It was almost as important to Florentine to relive her experiences by telling them to Julia to the last detail, as it was to have the experience. Sometimes Julia worried about her beautiful blonde sister, hoping fervently that the virile Maxim de Berny would succeed in breaking down Florentine's basic coldness. If she had known what Dorothy's advice would be, she would surely have given her trusted maid a severe tongue lashing.
As it was, Dorothy guided Maxim into the little reception room where the two women intended to have him cool his heels for a while. It was a small room, the walls covered with soft green silk. Strings of gilded flowers connected the eight corners. A long, oriental couch covered with the same green silk was built along the walls. A crystal and porcelain chandelier hanging from the center of the ceiling threw its clear light on the statuary grouped around the room, and the pictures hanging from the wall. A smaller heater in the middle of the room wafted an aromatic smell.
“Madame offers her excuses for being tardy.” Dorothy said, “and begs his Lordship to wait for her.” She left Maxim alone. Soon, he began to get bored, and looked around.
“This room must have been decorated by one of the best interior decorators of Paris. That's a lead I must follow. There aren't many of them, and there are also very few gorgeous blondes. Now it's simply child's play to find out who she is. But what the devil is this. Am I supposed to find out for myself who she is, or are those articles brought together for some other purpose? They surely don't belong in a boarding school for girls! This here must be Venus. She is making love to Mars. But I have never seen a statue like this. There is another nymph, or goddess, helping her! Poor Mars. And this statue is almost remarkably alive. The goddess seems to be secretly in love with herself, contemplating her own voluptuous charms. And this one! Oh, oh! That has nothing to do with classical mythology. She is beautiful and alone. But she does not seem to mind because she is very busy making love to herself. Priestess and victim at the same time? It's terrible, my dear little girl, to do these beautiful things all by your lonely self. You should ask some nice little boy to help you. But to look at the face of this little girl, it seems that the sculptor caught her at the right moment. An expression like that means only one thing. She's coming! God, I wish I had been that happy sculptor! Lady Evergreen has quite a collection. It seems to me that this daughter of Eve ignores the Laws of Moses. At least it does not seem to me that she is overly concerned about the terrible punishments with which the good Lord threatens those who eat of the forbidden fruit. There is another lady, in an almost life-size painting who is having her cunt treated in such a way as procreation surely never intended. Well, anyhow, she has an accomplice who seems to enjoy it tremendously. The woman is very beautiful, and the way she has her white thighs clamped around the neck of her lover, it almost makes me horny to look at it. Come on, my dear boy, stretch out your lecherous tongue a little further. I know out of experience that the job is very demanding. But it's also terribly exciting, and you can be assured of great rewards. The expression of utter abandon and happiness on this woman's face is a work of art. I wonder who the painter is. That man isn't very good looking. Come to think of it, only the women in this curious collection are delectable and beautiful. I wonder if Lady Evergreen is about ready to receive me.”
During this monologue, Maxim had investigated and admired every statuette, painting and etching. He now walked back to the couch and began to leaf through an album which was put on one of the little end tables. It was filled with erotic picture. However, every single one of them portrayed lesbian scenes. He began to think.
“Now what,” he asked himself, “would be the purpose of this long waiting, and this homosexual exhibition. Why am I supposed to sit among undoubtedly the most expensive collection of lesbian curiosa in all of Paris?”
And suddenly, in a flash, it came to him. He was leafing through an album with exquisite engravings. There was a couple, engaged in about every position of lovemaking one could think of. Only one position was missing. The one in which a man could get a woman with child!
And under the last engraving, written in a woman's style, it said, “Surely there are enough possibilities to express one's love, and to reach the highest peaks of ecstasy without using that one.”
“Only a real ass needs more explanation,” Count de Berny said to himself, “and I surely must have been one during our first encounter. At least, I am pleased that she credits me with common sense. She did invite me again. But dammit, how could I know what she expected from me. She looked so innocent and virginal. That goes to show you how easily one can be deceived by beautiful large blue eyes. My lady fair seems to be a true and accomplished priestess of Venus, and I may have to learn things I haven't heard about yet!”
Dorothy interrupted his monologue. “Would your lordship be so kind as to follow me?”
And Maxim entered the room where he had spent so many beautiful hours just a few days ago. The room had not changed-it had the same chestnut-brown tapestries with pink flowers. Evergreen was stretched upon a sofa and she wore a negligee which seemed to go with her name. The folds of the transparent gown showed a chemise made mainly out of billows of lace and silk. Her negligee was embroidered with ruby-colored butterflies.
Flowers adorned her hair, and a large, exotic orchid was pinned on her breast, hiding part of her cleavage. Everything she wore was in perfect harmony with her soft complexion. It was a pity that she covered her face with a mask.
“Oh, you evil little one,” Maxim said while he took a deep breath after a long kiss they exchanged upon greeting. “I have waited so long for this moment. Three whole days without any thought other than whether or not I would ever see my darling Evergreen again. I don't know if I can forgive you!”
“Have you really thought so much about me? I am glad to hear that, and I am also glad to know that this serious occupation has not caused you to neglect to court a young lady from the chorus line at the Opera, and to have a rendezvous with a well-known courtesan behind the discreet curtains of a certain famous restaurant in Paris.”
“How do you know all these things? But let me assure you that…”
“My dearest Maxim, you do not have to find excuses. I am not the jealous type. I only mentioned it to let you know that I am not one of those empty-headed creatures who will do anything just to head a well-turned phrase from their lover's mouth, and who believe everything he says. I know precisely when a man speaks, what he says and why he says it.”
“Do you mean that we were at the Opera and that restaurant at the same time-without me knowing about it?”
“Dearest don't you know that love is blind?”
“Please, I am serious. Were you really there?”
“I did not say that!”
“But in the meantime…”
“In the meantime I notice that your passion has not yet reached the point where your instincts take over.”
“I would not say that. My instincts are sharp enough to discover that you are the most gorgeous Evergreen I have ever seen. Your gown, my dearest, is the most elegant, because of its simplicity, the most comfortable because of its ease to wear, and-I guess-to take off. Your room is exquisite. The tapestries where roses and evergreens mix on a background of shimmering chestnut are the most beautiful I have ever seen, and…”
“Aha, I see that you keep your eyes open in the rooms where you go.”
“Oh, there are certain little things that usually do not escape my attention when I am waiting in a room.”
“It that so?”
“Yes, and if you like the idea, I can prove to you that I have an excellent memory.”
“That is not a bad idea at all, my dear friend.” Evergreen got up from her sofa and, embraced by her lover, walked into the other room.