"At any rate," said the gardener, "the matter is settled; we can all go in and have lunch, and then my master will give the prizes."
We had a great lunch, all helping each other and ourselves, and when the champagne was opened, every one seemed to enjoy the feast infinitely. But when the prize giving came, I was ashamed, hating to give one less than the other, so I called the gardener to one side and told him my reluctance.
"Nothing easier," he said. "I have made you out to be a great English lord. Go into that bedroom on the right and I will send them in one by one. If I were you, I would give the two first prizes and I will give the consolation stakes."
"Splendid," I said, "but give me a reasonable half-hour before sending in the second one." Flora came in and got her first prize, kissed me, and offered herself to my desire by opening the bed. Then for some reason or other a good idea came into my head.
I put up my hands. "That's for later, I hope," I exclaimed. "It means affection, and you don't care for me yet; perhaps you will with tune, and if you don't, I'll forgive you. There's no compulsion here."
"How good of you," she exclaimed. "Just for saying that I want to kiss you, caro mio (you dear)," and she threw her arms round my neck and gave me a long kiss.
Naturally, I unproved the occasion, and turned the kiss into an embrace by putting my hands up her dress on her sex. After I had touched her for a minute or so, she trembled and came, and as I put my arms round her and kissed her, she kissed me passionately in return. "Carissimo mio," she murmured, and hid her glowing cheek on my neck. While she was putting her dress in order before the glass, she began talking quickly: "You know, I hope this isn't the only time. I want to come back without any prize, for I like you and you have been kind to me. I was frightened at first-you must forget all that; you will, won't you? Cuore mio; I'll find new love names for you," and she did.
"But why did you want to see us all naked," she went on, "we're all alike, aren't we?"
"No, indeed," I cried, "you are all different."
"But you can't love one because her breasts are smaller than another's. No woman would care for such a thing. I love your voice and what you say and your eyes, but not your legs: fancy!" and she laughed aloud.
Finally she said, "When may I come again? soon, please!"
"Surely," I replied, "when will you come? I want your photograph."
"Any day you like," Flora said. And we fixed the meeting for Tuesday. She went off delighted.
The next girl who came in was the young girl, the second we saw, who had not undressed and who had declared that she wouldn't have come if she had known the conditions. At once she said to me: "I don't mind undressing for you: I know you now," and in a trice she had pulled her things off: she was very pretty. I afterwards photographed her in the swing in the garden. But she was nothing astonishing, just a very pretty and well-made girl of sixteen.
Her name, she told me, was Yolande; she lived with an aunt. I may have more to tell of her later, though her quick temper made me avoid her.
When I gave her the second prize of seventy-five francs, she said, "You are giving me the second prize; if I had been nicer you perhaps would have given me the first."
Her frankness amused me. "Does it make much difference to you, the difference between seventy-five and one hundred francs?"
She nodded her head: "It will make a difference to my dress," she said. "I want pretty underthings"-and she curled up her nose.
"Well," I replied, "say nothing about it, and take another twenty-five francs."
At once she threw her arms around my neck and kissed me, and then, "May I come back?"
"Sure, sure," I replied.
"May I bring some one else?"
"Any one you please," I said.
That is about all I remember of the first seance, except that the beauty, Flora, whom I have tried to describe, did not leave the villa till long after dinner.
When I talked with my gardener of the event afterwards, he told me that he had preferred the youngest of all, whom I had not seen. "Clara," he said, "was the prettiest of the lot." As I told him I thought her too thin for beauty and too young to be mentally attractive, be promised to show me her nudity the next Sunday. I wanted to know about the next Sunday. "Will you be able to get three or four new girls?"
"Good God," he exclaimed, "twenty, if you like! These girls will whisper it all about and you may be sure you will have an ever increasing number. This villa is going to get a good name if you continue!"
"I will continue weekly," I said, "but if there are likely to be more girls, I might bring a friend over from Monte Carlo, who happens to be there and who is really an English lord."
"By all means," he said; "the more, the merrier."
Accordingly, I sent a telegram to my friend, Ernest — asking him to come and spend a happy weekend with me. In due time he came. And it was well that he did come, for the second week showed me that the gardener was wiser and knew his country people better than I did: at least twenty girls came to win prizes, girls of all ages from fifteen to thirty. My gardener proposed that he should weed them out to six or seven, giving them consolation prizes without stripping them. Both Ernest and I were quite content, but we wanted to see his choice, and we were astonished by the ability with which he made his selection: practically, we had to agree with him. Twelve or fourteen girls were sent home with twenty-five francs each, without any further attempt at discrimination; and our inspection began without making me waver in my allegiance to Flora.
It was in these first weeks at San Remo that I began to discover that the body was not so important in love or in passion as the mind and character. I had no slightest desire to leave my beauty for any of the newer queens; and I didn't want her to strip, even for Ernest's inspection, although she was willing to. But I had become her lover now, and love desires exclusive possession.
The third meeting had a new termination. Another young Englishman, named George — , a friend of Ernest, had fallen in love with one the week before. We had the three queens, as we called them, to dinner, as well as to lunch. After dinner the gardener appeared with one, and declared that if our girls would strip, he would show that his was the prettiest of the lot. None of the three girls minded: they were all willing, so we had another contest; but we resolved to give the winner of this contest two hundred francs. I don't believe that the famous choice of Paris, with the three queens of Heaven before him, ever showed such beauties. I must try to describe them. Of two of them I have photographs, which I must not reproduce; and the third, my queen, I have already described. It is for my readers to use their imaginations.
And I cannot even give the photo of the gardener's choice, for she wasn't a bit more than fourteen years of age. When we made fun of him about this, he said philosophically, "I am older than you men, and I have noticed that the older we get the younger we like the girls." On this we all burst out laughing.
My readers may compare the four beauties for themselves.
This was the first time in my life that I ever studied the sex of women; and it was the gardener who brought it about. We had decided that all our three beauties were lovelier than his, when he challenged us to a new test.
"What do we desire most in a girl?" he asked: "surely a small and well-made sex. Well, I'll bet Clara has the smallest and best sex of the lot."