By Amanda
1802 – Paris
On the first night of my party we drank absinthe until we were all giddy and nearly out of our minds. We smoked cigars and a few of the women made love in the shadows of the parlor. It was in all not a bad night.
The following morning I awoke and much like the rest of the women I was suffering the ills of the previous night’s indulgences. Josette provided a drink which she assured us would alleviate our suffering. It did not. However Josephine had brought with her some part or another of the hemp plant, and we smoked it from a tobacco pipe. It did not cure our ills completely but it helped.
A bit dizzy from the smoke and the remains of the previous night’s drink, I sat at my dining table, waiting for the others to join me. As they did in their time we began to eat a light brunch.
With that finished we returned to the parlor. A little more drink and the food we had eaten would find us all feeling much better by late afternoon.
I was sitting on a love seat with a number of the ladies around me as I played my guitar and sang. In my sitting room, the tom boys were enjoying some debate or another. I would soon have to put in an appearance with them, but for now was enjoying being the center of attention.
Josette came into the parlor and, interrupting my song, announced Eliza and Alice. I was in shock. I could hardly believe what I’d heard. They had made it after all!
I jumped up as they entered the room and ran to them, wrapping my arms first around Alice and then around her lover. “I thought you would not come.”
“Our ship put in to port six days ago, and it has taken us this long to reach Paris,” Eliza explained. “We only just arrived this morning.”
I turned my eyes to my dear Alice. I adored her and could hardly believe that she was in my home all the way in France. Her face told me that she was no less thrilled than I.
“Come, Eliza,” I said, “the boys are in the sitting room.” I led her there and introduced her around, then took Alice on my arm and returned to the parlor.
The other ladies were talking among themselves and I was satisfied that they did not need me to entertain them. I turned my attention fully on lovely Alice. “How have you been? It seems a lifetime since last I saw you.”
“Catherine’s husband is troubling her. He wants to use her money to buy a steamboat in Georgia. He thinks that this can make him more money.”
“And she’s refused?”
“No. She has not. But she has told him she will buy him two boats on the condition that he divorce her without so much as a bread crumb more from her.”
“She is a brilliant woman,” I said absently. “And of course he does not want to grant her this.”
“No. No, he is several years her junior, and believes that he will outlive her.”
“And her daughter?” I asked.
“Has she told you what she named the girl?” Alice asked me. I shook my head. “Elizabeth, in your honor.”
“What?” I said, shocked. In all the time since the child had been born I had never asked after her. This immediately brought me some measure of guilt.
“She never made love to you because she so dearly wished you had been her daughter. She did, and even now does, love you perhaps more than anyone else she has ever known.”
“I didn’t know,” I said quietly. Alice smiled.
“You’ve no idea the pride she has in all that you’ve done since leaving her home.”
“I couldn’t have done any of it had it not been for her.”
“Well, perhaps, but you are the one others will look to for inspiration now.” She gestured around the room. “Look at you. Look at this.”
I blushed. I hardly felt like a leader. It still seemed that I needed others so much. We talked a time longer before Alice took my hand and led me from the parlor. “I want to see your bedroom,” she said with a wicked smile.
I let her lead me upstairs. I knew what was coming and I felt myself all too excited for it.
We came to my door and I could hear voices inside my room. It was Sandra and Josette.
“…and she is gentle,” Sandra was saying.
“I’m so afraid.” Josette sounded as if she were on the verge of tears.
“If I could choose my first again, it would only be her,” said Sandra.
I wondered who exactly they were talking about, though I very much hoped it might be me. As I listened, it was clear that Josette was considering what I’d proposed to her.
I turned to Alice feeling a bit sad. As much as I wanted to make love to her then, I simply could not. Not with Sandra here and Josette considering my offer. I did not need to say anything, though, for her to understand, and we returned to the parlor to find that the tom boys had joined the ladies and they were all talking in small groups.
“Well, ladies and gentlemen,” I began. Many of the girls giggled and the tom boys all smiled. “Tonight we will indulge in a tradition started by someone many of you might know… Catherine Pennington. Tonight we will enjoy the reading of a most obscene tale. Until then my home is yours. Please take advantage of all I have to offer.”
While my guests moved about my house exploring and partaking of the things I had prepared, I went to find Josephine. When at last I did, she was speaking with the Madame Annabelle La Granade. I joined them but had nothing to contribute.
When they finished the conversation they’d been having, it was my chance to speak. “Is it entirely improper that I would like to have my maid?”
Josephine seemed to have no reaction, but Annabelle chuckled to herself and said, “Josette?”
I nodded my head.
“She’s a pretty enough girl, indeed. Is that why you fancy her?”
“No. No, I’m afraid it is much worse than that. I learned only yesterday that she’s never made love to another woman. To anyone at all, actually.”
“Need I even speak my opinion?” Josephine inserted, sounding amused.
I smiled, knowing of course that she would encourage me. Such things as having the servants would not trouble her at all.
The good Madame shook her head and looked at Josephine. “Tsk. Tsk. Such a dishonorable woman.”
Josephine smiled proudly. “I think you do not know the half of it.”
“And I cannot bring myself to ask.” Annabelle then returned her attention to me. “A girl’s first time is important,” she said.
I nodded. That was what I was afraid she would say. “I’ve been intending to take her virginity as a treat for all of you on the final night of the party,” I confessed.
Josephine gave me an approving smile but Annabelle did not seem impressed. The two women were diametrically opposed in their opinions of what was acceptable and what was not.
“It would shame me to associate with a woman who would abuse a child like that one.”
Josephine’s apparent assumption was that Josette may come to be as I was or as she was, a truly wicked woman. Annabelle, however, was not so certain. She was thinking of Josette more as a shy or less self-assured girl. In the end, either could be true of my maid, but knowing which it would be was difficult to predict. Where a person began and where she ended up often could be very different places.
“Madame,” I began, “I would sooner cut off my hand than use it to abuse the trust of a child like Josette.”
Madame La Granade contemplated this a moment. I think more searching my face for a hint of dishonesty before she nodded her head.
“Very well, girl. I am a good judge of character, and it would pain me to learn I had been wrong about you.” This was something of a complement, left-handed though it was.
I left them there and began wandering the house in search of Sandra. I was sure that wherever I found her I would find my maid, and that was how it ended up. I opened the door to my room to find both of them, the two maids, half naked and kissing in my bed. I put my hand to my mouth and tried not to laugh, though I know I must have worn a bemused look as they both hurried to clothe themselves again while not appearing overly distressed after seeing me.
“Well, ladies,” I said stepping fully into the room. “Am I to understand that you’ve no interest in my offer, Josette?”
The girl blushed and looked away from me.
“And Sandra,” I smiled, “if someone else would be the first to touch her, then I can imagine no one I’d rather it be.”
I crossed the room and stopped her from dressing. I sat between them on the bed and looked at them each in turn. “Is this what you want?” I asked, my attention now on Josette.
“Madame?”
“I want to know if this is what you want?” I moved close to her, my lips only inches from hers. “Do you want Sandra to be your first?” Then I glanced toward sweet Sandra, who sat looking concerned. “She’s gentle and kind, and if it isn’t to be me then I could think of no one else better.”
I had an affection for my maid, Josette. I always had. She was demure and adorable in a childlike way. She seemed shy, and this attracted me the most. I sat back, trying to let her feel more comfortable. “But I still hope to take your virginity on the last night of our party. Do what you wish with my lovely Sandra.”
“My virginity, madame? But how could such a thing be?”
I just smiled at her. Sandra looked away, and Josette’s expression showed that she understood there was some secret which only she did not know.
I turned to Sandra and wrapped my arms around her neck. I pulled her close and pressed my lips to hers. Slowly I lay back on the bed pulling her on top of me. It had been so long since I had felt her kiss that I simply had to know it again.
When at last our lips parted, I sat back up and quietly left them in my room to do whatever it was they would end up doing.
I was caught by Jezebel, the Negress, as I descended the stair, heading back to the parlor. “Did you truly mean to invite me?” she asked.
I smiled. “Of course I did. You are Angelique’s lover. It could not be otherwise.”
“The others look at me like a bothersome pet that’s been brought here.”
I took her arm and we began walking toward the parlor. “You’re no pet. You are a free woman and as welcome here as any other.”
I opened the door for her and escorted her to where the other ladies sat. I knelt before her and then guided her down to her knees. I hesitated a moment before turning to Angelique and pulling her forward, pressing my lips to hers.
She was quite surprised. Perhaps she did not realize that this party might lead to such things. When I had finished, I did the same to Jezebel, kissing her.
“You’re both as dear to me as my own kin.” I said, much to the surprise of a number of women watching. I allowed a moment to pass for the others to understand.
We passed the time in conversation until dinner, and I noticed that some of the ladies were showing more interest in Jezebel now. Once our dinner was finished we returned to the parlor. It was time for my story.
“Ladies!” I called as I stood. “And gentlemen, please make yourselves comfortable. I would like you to hear a tale of the most awful type.”
There was a shelf of books in my parlor and I approached it, still not entirely sure which story I would choose. “What would you like to hear, girls?” I asked, turning toward them. “Wanton lust?” A titter. “Romance?”
I returned my attention to the books. “Ah, yes, the love of cousins who run away to the city.” I pulled a book from the shelf and opened it to my smaller paperbound booklet.
I had decided. It would be the romantic tale of the cousins. Two women who discovered one another’s love when they were but young girls. As they grew, and men came to court them, they fled their home for London where they enjoyed many erotic adventures, each more wicked than the last.
I read aloud the short story, but when I finished much to my disappointment found that none of the women were indulging their passions. Only one couple were even kissing.
“What’s this?” I asked. “Have I invited nuns to my party? But of course not,” I chuckled, “if the rumors I’ve heard of nuns are true. Wouldn’t you know an orgy when you saw one?”
I crossed the floor and knelt before Jezebel. I pulled at the ties on her dress and opened it, much to her distress, cupping her breasts in my hands. I had picked her specifically because I hoped this would help her to gain more acceptance among my guests. As the African woman fretted my touch but could not break away from it, Angelique moved close.
“What are you doing?” she asked, sounding desperate. I immediately turned my attention to her. I cupped her face in my hands and pulled her mouth to mine. Slowly I eased her back to the floor and untied her dress as I had her lover’s.
“I’m seducing you,” I answered quietly. I sucked a nipple into my mouth and brushed my tongue across it. Angelique seemed to be both trying to struggle from my grasp and encourage me at the same time.
“Madame Elizabeth, I beg you, not here,” she finally gasped.
“And why not?” I asked.
Jezebel began to cover herself but I stopped her, pulling her close. “Kiss your beloved,” I whispered to her.
As she did this, I looked around to find the others looking shocked. “Would you deny yourselves?” I said to them. They simply stared at me for a long moment before I spoke again. “A kiss, simply begin with a kiss. Take your lover in your arms and kiss her. Do it now,” I urged.
That was when I saw Josephine with one of the boys kissing her. She turned her attention to my guests. “Surely you wouldn’t want to miss any of the wickedness of this gathering?” she said to them with a naughty smile.
Seeing me crouched over Angelique, with her Jezebel already beginning to properly make love to her, and then hearing Josephine’s encouragement must have been enough. Gradually the others found their lovers, or simply took an available partner and began kissing and caressing one another.
It was slow to start, but before long nearly all the women at my party were making love and I was happily observing the spectacle.
Annabelle walked up to me and placed her hand on my shoulder. “Oh, that I was even ten years younger,” she said with a laugh.
I smiled at her.
“I’m afraid,” she continued, “that I am much too old for such indulgences, but I am glad to see it all the same.”
“Too old?” I asked. “I should hope that I never get old enough to think I cannot enjoy the touch of a woman.”
Annabelle laughed again and patted my back. “That’s the spirit, girl.” She sat down on a love seat and lit herself a cigar. The Madame sat a time smoking and enjoying the show.
As I observed her, my wickedness overtook me and soon I knelt before her. “Madame, if you will allow me?” I slowly pulled the hem of her dress up to her knees.
She sat smiling down at me and smoking. Her expression was a mix of curiosity and bemusement. “You needn’t do this to keep my favor,” she said softly.
“I would never think you so crass. Just consider this… a genuine and affectionate thank-you for all you’ve been to me.”
Annabelle was not an unattractive woman, but she could have been no less than twenty years my senior. I knew I shouldn’t entertain such things with her but I did all the same.
I covered my head with her dress and pushed forward, suckling her clitoris. She sighed softly as I did and slid lower in the seat, making it easier for me to reach her. Annabelle shivered when I slid my fingers into her and began to work them in and out.
I lapped at her sex, then bent my fingers behind her pubic bone, massaging the spongy flesh there. She began rocking her hips and I felt her hand on my head through her skirts.
Annabelle scarcely needed any coaxing to achieve her climax. She groaned and pushed herself toward me as her orgasm, one surely long pent up, escaped. I withdrew from her dress and sat back, wiping my chin and smiling up at her.
“Oh, how I’ve needed that,” she whispered, her eyes closed, head laid back.
I felt as if it was the least I could do for her. After all, she had done so much for me.
After taking a moment to recover, Annabelle opened her eyes and looked down at me. “But that isn’t what I most love about a woman,” she said, as she slid from the love seat and pushed me to the floor.
I closed my eyes and held her head in my hands while she kissed my mouth and then opened my dress, kissing and licking my breasts, and very slowly made her way down over my belly. She was taking her time, and I could not blame her. When else might she have the opportunity to make love to a young, pretty woman such as I? I simply enjoyed her expert attention to every part of my body. I felt pampered, as if I were the only woman in the world to her.
I had never felt so completely attended to as I did that day lying there with Madame Le Granade making slow, patient love to me. When she finally did reach my sex, I could hardly contain myself.
She slid her fingers into me and moved them in time with her mouth. She was obviously very experienced, and any concerns I’d had about doing such things with a woman so much older than myself melted away. There was definitely something to be said for her knowledge.
The Madame pressed her tongue hard against my clitoris as I climaxed. I arched my back, grinding my heels into the floor. She was a marvelous lover, and as I relaxed I was very glad I had done it with her.
“I see I’ve not lost my touch,” she teased.
“Indeed not,” I agreed. I sat up and smiled at her. “You… you’re amazing.”
“Thank you, child. It’s a funny thing. A woman my age has plenty of experience, yet we’re too old to use it,” she laughed. “You’ve given me more than you think.”
Annabelle leaned against the love seat and I laid my head in her lap while she stroked my hair. All around us the women were still making love. In time they grew sated and soon lay down together to sleep. I thought I should go up to my own room for the night but I did not. Sandra and Josette might still be there, and I did not want to disturb them. Annabelle had a guest room prepared for her and we retired there together.
* * * * *
The following morning I found that many of the ladies seemed quite shy. I smiled to myself. Soon they would forget their embarrassment and think only of the pleasures they’d enjoyed.
Alice found me as I was going to my room to see if my maid was there. We walked together and I pushed the door open to find Josette hurriedly dressing and Sandra watching her from the bed.
My attention focused on Sandra. Even after all the time I’d been in Paris, I desired her. I missed her. I’d not written her and now I regretted it. Seeing her here in my home stirred long dormant feelings.
“I see the way you look at her,” Alice whispered. I nodded and closed the door, leaving the two maids alone.
“Sandra is one of Josephine’s servants,” I told Alice. “She was always there during my… education.”
“She is the one?”
“Yes, indeed.”
“And yet you still look at her like a girl in love,” Alice teased.
I nodded quietly.
Love? I thought to myself. Was that how I looked at her? I wondered if what I felt for Sandra was inspired by the intensity of my experiences at her hand. Surely, though, it could not be love. Not me.
I walked with Alice back to the parlor, and she took my guitar and began singing for the ladies. I found the tom boys in the sitting room again. They were gathered around smoking and talking about politics.
I spent a short time there listening and offering my thoughts when it seemed they might be welcomed, but I had so little interest in politics that I could not wait to leave. I was a good hostess, however, and did my best not to let any of my guests feel unappreciated.
I joined the ladies again in the parlor and enjoyed Alice’s performance. When she finished, I rang the bell for Josette and in only a few moments she entered the room.
“A brunch would be nice, dear,” I said to her. She bowed her head quickly and left for the kitchen.
“So what do you have planned for this evening?” Alice asked me.
“I don’t know absolutely that I have anything planned. But…”
“You could always use me, Liz. You know how I love to put on a show.” She pushed at my shoulder, giggling.
“It’s not entirely impossible that I will.” I looked at her. “If you must know, I hope to deflower a girl.”
“Oh! That’s awful!” she laughed. “Please, let me be the one to do it!”
I smiled but shook my head. This was my show and Josette was my servant. If she would allow it, I would be the one to do it.
We ate brunch in the dining hall. After that was done, I pulled my maid aside and waited until we were alone.
“It isn’t just for the spectacle of it, you know.” I said to her. “I truly would like to be your first.”
“And if I should fall in love? What have I to give, if not that?” she asked.
“Child,” I stroked her cheek. “There is far more to you than a spot of blood on the sheets. Look at us, are we not more than just our sex?”
Josette seemed to think about this a bit, but said nothing.
I let her return to her duties and went to find Sandra. She was quietly sitting in the parlor at Josephine’s feet. I looked from my mistress to her, and Josephine shook her head quickly, understanding my curiosity.
I knelt down before Sandra and smiled at her. “It’s been two days and I’ve hardly been able to speak to you.”
“So sorry, miss. I fear I…”
“You need not apologize, love.” I reached out and took her hand. Through the kitchen I had a tiny courtyard behind my house. It was walled in and offered a measure of privacy. We went there.
Sandra looked lovely in the morning sun. She was in her dark dress with the lace collar, showing that she was indeed a servant. I shook my head feeling a bit sad. I wanted her to be a part of my gala, not a servant.
“You missed the story last night,” I told her.
“I’m sorry, miss.”
“Can’t you find it in your heart to call me Liz?” I asked.
She lowered her eyes and did not reply.
“I’ve missed you more than I could have thought,” I said after a long pause.
She looked up at me, seeming a bit surprised. “Me, miss?” She looked around. “But you have so much. All these women who seem to admire you so.”
“And yet with all that, my heart can only seem to settle on you,” I smiled.
“Miss, please, not again,” she said quietly. “I am not for that, I fear. I’m a terrible woman. I’ve done such awful things. I’m… unclean.”
“You are?” I said to her. “No. Forget your past. All that matters is the future. Think of what you are today and what you may become tomorrow, not what you’ve been.”
“I cannot, miss,” she finally said, shaking her head and averting her eyes. She hurried away from me and back through the kitchen. I’d no doubt she would run straight back to Josephine’s feet.
I did not know how, but I had managed to convince myself that I simply had to have Sandra. That I could not let her return to America.
Continue on to Chapter 13