Realizing that his plea was likely to fail, the young fellow lost much of his former swagger and insolence. He gazed about him like a caged animal and, looking earnestly into Roxboro's face, he said, “Oh, sir, I only came with the idea of seeing Marie for a few moments. I had no idea of committing any crime; believe me, sir, I mean every word I have spoken. Please give me a chance, I have not harmed you in any way. If you will let me go, I promise you I shall leave immediately and bother you no more.”
“I will make no deal,” replied the lord, and arising from his seat, he started for the door, but stopped suddenly as though struck with an idea. “I wonder… I wonder… it is not possible… my man, what is your regular occupation, aside from your strange penchant for entering people's abodes through the window?”
“Oh, sir, I can do most anything,” said the youth eagerly. “Come, my lord, do not be too hard on me. If you only knew what that girl did to me, you would not blame me for acting as I have done; if you will only permit me to go, I will never darken your door again.”
“I believe your wife told me you were a gentleman's man; is that true?”
“Yes, sir, I was a valet.”
“Hm! Well, let's see,” remarked Roxboro, and returning to his desk, he seated himself and drew forth writing materials. “Now, if you wish to get yourself out of this mess, you will do exactly as I say; if not, we will call in the constable and you will be on your way. Which is it?”
“Whatever you wish, sir,” replied the man. Roxboro handed him pen, ink, and paper, and directed that he write as dictated to. Hesitating slightly, the fellow wrote at Roxboro's dictation. What he wrote was for the most part exaggeration and not a few outright lies, but the poor fellow was in a tight spot and felt he was choosing the lesser of two evils. When he had finished, Roxboro called in Carl to act as witness; he had Montgomery sign the paper and Carl also signed. Dismissing Carl, he turned to Montgomery and said:
“I have decided to have you remain here in this house and have you act as my personal valet for such a time as I see fit; you are to obey me implicitly in all things while you are here and you will regard Marie-unless otherwise instructed-as a perfect stranger. There must be no relations between you. You gather what I mean? I shall pay you well for your time and I shall discharge you when I see fit. On the other hand, if you rebel”-waving the paper in the air-“I have here a signed confession, which will put you behind bars for some time to come. Now, be guided by your common sense; if you know what is good for you, you will behave yourself and everything will be all right.”
“I realize my situation,” replied Montgomery, his face clearing at this unexpected good fortune. “I assure you I shall have nothing to do with Marie; I will be obedient in all matters, as you put it, and I am sure you will not regret your decision. But, sir, will you answer just one question, please? I should like to ask you if my wife… if Marie… that is… does Marie occupy a higher position in the house than that of a housemaid?”
“Your wife, Montgomery, has told me all that happened between yourself and her, and if you are trying to determine whether she and I have been intimate, I will answer you frankly: yes! Marie has been kind enough to bestow upon me those favors that are usually given by a maid to a man and in telling you this I feel no sense of shame or guilt. Nor do I mind admitting it to you, since this little piece of paper which I hold makes you as helpless as a baby; I might state that Marie is a luscious morsel and I enjoyed her very much. What have you to say to that?”
“Very good, my lord,” replied Montgomery, rubbing his hands. “Marie is a wonderful piece; we are agreed on that, and so far as my objecting or minding her having been unfaithful to me, I have no objection whatever. I am only sorry that she left me before I had an opportunity of trying out upon her some ideas which were in my head but which I had no chance to try out before her disappearance.”
“Yes, yes,” replied Roxboro, “which reminds me that you submitted her to all sorts of humiliating and unusual situations; is this true? Marie has told me you beat and abused her; and when thus incited, you experienced more than ordinary pleasure in your lust. Speak frankly. I am curious to know what your reactions are upon this line, so tell me freely just how and why you do these things and what their effect is upon you.”
Roxboro settled back in his easy chair, eyeing Montgomery closely: the man seemed somewhat uncertain as to just how to answer. His hands twitched rather nervously and his eyes shifted uneasily as he seemed to be casting about as to just how to begin.
“Well, my lord, it's like this. You see, although I am not ordinarily a cruel man-that is, I never mistreat animals or anything of that sort, and usually the sight of pain is very repugnant to me, at times when I am heated up sexually, my whole nature seems to change. I then love to subject my partner to the most excruciating tortures; I gloat in it and receive a supreme thrill from the imposition of abuse and pain upon a woman; this serves to whet and increase my sexual appetite and render me more potent and the act more enjoyable-yes, by God! a thousand times more delectable. I find that it also increases the intensity for the woman; I can assure you that when you have a beautiful woman, helpless in your arms, beaten and cowed, there is more sensual thrill in her quivering form than could be obtained from a thousand harlots; and strangely, the woman herself, abused and tortured, seems to also receive a heightened thrill from the performance. I can't explain it, but I know that it is so; I have experimented with many women and usually the results are as I say. Marie herself is of that type; treat her kindly and she is almost indifferent; beat her and abuse her and she bums with passion.”
“How strange,” remarked Roxboro innocently; “I never heard of such a thing; it seems rather unconventional, eh? Men usually look up to and treat the object of their love with great tenderness, protecting rather than torturing. Your explanation is very peculiar, to say the least.” At the same time, however, he was remembering Marie and her strange actions: the pranks she could play with such cunning and the merry spankings she had received from her master's able hands upon her charming posterior. However, preserving his air of innocence, he continued, like a man such surprised and rather doubtful of the truth of Montgomery's statements.
“How can such things be? h must be very painful and humiliating and not at all conducive to pleasure to be the recipient of abuse during the sexual relationship. I don't understand it. I fear you are having at me, as it were.”
“No indeed, sir; it is true, and the very idea of such an experience is sufficient to produce its effect upon me: see here!” He placed his hand upon his prong, which made quite a bulge in his tight-fitting trousers. He was not completely fooled by Roxboro's manner; he had listened to gossip in the neighborhood before coming out to the manor to call upon his wife, and the lord's reputation was such that Montgomery was certain that he was not so innocent as he appeared. His feelings had been highly excited by his talk on such lascivious matters, and he now squeezed his bolus tightly. “Believe me, your lordship, I could sink this into a good cunt right now,” said he in his former swaggering manner.
“Well, young fellow, you seem to be well hung, to say the least,” laughed Roxboro, observing the bulge in Montgomery's trousers, which indicated quite a large bundle hidden therein. “Take it out and let's inspect it.” Montgomery immediately complied, wondering for a fleeting moment if his lordship was one of “those men” who wished to “eat a yard.” Unbuttoning his pants, he flipped into view a tool of staggering dimensions, as large and rounded as an infant's arm!