has been amusing me so much!”
“Yes,” I said, angrily, “you appear to have been enjoying yourself with the young man. You know I told you not to let him talk to you so much. Why do you permit it?”
“Oh, don’t speak so crossly to me. I can’t help his admiring me, and speaking to me.”
“No. But you need not flirt with him so openly. You have been most imprudent; and you are making me ridiculous. I am very angry with you; and I am going to give you a sound spanking. Perhaps that will make you more careful in your behaviour. You don’t seem to mind what I say to you.”
Her face fell, and her eyes filled with tears. “Oh! how cruel you are!” she exclaimed. “I have been feeling so happy all the evening; and I did not think I was doing anything wrong in talking to Mr. Brooke. Oh! please don’t spank me!”
“Yes, I will,” I said. “And what is more; I will spank you again if I catch you flirting with Brooke.”
She sobbed, and looked at me appealingly; but I was unmoved.
“Let down your drawers; pull up your clothes, and lie down upon the sofa,” I said sternly.
For the first time, she did not at once obey my order. Clasping her hands, she said tearfully: “Oh, it does seem hard that a woman of my age should be spanked like a child.”
“You behave in many ways like a child. You require discipline. Now prepare yourself for punishment; and lie down, at once.”
The big tears began to trickle down her cheeks, and she heaved a deep sigh; but, without another word, she put her hands under her clothes and unfastened her drawers; then gathering all her dainty skirts up above her waist, she extended herself at full length upon the sofa. Holding her down with my left arm across her loins, I began to spank her smartly; the tears streamed down her cheeks, and she whimpered, moaned, and wriggled with pain under the stinging slaps, which, as they fell on her firm rebounding flesh, sounded like pistol shots. But she bore her punishment with fortitude, never once screaming, nor did she attempt to get away; and when I stopped spanking her, after laying on a couple of dozen smacks, her beautiful bottom was fiery red.
I let her rise, and she pulled up her drawers, fastened the strings round her waist, and wiped her eyes with a filmy, lace-trimmed handkerchief. Then, after a moment she came to me, and held up her little, red mouth, saying: “I am sorry I offended you. But I promise to be more careful in future. Kiss me.”
I kissed the dear girl’s fragrant mouth; then we went to bed, and in a few moments she was again wriggling her bottom; but this time it was with pleasure; not with pain.
XIV
After this little incident, we remained a fortnight longer in Nice.
Whether it was the spanking I had given Frances, with the promise of others if she misbehaved; or whether it was her own good sense that made her more careful, I do not know; but anyway I never had the least fault to find with her during the remainder of our stay. She was as full of fun as ever she had been, and she laughed and joked with her admirers, but she kept them all more at a distance; and she snubbed Brooke so unmistakably, that he left the hotel entirely. And I must say, I was glad when he went; for he was a handsome young fellow, with a persuasive tongue, and therefore a dangerous man to have always about one’s sweetheart.