“I am confident,” D’Albert remarks, “that Madame is sensible enough to realize that when a wife has lost her husband’s affection and esteem, when she no longer but wearies and is offensive to him, the simplest course open to her is to bow gracefully out of the picture.”
“Oh yes! Oh yes!” the unlucky woman shrieks. “I ask only to die, kill me, that is my one request! In the name of Heaven, be quick!”
“The death you crave, foul buggeress, is already brewing in your guts,” says Noirceuil, his prick being frigged by one of the catamites; “Juliette did the thing. Such is her attachment to you she would never have forgiven us had we deprived her of the joy of administering the coup de grâce.” And, utterly blinded by lust, quite unhinged, Saint-Fond embuggered D’Albert who, bending complacently before his friend’s sodomistic onslaughts, delivered to a pretty lad the equivalent of what he was receiving from the Minister, whose anus I was tonguing industriously.
“Come, we are proceeding in too disorderly a fashion,” said Noirceuil, seeing from his wife’s contortions, now begun in earnest, that she merited closer watching.
He has a carpet spread in the middle of the room, upon it the victim is made to recline and we group in a circle around her. Saint-Fond bum-stuffs me while frigging a boy with either hand. D’Albert is sucked by Henriette, he sucks a prick while frigging another with his right hand; with his left he molests Lindane’s ass; Noirceuil’s prick enters Eglée’s rectum, a prick passes into his own, he sucks yet another and inserts three fingers in Lolotte’s ass while the sixth youth fucks her amain. The crises begin; most horrible they are, for there is no describing the effects of that poison: so violent were the poor woman’s thrashings that at certain moments she was quite rolled up in a ball, then it was as though an electrical shock were paralyzing her entire body, foam flecked her lips, her screams were perfectly horrible; but they were not to be heard save by us, the necessary precautionary measures had been taken.
“Ah, but it is delicious,” Saint-Fond sighed the while he toiled in my ass; “I don’t know what I wouldn’t give to sodomize her in that state.”
“Nothing easier,” said Noirceuil, “just have a try. We’ll hold her still.”
Firmly grasped by the youths, the patient, her efforts notwithstanding, is forced into position and there gapes her asshole; and into it Saint-Fond plunges his member.
“Godsfuck!” he exclaims, “I must discharge!” And discharge he does. D’Albert replaces him in the breach, then Noirceuil; but when his stricken wife feels him there, her strugglings become so furious, she escapes away from those who have her pinioned and, quite out of her mind, hurls herself at her torturer; alarmed, Noirceuil backs off, the circle is formed anew.
“Let her be, let her be,” says Saint-Fond, just returned into my ass; “it is wise to keep clear of a rabid beast when it is in death’s throes.”
Howbeit, Noirceuil, stung, insulted, wishes to have his revenge; he is in the midst of devising fresh torments but Saint-Fond stays his hand, explaining to his friend that anything further done to the victim now must only detract from the pleasure of beholding the action of the venom.
“Gentlemen,” say I, “it’s not only watching she needs; I believe the services of a confessor are about to be required.”
“Let her go to the devil, he’ll shrive the whore,” said Noirceuil, at that point being sucked by Lolotte; “aye, let her go to all the devils there be. If ever I desired that a hell exist it was hoping that her soul would make its way there, and to be able, so long as there is breath in me, to relish the thought of her suffering.”
It was that imprecation, so it appeared, that precipitated the final crisis. Madame de Noirceuil yielded up her soul, and our three rascals discharged concurrently, vying with one another in shameless blasphemy.
“This,” said Saint-Fond, squeezing his prick, evacuating the last drop of fuck therefrom, “this that we have just accomplished shall surely stand as one of our finest deeds; I am highly pleased. Ridding the world of that prude has long been one of my ambitions; her husband was no more tired of her than I.”
“Faith,” D’Albert put in, “you surely fucked her no less often than he.”
“Indeed, more often,” my lover rejoined.
“In any case,” Saint-Fond said to Noirceuil, “I intend to honor our agreement; you have sacrificed your wife, you shall have another: my daughter is yours. I am by the way delighted with this poison we have used; it gives excellent results, and I think it a great pity we cannot witness the deaths of all the people we destroy by this means. Alas! one cannot be everywhere at once. But as I was saying, my daughter is yours, gentle friend; and may heaven bless this occasion on which I acquire a most amiable son-in-law and the assurance of not being betrayed by the woman who supplies me with these poisons.”
Here Noirceuil leaned toward Saint-Fond and whispered what I guessed was a question in his ear; the latter nodded affirmatively. The Minister then turned in my direction. “Juliette,” said he, “you will come to see me tomorrow, I will more thoroughly discuss with you what I have only touched upon today. Remarrying, Noirceuil may dispense with your presence in his house; I propose to establish you in mine; and I trust that the reputation which dwelling in my proximity will confer upon you, the money and the comforts I design to shower upon you, will prove ample compensation for the loss you are about to incur. You please me mightily; your imagination is brilliant, your phlegm in crime is exemplary, your ass is splendid, according to my belief, you are ferocious and libertine; thus do I judge that you possess the virtues I admire.”
“My Lord,” said I, “most gratefully I accept all you deign to offer me, but I must tell you, since I cannot hide the fact, that I love Noirceuil: I do not relish the prospect of losing him.”
“Nor shall you lose me, my child, we shall see each other frequently,” was the reply of Saint-Fond’s intimate friend and future son-in-law, “we shall spend the better hours of our lives together.”
“So be it,” I said, “under those circumstances there is nothing I am not willing to consent to.”
To the youths and whores the drastic and certain consequences of the slightest indiscretion on their part were made abundantly clear; much impressed, they swore never to speak a word of what had passed that evening; Madame de Noirceuil’s remains were buried in the garden; and those of the company bade one another farewell.
An unforeseen contingency was to delay Noirceuil’s marriage and the realization of the Minister’s schemes as well; nor when I went to see him the next day toward noon was he there to greet me. The King, singularly content with Saint-Fond, and trusting him unreservedly, had summoned him that same morning, confided a secret mission to him, and Saint-Fond had taken his departure from the city immediately; later, upon his return, he was awarded the cordon bleu, and an annuity of one hundred thousand crowns.
Oh yes, I said to myself when I learned of these favors, how very true it is that fate awards the evildoer, and how very much the imbecile he who, enlightened by such examples, were not all the more ardently to forge ahead in crime and to its furthermost limits.
In letters Noirceuil received from the Minister during his absence, I was enjoined to locate a house and to array it splendidly. And so, as soon as I was in command of the necessary funds, I rented a magnificent mansion on the rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré; purchased four horses, two charming carriages; hired three lackeys, strapping tall fellows and very handsome; found a cook, two scullions, a housekeeper, a reader, three chambermaids, a hairdresser, two downstairs maids and a pair of coachmen; I acquired quantities of the finest in furnishings; and the day the Minister came back to Paris I betook myself to his home. I had just attained my seventeenth year, and I think I can say that for looks I compared very satisfactorily with the prettiest women in the capital; my figure was like unto that of the Goddess of Love, and art heightened what was mine of natural beauty. The contents of my wardrobe were worth well above one hundred thousand francs, a
hundred thousand crowns was the value of the jewelries and diamonds I wore. Wherever I went every door was open to me; and that day the Minister’s domestics bowed low. He was awaiting me, he was alone. I began by mentioning the tokens of royal esteem which had been showered upon him, my congratulations were of the sincerest, and I sought leave to kiss his hand; he accorded it provided I kneel while doing so; familiar with the dimensions of his pride, his arrogance, I catered to them and adjusted my behavior to his wishes: it is by base flattery and abjectness that the courtesan, like the courtier, buys the right to be insolent to everybody else.
Spoke he: “Madame, you see me in the hour of my glory; the King has dealt largely with me, and I dare say according to my deserts; my position has never been so solid nor my fortune so great. If, as I propose to do, I make you the beneficiary of some small part of His Majesty’s bounty, it shall be upon the obvious conditions; in view of the projects we have executed jointly, I believe I can rely upon you, you have acquired my total confidence. But before I descend to particulars, kindly look at these two keys, Madame. This first one opens the vault where is stored all the gold due to be yours if you serve me well; and this other is to the Bastille: in it there is a vacant cell, it is reserved for your lifelong occupancy should you fail of obedience or discretion.”
“Confronted by such alternatives, one of doom, the other of glittering prosperity—I hardly need indicate which of the two I elect unhesitatingly. So place your whole trust in her who shall be absolutely your slave, and put away all doubts of her loyalty.”
“You will have the charge of two important functions, Madame. Be seated please, and heed me.” Not thinking what I was about, I was taking an armchair when Saint-Fond gestured me toward an ordinary straight-backed chair; he cut me short in the middle of my profuse apology, and continued in this wise:
“The post I hold, and in which it is my aim to remain yet a good while, for it is a rewarding one, obliges me to sacrifice no end of victims; in this casket there are various poisons, you shall employ them pursuant to the instructions I issue you. Upon those individuals who come actively at cross purposes with me the cruelest are used—see, they are labeled; the speedy upon those whose existence is merely a vexation to me and whom I prefer to waste no time dispatching from the world; and these, marked slow, are for those with whom I am obliged to proceed unhurriedly, whether because of political reasons or simply to divert suspicion away from myself. Depending upon the specific case, the envenoming will be accomplished either here in Paris, at your home or at mine, or in the provinces, or, again, abroad.
“Now as to the second of your functions—in all likelihood the more arduous of the two; it will also prove the more lucrative, however. Endowed with a very puissant imagination, everyday pleasures meaning nothing to me any more, Nature having given me a very fiery temperament, eminently cruel tastes, and where means are concerned all that is needed to satisfy these furious passions, I shall, whether at your residence or at Noirceuil’s or at the home of some one or other of my friends, sup in the libertine manner twice a week; at each of these routs a minimum of three victims must infallibly and obligatorily be sacrificed. Per year, if we deduct the time spent in traveling—you will accompany me on some of my journeys—that comes, I believe, to approximately two hundred whores, the procuring whereof is to be your concern only; howbeit, these victims must meet certain specifications. Firstly, Juliette, the ugliest of them all has got to be at least as well-favored as yourself; I accept none younger than nine, nor above sixteen years of age; each must be a virgin, of excellent birth, titled if possible, wealthy in any case—”
“And you mean to say, my Lord, that you destroy all those?”
“Indeed I do, Madame. Murder is the sweetest of all my voluptuous practices, there are no limits to my fondness for blood, shedding it is the foremost of my passions; and to satisfy them all, come what may and hang the price, there’s the foremost of my principles.”
Seeing that Saint-Fond was waiting for my response, I said, “My Lord, what I have revealed to you so far of my character must, I should think, be sufficient proof that I cannot possibly fail you; my self-interest and tastes are your guarantee of my good faith. Yes, my Lord, it is very true, Nature gave me the same passions she gave you … the same cast of mind, too; and he who indulges in these things out of love of them will surely serve you better than he who obeys in order to please you rather than himself: the bond of friendship, a similarity of taste: such, be sure of it, such are the ties that most powerfully bind a woman like me.”
“As regards friendship, bah! refrain from alluding to it, Juliette,” the Minister said very sharply; “I hold that sentiment as empty, as illusory as love. Whatever originates in the heart is false; for my part, I believe in the senses alone, I believe alone in the carnal habits and appetites … in self-seeking, in self-aggrandizement, in self-interest. Aye, self-interest, of all possible bonds, shall always be the one in which I shall place the greatest faith; and I would therefore have it that the arrangements I am going to conclude with you be overwhelmingly to your personal advantage. Should taste develop later on as decoration to the self-interest structure, well and good; but tastes are fickle, they change with the years, the time may even come when one is guided by them no longer—but one always is by self-interest. So let us reckon up your little fortune, Madame: Noirceuil has assured you ten thousand livres per annum, I’ve provided you with three, you had twelve before; that makes twenty-five; and here are twenty-five thousand more—put this contract in a place of safekeeping—where are we now? Fifty? Fifty. Now let’s enter into a few details.”
The Minister was not displeased to have me prostrate myself before him; when I was done airing my thanks he bade me return to my chair and hear him out.
“I am quite as aware as you, Juliette, that with such a slender revenue you could not hope to provide for the two weekly suppers I shall require, nor dream of maintaining the house I ordered you to take; hence, I shall give you a million to defray the cost of those suppers; but bear it well in mind that they are to be of unparalleled magnificence, the most exquisite meats, the rarest wines, the most extraordinary fowl and fruits will be served at them always, and immense quantity must be joined to the finest in quality: even if we were only two to dine, fifty courses would obviously be too few. You will have twenty thousand francs apiece for the victims, and that is not overmuch in view of the standards they shall have to meet. You will be allotted a further thirty thousand francs gratuity for every ministerial victim you immolate personally; there will be roughly fifty of these each year, this article thus coming to some fifteen hundred thousand francs annually, to which I am adding a monthly twenty thousand francs for your appointments. Unless I have erred in my computations, this, Madame, totals to a yearly six million seven hundred ninety thousand francs; we shall throw in two hundred ten thousand more for your pocket money, supplementary charges, and divers trifles, so rounding the sum out to an even seven million, whereof, if you like, you may bank fifty thousand, yours by contract. Will this do, Juliette?”
Suppressing all outward signs of a tremendous elation, for greater yet was the greed consuming me, I was silent a moment, pursing my lips and seeming to take counsel with myself; then I ventured to draw the Minister’s attention to certain facts: the duties he was prescribing me were, to say the least, quite as onerous as the sums of which he was making me mistress were considerable; I was eager that he never be caused the slightest disappointment; it seemed to me altogether possible, nay, likely, that the huge expenses I was going to have to incur would largely exceed the resources at my disposal; and that, besides….
“You need say no more,” the Minister interrupted; “you have spoken in an idiom I apprehend perfectly, and you have persuaded me that you have your own interest ever in view. That, Juliette, is precisely what I wish; for I now know that I shall be irreproachably served. Stint on nothing, Madame, and you will have ten million a year; we have no reason to be niggardly. A conte
mptible fool, that statesman who neglects to have the State finance his pleasures; and if the masses go hungry, if the nation goes naked, what do we care so long as our passions are satisfied? Mine entail inordinate spending; if I thought gold flowed in their veins, I’d have every one of the people bled to death.”2
“Adorable man,” I cried, “your philosophy positively inflames me. A moment ago you detected the motive of selfishness in me; it is now doubled by that of taste, believe me, and be persuaded also, that my zeal in your service shall be owing a thousand times more to worship of such pleasures than to any other cause.”
“I have witnessed you in action,” Saint-Fond rejoined; “your conduct augured well. And indeed, how could you help but be enamored of my passions? The human heart is capable of engendering none more delicious than they. And he who is in a position to say—No prejudice hinders me, I have overcome them all; on the one hand, I possess the influence that legitimates my every gesture; on the other, the means necessary to committing every crime—I tell you, Juliette, such a one is the happiest of mortals. Ah. That reminds me, Madame, of the patents of impunity D’Albert promised you when last we supped together. I have the papers here, they arrived this morning; it was I who requested them of the Chancellor, not D’Albert—whose habitual forgetfulness, you understand, goes with his post.”
This multitude of favorable developments, this windfall, the prospects opened up to me—I was as though spellbound, and quite speechless. Saint-Fond brought me forth from my trance when he drew me to him and, asking, “How long shall it be ere we begin, Juliette?” kissed me and ran his hand down my behind, into which he promptly popped a finger.
“My Lord,” said I, “I must have three weeks at least to ready all the organization.”
“Three weeks then. Today is the first of the month, Juliette. I shall sup at your residence on the twenty-second, at seven.”
“There is something else, my Lord,” I went on. “You have deigned to describe your tastes to me; I may perhaps tell you something of mine. You are already aware of those concerning the crimes I shall be able to commit with you; this document allows me to steal to my heart’s desire; pray furnish me the wherewithal to revenge myself against an eventual enemy.”
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