THE 
 
 ERRY ORDER OF ST, BRIDGET 
 
 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS OF 
 
 THE USE OF THE ROD 
 
 By MARGARET ANSON 
 
 k^t^ 
 
 YORK: PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR'S FRIENDS 
 
 MDCCCLVII 
 
',- • . ... 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Letter I. — 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Chateau de Floris 
 
 I 
 
 Letter II. — 
 
 
 The Initiatory Ceremony 
 
 1 9 
 
 Letter III. — 
 
 
 The Fair Flagellants 
 
 33 
 
 Letter IV. — 
 
 
 Training a Page 
 
 45 
 
 Letter V. — 
 
 
 A Remarkable Religieuse 
 
 75 
 
 Letter VI. 
 
 
 Preparing for a Sensation 
 
 99 
 
 Letter VII. — 
 
 
 The Whipping of Cupid 
 
 119 
 
 A Conjugal Scene 
 
 . 136 
 
 MS01810 
 
 
IV CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Letter VIII. — 
 
 The Woman in White . . .147 
 
 Madlle. Loupe . . . 153 
 
 Letter IX. — 
 
 A Roland for an Oliver . . .164 
 
 Fanciful Flogging . . . 173 
 
 Letter X. — 
 
 The Princesse's Story . . .193 
 
 Letter XI. — 
 
 A Profitable Pupil .... 205 
 
 Letter XII. — 
 
 " Which ends this strange Eventful History " 223 
 
THE 
 
 @Mepry ©pderofo)t. Bridget. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE CHATEAU DE FLO R IS. 
 
 Laura Housf, Bayswater, 
 April 10th 1868. 
 
 My dear Marion, 
 
 I am sure you must have wondered what 
 
 has become of me in all these years (three, isn't it?) since 
 
 we met at Lord E 's place. Perhaps you won't care 
 
 to hear from me again, and will fancy I have forgotten 
 
 our old friendship ; indeed, my dear, it is not so, but 
 
 I've been knocking about a bit, and seen the world. 
 
 I've been in Paris two years in two different places, 
 
 and learned as much in that time as many folks do in 
 
 a lifetime. Cooped up as you are in a humdrum sort of 
 
 A 
 
'fll\ ' //.MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 place, with one old lady, you can have no idea of what 
 goes on in livelier households. In my last place I was 
 one of six lady's maids, all with nothing to do but to 
 attend to some separate part of our lady's toilet. I 
 entered her service from that of a grave austere woman 
 with no ideas of colour beyond brown and grey, and a 
 tremendous church-goer, so you may imagine what a 
 change it was. I soon wearied of that place, you may 
 be sure, and was glad when the Marquise St. Valery 
 took me into her service. The Marquis was immensely 
 proud and very poor, but he bestowed his titles and 
 position upon a banker's daughter, whose wealth was 
 said to be fabulous. When she married and took her 
 station among the elite of Parisian society, she made 
 up her mind that she would be unapproachable in the 
 matter of luxury. My dear, I can give you no idea of 
 her magnificence or her extravagance. Her house, her 
 carriages, her servants, and the splendour of her attire 
 were the themes of all Paris, and when she appeared 
 in public she had quite a retinue of admirers and flat- 
 terers ; while at home she seemed to hold a levee from 
 morning till night. Her toilettes were the admiration 
 of all the fashionable world, and her dressmaker had 
 only to announce that she had anything in hand for 
 
THE CHATEAU DE FLORIS. 3 
 
 the Marquise St. Valery, to have her shop crowded 
 from morning till night with ladies eager to get a sight 
 of what the Queen of Fashion was going to appear in 
 next. She was a large voluptuous-looking woman, 
 with a splendid bust and arms, and almost anything 
 looked well upon her, — and for luxurious habits, I 
 never knew anyone who could approach her. I fancied 
 I was pretty wide awake before I went there, but I 
 learned things I never dreamed of in that establish- 
 ment. If I had you with me for a day I could tell 
 you such things ! Perhaps I may put some of them 
 into a letter yet Nothing I could see done or hear 
 of being done by fine ladies would astonish me now 
 after what I have seen in that place as well as my 
 present one. We were six of us lady's maids, and 
 every one had her special duties, — mine was her lady- 
 ship's head, and it was no sinecure, for her hair was 
 her weakest point ; it was neither of good quality nor 
 luxuriant, and yet, when she was dressed, she appeared 
 to have a magnificent head. This was my province, 
 and she would change her style half-a-dozen times 
 a day sometimes. You see it was no trouble to her, 
 except to sit and have it put on ; so she would wear 
 Madonna bands in the morning, ringlets in the car- 
 
4 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 riage, and a Pompadour coiffure for the evening. I 
 had enough to do with it all. Another maid had the 
 dresses, a third the under linen, and a fourth took charge 
 of her stockings and shoes. Then there was one over 
 us all whose business it was to arrange the toilettes, 
 and superintend the general effect, and woe to her if 
 our lady was not pleased ! With all her money, the 
 Marquise had an exceedingly vulgar temper. The 
 other maid had the charge of the bath and the linen 
 belonging to it, and her post was not easy to fill. My 
 lady was particular about her scents and powders, and 
 was given to changing her mind at the last minute, 
 and railing because water could not be drawn off, and 
 fresh put in, in half-a-dozen seconds. Then she had 
 pages I don't know how many ; they seemed to be all 
 over the place, dressed in all kinds of fantastic liveries 
 — one to hand letters, another to fetch refreshments, 
 another to be always in waiting, &c, &c. ; indeed, 
 there was no end to her vagaries, and for a long time 
 I wondered what she wanted with so many of them, 
 and how she kept them in order. I soon found out. 
 She practised whipping, as almost every fashionable 
 lady does, and kept them in order with the rod. I 
 dare say, shut up as you are, you have never seen any- 
 
THE CHATEAU DE FLORIS. 5 
 
 thing of the practice since you and I were girls to- 
 gether at Mme. Duhauton's. Do you remember how 
 we used to indulge in whipping on the sly, when 
 Madame thought we were in bed ? That was a very 
 untutored way of proceeding. I have learned better 
 since, and I can tell you that the passion for the rod 
 is one which grows ; I am as ardent a votary of whip- 
 ping now as any of the ladies I have served, and I 
 have had two mistresses who loved it dearly. Mme. 
 St. Valery kept her women and pages in order with 
 the rod, and taught us to dread it, but she was not 
 refined in her manner of using it ; she would begin 
 well enough, but it was sure to end in her getting in 
 a passion. Many a time I have smarted well in her 
 service, but if she hit hard she knew how to heal the 
 smarts,— a twenty franc billet-de-banc is a good plaster 
 for the weals of a lady's rod, and many and many a 
 one I got from her. I might have made a heap of 
 money if I had not been wasteful, for I've been with 
 people who flung it about like dirt, and thought no 
 more of five pound notes than you and I should think 
 of penny pieces. I was obliged to leave the Marquise 
 at last — I could not stand her tantrums ; the money 
 was all very well, but there was no pleasing her, or 
 
6 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 the principal maid either, and as good luck would have 
 it, my present lady wanted a maid, and was pleased 
 with the style of the Marquise's head-dress, and so 
 took me. I call her my lady still, though I have left 
 her for a time, and come to live with her mother, a 
 horrid old frump ; the fact is, I am in a kind of dis- 
 grace. We had been paying a long visit at the 
 Chateau de Floris. near Tours, and there was nothing 
 going on all day long but gaiety and fun, and the 
 time passed quickly enough. My lady had to leave 
 there ; you'd see her name in the papers. She tells 
 her friends she came home to recruit, but that's not it. 
 My lord brought her off in a hurry, and sent me here, 
 and what do you think for ? for going in with a lot 
 more ladies for a sort of club — great fun and secret — 
 only ladies admitted — and how it got to my lord's ears 
 was the funniest part of all. Anyhow, we had to come 
 away, and he is furious. You will want to know 
 what the club was about ; well, it was made up of 
 dressing, talking, and whipping. Yes, my dear, a 
 regular whipping society, where the rod was used with 
 all due forms and ceremonies, and ladies practised and 
 submitted to punishment in every conceivable form. 
 I thought of it all the other day when I came upon a 
 
THE CHATEAU DE FLORIS. / 
 
 pompous newspaper paragraph about the abolition of 
 whipping in schools and homes, and the decline of the 
 " barbarous " practice of the rod. Ah, my dear, news- 
 paper folks don't know everything ! I think you and 
 I could tell them a little about it. But you wanted 
 to know about the fashions ; you've got them all in 
 England, my dear, only the English ladies are not so 
 finished as the French — they don't do things so com- 
 pletely. When I was at Tours — and a funny old place 
 it is — I saw as much of the fashions as though I had 
 been in Paris. There was a large party staying there 
 (at the Chateau de Floris : it is a big old place, al- 
 most like a town), and every day the ladies appeared 
 in different dresses in the salons, to say nothing of 
 what they wore in their own private rooms. I know 
 my lady spent a fortune while she was there ; she 
 would dress in her own room, where no mortal eyes 
 could see her but mine, in lace and linen, embroidered 
 silk shoes and lace stockings, expensive enough to pro- 
 vide a family with food and clothes for a year. The 
 Count de Floris spared no expense to please his visi- 
 tors ; and the chateau, which was so secluded as to 
 appear miles from any town, was beautifully furnished 
 and decorated. The Count was a bachelor, and that 
 
8 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 perhaps accounted for some of the freaks of his lady 
 guests,who could not have ventured upon their vagaries 
 with a mistress at the head of affairs. The drawing- 
 rooms of the chateau were splendid ; the new blue was 
 the prevailing colour of the draperies, relieved with 
 silver and satin wood for the framework of the furni- 
 ture. That the ladies' complexions might not be tried, 
 or the effect of their toilettes marred, there were dra- 
 peries of white lace very cleverly interspersed, and the 
 prevailing tint of the painted floors and wall paper was 
 white also. The rooms were beautiful to look into of a 
 night when the company were all there in their evening 
 toilettes. One which my lady wore at a ball excited 
 great admiration, and envy too, for she had it sent 
 down from Paris, made after a design she sketched 
 for Elise herself. You know she is dark, and she 
 chose amber for the colour of her robe ; she wore the 
 new pannier petticoat, which only wants a little more 
 expansion to grow into the curious hoops of more than 
 a hundred years ago, when ladies could have carried 
 a box on each side of them ; it is a very small affair 
 at present, only meant to support the dress a little, 
 but mark my words, my dear, it wiMgtow — see if it 
 does not. The bottom of it was frilled and edged 
 
THE CHATEAU DE FLOK1S. 9 
 
 with Cluny lace, and for bodice my lady wore one 
 of the new slip bodies which form a chemisette and 
 bodice in one. The upper part of it was covered 
 with puffings of amber satin trimmed with lace, and 
 sleeves of the same. My lady always wears sleeves, 
 though it is by no means the prevailing mode here ; 
 she says that it is not modest to wear a string of 
 jewels or a slight spray of artificial flowers for a 
 shoulder strap, leaving the arm entirely bare ; but it 
 was not modesty, it was my lord ! She appeared in a 
 costume of that sort once, and he flew into a passion, 
 and made her go and put on something more modest. 
 My lady was very angry, for she is a fine made woman, 
 and her bust and arms are worth looking at. But she 
 pretends now to dislike the fashion. Her stockings 
 were of silk, the new tint of pink — it is more like 
 the faintest possible shade of mauve than anything 
 else — with clocks up the sides, and her slippers were 
 of amber satin, with high gilt heels. They were 
 pointed at the toe in the Marie Antoinette style, and 
 had rosettes with ruby ornaments in the centre ; 
 the rosette was of the new blue, edged with black 
 lace and tipped with diamonds. My lady has a 
 lovely foot and ankle, and she knows it, and is fond 
 
10 MEKKV ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 of having it admired ; indeed, her legs and feet have 
 been painted, and modelled, and sung about, by artists, 
 and sculptors, and poets, — and no wonder. I've served 
 a good many fine ladies and beautiful women, but 
 such a symmetrical calf and ankle as hers I never saw 
 It was her feet that first attracted the attention of 
 a certain Royal Highness, which caused so much 
 scandal a year or two ago, — my lady is almost old 
 enough to be his mother, but that does not matter 
 where beauty is concerned. She wore an amber train, 
 very long behind, with six puffings round the bottom 
 of the skirt ; over that, a satin tunic made in a very 
 curious fashion. The front was square and short, like 
 an apron ; the back was in three divisions, a good way 
 apart, with deep black lace flounces between them, 
 the bottom one going round the front and along the 
 edge of the apron. The flounces were looped at the 
 sides with large stars of blue flowers mixed with 
 diamonds and rubies, and the head-dress corresponded. 
 It was a curious costume, but it suited my lady well. 
 At the same ball, a young lady appeared in a dress 
 which had almost no body ; it was so bare that when- 
 ever she moved the whole of her bosom could be 
 seen, and was confined on the shoulder by a wreath 
 
THE CHATEAU DE FLORIS. 1 [ 
 
 of snowdrops, cunningly fastened together. The 
 whole of a most beautiful arm was thus exposed, an 
 arm as faultless as my mistress's leg ; it looked like 
 veined marble, against a dress of rich pink silk : her 
 arms were that young lady's specialty, and she took 
 care every one should know it. The turn of her neck 
 was another lady's great point, and she was as careful to 
 let no necklace or anything else come high enough on 
 her throat to interfere with the exhibition of it ; she 
 wore a dress of rich blue, trimmed with white lace 
 and pearls, and strings of pearls in her dark hair. 
 The luxury and extravagance of the ladies would 
 sound like a fairy tale if put in print, and I don't 
 wonder at my Lord taking fright as he did, though 
 my lady was not near so thoughtless as some of them. 
 Our rooms were beautifully fitted up : the bedroom 
 was hung with the new Paris pattern chintz — ugly 
 enough I thought it, but it is all the rage, — and my 
 lord's dressing room was en suite ; my lady's was 
 different, being all hung with amber and purple, amber 
 predominating, and splendid white lace curtains. Her 
 toilet table was beautiful to look at, for, in addition 
 to her own service, which we carried with us, the 
 Count had given orders that no expense should be 
 
12 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 spared to make her room as elegant as possible. 
 Out of this apartment opened a bath-room, with 
 fittings of white marble and grey draperies, relieved 
 with blue and gold ; it was warmed by a patent stove 
 which also heated a small cupboard for warm towels 
 if required. The windows were beautifully painted 
 with arms of the De Floris, which device was also 
 woven into all the napery used at the chateau. The 
 linen was of the most exquisite description ; the 
 trimmed sheets and pillow-cases were of the finest 
 texture — all woven expressly for the Count, with his 
 cypher in the corners and a border of fleur de lis. 
 Ah, the Count was a thorough gentleman, Marion : he 
 gave me a present of a purse containing ten louis d'ors 
 when I left, and, — but that has nothing to do with it ; 
 ladies'-maids have charms as well as their mistresses, 
 and gentlemen have eyes. But I know you are dying 
 to hear all about the club, and how it was set afoot. 
 I can hardly tell you that, but it began with some 
 nonsense in my lady's room. She had just come out 
 of her bath one day, and was sitting in her chemise 
 and a loose wrapper, for me to put her stockings on. 
 
 when Lady C knocked at the door. There were 
 
 some queer tales going about respecting Lady C 
 
THE CHATEAU DE FLORIS. 1 3 
 
 and her maids ; she was a passionate, proud woman, 
 and had more than once got into scrapes for allowing 
 her love for the rod to carry her greater lengths in 
 punishing them than they would quietly brook. Her 
 present maid, Stephens by name, looked a regular 
 tartar, and I don't think her ladyship ever tried it on 
 
 with her. Lady C started at seeing my lady 
 
 half naked, and whispered something in her ear — 
 
 " Oh, nonsense !" my lady said. 
 
 " Why nonsense, my clear ? It is universally prac- 
 tised f and then she added something in too low a 
 tone for me to hear, and my lady laughed again. 
 
 " Send your maid away," says Lady C , " and 
 
 we'll try." 
 
 11 Go down stairs till I ring, Anson," my lady said. 
 
 "Not if I know it," I said to myself; and I did 
 not go far, you may be sure. I guessed what they 
 were going to be at, and I was not far wrong. I 
 crept round to the door which communicated with my 
 
14 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 lord's room, and peeped through the keyhole. They 
 had locked it, but the key was conveniently turned, 
 and I could see all that transpired. 
 
 " Now for the formula," says Lady C . 
 
 " But where's the rod ?" my lady asked. 
 
 " Oh ! I'll soon make one, my dear." 
 
 With that she opened the window, and broke off 
 some slender sprigs from a myrtle which grew outside, 
 completely spoiling the bush by doing it. In a few- 
 moments she had them bare of leaves, and tied to- 
 gether with a blue embroidered garter, with silver 
 fringe, which lay upon the floor. 
 
 11 Too short to be of much use/' she said ; " but 
 we'll try. Come, my lady, kiss the rod." 
 
 And my lady knelt and did it, laughing all the while ; 
 
 and then Lady C pinned up her chemise all round, 
 
 and gave her a good whipping across her knee. Not 
 with the myrtle, though — it proved too brittle, and 
 
THE CHATEAU DE ELORIS. 1 5 
 
 broke off in little twigs with every blow. Lady 
 
 C was at no loss : she didn't let go of my lady ; 
 
 but put up her great ugly foot, and whipped off her 
 slipper. Such a slipper ! it had done duty at more 
 than one ball, and was all frayed and soiled at the 
 edges ; she was not like my lady, dainty about her 
 feet in the privacy of her own room, but went any 
 way, to Stephens' great annoyance, who lost the 
 reversion of many things which should by rights have 
 come to her. I think I can see that old woman now, 
 flourishing that old pink shoe ; and I could see by the 
 expression of my lady's face, that she did not relish 
 being touched with it. My lady had beautiful firm 
 flesh ; her skin, though dark, was clear and smooth, 
 and every stroke of the pliable slipper raised a deep 
 red mark. I could see that they were afraid of 
 making too much noise, and so the punishment was 
 not heavy, but my lady scuffled and screamed for all 
 that ; and when I was called in, by which time you 
 may be sure I was a long way off, she was very 
 flushed and a little hysterical, I took no notice, and 
 she little thought I had seen all that went on ; and 
 
 old Lady C (the old gorgon) had her shoe on 
 
 and went away to her own rooms, looking as stiff and 
 
1 6 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 stern as if she had never indulged in any pranks in 
 her life. I said to myself, " This won't be the last of 
 it, ' and I was right ; for you know, my dear how the 
 passion for the rod grows upon those who practise it. 
 It wasn't long before the same thing occurred again ; 
 only, this time there were three ladies present, who all 
 took part in whipping and being whipped. My lady 
 had made a rod herself for the occasion, out of some 
 thin whalebone ; and a stinging thing it must have 
 been, to judge from the fidgets which seemed to afflict 
 them all after the performance was over. And so it 
 went on, till one morning I was made to dress her 
 with more than usual care, and nearly all the married 
 ladies in the chateau met in her rooms, and went in 
 procession to the Count with a comical petition that 
 the tabagie, which was a magnificently fitted room 
 and in great request, might be given up to their use. 
 Of course the gentlemen objected to give up their 
 special den, where they could retire and enjoy them- 
 selves their own way, without fear of interruption ; 
 but the ladies had their own special reasons for want- 
 ing that particular room. I haven't, however, time to 
 tell you what they wanted with it now ; I hear wheels, 
 and my lady will want me : I'll write again as soon as 
 
THE CHATEAU DE FLORIS. \J 
 
 ever I have time, for what came of it was great fun. — 
 Meantime, believe me, 
 
 Your affectionate friend, 
 
 Margaret Anson. 
 
 P.S. — I shall write the next letters just as if I was 
 still at the Chateau de Floris, and still engaged in the 
 amusements of the day. 
 
 B 
 
LETTER II. 
 
 the initiatory ceremony. 
 
 My dear Marion, 
 
 I haven't had a minute since I wrote last 
 — my lady has been ill ; neuralgia she calls it, I call it 
 tantrums— but that's no matter. I have got a moment 
 to myself again at last. Where did 1 leave off? Oh, 
 I remember ! about the ladies asking for the tabagie. 
 They got it, and the gentlemen had to take to another 
 smoking room. There was a great deal of joking and 
 fun about it, and the Count offered any other room in 
 the chateau ; but they had their set minds on it, and 
 they would have it. You see it was built out at the 
 back, and had two ante-rooms ; one the gentlemen used 
 for their hats and sticks, and the other was fitted up as 
 a lavatory. The tabagie opened on both of them, and 
 was a fine room, all fitted up with deep crimson 
 relieved with gold ; the furniture was ebony, and 
 the chairs and sofa backs were beautifully carved ; 
 
20 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 there was a sort of dais at the end farthest from the 
 door, covered with cushions, which was very useful to 
 the ladies, for they made it a president's seat. It was 
 some few days before they made all the necessary 
 arrangements, and in the meantime the Princesse 
 
 Z , a Russian Lady, and a great beauty, went to 
 
 Paris ; she would not let any one go for her, though 
 every one (gentlemen, at least) in the house offered to 
 go to the end of the world, if need be, to serve her, — 
 and I don't wonder at it, for she was a charming little 
 creature, petite and winning. She was a brunette, 
 like my mistress, but not so dark, and her silky brown 
 hair fell over her shoulders in the loveliest curls I ever 
 saw; she would never dress it in any of the new modes, 
 for she was very vain of it, and with good reason. 
 She was said to have the smallest foot in Europe, 
 and, indeed, her slippers were more like a child's 
 shoes than anything else. There were all sorts of 
 stories afloat concerning her, and it was pretty well 
 known that she was too lovely for the Empress' 
 peace of mind, or the Emperor's either for that 
 matter ; and that was why she was the Count de 
 Floris' guest instead of being at Court. She set off 
 for Paris in great style with her attendants : she did 
 
THE INITIATORY CEREMONY. 21 
 
 just as she liked, and her travelling retinue was fit for 
 a queen. The ostensible reason for her going was to 
 see her lawyer ; but that was not all, — and the ladies 
 glanced at one another, and laughed, when she gave 
 it with all the gravity possible. They knew well 
 enough what she went for ; and when they saw a long 
 box carried up to her dressing room, they did not launch 
 out into any inconvenient curiosity, as some of her 
 intimate friends among the gentlemen did. The day 
 after her return the ladies were to meet in the tabagie 
 for the first time ; and the servants had a time of it 
 putting it in order : everything belonging to the 
 gentlemen had to be cleaned out, and the room 
 scented and purified from every taint of tobacco. 
 This wasn't an easy matter after years of smoking, 
 but the Count gave strict orders : he said that what- 
 ever the ladies insisted on should be done ; and be- 
 tween the gentlemen grumbling, and the ladies fidget- 
 ting, and the servants protesting, the nice old lady 
 who was the housekeeper had a hard time of it. But 
 it was done at last, and very thoroughly too, and 
 placed at the ladies' disposal. A chair was set upon 
 the dais, and others all round the room. A large 
 ottoman, about the height of a chair, was wheeled in 
 
22 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 front of the president's seat ; and two handsome 
 branch candlesticks, which, by right, belonged to the 
 hall, were placed on each side of it ; and vases of cut 
 flowers arranged on all the brackets, which were fixed 
 for the gentlemen's tobacco jars and cigar stands. 
 The gentlemen laughed, and teased the ladies, and 
 one or two went so far as to say to their wives that 
 they insisted on knowing what it was all about ; but 
 they got nothing for their pains, save jest for jest, and 
 repartee for questioning. At first it was only the 
 married ladies who joined the assembly, but they 
 were soon reinforced by the others, till at the time 
 of my leaving the chateau all the guests, save a few 
 of the oldest ladies, were mixed up in it. I knew 
 what they were all about, for I " listened up," as some 
 one says in a farce, and I knew that sooner or later 
 they would want me, which they did on the very first 
 night. They all agreed to wear fancy dresses, and 
 that, with some of them, meant just going as near 
 naked as they could. One young married lady went 
 as Una, without the lion of course, and really she 
 went as near nature as she could ; she had a thin 
 tunic of some glittering stuff, and so few petticoats 
 that I could see her beautiful limbs through it every 
 
THE INITIATORY CEREMONY. 23 
 
 time she moved, — and she was a lovely figure. My 
 lady went, that first evening, as la belle Sauvage, Mexi- 
 can style : a skirt of feathers sewed on to flame- 
 coloured silk, a flesh-coloured bodice, no sleeves, 
 and a real tiger skin hanging from her shoulders, — 
 bare feet in sandals of skin with the hair on. She 
 looked very lovely when her black hair hung loose 
 over her neck and bosom, sparkling with drops to 
 imitate dew ; and it seemed a pity that only ladies 
 were to look at her. When I had finished dressing 
 
 her, and thrown a mantle round her, Lady C 
 
 came in hurriedly. 
 
 " We shall make a mess of it after all, without our 
 maids," she said ; " it will be fatiguing, and we shall 
 require so many things." 
 
 " But it won't do to let them into the secret," my 
 lady said ; I could trust Anson here, but I know 
 you all can't say as much for your women." 
 
 "We must have some one," Lady C said. 
 
 " As president, I could not do without an attendant 
 to,— to— " 
 
24 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 u Oh yes, I know, Anson will do/' said my lady 
 with a laugh ; " she must be initiated, though." 
 
 They both laughed at this, and I felt rather uncom- 
 fortable, for I had an inkling of what being initiated 
 meant ; but my curiosity overcame my distaste for 
 the ceremony, and I curtseyed in silence. My lady 
 bade me bring her several articles of lingerie from 
 her drawers, and lay them out on the sofa beside her ; 
 also a handsome cashmere peignoir from the wardrobe. 
 
 " These will do," she said ; " dress yourself care- 
 fully, Anson, against we want you downtsairs ; make 
 your hair neat, and put on that little lace cap, and 
 those things, — nothing more. 
 
 I curtseyed again, and my lady went down stairs 
 with her friend, leaving me to prepare for my coming 
 installation as maid to these fair flagellants, for such 
 I now knew they were. Their meetings had hitherto 
 taken place in my mistress' room, where they had 
 exercised the rod upon one another, but none of their 
 maids were near, — I took care of that, for I did not 
 much like any of them : the French girls were not 
 
THE INITIATORY CEREMONY. 25 
 
 fond of me, because I was a foreigner ; and the 
 English ones were very jealous, because the gentle- 
 men gave me more five franc pieces and paid me 
 more attention than any of them, to say nothing of 
 the valets, any one of whom I might have had if I had 
 chosen. But that is not to the purpose. I took a 
 bath, for I knew as well as my lady the best way to 
 make myself attractive, and I knew, too, that not a 
 lady in the chateau had a fairer or clearer skin than 
 myself. I used freely the perfume and powder on 
 the bath-room table, and did not neglect to scent the 
 water as well. 
 
 I was determined, although my dress was to be so 
 plain, that none of them should excel me in flesh and 
 blood beauty at any rate. Then I brushed and scented 
 my hair and coiled it up under the cap ; I knew the 
 ladies did not want a foil but a set-off to their beauty, 
 so I did my best to make myself as neat and quiet- 
 looking as possible. I put on the things laid out for 
 me, and beautiful things they were too ; a chemise of 
 fine lawn, trimmed with Valenciennes lace and inser- 
 tion ; a soft white flannel petticoat worked round the 
 bottom with silk ; another of white cashmere, very 
 
26 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 fine, with a flounce round the bottom edged with 
 sky-blue velvet. For bodice I had one of my lady's 
 embroidered ones, and over all the handsome blue 
 peignoir, with ruchings of white ; no stays or drawers, 
 and nothing on my feet except blue morning slippers, 
 with tiny white rosettes. They were of watered silk, 
 sandalled over my instep with blue satin ribbon ; they 
 were a pair of my lady's (our feet were exactly the 
 same size, which was convenient for me). In this 
 custume I waited the summons not without a good 
 deal of curiosity and some dread. I knew thoroughly 
 well what the sting of a rod was like, and it was not 
 that I feared, but I knew how far the ladies could go 
 in the matter of tormenting one another, and what 
 might they not take it into their heads to do to me ? 
 
 I had not long to wait, for presently Lady C 's 
 
 maid, Stephens, came in, and said snappishly, 
 
 " You're to come down." 
 
 Stephens was a cross-grained creature, whom we 
 none of us liked ; she was always interfering with ou r 
 pleasures. She was ip a cloak too, and I could see 
 
THE INITIATORY CEREMONY. 2J 
 
 she was dressed something like myself, only not with 
 
 such taste. Lady C never could dress Ike my 
 
 mistress. Stephens wasn't in the secret, and was in- 
 clined to be very cross. 
 
 " I wonder what all this tomfoolery is about," she 
 said ; " I wanted to have gone out this evening." 
 
 I knew, but I held my tongue. I hoped I should 
 be taken into the room first, and then I should enjoy 
 her surprise. We went down stairs to the tabagie, 
 the door of which was closed, and one of the maids of 
 the Princesse Z standing outside. 
 
 " How I should like to be you two," she said ; 
 " Madame says she can't trust me." 
 
 We were each put into a separate room — mine was 
 the lavatory — and our eyes blindfolded with a handker- 
 chief. It seemed to me a long time I waited, but I 
 suppose it was only a few minutes, and then some one 
 entered the room. 
 
 44 Take off your cloak," a voice said that I knew 
 
28 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 for that of Mrs D , an English lady, fat, fair, and 
 
 forty, full of life and fun, who had been one of the 
 movers of the scheme — " Now come with me." 
 
 The door of the tabagie was opened, and she led 
 me in ; then it was shut and locked, and I heard the 
 sound of suppressed laughter all around me. 
 
 Then a voice from the end of the room called 
 " Silence, if you please, ladies ! " and three knocks 
 sounded on a table., and the same voice asked " Who 
 comes there ? " 
 
 Prompted by Mrs D , I answered, "A candidate 
 
 for a place in the Merry Order of St. Bridget." 
 
 " Are you prepared to serve the Merry Order to the 
 best of your power, and to assist, as bidden by your 
 mistress, in the ceremonies thereof? " 
 
 " I am." 
 
 " And do you bind yourself never to reveal aught 
 that you see, hear or do in this room, on peril of losing 
 your place without a character ? " 
 
THE INITIATORY CEREMONY. 29 
 
 " I do." 
 
 M Do you know the object of the Merry Order?" 
 " I do." 
 " Detail it." 
 
 Again prompted, I replied, " The wholesome and 
 pleasant discipline of the rod, to be enforced by its 
 members one upon another during their social meet- 
 ings in this room." 
 
 " Have you ever been whipped ? " 
 
 " I have. v 
 
 " Do you promise to submit to such flagellation as 
 the Merry Order shall ordain for you without rebellion 
 or murmuring thereat ? 
 
 " I do." 
 
 " Prepare her." 
 
30 MERRY ORDER OF ST. 3RIDGET. 
 
 I heard more tittering when this order was given, 
 
 and I could feel that Mrs D was shaking" with 
 
 suppressed laughter as she obeyed the command, and 
 took off my peignor. She pinned up the petticoats 
 and chemise to my shoulders, .and then, my dear, I 
 knew what was coming. Then some one else took 
 
 hold of one of my hands, and Mrs D the other, 
 
 and waited the word of command. 
 
 " Advance." 
 
 They led me forward, and at the first step a stinging 
 blow from a birch fell on my hips from one side, then 
 from the other, till I had gone the length of the room. 
 I screamed and struggled, but it was all in vain ; my 
 guides held me tight, and by the time they stopped I 
 could only sob and writhe. 
 
 Then came another command, " Kneel down," and 
 I knelt in front of the square ottoman ; the ladies held 
 
 my hands across it, and Lady C came down from 
 
 her dais, and whipped me till I hardly knew where I 
 was. Then they made me stand up, and her ladyship 
 said. 
 
THE INITIATORY CEREMONY. 3 1 
 
 " Ladies of the Order of St. Bridget, do you receive 
 Margaret Anson as a member and servitor sworn to 
 do your bidding ? " 
 
 " We do," said those who were not laughing. 
 
 '• Let her see," was the next order, and at the word 
 one lady let my clothes drop, and the other took the 
 bandage from my eyes. I was so smarting from the 
 whipping I had received, that I could see nothing for 
 
 a while, and Mrs D took me by the arm and led 
 
 me to the bottom of the room again. When I re- 
 covered myself enough to look about me, I saw a sight 
 that the newspaper man, whose paragraph I mentioned 
 in my last, never dreamed of, I am sure ; but I must 
 reserve it for my next, as my time and paper are both 
 exhausted. Send me a line to say you have received 
 this, and believe me, 
 
 Your sincere friend, 
 
 M. Anson. 
 
LETTER III. 
 
 THE FAIR FLAGELLANTS. 
 
 My Dear Marion, 
 
 I know you will be on thorns for the con- 
 tinuation of my story, to hear what it was I saw when 
 my eyes were unbound after the unmerciful lashing I 
 had received. As I told you, it was not very easy to 
 see anything, for I could only twist and writhe about 
 like an eel, and the ladies laughed most provokingly 
 at the wry faces I made. At length I could look 
 about me, and it was an odd scene I saw ; all round 
 the room the ladies stood, each one by her chair, with 
 a rod in her hand. The costumes were all different 
 and very fantastic, and most of their wearers looked 
 more than usually handsome from being flushed with 
 
 excitement. Lady C stood on her dais as a 
 
 priestess of I sis, with a wreath of bay leaves on her 
 head, and her white cashmere robe looped up above 
 one knee. She had sandals instead of shoes on her 
 feet, and as she is ugly, old, and fat, you may imagine 
 
 what she looked like in such a costume. Pretty little 
 
 C 
 
34 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET, ~ 
 
 Princesse Z stood on her right hand as a moyen- 
 
 age court page ; her costume of ruby velvet and white 
 satin shewed off her beauty to perfection, and the silk 
 tights displayed every muscle of her lovely legs. Mrs 
 
 D had chosen a genuine old-fashioned dress of 
 
 the commencement of the present century, in which 
 she looked very funny, with the waist just under her 
 arms, and the skirts so tight, that when she sat down 
 she was a spectacle to be seen. But I can't stay to de- 
 scribe all the dresses ; indeed, the ladies changed them 
 so often that it would be imposible ; and I don't 
 wonder at the gentlemen crying out at the expense of 
 their secret proceedings. Every lady held a rod in 
 her hand, made of lithe and strong twigs, tied up with 
 ribbons which corresponded with the colours of her 
 dress. It was to procure these that the Princesse 
 went to Paris ; to have sought them in the neighbour- 
 hood in such a quantity would have excited suspicion. 
 On the ottoman over which I had knelt to receive my 
 final castigation lay two more rods. 
 
 "Margaret Anson, approach," said Lady C 
 
 once more, and 1 went timidly forward, wondering 
 whether any more whipping was in store for me. 
 
THE FAIR FLAGELLANTS. 35 
 
 " Kneel down." 
 
 I knelt, and she presented me with a rod, and in- 
 formed me that I was now a servitor of the Merry 
 Order of St. Bridget — allowed to join their ceremonies, 
 and bound to do their bidding ; and then I was made 
 to go and stand at the bottom of the room ready to 
 do to the next comer as the ladies had done to me. 
 My dear, it nearly cured my smarts to think who the 
 
 next comer was — that cross old patch, Lady C 's 
 
 maid. There she was waiting in the dark all this 
 time in a pretty humour ; and I slily felt the twigs of 
 the rod I held to see that they were all separate and 
 in order for a good stinging blow. Mine would be 
 the first stroke, and I was resolved that it should pay 
 a good many little debts I owed her. My lady was 
 the messenger this time, and I knew she would do 
 her best to frighten Stephens, for she did not like 
 her. If the ladies had laughed when I was brought 
 in they laughed twice as much at poor Stephens. 
 She was a tall, gaunt woman, who never had been 
 pretty, with a sour, haggard face, which looked posi- 
 tively hideous with her bandaged eyes. She was 
 dressed in some of her lady's things, but they were 
 
36 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 far too short for her, and the washed-out green peig- 
 noir only made her sallow complexion look muddier 
 than ever. She was terribly bewildered, and when 
 the order " Prepare her " came from her mistress, and 
 she felt the ladies hands about her dress, she gave a 
 great jump and a scream, and struggled to get her 
 hands free. It was no use ; my lady made a sign to 
 me to hold them tight, and I did it with a will, I can 
 tell you. Poor Stephens ! kicks and struggles were no 
 use, her clothes were as securely pinned up as mine 
 had been in spite of her piteous outcries. 
 
 " Oh, my lady ! " she screamed, " Where's my lady ? 
 She never meant me to be used like this ! Oh, dear 
 ladies, let me go, and I'll do anything you like, and 
 never tell — no, not to mortal soul — anything I've seen 
 or heard here ! " 
 
 But the ladies only laughed, and told her if she did 
 not be quiet she should have her mouth tied up as 
 
 well as her eyes, and then Mrs D and my lady 
 
 took her hands and set off with her along the room as 
 I had been led. I thought some of the ladies would 
 laugh themselves into fits at the funny sight she was 
 
THE FAIR FLAGELLANTS. 37 
 
 when stripped ; she had taken a bath as I had done, 
 but hers was not the kind of skin on which water 
 makes any impression, so as to look healthy pink 
 and white after it ; it was all one uniform yellow- 
 like parchment, and her legs, my dear, they were 
 nothing but skin and bone, with great ugly knee 
 joints which stuck out in the queerest manner. My 
 arm was ready for the blow when the signal was given 
 for the start, and I let the rod I held come down with 
 right good will on her withered looking hips, and the 
 lady opposite followed it up with another given quite 
 as heartily. For a moment Stephens stood stock still 
 in such utter amazement as I never saw, and then, 
 giving a tremendous howl, she fell flat on the floor 
 and rolled over and over in her fright and pain. How 
 we got her up I hardly know, for we laughed so, but 
 she was raised on her feet somehow and dragged for- 
 ward to the ottoman. She did not get half the whip- 
 ping I did, for she struggled and kicked so, and be- 
 sides, the ladies were fairly exhausted with laughing 
 at her. / had to hold her across the stool,, and she 
 got it then pretty smartly ; when it was over she slid 
 down to the ground, and lay there twisting and groan- 
 ing. Lady C was very angry, and bid her sharply 
 
38 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 " get up and not make a fool of herself," but I verily 
 believe Stephens thought she had got into an assem- 
 bly of imps, or that the ladies were in league with the 
 prince of darkness himself — anything more ludicrously 
 rueful than her looks when they took the bandage 
 from her eyes I never saw. The rod which was given 
 to her seemed to relieve her a little, and I heard her 
 whisper, as she took her place and drew it through her 
 fingers, " Wait till / get a chance." 
 
 But neither she nor 1 ever got a chance again. Our 
 business was to prepare the ladies, to lead them up the 
 room, hold their hands, present the rods, serve refresh- 
 ments ; in fact, se>ve in any way that was required of 
 us. There was a universal vote for refreshments after 
 Stephens' admission, and I was ordered to the door to 
 tell the Princesse's maid to ring for them. She was 
 all curiosity, for she could hear a little but see nothing, 
 the doorway was too well shrouded. She was a lovely, 
 pretty creature, but not to be trusted ; she was too 
 great a flirt among the gentlemen in the housekeeper's 
 room. When the refreshments were brought, Stephens 
 and I had to wait upon the ladies, who seemed to have 
 gained an appetite for their wine and biscuits by their 
 
THE FAIR FLAGELLANTS. 39 
 
 frolic, and a good many of them were pleased to com- 
 pliment my lady and me upon the neatness of my 
 costume, and the good humour I had displayed in the 
 ordeal to which they had subjected me. 
 
 Then they began to settle the rules of their society ; 
 they would meet again in four days, and every lady 
 must be prepared to relate her own experiences, either 
 in the practice or endurance of flagellation,— if she 
 had none, she was to be initiated forthwith, by being 
 then and there flogged ; if any lady's-maid or page 
 had offended, the case was to be laid before the meet- 
 ing, and time and place appointed for punishment, 
 where two or three chosen could witness the ceremony 
 unseen ; and further, if any gentleman practised flog- 
 ging in his own apartments, his wife was bound to tell 
 it under oath of secresy. We, the new servitors, were 
 further sworn, under divers pains and penalties, not to 
 give our fellow-servants in the chateau a hint in any 
 way what punishment awaited their misdemeanours. 
 It was further agreed that any lady might take the 
 place of another to be flogged, if they could so agree 
 amongst themselves. There was a good deal of dis- 
 cussion as to whether the single ladies should be ad- 
 
40 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET, 
 
 raitted to the society, but it ended in an almost 
 universal decision that they should, Lady C de- 
 claring very spitefully, though with some truth, that 
 the girls of the present day know everything, and 
 they wouldn't be any way enlightened or abashed at 
 any experiences they might meet with in the Order 
 of St. Bridget. Most of the ladies seemed to think 
 it would be a new sensation the whipping of fresh 
 young girls, and so the arrangement was carried 
 universally. 
 
 Strangely enough, the Princesse Z was the 
 
 only lady who had no personal experiences to relate 
 and who therefore had to be whipped at the next 
 meeting. A Russian by birth, she had seen plenty of 
 whipping, but her parents had been too indulgent 
 to flog her, and she was far too good-natured, and too 
 indulgent withal, to whip her servants. She knelt 
 before the president's chair, and expressed herself 
 ready to suffer whipping at the hands of her sisters of 
 the Order, and kissing the rod, resumed her seat. 
 You may imagine what a chattering there was 
 amongst the ladies between that meeting and the 
 next ; and the wondering what the Princesse would 
 
THE FAIR FLAGELLANTS. 41 
 
 wear, and how she would stand the whipping. She 
 was very reserved about it, only saying her dress 
 should be becoming the occasion, and it was, On the 
 evening of the ceremony, she did not sit down with 
 the rest, and the ladies took their places as usual with 
 
 their rods. Mrs D was again appointed to fetch 
 
 the Princesse, and when she came in, the Merry Order 
 started, one and all, and gave a murmur of admira- 
 tion, for there she was in the garb of a penitent. A 
 white robe of the softest silk fell from her shoulders 
 to her feet, only confined at the waist by a thick gold 
 cord to imitate a rope ; no sleeves, nothing on her feet, 
 and her splendid hair tumbling to her waist in natural 
 curls. She had not an ornament of any kind, not a 
 ring even ; and if she had looked beautiful in full 
 dress, she was ten times more lovely now. She held 
 a great wax candle in one hand and a rod in the other, 
 and never moved a muscle of her pretty face amid all 
 the laughter which came from every part of the room. 
 
 tl Who comes there ? " demanded Lady C . 
 
 " An humble suppliant for the discipline of the 
 Merry Order of St. Bridget." 
 
42 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 ■ What is her offence ? " 
 
 " Ignorance." 
 
 " Of what ? " 
 
 " Of the discipline of the rod." 
 
 " Let her be prepared to receive it now." 
 
 I was directed to prepare the Princesse, and I 
 did so : revealing the most beautiful legs and hips in 
 the world when I turned up the dress, and the exqui- 
 sitely fine chemise, which was the only garment she 
 wore under it. Then Stephens and I took her hands, 
 in obedience to orders, and led her through the two 
 ranks of ladies, who each gave her a blow with their 
 rods, and I noticed that the ugly ones made their 
 strokes twice as hard as the pretty ones. It seemed 
 to me as though they were settling an account with 
 nature for their own ugliness, when they let their rods 
 fall on that white skin, from which red weals sprung 
 with every blow. 
 
THE FAIR FLAGELLANTS. 43 
 
 She bore it wonderfully, only a start now and then 
 betraying what she felt, though her rosy lips shewed 
 the traces of her teeth in more than one place. If 
 she had never felt the rod before, she knew how to 
 bear it ; and it seemed to me as though the ladies 
 tried their best to make her cry out. When she had 
 
 been whipped up to the dais, Lady C motioned 
 
 them to pause, and put her through a formula of 
 questions. 
 
 " Now you have felt the rod, are you prepared to 
 admit the pleasure of receiving as well as inflicting 
 chastisement by it ? " 
 
 rf I am." 
 
 It was hard work for the little lady to speak, but 
 she screwed her courage to the sticking place, and did 
 it bravely. 
 
 " And you swear to endure whatever punishment 
 the Merry Order may impose upon you in the future ? " 
 
 * I do." 
 
44 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 " Then kneel." 
 
 She knelt as we had done over the ottoman, and 
 
 Lady C , descending, dealt her several smart 
 
 blows with her birch and resumed her seat. 
 
 " Rise, Princesse MathiHe Z ," she said laughing; 
 
 " now and henceforth an initiated sister of the Merry 
 Order of St. Bridget." 
 
 I never saw such power of endurance in one so 
 fragile looking ; after a few minutes of silent writhing 
 she was able to speak again, and, curtseying, beg 
 permission to retire. She was led out and taken to 
 her room by two of the ladies, her maid not being 
 permitted to accompany her. She returned before 
 the meeting was over, a little flushed but quite calm, 
 in a loose dress and a soft shawl. I hope you won't 
 tell any one what I write to you about the ladies and 
 their doings : in my next I will tell you about a page 
 the Princesse picked up ; she wanted a new excite- 
 ment, and truly that boy has been an excitement to 
 all of us ; but you shall hear all about him in my 
 
 next. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 Margaret Anson. 
 
LETTER IV. 
 
 TRAINING A PAGE. 
 
 My dear Marion, 
 
 I told you at the end of my last letter 
 
 that the Princesse Z had taken it into her head 
 
 to have a page — a real article, no mock institution 
 made out of a lady dressed up — not even a well- 
 trained young gentleman from Paris — but a speci- 
 men of the raw material picked up in a field. The 
 whipping meetings languished a little after her own 
 installation ; expectation was on the qui vive all 
 over the chateau regarding the arrival of a certain 
 Mons. and Mme. Hautville, who were expected, and 
 of whom all sorts of reports were rife ; and, conse- 
 quently, things were a little flat. None of the un- 
 married ladies had come forward or sought admission 
 to the tabagie as yet. The ladies were disposed to 
 be cross and annoyed, and the Princesse's fancy was 
 a diversion for them. It was a queer fancy, and 
 gave me no little trouble. She was out driving one 
 
46 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 day with my lady, and was in one of her wilful 
 moods ; my lady was out of temper, but that was 
 because her toilet was not so successful as the 
 Princesse's. That was no wonder, for whatever that 
 little lady put on you thought it was the most 
 becoming thing you had ever seen her wear. That 
 day she was in gold-coloured satin and black velvet — 
 a gold-coloured petticoat, with Vandykes of black 
 round the bottom, the points upward ; meeting these 
 a peplum of black velvet depending from a bodice 
 of the same, with ruches of yellow satin. Her hat was 
 a black velvet toque, with a yellow feather, which 
 went from the front to the back, and fell upon her 
 shoulders behind. She had black satin Hessian 
 boots with gold buttons and tassels, and yellow 
 gloves with jet ornaments. You would think this 
 a sort of fiendish costume ; but, my dear, she looked 
 lovely in it. My lady was in pink and white, and 
 was ghastly by her side. I never felt so dis- 
 gusted with my own handiwork as I did when I 
 saw the Princesse step out of her room looking 
 as she did. But this has nothing to do with the 
 page. We had been into Tours ransacking the 
 shops for some trimmings the ladies wanted, and 
 
TRAINING A PAGE. 47 
 
 were returning, when suddenly the Princesse called 
 out — 
 
 " What a lovely boy ! " 
 
 " Where ? " said my lady. 
 
 " There," she replied, pointing to the hedge. 
 " Make him come here, Antoine." 
 
 Antoine got down and spoke to the young savage, 
 for he looked like nothing else, and brought him to 
 the carriage door. He was a tall, well-grown boy, 
 looking about fourteen, and was lazily eating a great 
 lump of the horrid black bread they use here. He 
 had on a ragged flannel shirt, and a pair of old 
 trousers, and what had once been a blouse ; but 
 there wasn't much of it left. His shirt was open at 
 the neck and shewed his chest ; and his bare arms 
 stuck out of his ragged sleeves. I could not help 
 noticing how shapely they were, and the pretty turn 
 of his bare feet and ankles, for he had kicked off his 
 sabots, which lay in the ditch beside him. But the 
 most remarkable part of his appearance to me was 
 
48 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 the dirt, — I never saw anyone so dirty in my life. 
 I should think he had never been washed for years. 
 But the ladies seemed to see through that, and they 
 looked at him up and dowp as though he had been 
 some new kind of dog they wanted to buy. They 
 asked his parents' names, and where he lived, and 
 drove straight to the filthy little hovel, 'which was 
 more like a pig's-sty than anything. 
 
 " I must have him," the Princesse said, as they 
 went along ; " he'll make a perfect beauty." 
 
 " He'll take a good deal of making," my lady 
 said, laughing. " Who is to operate on him ? You 
 can't touch him yet awhile." 
 
 11 That's a difficulty— ah, I have it ! I'll turn him 
 over to Anson there — she has a strong will." 
 
 " And a strong arm which is more to the purpose ; 
 but here we are — these are your protege's papa and 
 mamma, I suppose." 
 
 A pair of horrid old wretches they were, — quite 
 
TRAINING A PAGE. 49 
 
 willing to let the boy go, and horridly greedy after 
 the money given them for their consent. 1 verily 
 believe they would have sold him for a slave for 
 a tithe of it. The boy did not go back with us — 
 the ladies arranged that I was to fetch him after 
 dark. They did not want any of the men-servants 
 to see him ; and the pleasant task of training him 
 was delegated to me. I did not like the idea of it 
 at first, though I got plenty of fun out of it after- 
 wards. 
 
 " I give you three weeks, Anson," the Princesse 
 said ; " and after that, every mistake he makes, 
 you'll come in for a share of his punishment ; so 
 take care and turn me out a page I shan't be 
 ashamed of when I go back to Paris." 
 
 I thought neither three months, nor three years, 
 would make anything of such a cub ; but I was mis- 
 taken, as you would say if you could see Master Gus- 
 tave, as he is called, now — Jean was his name before. 
 Well, when it was dark, I went to the cottage and 
 brought away the boy, taking him straight up to 
 my lady's dressing-room, where the Princesse was 
 
50 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 waiting to see him. He had evidently never been 
 in a decent house before, and his wide open eyes 
 and mouth were a sight to see. When he got into 
 the room, he gave a sort of unintelligible roar at the 
 sight of the ladies, and would have run away if we 
 had not caught him. 
 
 " An unsophisticated innocent," my lady said, with 
 a half sneer. " What is the first thing to be done 
 with him ? " 
 
 " Wash him. Anson, you will take him to the 
 lower bath-room, and clean him thoroughly ; I can't 
 touch him as he is. Fifine will help you." 
 
 Fifine shrugged her shoulders as though she did 
 not like it ; but there was no disobeying her mistress, 
 and we led the boy out of the room. 
 
 " Get Saunders to help you," my lady called after 
 us ; " he will be more than a match for you if he 
 turns restive." 
 
 Which he did as soon as ever he saw the water ; 
 
TRAINING A PAGE. 5 1 
 
 he seemed to have as much natural antipathy to it 
 as a cat, and he roared and struggled so, that the 
 three of us had much ado to hold him. He declared 
 that he was clean ; that he would not take off his 
 clothes ; that he would go home ; and clutched his 
 miserable rags till they fairly came off piecemeal. 
 That he was a fine shapely lad we could soon see 
 for his clothes gave way at every tug, and he was 
 soon half naked. I saw Saunders pass her hand 
 over his smooth firm flesh, when his shoulders were 
 thus exposed, as though she liked it. Suddenly 
 she drew her hand away with a scream, and dropped 
 the dirty rag she held on the floor. 
 
 " Ah, the little brute ! " she said, " he's all alive ! 
 Look here, Anson." 
 
 And sure enough he was — there wasn't a bit of 
 his clothes as big as the palm of my hand that 
 wasn't covered with vermin. What were we to do ? 
 Clean him we must. Yet it went horribly against 
 us to touch him ; and besides he kicked and 
 struggled so. At last we got him down on the 
 floor; and Saunders held him while we tied his 
 
52 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET, 
 
 hands and feet. Then we cut his clothes off and 
 burned every rag of them. I had to do it, — the 
 Princesse's maid would only pick up the rags with 
 the tongs ; and Saunders contented herself with 
 looking on when he was once overpowered. When 
 I had done with his clothes, I began upon his 
 shaggy hair, and the murder 1 must have committed 
 would have put an army to the blush. I noticed 
 that the boy evinced less and less dissatisfaction as 
 we went on with our work ; and at length laughed 
 as though our hands about him at once tickled and 
 pleased him. He shewed very little shame at thus 
 being stripped by three women ; but obstinately 
 refused to enter the bath. Saunders slyly took a 
 r od from the table, and turning him over her knee, 
 administered a succession of sharp cuts to his naked 
 back and thighs, in a manner that made him roar 
 for mercy, and promise to do anything we wished. 
 I think astonishment was the uppermost feeling in 
 his mind at the proceeding — that sort of whipping 
 he had evidently never been accustomed to, though 
 there were plenty of bruises on his body to tell of 
 hard blows with more unmanageable weapons than 
 a lady's rod. He went quietly enough into the 
 
TRAINING A PAGE. 53 
 
 bath after this, and seemed rather to like the con- 
 tact of the warm water. 'Twould take too long 
 in a letter to tell how we washed and scrubbed* 
 and how often we changed the water and got fresh, 
 before we got him clean ; but we managed it at 
 last, and turned him out upon the carpet, fresh and 
 sweet. The Princesse was right — he was a perfect 
 young Adonis. I never saw such limbs, or such 
 fresh healthy flesh, on any child, though child he 
 could hardly be called, being, as well as we could 
 guess, about fourteen. We rubbed him dry with 
 soft towels, and dusted him with perfumed powder^ 
 at which he seemed mightily amused ; and then 
 some wicked impulse moved Fifine to give him a 
 kiss. She had better not have done it, for the 
 young savage retorted by throwing his arms round 
 her neck, and kissing her rosy little mouth till she 
 was fairly out of breath. This led to a regular 
 romp between them, and Saunders had to interfere 
 with her rod, and switch our protege back to some- 
 thing like order. When she had a little recovered 
 herself, Fifine burst into a merry laugh, and pointed 
 to the boy, who was rolling a sofa blanket round 
 bim. 
 
54 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 " What are we to do with him ? " she said ; " we 
 have burnt his clothes ! Is he to go naked ? " 
 
 Here was a dilemma, — there was nothing we 
 could put on our shivering Cupid without letting 
 the men-servants into our secret, and that we were 
 forbidden to do. He laughed and jeered at our 
 discomfiture ; and, growing bold, declared he should 
 do very well as he was : " if we liked to look at him, 
 he dared say our ladies would too ; " and a good 
 deal more to the same impertinent effect. 
 
 " I have it," said Fifine at last ; " I'll dress him. 
 There goes my lady's bell ! " 
 
 She ran off, and in a very short time returned 
 with some clothes over her arm. 
 
 " My lady is impatient," she said. " She wants 
 to see him ; and says we have been long enough 
 to wash him three times over." 
 
 " She don't know everything," said Saunders, with 
 a grunt ; " nor what we have had to do to get him 
 clean. Are these things for him to put on ?" 
 
TRAINING A PAGE. 55 
 
 " Yes ; there's nothing else for it — we can't take 
 him about the place naked." 
 
 How we laughed as we dressed him ! A pair of 
 wide short drawers belonging to the Princesse 
 daintily trimmed with lace and open-work inser- 
 tion, were put on him first, and securely fastened 
 round his waist. They only reached to his knees 
 and left the whole lower part of his legs bare. We 
 had no stockings for him, and his feet were thrust 
 into a pair of slippers of my lady's — those of the 
 Princesse being far too small. For shirt he had 
 a short cambric dressing-gown of Fifine's ; and 
 Saunders insisted on adding a spangled tunic skirt 
 that had been part of some of the fancy costumes 
 worn by the ladies on some of their meeting even- 
 ings. He was the most comical figure when thus 
 covered — I can't say clothed — that anyone could 
 imagine. The tunic left a long margin of the 
 drawers visible, and his legs sticking out at the 
 bottom had an extremely odd effect. His face, now 
 that the hanging unkempt hair was cut away, was 
 very handsome — rather dark in complexion, with 
 wicked-looking black eyes, and regular features, with 
 
$6 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET, 
 
 a saucy smile upon them, as if he perfectly understood 
 the way we women admired him. We threw a cloak 
 over him, and took him along the passage to my 
 lady's dressing-room. What a laugh they set up 
 when we entered with the queer figure amongst us. 
 I thought the Princesse would go into hysterics ; 
 and my lady and Lady C were not much better. 
 
 " What have you huddled him up like that for ? " 
 the Princesse said ; " I want to look at him. Come 
 here boy — don't be afraid ! " 
 
 " I'm not afraid," he said stupidly, though not shyly 
 glancing at her white hands as she busied herself 
 about the neck of his dress. 
 
 And I don't think he was, though he seemed rather 
 bewildered at the splendour of the room and the ladies' 
 dresses. He stared at the Princesse in open-mouthed 
 astonishment as she undid fastening after fastening 
 till the whole of his queerly-assorted dress fell off ex- 
 cept the drawers, leaving the ladies at liberty to com- 
 ment as they would upon his well-developed form. 
 And they did comment without the least restraint, 
 
TRAINING A PAGE. 57 
 
 and I could see that the boy understood some of their 
 remarks at least, for a bright blush rose to his face 
 more than once, and a smile mantled on his rosy lips 
 and flashed into his saucy eyes. The ladies began to 
 teach him on the spot, all naked as he was, how to 
 bow and how to use his arms, and I could see that 
 the mischievous little Princesse took a sly delight in 
 passing her dainty hands down his shapely legs and 
 putting his feet into position. While she was stooping 
 to do this the boy more than once made a movement 
 as though he would touch her white shoulders, but. I 
 suppose, fear kept him quiet, for he withdrew his hand 
 as quickly as he had raised it. When they had amused 
 themselves with him till they were tired, I was bidden 
 to take him away and see him bestowed for the night 
 
 " Bring him to my dressing room in the morning," 
 the Princesse said ; " Fifine will tell you when I am 
 ready." 
 
 " And don't'teach him anything but his duties," 
 
 snapped out Lady C- . " He'll be a pretty apt 
 
 scholar at any sort of mischief, or I'm very much mis. 
 taken." 
 
58 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 I spent a good deal of the evening in trying to 
 teach him how to salute the ladies, how to enter a 
 room, how to present anything kneeling, &c., &c., and 
 I am bound to say 1 found him a very apt pupil. He 
 was naturally graceful, and as long as he did not open 
 his mouth he did very well; when he did he spoiled 
 the effect of everything with his dreadful Touraine 
 patois. However, one cannot do everything at once, 
 and it was something to have him clean and willing 
 to learn. I made him let me trim his hair, and brush 
 and part it, and really he had a lovely head when it 
 was done. Fifine came to us after a while with a blue 
 and silver suit, in a kind of Swiss style, which she said 
 Her Highness said he was to wear ; and just to see how 
 he looked, we dressed him in it. My dear, he looked 
 like an old picture, with the dainty lace ruffles falling 
 over his hands, and the silk stockings shewing the 
 form and muscle of his legs. It made us all hug him 
 and kiss him, even bony old Saunders, to whom he 
 gave such a bearish hug in return that he fairly 
 frightened her ; he was gentler to Fifine and me, but 
 then we had not whipped him. I wondered what he 
 would think when he was introduced to the Princesse 
 at her toilet ; she was like some of the women I have 
 
TRAINING A PAGE. 59 
 
 often read about, who look upon their men-servants 
 as though they were dumb animals, instead of human 
 creatures gifted with eyes and senses. She would 
 have her pages in her dressing-room, and make them 
 wait upon her at all stages of her toilet ; I thing she 
 liked to see their eyes fixed upon her shapely limbs 
 and to know that even those boys admired her. She 
 had parted with one who had been a great favourite 
 for some time just before she picked up this lad 
 and I could see that she meant to install him in the 
 vacant position. I saw that he was properly dressed 
 in the morning, and gave him two or three more 
 lessons before Fifine came for him, so that he really 
 did not enter the presence of the Princesse so very 
 awkwardly as might have been expected. He started 
 a little at the sight at her, for she had only just left 
 her bath, and was lying back in a soft fauteuil, with 
 nothing on but a delicately embroidered chemise and 
 a soft flannel peignoir, which was unfastened all down 
 the front. Fifine was rubbing her legs, and putting 
 on the quilted satin slippers without heels, which lay 
 ready for her pretty feet. They were of rose colour 
 to match the trimming of the peignoir, and had 
 diamonds in the rosettes. 
 
60 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 " Stop," said Her Highness, as Fifine took up the 
 shoes, " let him try his hand." 
 
 He looked rather bewildered, but I whispered him 
 to kneel on one knee as I had taught him, and he did 
 it much less clumsily than might have been expected. 
 He took the dainty slipper, looking admiringly at the 
 brilliant which flashed and sparkled in the firelight, 
 and slipped it on to the white foot which Her High- 
 ness rested on his knee for the purpose. 
 
 " Very well done ! " she said, laughing, " We shall 
 make him a model page after all. Why, the little 
 wretch ! " 
 
 The last exclamation was followed by a smart box 
 on the ear, which sent her new attendant ofT his 
 balance, and laid him sprawling on the soft hearthrug. 
 Not content with the contact of his finger tips with 
 her soft skin, he had the audacity to bend his head 
 over her foot and kiss it. I think she was more 
 amused than angry, though she had him punished on 
 the spot 
 
TRAINING A PAGE. 6l 
 
 " You shall whip him, Anson," she said, " and I 
 have a great mind to whip vou for teaching him too 
 fast, — you girls have been allowing him too much 
 liberty, I can see." 
 
 I begged and protested, and she laughed and let 
 me off, only saying that she foresaw trouble in store 
 for me, if that was the way I was going to instruct 
 my scholar. She made Fifine undress the boy and 
 hold him across an ottoman, while I whipped him. 
 He struggled and kicked at first, but not as he had 
 done the evening before, and did not seem to care 
 about having his trousers taken down at all. The 
 Princesse looked at him with eager eyes, as his fine 
 shapely limbs were thus exposed, and seemed half 
 inclined to take the rod herself, but she didn't, and I 
 was glad of it, for I longed to whip the prettiest boy 
 I had ever seen. The first stroke of the rod sent 
 him rolling on the floor, and made him roar out for 
 mercy ; but Fifine managed to hold him so that I 
 could get at him, and a sound whipping he got, I can 
 tell you. It was very funny to see him dance, and 
 kick :when at length the Princesse signed to me to 
 leave off, he was all over the room by fits and starts, 
 
62 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 howling and gasping like a wild animal. It was a 
 good while before we could get his clothes fastened 
 on again, he writhed so under the smart, but he has 
 got used to it now. Her Highness made him beghe r 
 pardon which he did with a face so blubbered with 
 crying that she could do nothing but laugh at him, 
 and then bade me take him away. When we were 
 out in the passage, I asked him how he liked that 
 part of his duties, and the little wretch actually 
 winked at me Che had got over his smarts by this 
 time), and said, 
 
 " I don't mind it much, I shan't care at all next 
 time." 
 
 " Oh yes, you will." 
 
 " No I shan't if she does it." 
 
 " Who's she ? Fifine ? " 
 
 " No,— the lady." 
 
 " You audacious little scamp, do you think Her 
 Highness would touch you ? " 
 
TRAINING A PAGE. 63 
 
 " I'm sure she will." 
 
 I can give you no idea of the manner in which 
 that imp of a boy spoke ; truly there wasn't much I 
 could teach him. I thought to myself, u you'll get 
 plenty of whipping, my fine fellow," and he did. 
 Many a flogging I gave him in the week that followed 
 with Fifine's help, and the rascal always paid us with 
 kisses. We got very fond of him, notwithstanding his 
 impertinence, for he was quick vvitted, and very teach- 
 able and affectionate, in spite of his vanity ; and long 
 before his new clothes came home he was as vain as 
 a peacock. It was about a week before the clothes 
 came that were ordered from Paris for him, and all 
 that time he was going about in queer fancy costumes, 
 fairly turning our heads by his beauty. I don't think 
 any boy was ever made so much of in so short a time. 
 The livery was deep blue velvet with frosted silver 
 buttons, the finest of shirts and cravats, silk socks, 
 and thin kid boots — the Princesse could not bear 
 anything like creaking soles, and tolerated only the 
 thinnest of soles about her rooms. After a little while 
 she made no account whatever of having him in her 
 rooms : she would let him go about her bedroom and 
 
64 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 hand her coffee before she was out of bed, and she 
 rarely made her morning toilet without him. The 
 first time she whipped him herself was about a month 
 after she had first taken a fancy to him ; I had done 
 it often in her presence, and she had once or twice 
 taken the rod and given him a few cuts, but she had 
 never regularly whipped him with all the ceremonies. 
 He had been very saucy to Fifiue and me for a whole 
 day, and he finished up his impudence by giving my 
 lady an impertinent answer when she spoke to him 
 in the evening. The Princesse was by, and she 
 ordered him out of the room, saying quietly, ' I 
 shall whip you to-morrow, Gustave." She kept her 
 word : the next morning Gustave and myself were 
 sommoned by Fifine to her mistress' dressing room. 
 You're both going to get it ! " said the girl, with fun in 
 her eyes, " Gustave here for being rude, and you 
 Anson, for letting him be so." ♦ 
 
 "Then you ought to get a double allowance/' I 
 said spitefully, for I was annoyed ; "he gets all his 
 monkey tricks and wicked ways from you." 
 
 11 Not quite all — but I dare say I shall get my full 
 
TRAININCx A PAGE. 65 
 
 share some time ; anyhow, I'm only going to assist 
 to-day. Come along, we're to be Roman ladies' maids 
 this morning, but the room's warm, thank goodness." 
 
 How I hated that freak the ladies had taken into 
 
 their heads of making us wait upon them, just with 
 
 one single article on, ready for any chance cut they 
 
 might take a fancy to give us. However, they paid 
 
 us for their vagaries, and it didn't matter much. We 
 
 were soon equipped in the dresses the Princesse had 
 
 chosen for us to wear, and they weren't much. Fifine 
 
 and I had short tunics without sleeves, and sandals on 
 
 our feet. The boy's costume was even more scanty, 
 
 for he had nothing but a skirt which barely reached 
 
 to his knees, and no body whatever. I dreaded the 
 
 whipping, for I knew how the Princesse could use the 
 
 rod ; but there was no appeal, for my lady had given 
 
 me over to her entirely, in the matter of Gustave, to 
 
 do as she liked with me. The room was deliciously 
 
 warm when we entered, and the air was fragrant with 
 
 fresh scent. Fifine left us, while she went to attend 
 
 her mistress in her bath. The door of the room was 
 
 half open, and we could hear the splashing of the 
 
 water, and now and then see the petite figure of the 
 
 E 
 
66 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 Princesse as she flung her round limbs about in the 
 perfumed water. The boy watched with greedy eyes ; 
 he seemed to have forgotten all about the punishment 
 that was coming, in gazing at a sight so new to him. 
 Presently the lady came in, wrapped in a large soft 
 sheet, and reclined upon a couch, while Fifine rubbed 
 and powdered her, removing the cap which had pro- 
 tected her magnificent hair, and letting it fall all about 
 her shoulders. Then she attired her lady in a chemise 
 of the finest lawn, with trimmings of Valenciennes lace 
 and rose-coloured satin ribbon, and drawers, with lace 
 ruffles at the bottom. Her feel-, and legs were left 
 bare, only a pair of blue satin slippers, without heels, 
 being slipped upon her blue-veined feet. Over all she 
 had a loose robe of pale blue flannel, trimmed with 
 white lace and satin ; it was left open in front, and 
 fell away from her knees, leaving her legs exposed. 
 When all this was done, our penance began. The 
 Princesse was in the mood for arranging fanciful 
 toilettes that morning, and sundry pairs of stockings 
 and parcels of boots lay ready to be inspected. A 
 large case had arrived from Paris for her the day 
 before, and she had not gone over its contents yet. 
 Gustave was made to kneel down on the ground in 
 
TRAINING A PAGE. 67 
 
 front of the sofa, and support a round mirror, before 
 which the wilful little lady had elected to try on the 
 silken hose and dainty boots. I had a double office — 
 to see that the boy kept still, and to hand the things 
 to Fifine, who put them on her mistress. 
 
 The boy knelt very patiently while the contents of 
 the case were one by one examined. He was evi- 
 dently dazzled by the splendour of the costly dresses 
 that Fifine took out one by one and laid upon the 
 couches and chairs. The Princesse had declared she 
 was getting " quite shabby," and had ordered quite a 
 relay of toilettes, and stockings and boots to match. 
 Some dozen pairs of the most exquisite silken hose, and 
 as many different kinds of boots, had been sent, and 
 every one of these did she make her maid put on, and 
 then hang the corresponding dress to see if they 
 properly matched. To my mind, the prettiest of the 
 dresses was rather a singular one, and one which, at first 
 sight, seemed unsuited to the Princesses style of beauty 
 It was a short walking toilet, of green and mauve ; 
 the dress and jacket were of emerald green silk, very 
 thick and soft, trimmed and piped with bright mauve 
 satin ; the petticoat was of mauve satin, with green 
 
68 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET, 
 
 trimming ; and the hat was a combination of the two 
 colours, with a white feather ; stockings of green silk, 
 with a narrow mauve stripe ; and fine kid boots, half 
 Hessians, with gold buttons and tassels, completed the 
 costume. The lace of the sleeves and chemisette was 
 the most costly guipure, of an antique pattern, which 
 accorded well with the quaint style of the whole dress. 
 When she had the stockings and boots on she was 
 delighted with the effect. 
 
 " They are the prettiest of the whole ! " she said in 
 ecstasy. " Everyone said I should look hideous in 
 green and mauve, and just see there ! " 
 
 Fifine threw the dress across her knees, and set the 
 coquettish little hat on the top of her dishevelled hair, 
 that she might see the effect of the colours against 
 her brunette complexion. Certainly the result was 
 ravishing. 
 
 " Take them away," she said ; " I'll wear that dress 
 this very morning to the croquet party. I'll put it on 
 as soon as ever I have whipped that boy. Put down 
 that glass, sir, and take off my boots." 
 
TRAINING A PAGE. 69 
 
 Not only her boots but the stockings did she make 
 him take off, and he made no mistakes this time ; it 
 was wonderful how quickly he had adapted himself to 
 his new position, and acquired the little arts and graces 
 so necessary to the making of a lady's page. This 
 done, she made him bring the rod and kiss it, delivering 
 it to her upon his knees. To prepare him was the 
 work of a minute : it was only to fasten up the skirt 
 he wore round his neck, and there he was almost 
 naked. Strangely enough, he made no protestations 
 on entering, but a queer light came into his eyes as 
 the lady's hand passed over his bare shoulder, with a 
 gesture that was almost a caress. Fifine and I held 
 him down over the ottoman, and her highness ad- 
 ministered a sound flogging to him, measuring every 
 stroke with a precision that I knew from experience 
 only made the smart the harder to bear. He roared 
 enough now, and writhed and twisted, till at length, 
 after some dozen blows, he fairly struggled himself 
 free of our hands, and slipped on to the floor. Then 
 he clasped the Princesse's feet, twining his arms round 
 her bare ankles, and looking up into her face, implored 
 her pardon. She did not grant it till she had given 
 him a good many rapid stinging blows, and then she 
 
fO MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 allowed him to get up. In spite of his roariDg and 
 crying, I could see that the boy liked the discipline he 
 had received at her hands, and 1 saw his lips on her 
 feet too while he lay there clasping her ankles, but 
 she took no notice of it. When she had done with 
 him she would not let him go ; she seemed to like to 
 see him writhe and twist, and ordered him to bring 
 the rod once more. It was my turn now, and I knew 
 she was going to whip me before him, but it was no 
 good to say a word. She rested a little, for she was 
 out of breath, and then she ordered me to kneel and 
 kiss the rod. I could have strangled the little monster 
 of a page, for the sight of me being prepared for whip- 
 ping seemed to do his smarts a mighty deal of good, 
 and he ceased squealing and rubbing himself when he 
 saw what was going on. The Princesse made him 
 stand behind the sofa, with a rod in his hand, while 
 she whipped me, and told him if he stirred she would 
 turn him over to Saunders for another dose. He had 
 a horror of Saunders, but if she had proposed to whip 
 him again, or delegated the task to Fifine or me, I 
 verily believe he would have disobeyed her on pur- 
 pose. I'm sure I heard him snigger when I knelt 
 down, but when her highness turned sharp round, 
 
TRAINING A PAGE. 7 1 
 
 there he was looking so preternaturally solemn that 
 she laughed herself, and there he stood as if he was 
 carved out of a block of wood while she whipped me. 
 I need not write of how she did it : she can whip ; 
 and it was all I could do not to slip down on the floor 
 and roll and scream as the boy had done. I managed 
 not to, however, and contrived to take the rod and 
 leave the room without crying out, but my face was 
 all working ; I felt it and when we got into the passage 
 that wretch of a boy pointed at me and burst out 
 laughing. I couldn't stand that, my dear, and I flew 
 at him and shook him, and boxed his ears till he 
 roared more than he had done at the Princesses 
 whipping. He has been respectfully afraid of me 
 ever since ; and though, since he has been down stairs 
 amongst the men, he has learned a great deal of im- 
 pudence, he seldom favours me with any of it. They 
 can't teach him much he dosen't know already, for a 
 more precocious boy I never saw ; and yet no one can 
 help liking him that comes near him. 
 
 I daresay you think, from the tone of my letter, that 
 I have altered my notions about whipping ; and so I 
 have. While it was all punishment for me, to please 
 
/2 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 the whims of the ladies, I could not see the enjoyment 
 of it, or feel it rather, but now I can. Nor does the 
 Princesse feel half the pleasure in whipping me or 
 Fifine, or even any of the sisterhood, which she has 
 when she gets Gustave across her knee to birch him. 
 I've seen her pause in her whipping, and pass her 
 hand over his firm flesh, lecturing him the while, as if 
 she would prolong his punishment for her own grati- 
 fication, and the little wretch keeps quite quiet, and 
 likes it all the while. As for me — well, there, I sup- 
 pose I may confess it to you, but I'm fallen in love 
 with the boy, or something very like it. I like to 
 have him near me — to be able to touch him when I 
 choose — to caress him when I please — and, above all, 
 to whip him when I can find occasion : that's by no 
 means seldom, for he is always in mischief. I some- 
 times think the little wretch does all sorts of wicked 
 things for the sake of getting a whipping from me — 
 for there's no mincing the matter, my dear, he is as 
 fond of me as I am of him. He knows a handsome 
 woman when he sees her as well as anyone, and I 
 don't think I'm so very bad looking. My feet are as 
 well shaped as any lady's among them ; and the 
 Princesse wouldn't feel flattered if she saw how her 
 
TRAINING A PAGE. 73 
 
 page kisses them sometimes, when I have been punish- 
 ing him for some of his vagaries. Ah, my dear, our 
 whipping escapades among ourselves, as girls, were all 
 very well, but there's something like enjoyment in 
 having a fine strapping boy always at your beck and 
 call, on whom you can practise when you like. There's 
 real pleasure in getting hold of a plump, firm boy like 
 that., with a skin as soft as satin, and laying him across 
 your knee, especially when you know that he likes it 
 and you. Gustave's flesh is as firm and rosy as a 
 baby's, and every touch of the rod raises it up in red 
 weals,' like you see on a finely kept horse when it is 
 lashed. He takes more delight in my whipping him 
 now than in his mistress's, and likes me better than 
 either her or Fifine, though the latter took his fancy 
 at first. Now he says she's too thin — the audacious 
 young scamp — and that he doesn't like scraggy women ! 
 Pretty well that for fourteen, isn't it ? But I must 
 close this now ; I'm going out with my lady ; I'll 
 write you again soon. — Meantime, believe me. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 M. Anson. 
 
LETTER V. 
 a remarkable religieuse. 
 
 My Dear Marion, 
 
 I've been so busy, what with all sorts of whims 
 my lady has taken into her head about her toilet, and 
 that tiresome page of the Princesse's, that I don't 
 seem to have had a moment to call my own. I can't 
 sit down for a minute in peace, but that provoking boy 
 is sure to burst in, either with some message from my 
 lady or his, or some nonsense of his own. He is as 
 full of tricks as a monkey, and yet we are very fond 
 of him. But I told you all about his beauty before, 
 so I won't dilate on that now : thank goodness, I 
 don't have quite so much trouble with him as I had, 
 — he minds me when he won't anyone else. I've not 
 seen quite so much of him this last week or two, for 
 another lady, staying in the house, has taken a great 
 fancy to him, and keeps him with her continually. 
 If the Princesse tires of him, as I daresay she will 
 sometime, he won't have much trouble in finding a 
 
76 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 new mistress in Mme. Hautville. Mons. and Madame 
 Hautville are quite a recent addition to our party ; 
 and such a fuss as was made about their corning ! 
 They are newly married, scarcely out of their honey- 
 moon, and are very rich ; the best apartments in the 
 chateau were given up to them, and redecorated for 
 their use. I was quite surprised one day to find 
 workmen busy in the handsome suite of rooms that 
 overlook the private garden, pulling down hangings, 
 &c, and the Count superintending with as much 
 interest as though it were his own bride he was going 
 to install there. He was always chatty and affable to 
 me, quite the gentleman ; and when he saw me peep 
 in, he called me. 
 
 " Oh, come in, Mademoiselle," he said. " We are 
 busy here ; Mme Hautville is blonde, and those 
 yellow hangings won't do at all. What do you think 
 of that ? " 
 
 He pointed to a great roll of purple satin damask 
 that lay on the ground ready for putting up. It was 
 lovely, fit for a queen's boudoir, and I said so, and 
 went away, wondering who the lady could be for 
 
A REMARKABLE RELIGIEUSE. JJ 
 
 whom such preparations were made. I heard down- 
 stairs that same evening all about her. She was very 
 young, not more than eighteen, and had come straight 
 from a convent, where she had been ever since she 
 was a child. She had a large fortune and a magnifi- 
 cent trousseau, and knew nothing of the world. This 
 was what the servants said, and I heard the same 
 from the ladies, who did not seem to care much for 
 the addition to their ranks : I soon found out the 
 reason of that, — Mme. Hautville was said to be ex- 
 cessively religious. 
 
 " Spends whole hours shut up in her room at her 
 devotions/' the Princesse said to my lady over the 
 dressing-room fire; "thinks all amusements sinful, 
 and seldom speaks in society, I hear." 
 
 " She won't join us, then," Lady C said ; " and 
 
 I don't think she'll suit here at all ; the innocent and 
 ingenuous style is out of fashion now ; it is only baby- 
 faced women that can play it well." 
 
 " And that's just what she is," the Princesse said. 
 " Baby-faced is just the word ; at least, I judge so from 
 
yS MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 the Count's description. She is petite, he says, with 
 golden hair and brown eyes, and a china pink and 
 white complexion." 
 
 " And her husband ? " asked my lady ; " what is he 
 like ? * 
 
 " Oh, I've seen him ; tall, and dark, and rather 
 grave looking : he is the Hautville that distinguished 
 himself so at the battle of Solferino ; he is a personal 
 friend of the emperor." 
 
 Of course every one in the chateau was on the qui 
 vive to see these new arrivals ; and it was a great 
 disappointment to us that it was dark when they 
 arrived. All we could see was a little muffled-up 
 figure lifted down out of the carriage by a tall man, 
 who seemed to take the utmost care of her ; there 
 was a valet, and a tall, rather stern-looking lady's 
 maid, and an immense quantity of luggage, though 
 that was not all, for more came the next day. There 
 was a little Maltese terrier like a ball of white floss 
 silk, and a big hound that looked tremendously fierce, 
 but turned out gentle enough when we came to know 
 
A REMARKABLE REUGIEUSE. 79 
 
 him better. I hung about, when my lady had done 
 with me, in the hope of catching a glimpse of the new 
 visitor when she went downstairs, and, sure enough, I 
 met her leaning on the Count's arm, her husband 
 following. She was as lovely as they had described 
 her to be, and more ; such an innocent, unworldly 
 little face, I never saw. She looked as if she had never 
 had a profane or mischievous idea in her little head, 
 from which her golden curls hung in a manner per- 
 fectly bewitching. She evidently cared for no fashion 
 in head-dressing except what suited her best, and let 
 her lovely hair wave as it would. Certainly, no chig- 
 non or frizettes would have suited her little head ; they 
 would only have disfigured it. She was magnificently 
 dressed in rich white satin and lace, with pearls on 
 her neck and arms, and she looked like a little fairy 
 as she tripped along over the crimson floorcloth. 
 She was holding up her dress in front, and displayed 
 her dainty little feet in silver embroidered satin shoes 
 with high heels. I thought of what the ladies said 
 about her being so devout, and, indeed, her face 
 looked like a saint's, so pure and passionless ; but just 
 as she passed me, she looked up in answer to some- 
 thing the Count said, and I saw something besides 
 
80 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 sanctity in her eyes. What expressive eyes they 
 were, melting and fiery by turns ! I did not wonder 
 at the intense admiration her husband seemed to feel 
 for her ; he looked at her as though he worshipped the 
 very ground she trod upon. He was a handsome, in- 
 tellectual-looking man, many years older than his wife, 
 dressed in uniform, and looking every inch a soldier 
 and a gentleman. I watched them down the grand 
 staircase with no little curiosity, and as I passed their 
 rooms to go back to my lady's, the door was open, 
 and the stern-looking maid was busy arranging her 
 mistress's dresses. 
 
 * Come in," she said, as I paused at the door 
 " You are the Princesse's own woman, are you not ? ' 
 
 " No," I replied. " I am with Lady " 
 
 " Ah, it's all the same : tell me a little about the 
 people here ; are they sociable or stiff? I mean the 
 ladies and gentlemen ; I am asking for my lady, — I 
 always get on well enough downstairs." 
 
 I told her all about the -ladies : how they were 
 
A REMARKABLE REMGIEUSE. 8 1 
 
 lively and affable, full of fun, aud never done with all 
 sorts of schemes for amusement and exercise. 
 
 " I am afraid Madame will be out of place among 
 them," the woman replied ; "she is so quiet, so re- 
 tiring — she loves to be alone in her chamber : she 
 spends hours there." 
 
 " What at ? " I asked. 
 
 " Her devotions," curtly replied Sophie, for that 
 I found, was her name. " See here." 
 
 She pulled aside a curtain, and shewed me a little 
 oratory newly fitted up. I thought of the look I had 
 seen in those soft brown eyes, and somehow or other 
 I doubted the devotional part of the story. I did not 
 say anything, but I helped her to put away the 
 dresses, and exquisite ones they were, too ; and we 
 chatted about the company and the servants' table 
 till we grew quite friendly. Lifting the last dress out 
 of an imperial, I came upon a long flat case, out 
 of which an end of ribbon protruded. I guessed at 
 once what it was ; had I' not handled such a one often 
 
82 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 in the Princesses dressing-room ? But Sophie made 
 haste to put it out of sight, muttering something 
 about " Monsieur's fishing rod." 
 
 " Not a bit of it," I said to myself ; " Monsieur 
 never carried a fishing-rod in a dainty case like that, 
 or packed it amongst his wife's dresses. I'll watch." 
 
 I did, and pumped Sophie as well, but nothing 
 came of it. She was very cheerful and pleasant in 
 the housekeeper's room, full of praises of her master 
 and mistress, but somehow nothing could be got out 
 of her. " She had been chosen by Mme. Hautville's 
 guardians to be her confidential maid," she said, and 
 had only gone into her service on her marriage. 
 
 The ladies did not get much more out of the little 
 beauty herself: she was very demure and quiet, and 
 talked but little. She sang very sweetly, and was 
 willing to exhibit her accomplishments for their amuse- 
 ment ; but I fancy they thought her insipid, and 
 wearied of her quiet loveliness. With her husband 
 they one and all fell in love : he was charming, they 
 declared ; too good for her, pretty as she was. The 
 
A REMARKABLE RELIGIEUSE. 83 
 
 little beauty reigned supreme on the first evening of 
 her visit, but as the time wore on they felt her 
 presence irksome. She was so very good they could 
 not launch out in conversation, while the gentlemen 
 sat over their wine, when she was present as they used 
 to do, and they were never sorry when she withdrew, 
 as she regularly did, to her own apartments, and left 
 them free to use their tongues as they listed. The 
 worst of it was that when she left the drawing-room 
 Mons. Hautville invariably vanished too, though where 
 he went to was a mystery. Madame always shut her- 
 self up in her own room, and Sophie would take her 
 work and seat herself in a large bay-window in the 
 corridor guarding the door like a female dragon. 
 She had the same answer for every one who asked for 
 her mistress. 
 
 " At her devotions," she would say, gravely, and 
 we were obliged to be content. 
 
 If she was asked for her master, her reply always 
 was that she had nothing to do with Mons. Hautville, 
 and if we wanted to know anything about him we 
 could ask Adolphe. Adolphe was the valet, and I 
 
84 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 don't think anyone would ever ask him a second 
 question about his master. He was very proud and 
 distant, excessively polite, and that was all : we might 
 just as well have tried to pump a log of wood or a 
 stone as to get anything out of him about his master's 
 doings. Well, this went on for several days, Madame 
 appearing every day in the most ravishing toilettes 
 (even the Princesse could not vie with her in the matter 
 of dress), and every day disappearing to her devotions 
 in the zealous fashion which puzzled every one so 
 much. The ladies grew very curious, and tried to 
 bribe Sophie to tell what it was that made her mis- 
 tress so devout. Had she some dreadful sin on her 
 mind ? or was she vowed to so many hours a day 
 before the altar ? Sophie was dumb, and the ladies 
 declared themselves tired of inactivity : they 
 wanted to resume their meetings in the tabagie, 
 and Madame Hautville should be asked to join 
 them. 
 
 " And I believe she will," Madlle.St. Kitts declared ; 
 " there's mischief in her for all her prudish looks, and, 
 besides, there's more goes on in that room of hers 
 than prayers." 
 
A REMARKABLE RELIGIEUSE. 85 
 
 M How do you know ? " demanded the ladies in a 
 breath. 
 
 " Oh, I was passing to-day. Sophie was looking out 
 at the window, and I heard a noise that was vastly 
 familiar. I don't think Mons. Hautville would have 
 been far to seek just then. But that grim maid came 
 back to her post just a minute too soon." 
 
 " We must find out — we will ! " said Lady C, " we 
 won't have any private practice here. Can't you 
 sharpen your wits, Anson ? you seem very intimate 
 with that silent waiting woman of Madame's." 
 
 I told the ladies that 'it was no use trying to get 
 anything out of Sophie ; but they bid me try, and 
 made me promise, on pain of punishment, to bring 
 them any information I could get regarding the newly 
 married pair. I promised ; and, my dear, I had a 
 story to tell before 1 expected. That very evening I 
 was sitting in my room mending some lace of my 
 lady's, when Fifine came in. 
 
 " Where's Gustave ? " she asked. 
 
86 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 " I don't know," I replied. " Who wants him ? " 
 
 "I do : I want him to go down to the lodge for me 
 with a note." 
 
 " I thought the Princesse said he was not to be sent 
 out after dark/' 
 
 " Oh, she won't know. I wonder where he can be ? ' 
 
 " He's in mischief, wherever he is. I haven't seen 
 him since the ladies left the dining-room." 
 
 Fifine went away grumbling, and had to go her 
 errand herself. I sat on wondering where Gustave 
 could be, and what he was at, and in a few minutes 
 the boy burst into the room. If I wondered before, I 
 wondered ten times more when I saw him : his hands 
 and face were all smeared with green dirt, and his 
 clothes were torn in more than one place. Luckily 
 he had not on the suit he wore when attending on his 
 lady, but one 1 made him wear when he was not likely 
 to be wanted. I started up, and seized him by the 
 collar. 
 
A REMARKABLE RELIGIEUSE. S7 
 
 " You little wretch," I exclaimed, " what have you 
 been doing ? " 
 
 His only answer was to laugh till he rolled on the 
 floor at my feet, and I thought he was going mad. 
 
 " Oh ho, ho ! " he cried. M Let me alone, Made- 
 moiselle ; I'll tell you presently. Oh, it's worth the 
 risk I've run ! " 
 
 " What risk ? What have you been doing ? What 
 will the Princesse say when she sees you ? A pretty 
 figure you are if she should ring for you." 
 
 " Oh, she won't ! and if she does, I'll be ready in a 
 minute. I say, Anson, I've found it all out." 
 
 " All what ?" 
 
 " The ' devotions.' Such fun ! Oh, my lady's a 
 pretty saint, and says new fangled prayers ! Ha, ha, 
 ha ! " and again he rolled on the floor in an ecstasy of 
 fun. 
 
88 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 " But where have you been ? what have you seen ? " 
 I asked, quite puzzled. 
 
 " I won't tell you where I've been ; but I've seen the 
 prayers, I tell you. Oh, wouldn't my lady and yours 
 like to have seen them too ! J know they don't believe 
 in Madame's piety, neither did I, and now I know!' 
 
 " You aggravating little brute, tell me all about it 
 this minute, or I'll whip you well,' I said, shaking him. 
 " You'll catch it for the state you've come home in, 
 wherever you have been. What is it that the ladies 
 would like to know ? " 
 
 " What I've seen to-night. I say, Anson !" 
 
 /'Well?" 
 
 M Are you game to climb a tree ? " 
 
 "Climb a tree ! " 
 
 " Yes, that's just what I've done ; and perched com- 
 fortably out of sight among the branches, I watched 
 Madame Hautville at her devotions. She didn't think 
 
A REMARKABLE RELIGIEUSE. $9 
 
 anyone but the birds would be there, and the blinds 
 were not close." 
 
 So this was where he had been ; up in the large tree 
 which grew close to that corner of the chateau, and 
 from which a full view could be obtained of the Haut- 
 villes' rooms. 
 
 " You might try it, Anson," he said ; " I'll help you, 
 and I'll never tell ; old Sophie may keep the door as 
 she pleases, the window will serve our turn." 
 
 " But tell me what you saw, first," I said ; " I'm not 
 going to risk my neck to be hoaxed by you, and I be- 
 lieve you are telling me a pack of lies after all." 
 
 " No, on my honour, I'm not ! I've seen what the 
 pious lady does in her own room. She does not 
 trouble the Madonna much, 1 can tell you ; it's the 
 rod she pays her devotions to, and not the crucifix, 
 and beautifully she handles it too ; I was almost ready 
 to jump through the window and beg for a taste of it 
 from her hands myself, when I saw how graceful she 
 looked." 
 
90 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 " You audacious monkey ! But who does she whip ?" 
 
 " Who ? Why, Mons. Hautville, to be sure ! the 
 gentleman who always disappears so mysteriously, 
 and stays away from the company so long, Oh, they 
 are a devout pair, they are ! You should see him kiss 
 her hands, and arms, and her feet, and call her all sorts 
 of endearing names, when she has whipped him well. 
 Try the tree, Anson ; no one goes into that garden 
 after dark, and you'll never get such a chance again. 
 It's not hard to climb, and I'll help you up." 
 
 The lad's enjoyment of the affair was intense, and I 
 longed to discomfit Sophie by finding out her secret ; 
 and yet the idea of me, Margaret Anson, climbing up 
 a tree, and perhaps getting an ugly fall : how my lady 
 would laugh when I told her ! It was a great tempta- 
 tion, and at last I consented to try the next evening ; 
 Gustave was full of fun at the prospect. 
 
 " I couldn't have asked Fifine," he said ; "■ she would 
 have tumbled and screamed, and it would have been 
 all found out ; you may fall, but you won't scream, I 
 know that." 
 
A REMARKABLE RELIGIEUSE. 91 
 
 " I don't intend to do either." 
 
 " And, I say, Anson." 
 
 " Well ? " 
 
 " If you see anything very terrible, you can shut 
 your eyes. Mons. and Mme. Hautville fancy they 
 are alone, you know." 
 
 I aimed a box at his ears, but he evaded me, and 
 ran off, laughing, to change his clothes, and all the rest 
 of the evening he was provokingly confidential, giving 
 me sly pinches and furtive grins, till he nearly upset 
 my gravity before the ladies. He was in my mistress' 
 room when Mme. Hautville came in, a little flushed, 
 but very pretty, and said " Yes," very demurely, when 
 some one said her exercises had been longer than 
 usual. I thought he would have betrayed himself 
 then, but he managed to hide his laughter by a cough, 
 for which the Princesse smacked his face, and ordered 
 him out of the room. Well, my dear, to make a long 
 story short, I actually did climb that tree the very 
 next night. It was a wild freak, but the temptation 
 
92 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 was too strong to be resisted, and Gustave made 
 matters easy for me. I was pretty sure of a couple 
 of hours after dinner, and I put on a pair of trousers, 
 which he stole from one of the men's rooms, and my 
 dress skirt over them. Presently he came in. 
 
 " Come along," he said, " the prayers have begun, 
 and all's quiet." 
 
 Not a soul met us as we went out into the grounds 
 and opened the gate of the private garden. The night 
 was as dark as pitch, and a bright glimmer of light 
 came from the first floor windows. A short ladder 
 stood under the tree. 
 
 " Up with you," the boy whispered, " and hold on ; 
 it's easy after." 
 
 I wasn't a bit afraid, and in a few minutes I was 
 sitting on a branch, where I could see right into the 
 handsome room, with Gustave behind me, and this is 
 what we saw : Madame de Hautville, in an elegant 
 undress, seated on a couch, with her husband kneeling 
 at her feet. If she had looked handsome in full dress, 
 
A REMARKABLE RELIGIEUSE. ■ 93 
 
 she was inexpressibly lovely now. Her feet and legs 
 were bare, except for the soft slippers into which her 
 toes were thrust ; her beautifully trimmed chemise was 
 very short, and was the only garment she^had on, 
 except a white peignoir ruffled with Valenciennes lace, 
 and adorned with knots of white satin ribbon. It was 
 tied round the waist with a sash, but was all open at 
 the neck, leaving her beautiful white bosom bare. A 
 tiny lace cap was on her head, and her hair hung in 
 masses over her shoulders. In her hand she held a 
 rod, and she was rating the kneeling figure at her feet, 
 with a mischievous look in her brown eyes, which re- 
 minded me of the first time I had seen her, when I 
 guessed there was something besides piety in her little 
 head. 
 
 " Isn't she nice," whispered the boy behind me, with 
 an emphasis which made me long to box his ears, had 
 I dared to stir. " Look at her hands and arms, and 
 her neck, ah ! " 
 
 " Hold your tongue," I whispered ; " you can talk 
 by-and-bye," and he was quiet for a bit. Presently 
 Mons. Hautville appeared to supplicate, and kissed 
 
94 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 the hands and feet of the little tyrant on the couch to 
 no purpose — he was made to prepare for punishment 
 by turning up the embroidered dressing-gown he 
 wore. He had no more clothes on than his wife ; 
 and Gustave gave me a vicious pinch as we watched 
 him thus prepare for the punishment we had both 
 of us felt so often. 
 
 " Wait till we get down/' I said to him, " and I'll 
 give you such a taste of the rod as you won't forget." 
 And I did — but that's neither here nor there now. 
 
 When Mons. Hautville had received his punish- 
 ment, he took his pretty wife in his arms, and half 
 smothered her with kisses — finally getting the rod 
 from her, and threatening her with it as he would a 
 child. Then ensued a singular scene. She got away 
 from him, and he chased her round the room, she 
 every now and then defying him in a pretty saucy 
 fashion, perfectly bewitching to see. At last he 
 caught her, and, laying her across his knee, he 
 whipped her as she had done him, using the rod 
 lightly enough, but still raising red marks on the firm 
 white hips. What more we might have seen I don't 
 
A REMARKABLE RELIGIEUSE. 95 
 
 know, for just as he threw down the rod, and folded 
 her in his arms, crack went the branch on which we 
 were sitting, and we narrowly escaped a terrible fall. 
 It did not break, and we managed to get down on to 
 the next limb of the tree safely ; but the noise had 
 been heard, and out went the lights in the room above. 
 We hardly dared to breathe, for the window opened, 
 and Mons. Hautville put out his head. 
 
 " It is nothing," we heard him say ; " there is no 
 one in the garden." 
 
 You may be sure we lost no time in getting away, 
 though I did not escape without a fall after all ; I 
 slipped off the ladder and fell among some shrubs, 
 which scratched my face and hands terribly. I was 
 a horrid fright when I got to my own room, and 
 not all the washing and bathing I could give them 
 would clear the scratches away. My lady questioned 
 me so closely when I went to undress her, that I was 
 obliged to tell her, though, of course, I did not say a 
 word about Gustave. I let her think that I had 
 thought of the tree myself, and scrambled up without 
 any help. How she did laugh, to be sure, and sent 
 
96 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 for the Princesse to tell her. That lovely little lady 
 declared she would see for herself ; and the very next 
 time that Madame Hautville retired in the evening, 
 she and Madlle. St. Kitts went amissing too, and 
 reappeared later, with very flushed faces, and a great 
 inclination to laugh whenever they confronted the 
 handsome soldier and his demure little wife. All sorts 
 of guesses were hazarded as to where they were, but 
 no one but my lady and me knew that they were up a 
 tree in the private garden, watching the pranks of the 
 bride and bridegroom. Poor M. Hautville must have 
 wondered what made all the ladies laugh when they 
 met him : I think the Count guessed something very 
 near the truth, for his eyes always twinkled when the 
 lady's devotions were spoken of. The sisterhood did 
 not leave her alone long : my lady soon managed to let 
 her know that her passion for the rod was known, and 
 though she was terribly puzzled to think how it could 
 have leaked out, she acknowledged it, and was re- 
 ceived with acclamations at the next meeting in the 
 tabagie as a right worthy sister of the Order. She 
 is first and foremost in their vagaries now, and has a 
 capital head for inventing any new nonsense for them 
 to practise. I sometimes think she suspects Gustave 
 
A REMARKABLE RELIGIEUSE, 97 
 
 and me, but anyhow she is very fond of the lad, who, 
 on his part, seems to admire her almost as much as 
 his real mistress, the Princesse. As for the Count, he 
 suspects I know, for the other day he met me in the 
 corridor, and put two Napoleons in my hand. 
 
 " To buy plaster for your face," he said ; " myrtle 
 twigs scratch horribly ; " and then he laughed, and 
 went away. 
 
 Now, it was right into a clump of myrtles I fell, so 
 he must know ; but how ? Ah, well, he can hold his 
 tongue, and so can I ; and I shan't trouble myself 
 about it. I'll tell you if ever he says any more to 
 me : meantime, believe me, 
 
 Your sincere friend, 
 
 M. Anson. 
 
LETTER VI. 
 preparing for a sensation. 
 
 My Dear Marion, 
 
 I told you Mme. Hautviile joined the St. 
 Bridget Society after the ladies found out that she 
 practised the rod, but I did not tell you that Madlle. 
 St. Kitts, who went up the tree with the Princesse to 
 see what went on, had already been received as a mem- 
 ber of the Order. The discussion was long among 
 the ladies, as to whether young people should be 
 admitted at all ; but they wanted a fresh sensation, 
 and they agreed to admit her. It was a secret from 
 most of them, and caused a great sensation when the 
 President rose up in her place and announced that 
 another lady desired admission to their Order. She 
 did it with all due ceremony : I guessed what was 
 coming, though I could see many of the ladies did 
 not. Several of them had grown-up daughters, and had 
 entirely negatived the scheme of allowing the girls to 
 
IOO MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 join their meetings. The young ladies were very very 
 curious, as you may imagine, and used to torment 
 their mammas terribly to tell them what went on in the 
 tabagie of an evening. Many a present I might have 
 had, many a pretty dress and bit of jewellery, if I would 
 have revealed the secret of those meetings ; but I kept 
 my word, for the ladies made it worth my while. The 
 
 night of the whipping of the Princesse Z , after 
 
 she returned to the room (which, as I said in my last, 
 she did, though flushed and feverish), and the ladies 
 had refreshed themselves with wine and cake, Lady 
 C rose up and said — 
 
 " Ladies, — Sisters of the Order of St. Bridget, I hold 
 in my hand a requisition addressed to me, as President 
 of this meeting, which I beg to lay before you ; another 
 lady, staying in this house, is desirous of joining our 
 Order." 
 
 The ladies looked at one another, wondering who it 
 could be ; there were only one or two married ladies 
 left out, besides the old maids and the girls, 
 
 " Can it be Miss Sowerby ?" my lady whispered to 
 
PREPARING FOR A SENSATION. IOI 
 
 the Princesse ; " or Madlle. Loupe ? there's no one 
 else." 
 
 " I wish it may be," she replied, with a laugh ; " to 
 see either of them whipped would be great fun." 
 
 The spectacle of either of the ladies mentioned 
 under the rod would have been edifying indeed. 
 They were both of the pure genus old maid, forty, but 
 neither fat nor fair — scraggy and parchment coloured 
 both of them. But it was neither of these. " Silence, 
 ladies, if you please ! " the President said from her 
 chair, unfolding a note and reading. " Madlle. Geral- 
 dine Hilda St Kitts presents her compliments to the 
 sisters of the Order of St. Bridget, and begs the 
 honour of admittance to their society. Madlle. St. 
 Kitts is ready to take the oath of the Order, and to 
 submit to the usual initiation." 
 
 The ladies looked at one another in dismay. That 
 Madlle. knew something was evident ; but what and 
 how ? I remembered when I heard the note that she 
 was almost the only one of the young ladies who had 
 not plied me with questions about the doings of the 
 
102 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 eveniugs when we met in the tabagie ; but wherever 
 she got her information it was not from me, and I am 
 sure Stephens stood in too much awe of what might 
 befall her to speak, however much she would have 
 enjoyed playing the tell-tale on the ladies who had 
 castigated her so severely. We were closely ques- 
 tioned, and every lady had the oath of St. Bridget 
 administered to her afresh, but no one had broken 
 confidence, and they were all fairly puzzled. Then 
 Lady C put the question, 
 
 " How say you., ladies ? Shall we admit Geraldine 
 Hilda St. Kitts into our merry Order, or shall we 
 not ? " 
 
 One or two said " no," but the majority were in 
 favour of the candidate being admitted, and it was 
 settled that she should be introduced the next even- 
 ing, when they were to meet if it was wet ; if it was 
 fine there was to be a pic-nic in the day, and they 
 would come home too fatigued for their ceremonies. 
 
 " But if we admit her" Mrs D suggested, " the 
 
 other young ladies will claim it as a right ; and I muts 
 
PREPARING FOR A SENSATION. 103 
 
 candidly confess I should not like my girl to be intro- 
 duced." 
 
 " Nor I mine," said Lady C . " We must manage 
 
 to frighten her into secresy somehow/' 
 
 " I have it," said the merry Princesse Z . " Let us 
 
 horse her like they do boys. A couple of footmen 
 would be famous." 
 
 u Footmen, Madame ! " said Lady C , majesti- 
 cally ; " admit men here ! Impossible, you forget 
 what you are saying, I am sure." 
 
 " Oh dear no, I don't," the little beauty answered, 
 gaily ; "and if the ladies. assembled will allow me to 
 address them sitting (for potent reasons I don't feel 
 very well able to stand up again just now), I will 
 explain what 1 mean in a very few words." 
 
 Lady C graciously assented, and the little lady 
 
 laid before the meeting a plan from which she thought 
 a great deal of fun might be extracted — viz : that for 
 the future, ladies undergoing punishment should be 
 horsed upon the back of another who, upon that 
 
104 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 occasion, should be dressed in livery. She further 
 proposed that the livery should be the punishment 
 for slight offences against the rules of the club, and 
 that failing any offender in the requisite degree, it 
 should be worn ay Stephens or myself. " And if we 
 don't frighten Madlle. St. Kitts, it is a pity," she con- 
 cluded, amidst much laughter and applause. 
 
 The ladies thought her scheme a very good one ; 
 but there was a difficulty — the livery : they could not 
 apply to the Count for it, nor could they very well 
 have it made, for fear of exciting remark. Mrs 
 
 D rose and called the attention of the meeting 
 
 to this fact. 
 
 The Princesse declared that she had thought of that 
 before making the proposal. 
 
 " In the luggage that came for me to-day," she said, 
 " there should be new liveries for my two men. I will 
 have the unpacking done by my maid, and if the 
 clothes are there, I shall confiscate them for our use ; 
 if not, we shall have to fall back upon the moyenage 
 stores in the old lumber-room up-stairs, though the 
 
PREPARING FOR A SENSATION. 105 
 
 dresses won't be so good. The girl will see through 
 the masquerade at once/' 
 
 The ladies drew lots who were to enact the footmen 
 on the ensuing night, and the lots fell to my lady and 
 the Princesse herself, who declared that she must be a 
 page, for she should be lost in a man's suit. So the 
 other footman was turned over to a German Countess, 
 who was tall and bony, and the rest of the ladies 
 declared for appearing in Watteau dresses, half as 
 men, and half as women. There were a quantity of 
 costumes at their disposal, besides there own splendid 
 wardrobes, and they knew they could make a fine 
 display. I believe they all wished for a wet day, and 
 wet, sure enough, it was — no chance of any out-door 
 amusement. I had the note of acquiescence for 
 Madlle. St. Kitts entrusted to me to deliver, desiring 
 her to be in her room at a certain hour, when she 
 would be fetched. She laughed when she read it, 
 and said, gaily, to me — M Is it very dreadful, Anson ? 
 Come, there's no harm in telling noiv ) you know.'' 
 
 But I wouldn't. I did so want to enjoy her asto- 
 nishment, and, as well as the ladies, I had a fancy for 
 
106 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 seeing her whipped. She was a round, petite creature, 
 very dark, almost a mulatto (indeed, she was of West 
 Indian descent), with a clear, healthy red in her brown 
 cheeks, and sparkling black eyes. There was a good 
 deal of the negro about her hair, which was short and 
 frizzy, but very piquant-looking for all that, and her 
 skin was the softest and glossiest I ever saw in a 
 brunette. 
 
 " What must I wear, Anson ? " she asked me when 
 she had read the letter. 
 
 " Well, Miss, the less the better when you first go 
 down; you can put on what you like after you have been 
 admitted : the ladies mostly wear fancy costumes." 
 
 " The less the better, eh ? " she said, with a merry 
 twinkle of her black eyes. u Well, Anson, I have been 
 in countries where ladies consider a necklace and a 
 nose-ring the extreme of full dress for the finest court 
 ceremonial. Is that the style of costume you would 
 recommend ? " 
 
 " Well, not exactly, Miss," I replied, laughing. " But 
 it is a style that has its recommendations, for all that." 
 
PREPARING FOR A SENSATION. IO? 
 
 " H'm 1 I think I understand," she said ; " but I 
 don't mean to adopt it on this occasion. I know 
 more than you think for about St. Bridget and her 
 votaries, and I'll wear a suitable costume, never fear." 
 
 " You don't know everything,'' I thought to myself, 
 as I left the room, laughing to think of the fright that 
 awaited the young lady, if no hitch happened to mar 
 the programme laid down for the evening. Madlle. St. 
 Kitts was very rich, and thought nothing of expense 
 and towards evening she sent for me again. 
 
 " Will you dress me, A nson," she asked, " when 
 your lady has done with you ? it won't take you long, 
 and I don't choose my maid to know anything about 
 it. I've found a dress, and if I don't astonish your 
 ladies as much as they mean to astonish me, my 
 name's not Hilda." 
 
 Of course my lady gave me leave, and about eight 
 o'clock I went to her dressing-room. There, laid out 
 on the couch, was an exquisite tunic of amber satin, 
 spangled and embroidered with silver and blue, and a 
 pair of sandals to match ; a cupid's dress, in short, 
 evidently made for a fancy ball. 
 
Io8 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 " Will thai do?" she asked. " Minus the stockings, 
 of course : you see, I know all about it." 
 
 I helped to dress her in it, and the effect was very 
 fine. She had bathed, and her maid had attired her 
 in a short chemise, exquisitely fine, and trimmed with 
 the finest lace, with a narrow blue satin ribbon running 
 round the top, and rosettes here and there along the 
 ruche. Her hair was arranged to produce the best 
 effect her short curls would allow, and a ribbon of 
 blue and silver was run through it very artistically ; 
 her maid had evidently good taste, and she looked 
 very bright and beautiful. As she threw off her soft 
 dressing-gown, and stood with her beautiful limbs 
 fully displayed, I could well understand the ladies 
 wishing to handle their rods in her behalf. Her com- 
 plexion was almost as dark as a bronze statue, but 
 shapely as any Venus that ever was sculptured. Her 
 exquisite little foot rose at the instep with the true 
 Arab bend, leaving only the toe and heel to rest upon 
 the ground, looking almost too small for her childish 
 stature. Her ankle was as slim, and her calf as perfect 
 in shape, as any leg that ever was modelled by artist 
 or extolled by painter, and the texture of her glossy 
 
PREPARING FOR A SENSATION. IO9 
 
 \ 
 
 skin was the admiration of all who saw only as much, 
 and that is not little now-a-days, as ball-room costume 
 shews. It was a real pleasure to dress such a dainty 
 bit of Nature's handiwork (such a contrast as she was 
 to mv lady), needing neither powders nor creams to 
 improve her complexion, nor any tight shoes or high 
 heels to improve her thoroughbred little foot. The 
 soft flesh rose up plump and soft between the straps of 
 the sandals, firm and smooth as her round cheeks, and 
 the beautiful leg looked more beautiful than ever when 
 the high straps, with their glittering pendants, were 
 clasped round it. Real diamonds glittered in the true 
 blue rosettes which adorned the front of the sandals, 
 and in the blue trimming of the tunic, as well as being 
 worn in a thin line round her neck. A prettier Cupid 
 never was seen in fairy extravaganza than that girl 
 with her negro blood, when she was dressed for her 
 initiation into the ladies' secret club. The tunic 
 reached just to the knee, and had a half body of 
 the same colour, which contrasted well with the bright 
 satin ; round her waist was a deep crimson scarf 
 with gold embroidery, neither long nor wide, but 
 sufficient to add another well contrasting colour to 
 the whole, She surveyed herself with a good deal of 
 
IIO MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 satisfaction in the cheval glass when her dress was 
 complete. 
 
 11 It is a barbarous mixture of colouring," she said # 
 '* No civilized creature would venture upon it ; but I'm 
 only half civilized. I'm ready for them now, whenever 
 they like to send." 
 
 The ladies were quite ready, and I was soon sum- 
 moned to my place : my costume for that evening 
 was in the Watteau style, only plainer than the ladies 
 — chintz and delaine taking the place of their silks 
 and satins. My lady, in her footman's costume of 
 blue and gold, and her powdered wig, looked so like a 
 man that I quite started when I entered the room, 
 although I had helped her to put it on. Gustave 
 assisted at my toilette ; the Princesse liked to have 
 him at hers, and she sometimes complained that he 
 was awkward, so I took him to my room to practise. 
 I taught him how to put everything on, to fasten 
 hooks and buttons, to hold a hand-glass, to tie san- 
 dals, and everything I could think of. My lady told 
 me to choose a pair of garters for this evening from 
 a box which had come from Paris for her, as my 
 
PREPARING FOR A SENSATION. Ill 
 
 Watteau skirt was short, and I made him try them 
 all on for me. You have no idea what beautiful 
 things some of them were ; velvet and satin, with 
 mottoes and flowers embroidered on them in gold 
 and silver, and rosettes, with real gems in them, and 
 long fringed ends hanging down a couple of inches or 
 so. I chose a ruby and silver pair embroidered with 
 fleur-de-lis, and he put them on for me, telling me he 
 was sure none of the ladies could shew a prettier leg 
 than me, and, indeed, I think he is right : I always 
 garter above the knee, and that is one secret of 
 keeping the leg a good shape ; your knee loses its 
 roundness if the garter is below it. I think Gustave 
 half guessed what was going on in the tabagie ; and, 
 indeed, the Princesse once proposed that they should 
 admit him, and make use of him, but the ladies were 
 afraid that he would not hold his tongue. I think he 
 would ; he knew the worth of his place. His mis- 
 tress dressed him magnificently ; he had suits for 
 every possible occasion — for walking, for riding, for 
 waiting on his lady at her toilette, and for being in 
 attendance in the evening. For her dressing-room he 
 had a loose suit of white cashmere trimmed with 
 crimson, and a crimson sash — a sort of Greek dress 
 
112 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 in which he looked lovely ; and when the other ladies 
 borrowed him, as they very often did, they liked to 
 see him in it. It was soft and colourless and did not 
 clash with their magnificent toilettes. As for the 
 demure little Mme. Hautville, she was continually 
 having him in her room, and would have him help to 
 dress her from the very beginning ; he told me one 
 day that he had seen her in her bath. She was a 
 most luxurious little lady ; her bath was lined with 
 magnificently painted porcelain, and the room panelled 
 with looking-glass, and hung with dark blue silk, which 
 contrasted finely with her fair complexion and golden 
 hair. She was fond of seeing herself reflected end- 
 lessly in the mirrors, and would dally in the water 
 like a mermaid, splashing the scented drops about 
 like a pleased child, She was the veriest little hypo- 
 crite that ever breathed, with her piety and her 
 prayers. But all this is not to the purpose : I was 
 going to tell you about Madlle. St. Kitts' initiation ; 
 I shall have to hold it over till next time. Till then, 
 believe me, 
 
 Your sincere friend, 
 
 M. Anson, 
 
PREPARING FOR A SENSATION. i 1 3 
 
 P.S- — My lady is gone out with the Count and 
 
 Mrs. D. , so that I have a bit more time to myself. 
 
 I've been looking over your letter, and I see I haven't 
 
 answered your question about Lady C 's queer 
 
 maid, Stephens. Who was she ? you ask ; and did 
 you ever know her ? Well, I don't think you ever 
 did, and 'tisn't much of a treat to know her now, for 
 she's a cross-grained old thing, in a general way. We 
 got at her story quite by accident ; we were talking 
 about whipping one night over the fire, and she said — 
 
 " I told my mistress I never had anything to do 
 with the rod till I came to her, but that was a fib ; I 
 helped at a fine flogging once." 
 
 " Oh, tell us about it," Fifine said. " Who was 
 flogged, and who did it ? " 
 
 " It was our ballet master at the Theatre Royal, 
 Z ." 
 
 " The what ?" said Fifine, opening her round eyes 
 till they nearly cracked, and staring at Stephens as 
 though she were a ghost. 
 
114 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 •' The theatre," she replied composedly. " I wasn't 
 always old and ugly, Mademoiselle, and there was a 
 time when I could dance with the best ; I was in the 
 ballet there." 
 
 Fifine's astonishment was ludicrous to behold, and 
 Stephens went on, — 
 
 " Would you like to know what I was like in those 
 days ? I can shew you ; I kept my portrait, not from 
 any vanity, for it is not pleasant to look at the ghost 
 of your youth, but for other reasons." 
 
 She went off to her room, and presently came back 
 with a miniature, painted heaven knows how long ago, 
 of a very passable-looking girl in ballet costume. 
 
 " That was me," she said, " though you mightn't 
 
 think it ; and it was while I was engaged at Z that 
 
 I first felt the whip. It was the custom in the Ger- 
 man theatres then, and may be now for aught I can 
 tell, for the ballet master to have the entire control of 
 the ladies in his department, and pretty strict he had 
 to be, I can tell you. The Grand Duke was very 
 
PREPARING FOR A SENSATION. 1 1 5 
 
 particular about the ballet, and would detect the 
 slightest inaccuracy in the dancing, or the least speck 
 upon our tights or skirts. No expense was spared 
 upon our costume, and every night, when we were 
 dressed, we were passed in review before the manager 
 and the ballet master, to see that we were properly 
 attired. The latter used to hold a private inspection 
 of his own first, and this we specially hated, the 
 English girls particularly, who were not used to that 
 kind of surveillance. He carried a rod, a lithe thin 
 thing that cut unmercifully, and if he saw the slightest 
 spot or crimple, swish it would come across our legs or 
 hips, making us jump and smart for long enough after. 
 One evening he was peculiarly aggravating— hardly one 
 of us escaped a cut ; he had us up before his chair, one 
 by one, and inspected our head-dress, our ornaments, 
 our skirts, shoes, everything. Then would come the 
 order, " Raise your skirts, Mademoiselle ; " and up 
 they had to go, till he could see every bit of our 
 tights right up to our waists. There were no drawers 
 and tacked petticoats as are worn in England ; nothing 
 but the bare silk, which was of the very best, and 
 looked thoroughly glossy and good. He was out of 
 
Il6 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 temper that night, and no one got off scot free. One 
 or two of us he slapped with his hand, and I was one 
 of them. He declared that the seams of my tights 
 were crooked, and gave me a sounding slap ; the girls 
 tittered, and I sprang back, hardly understanding a 
 word of what he said to me, when he pulled me across 
 his knee, just as if I had been a child, and beat me 
 with his broad fat hand till I hardly knew what I was 
 doing. It was lucky for me that I had time to 
 recover myself a little, or I should have got a repri- 
 mand from the manager for being flurried. It was 
 no use complaining ; the ballet master was omni- 
 potent in his department ; but we resolved to have 
 our revenge, and laid our plans accordingly. The 
 next day was an off day at the theatre, but we had to 
 be there for some trifling practice, and we knew the 
 place would be clear of all but ourselves. We behaved 
 with the utmost discretion, and went through our 
 work " like angels " he was pleased to say. After it 
 was over he went into the green-room, and stood 
 there for a minute or two alone. Now was our op- 
 portunity, and we seized it ; two of the biggest and 
 bravest amongst us stole in behind him, and flung a 
 thick cloak over his head and face ; he was a little 
 
PREPARING FOR A SENSATION. 117 
 
 man, and we were more than a match for him when 
 once his eyes were blinded. In a very little while we 
 had him blindfolded and hand-fast on the floor, writh- 
 ing and howling, as only Frenchmen can, for mercy 
 He knew perfectly well who we were, but, of course, 
 could identify no one in particular, and he alternately 
 implored and threatened in the most comical manner. 
 First he would call us ' his angels," and declare he 
 would never touch one of us again as long as he lived, 
 and then we were little devils, and oh, how he would 
 be revenged ! I don't think he really knew what we 
 were going to do till he felt our hands unfastening his 
 clothes, and then it was all we could do, between our 
 own merriment and his struggles, to get him prepared 
 for the punishment we intended for him. At last we 
 managed it, and got him pulled across a chair, and 
 held tight down ready for the rod. And didn't we 
 whip him ! We had a lissom whip just like his own, 
 and it passed from hand to hand with a will. We 
 laid it on his yellow skinny hips till we were as tired 
 with laughing and whipping as he was with struggling 
 and shrieking. We left him there writhing and smart- 
 ing, to recover himself as he could, and went home 
 At night he had to call upon the manager, but sent 
 
Il8 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 an excuse saying he was ill, and the next day at 
 rehearsal he was singularly stiff and awkward in his 
 movements. " He had met with a slight accident '' 
 was the story he told, and though every one in the 
 theatre knew the real state of the case, tbey were 
 obliged to listen gravely. It did him good, and he 
 pocketed the affront, and we girls came off better for 
 having had spirit enough to resent his ill-tempered 
 chastisements. And that was where I first saw the 
 rod used, girls : and it wasn't yesterday, I can tell you." 
 
 " I should think not," said Fiflne, wickedly, when 
 Stephens was gone. " It must have been a good 
 many yesterdays ago : to think of that old crab ever 
 having been anything so wicked as a ballet girl ! " 
 
 I haven't time to tell you anything about Fifine 
 this time ; I'll do it in my next. She chatters away 
 without any reserve about her experiences, and they 
 have been funny ones. Good bye for the present, 
 and mind you write soon to your affectionate, 
 
 M. Anson. 
 
LETTER VII. 
 
 THE WHIPPING OF CUPID. 
 
 My Dear Marion, 
 
 I can guess how impatiently you have 
 waited for the rest of my story about Madlle. St. 
 Kitts, and how she fared with the Order of St. Bridget. 
 The Watteau dresses were a great success, but they 
 were obliged to abandon the idea of half the ladies 
 dressing as gentlemen for want of sufficient costumes 
 of the style required ; but they made up for it by the 
 variety of colours, and the piquancy of their costumes, 
 
 Lady C , old an ugly as she was, really looked 
 
 handsome as she took her seat. She wore a tuck-up 
 skirt of rich green satin over a crimson brocade skirt, 
 and her hair was dressed and powdered under a hat 
 of white chip, trimmed with crimson roses and green 
 
 ribbons. Mrs D 's costume was dark blue over a 
 
 maize skirt, which suited the Saxon style of her 
 features and the colour of her hair exactly. But 
 
120 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 the greatest success was the two footmen, who stood, 
 with the utmost gravity, on each side of the dais. 
 They were both tall women, so that they looked 
 middle-sized men, and their costume was perfect — 
 high-heeled buckled shoes, silk stockings, white knee- 
 breeches and waistcoats, and blue coats, edged with 
 gold cord, and immense gold shoulder knots and tags. 
 They wore white wigs, and looked a very well-matched 
 pair of aristocratic footmen. The taste of the Prin- 
 cesse in her liveries was everywhere remarked — they 
 were thoroughly distinguished looking, without being 
 in the least gaudy. As for the little lady herself, it 
 was her freak to appear as a page, and, in a suit of 
 claret-coloured velvet, with sugar-loaf silver buttons, 
 she looked the very incarnation of mischievous im- 
 pertinence. Her dark hair was parted on one side, 
 and rolled up into boyish-looking curls, and her tiny feet 
 were encased in patent leather bottines of exquisite fit 
 and shape. Her entrance caused a burst of laughter 
 and applause ; indeed, some of the ladies started, half 
 afraid there had been some mistake and that a boy 
 had actually got into the room. When the laughter 
 and applause were over, and the ladies had sufficiently 
 admired each others' dresses, they settled down into 
 
THE WHIPPING OF CUPID. 121 
 
 their places, and Lady C gave the command that 
 
 Madlle, St. Kitts should be fetched. The Princesse's 
 maid, who always attended outside the door, was 
 
 despatched to bring her down, and Mrs D went 
 
 out into the anteroom to receive her. 
 
 " I hope she'll enjoy it," muttered Stephens to me, 
 grimly, as we stood waiting our orders ; " it will cure 
 her of curiosity for some time, I fancy." 
 
 Stephens never could get over the whipping she had 
 received, and the chance of touching anyone else with 
 the whip was a real delight to her. The ceremonial of 
 the young lady's introduction was to be a special one, 
 and I noticed the ladies handled their rods, which had 
 been all freshly tied and trimmed, very affectionately, 
 while they waited for this new object for their use. 
 
 When Mrs D led the young girl into the room 
 
 blindfolded, after the question " Who comes there ? '' 
 &c, a murmur of admiration greeted her appearance 
 in her fantastic but becoming costume. There wasn't 
 a bit of timidity about her : she thought she knew 
 what she had to encounter, but it proved a mistake : 
 she answered gaily enough to the questions put to her. 
 
122 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 " Are you prepared to join heartily in the ceremonies 
 of the Merry Order of St. Bridget, and to further, to 
 the best of your power, the amusement and pleasure 
 of the meetings of the sisters thereof? " 
 
 " I am." 
 
 " Are you willing to swear never to reveal aught that 
 you see, hear, or do in this room, now and hereafter?" 
 
 " I am." 
 
 Then followed the same questions which were put 
 
 to me, and then Lady C said, " Swear her." I had 
 
 not been sworn, but I knew the ladies had gone through 
 some form of taking an oath. A rod was put into 
 
 Mademoiselle's hand, and, repeating after Lady C , 
 
 she said — " I, Geraldine Hilda St. Kitts, candidate for 
 admission into the Merry Order of St. Bridget, hereby 
 swear to hold myself bound by all its rules, and to 
 submit to all penalties imposed upon me by it. I 
 solemnly bind myself to answer any questions put to 
 me by the president of the society, and never to reveal 
 anything which passes at its meetings. I swear this 
 
THE WHIPPING OF CUPID. 1 23 
 
 by all the hopes i have of a good marriage and a 
 prosperous and happy future, and, in token of my 
 sincerity, I am ready to submit to whatever ceremony 
 of initiation the sisters may deem necessary. 
 
 " Good,'' said Lady C : " prepare her." 
 
 It was very little trouble to do that — only to fasten 
 up the short tunic to her shoulders, and her beautiful 
 figure was fully revealed. I saw the ladies look at her 
 rounded hips and finely shaped legs with longing eyes, 
 and, indeed, there was a pleasure in having such a firm 
 smooth skin to lay the rod upon. She never flinched 
 
 or shuddered, only saying to Lady C , " Madame, 
 
 is it against the rules to let me see ? " 
 
 11 Quite," was the only reply, and then came the 
 word " Advance." 
 
 That she was hardly prepared for the first blow I 
 could see, though she did not scream, but bit her rosy 
 lip hard to keep down any sound, and, as lash after 
 lash fell with varied force upon her firm round hips, 
 she writhed and twisted, but managed to suppress any 
 
124 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 cry. When we had reached the president's chair, 
 instead of making her kneel over the ottoman, I was 
 ordered to advance and unpin the tunic, letting it down 
 for a little while, and, still blindfolded, she was ordered 
 to kneel. 
 
 " Madlle. St. Kitts will now tell the sisters of the 
 Order how she found out anything about them," the 
 president said, and there was a general titter, Made- 
 moiselle was silent. 
 
 " She has taken the oath, and she will keep it," Lady 
 C went on. 
 
 " I will," replied the girl, trying hard to keep her 
 voice from quivering. " At the back of the president's 
 chair, under the hangings, there is a large closet ; I 
 was in there the whole of the first meeting of the 
 society." 
 
 The first meeting ! the one at which I had been 
 initiated, and poor Stephens whipped. She doubtless 
 remembered the way in which she had struggled and 
 kicked, for I heard her mutter, under her breath, " The 
 
THE WHIPPING OF CUPID. 125 
 
 little viper." That particular evening Madlle. St. Kitts 
 had been reported ill with a bad headache : some of 
 the ladies had marked her absence from the drawing- 
 room, and enquired for her. 
 
 " I locked that closet myself in the afternoon,' 
 Lady C said. < 
 
 " I unlocked it afterwards, and got in." 
 
 " With what key ? " 
 
 " The key of my dressing-room door — the lock is a 
 common one." 
 
 Lady C looked angry, the other ladies amused, 
 
 and the president went on. 
 
 " You saw everything " 
 
 "Everything! The admission of the two ladies'- 
 maids, and the taking of the oath I have just sworn 
 myself," 
 
126 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 " Geraldine Hilda St. Kitts, you have acted the part 
 of a traitor and a spy ! Have you revealed to anyone 
 what you saw on that night ? " 
 
 " To no one." 
 
 " You are an orphan ? '' 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " From whence ? " 
 
 " From the Island of Cuba, in the West Indies, 
 staying here, and travelling under the protection of 
 my aunt, Madlle. Loupe." 
 
 " Have you ever, except on the night you speak of, 
 witnessed the discipline of the rod being administered?" 
 
 ■ I have." 
 
 " Ever suffered it?" 
 
 " Yes," 
 
THE WHIPPING OF CUPID. 1 27 
 
 " Where ? " 
 
 ' At my father's estate of St. Kitts, in Cuba, where 
 I practised it, with his permission and my mother's, 
 when a child." 
 
 " And you like it ? " 
 
 " I do, and wish to see more of the practice under 
 the auspices of the Merry Order of St. Bridget." 
 
 I was ordered to the dais, to see that there was no 
 one in the closet she spoke of — a ceremony which was 
 never afterwards omitted — and I found that anyone 
 inside could see very well all that was passing in the 
 room, and Madlle. St. Kitts must have had an edifying 
 example of the way in which elderly ladies and virtu- 
 ous matrons could amuse themselves when they fancied 
 themselves unseen by younger eyes. 
 
 " Will Mademoiselle tell the sisters of the Order 
 whv she kept her secret ? Young ladies are generally 
 prompt to gossip." 
 
128 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 The girl's answer came quick and decisive to this 
 question — 
 
 " Because I wanted to join the Order, and I knew 
 that once talked about it would be at an end. No 
 young lady under the control of a mother would have 
 kept the secret." 
 
 " Then you confess to a passion for the rod, Made- 
 moiselle ? " 
 
 - I do." 
 
 " And will submit to whatever punishment the 
 sisters choose to inflict for the crime of secretly 
 watching their proceedings ? " 
 
 " I will." 
 
 " Unquestioning and unmurmuring ? " 
 
 Madlle. St. Kitts bowed, and lady C beckoned 
 
 me, and bade me prepare her once more for the rod. 
 
 " What, more whipping ! " she muttered, in a low 
 
THE WHIPPING OF CUPID. 1 29 
 
 tone : but she made no remonstrance nor attempt 
 to resist. 
 
 '•' Jenkins, step forward," Lady C said, in an 
 
 authoritative tone, and my lady advanced to the front 
 of the dais and bowed in such a footman-like manner, 
 that the rest of the ladies tittered till rebuked by the 
 president. 
 
 " The business is serious, Mesdames," she said, 
 " may I beg you will be silent." 
 
 Madlle. St. Kitts started at the call for " Jenkins ; " 
 
 it was an unfamiliar name to her, and she was at a loss 
 
 what to make of it. By this time I had again pinned 
 
 up her dress, and, in obedience to an order from Lady 
 
 C , I made her step up upon the stool, over which 
 
 I had leaned to be whipped. " Jenkins " came and 
 
 stood in front of her, and the pretty tawny arms were 
 
 guided round the neck of the supposed footman, who 
 
 held them tight. A dexterous movement of the other 
 
 gentleman in plush gave Mademoiselle a hoist up, and 
 
 in an instant her ankles were secured by a soft silk scarf, 
 
 and there she was, powerless. For a moment or two she 
 
 I 
 
130 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 took it all in good part (she had been horsed before, 
 she told my lady afterwards), but it was only for a 
 moment. She felt the cloth and buttons, and her 
 chin rested on the horse-hair wig, with its black bag ; 
 it was a man whose back she was hoisted on, and she 
 gave a loud scream. 
 
 "A man ! she cried ; " Let me go ! It is shameful ! 
 I will complain to the Count, and let him know what 
 goes on in his house. Let me go, I say ! " 
 
 If the ladies had tittered before, they laughed out now 
 and peal after peal rang through the room at Made- 
 moiselle's unavailing struggles and impotent screams. 
 It was as much as Stephens and myself could do to 
 hold her in position, and it was some time before 
 Lady C 's voice could be heard through the tumult. 
 
 Madlle. St. Kitts has promised to obey our Merry 
 Order in everything. Ladies, to your places, if you 
 please. Jenkins, are you ready ? " 
 
 " I am,'" replied Jenkins, in a voice which contended 
 with muffled laughter, and the foreman horsing the 
 
THE WHIPPING OF CUPID. 131 
 
 young lady planted herself firmly in front of the dais, 
 and every lady in turn went forward and administered 
 a couple of strokes with her rod. They did this with 
 great precision, so that the blows had the effect of 
 freemason's claps, and if Mademoiselle had borne the 
 preliminary castigation bravely, she did not bear this 
 so well. Half hysterical from fright and indignation, 
 she struggled and screamed till she was breathless, so 
 that when she was released from the grasp of the 
 footmen, she could only roll on the floor and gasp. 
 After a moment or two the order came to unbind her 
 eyes, and, to her horror, she found herself face to face 
 with two footmen and a page. Overcome with 
 shame, she covered her face with her hands, and 
 the president made a sign for the two supposed men 
 to retire ; then, addressing Madlle St. Kitts, she said — 
 
 " Now you know, Mademoiselle, the penalty that 
 awaits any improper spying into the affairs of our 
 Order, and what you will subject any young lady to 
 in whom you may, by hints or otherwise, excite an 
 undue curiosity respecting it." 
 
 She then declared Geraldine Hilda St Kitts a 
 
132 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 member of the Merry Order of St. Bridget, and I 
 was allowed to take the poor girl away. Nor was it 
 till the next meeting that she was undeceived about 
 the footmen. She kept the secret capitally ; not one of 
 the young ladies could get anything out of her ; and 
 
 as for the cupboard, Lady C made it impossible 
 
 for anyone to make a spying-place of that, by having 
 the door taken away. Mademoiselle was not able to 
 appear again that night: her punishment had been 
 much more severe than that of the Princesse, and she 
 was glad to bathe and go to bed, I went down as 
 quickly as I could, and found Fifine scuffling with 
 some one in the dark anteroom. 
 
 " You shan't ! " I heard her say. " You wicked, 
 spying little wretch, come out !" 
 
 11 What is it ? " I asked her, going in, and blinking 
 with the sudden cessation of the light. 
 
 " It is that horrid little Gustave. I turned my 
 back for a moment, and there he was, trying the 
 keyhole of the door ; if any of the ladies were to 
 come out, they would lay the blame on me," 
 
THE WHIPPING OF CUPID. 1 33 
 
 The fact was, Gustave had found out that his mis- 
 tress had donned a suit which had been ordered for 
 him ; and his curiosity being great to see what she 
 did in it, he had crept downstairs, and finding Fifine 
 absent from her post for a moment, had applied 
 his eye to the keyhole of the tabagie door, to try and 
 see what went on within. Being caught by the lively 
 French girl, she had pulled his hair and slapped his 
 face, which led to the scuffle I had interrupted. I 
 only made matters worse, for, when I touched him, he 
 howled, and was heard inside. Stephens was sent 
 out, and reported what the disturbance was about : 
 and an order came out to blindfold Master Gustave 
 and tie his hands. It was easier said than done ; it 
 took the whole three of us to do it, and when it was 
 done, he sat down on the floor liko a lump of lead. 
 
 Mrs. D came out and ordered us to bring him in, 
 
 and we had to carry him and drop him just inside 
 the door. He could not get the bandage off his eyes 
 nor untie his hands, but he made himself as heavy 
 and awkward as he could, and it was as much as we 
 
 could do even to turn him over. In vain Lady C 
 
 bid him stand up ; he wouldn't stir ; and at last we 
 carried him to the ottoman and laid him across it. 
 
134 MERRt ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 In a twinkling his clothes were down and his shirt 
 pinned up, and a sound whipping administered to him, 
 every lady taking part therein. How he did howl 
 and struggle to be sure, and how the ladies laughed ! 
 None of them spoke, so that he did not know who 
 his tormentors were, and all his struggles did not 
 
 avail to free his hands and eyes. Lady C made 
 
 him tell how he found out his lady had put on his 
 costume, and he gasped out that he had been behind 
 the window curtain of her dressing-room, and saw her 
 put it on. Luckily, Fifine was present, so she had 
 not talked about St. Bridget, or revealed any of their 
 secrets. When the ladies had whipped him to their 
 hearts' content, we were ordered to take him away, 
 which we did, depositing him on the floor in the lava- 
 tory, which was pitch dark, and locking him in. No 
 one could hear him there, and when he was released 
 an hour afterwards, the tabagie was empty ; no trace 
 of the ceremonies or the sisterhood was to be seen ; 
 and he could make nothing of his adventure. He 
 tried with might and main to get something out of 
 me (Fifine knew nothing, so she could not tell), but it 
 was no use ; for I wasn't going to break my word for 
 his vagaries, and I held my tongue. He got nothing 
 
THE WHIPPING OF CUPID. 135 
 
 by his curiosity but a good whipping, and it did him 
 good ; he was as demure again for several days after, 
 though he would make saucy speeches to me about 
 what he guessed. 
 
 " I'll find out yet," he said to me one day ; " see if 
 I don't ; I'll come down quietly, and strangle Fifine, 
 and then I'll take her place and get in." 
 
 " Fifine never gets in," I retorted. 
 
 " Then I'll strangle you," he said ; " it's all the 
 same ; I'm not going to be whipped like that without 
 knowing something in exchange." 
 
 But, my dear, he never did find out. The Princesse 
 told him the next time he dared to come nea r 
 the tabagie, she would turn him out into his rags and 
 dirt again within an hour, and he knew her well 
 enough to know she would keep her word. But I 
 must leave off now. I'll tell you all about Mme. 
 Hautville's installation in my next. — Believe me, 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 M. Anson. 
 
\$6 MERRY ORDER OE ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 P.S. — Our ladles are all in solemn conclave this 
 
 morning in Mrs. D 's rooms, and we are at liberty 
 
 till they ring for us. I don't think anything to do with 
 the Order of St. Bridget is the subject of their discus- 
 sion, but I shall be sure to hear about it, whatever it is ; 
 my lady couldn't keep anything from me, if she tried 
 ever so. However, it has given us an hour or so to 
 ourselves, and I can scribble a bit more to you. I 
 really am very happy here on the whole, and Fifine, 
 whom you were asking about, is a nice, cheerful little 
 thing. I am sorry she is not in the secret of the 
 tabagie meetings, for I am sure she guesses about it ; 
 and, more than that, she has been used to whip and 
 be whipped before she was a lady's maid. With all 
 her frankness and bonhommie, she has been tolerably 
 reserved about herself ; and it was only by accident, 
 the other day, that 1 discovered what her history had 
 been, for she has a story, and a grave one, butterfly 
 little creature as she seems. One day lately, I 
 noticed that she seemed very absent and distressed — 
 frightened, as it seemed to me; but she declared 
 there was nothing the matter with her. Our ladies 
 were going to a grand party in Tours that evening, 
 and Fifine seemed terribly anxious to get rid of Gus- 
 
A CONJUGAL SCENE. 1 37 
 
 tave and myself as the evening wore on. I fancied, 
 naturally enough, that she had some quiet flirtation 
 on hand, and, as I never like my own sport spoiled, 
 I went out, taking the boy with me. We returned 
 somewhere about eleven o'clock, and went straight up 
 to our rooms. Outside the door we paused, for un- 
 mistakable sounds of sobbing, mingled with the 
 familiar swithing of the rod, were plainly to be heard. 
 It was Fi fine's voice, and for a moment we imagined 
 that the Princesse had come back, and was punishing 
 her maid for some real or fancied fault. I felt sure 
 that could not be, however, and I tried the door ; it 
 was locked, and Fifine's voice exclaimed in terror, 
 " There's some one at the door ! Let me go ! " 
 
 A harsh, dissonant voice (a man's) replied, with a 
 vicious chuckle — 
 
 " Let you go my angel ! What, just as I have 
 recovered my lost treasure ! No ! let them come in, 
 and see how naughty children are punished when 
 they rebel against lawful authority." 
 
 He laid a wicked stress upon the " lawful ;" and 
 
138 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 Stephens, who had come up, seeing us standing at 
 the door, started back. 
 
 rt I know that voice," she said. " Where did he 
 come from ? * 
 
 " Who is it ? " I asked. 
 
 " One of the greatest scoundrels unhung, / think," 
 she replied. " A fellow that got iuto good society in 
 Paris through lies and effrontery ; he got kicked out 
 of the drawing room, and then tried to ingratiate 
 himself downstairs. His name is Barbel, and he once 
 wanted to marry me." 
 
 " Oh my ! " ejaculated Gustave, under his breath. 
 
 41 Not for my good looks, you monkey, but for a bit 
 of money I'd saved. Luckily, I found out in time 
 that he had a wife somewhere, though he himself did 
 not know where. Here, Mons. Barbel, open that 
 door," she added, calling through the keyhole. 
 
 " Ah, that voice ! " exclaimed the man within. 
 
A CONJUGAL SCENE. 1 39 
 
 ' Certainly my charming Mademoiselle, whom I 
 have the happiness to recognise. Come in, and assist 
 at a conjugal tete-a-tete." 
 
 He came tripping across the room as he spoke, and 
 flung the door open, admitting us to a somewhat odd 
 scene. Fifine was tied across a heavy chair in the 
 middle of the room, crying as if her heart would 
 break, her clothes turned up with the utmost precision 
 while the ugliest old man I ever saw was adminis- 
 tering a whipping, which had already been severe, 
 judging from the state of her hips and her tear-stained 
 and swollen face. 
 
 ;< You nasty brute, let her go ! " exclaimed Gustave, 
 springing to her side, and beginning to unfasten the 
 handkerchiefs with which she was secured, while 
 Stephens poured out the full measure of her wrath 
 upon his head, calling him all the names she could 
 think of, and shaking her fist at him in scorn and 
 anger. 
 
 " Pardon, ladies ; softly, young sir ! " he said with an 
 odious leer. " Shall not a man do what he likes with 
 
140 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 his own ? This lady is my runaway wife, my chattel, 
 my goods ; and who shall forbid my chastising her 
 when I find her." 
 
 Gustave and I were so petrified with astonishment 
 that we could only stare at him, but Stephens came 
 to the rescue with tact and skill. 
 
 " Of course you can have your wife," she said, " and 
 whip her twenty times a-day if you like; but not in 
 another lady's rooms. This apartment is Miss 
 Anson's, and I see she does not much fancy your 
 company in it. Will you favour me by coming to 
 mine ?" 
 
 He hesitated a moment, and looked at Fifine, who 
 sat with her head buried in her hands. 
 
 " Oh, never mind your wife ! " Stephens went on 
 " You've hindered her from running away for to-night 
 at least ; a glass of wine would be no bad thing after 
 your exertions ;" and so speaking, she actually walked 
 him off, leaving us alone with Fifine, who seemed 
 almost beside herself with fright. 
 
A CONJUGAL SCENE. 141 
 
 We soothed and comforted her as well as we could, 
 and when she was calm enough to speak, we asked 
 her if it was true. 
 
 " Yes," she said, through her tears ; " quite true, 
 1 am his wife, heaven help me ! but I hoped I should 
 never see him again ; " and then, bit by bit, her story 
 came out. I fancy a good many French girls could 
 tell the same if we only knew. Fifine was by no 
 means a lowly born girl ; she came of a good family, 
 though poor. Her parents died, leaving her a little 
 money, and she was placed in a convent, from whence 
 she was taken by her guardian, at the age of sixteen, 
 to be given in marriage to the man whom Stephens 
 had called Barbel. That he was old, ugly, and dissi- 
 pated, mattered nothing ; he was the man chosen for 
 her, and, as these things are always arranged in 
 France, she took him, doubtless hoping that she 
 should shake down into her new life, as hundreds of 
 women do, without feeling her position too acutely. 
 She reckoned without her host, however ; she was 
 tied to a man without sense of honour or decency ; 
 and after being outraged as only such brutes can 
 outrage helpless women, she fled from him and threw 
 
142 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 herself upon the mercy of the Princesse Z , whose 
 
 husband had known her father. That lady listened 
 to her pitiful story, and took means to ascertain its 
 truth, and finally allowed the poor wife, under an 
 assumed name, to become her attendant. 
 
 " And I should be so happy," she sobbed, when she 
 had told us all, " but for him ; this is the second time 
 he has found me, and no one but the Prince has any 
 influence over him to keep him away, and he is so 
 far off." 
 
 We asked her how he got in, and she said she met 
 him on the previous evening, when he had announced 
 his intention of coming, and declared he would claim 
 her publicly if she did not admit him. 
 
 " And oh ! " she added, in a terrified voice, " I don't 
 know how to tell you, but things are not safe where 
 he is ; he has been in prison once, and " 
 
 She burst into such passionate tears that our hearts 
 ached to see her, 
 
A CONJUGAL SCENE. 143 
 
 " We'll get rid of him somehow," Gustave said, 
 encouragingly. " Stephens won't let him go blabbing 
 — she knows him, she said ; he made love to her in 
 Paris." 
 
 " Go and see what has beeome of him," I said ; and 
 Gustave went, and presently reappeared, saying, " It's 
 all right ; stop with Fifine — my assistance is wanted 
 yonder." 
 
 He stayed away about an hour, and then they 
 both came back. Stephens had actually taken him 
 to her own room, and, with Gustave's help, made him 
 drunk ! 
 
 " It was the only thing," she said, grimly ; " nobody 
 would suspect me of an intrigue, and he must be got 
 rid of. When the Princesse comes home we will tell 
 her." We did, and she entered fully into Fifine's 
 tribulation. 
 
 " He must be turned out of course," she said — 
 " the brute ; and I think, 1 can make him hold his 
 tongue ; in the meantime I leave him to you," 
 
144 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 We took the hint, and, after seeing Fifine and her 
 mistress to bed, we three went into Stephens's room, 
 and when M. Barbel woke up out of his drunken 
 sleep, it was to feel the smartest cuts that our rods 
 could give him. We had fastened him as he had 
 fastened his poor little wife, and I'll answer for him it 
 would be a long time before he'd forget what sort of 
 a whipping two women could give him. When we 
 had done, I gave him a message from the Princesse, 
 to the effect that, if ever he molested Fifine again, 
 while she was with her, instant arrest would be his 
 portion. He understood, though we did not, and 
 became abjectly humble, and declared his willingness 
 to depart at once. We let him go, and he slunk off ; 
 but his adventures did not end here : one of the men 
 recognised him, as he was going out of the house, as 
 a fellow who had swindled him in Paris, and adminis- 
 tered summary justice on the spot in the shape of a 
 good kicking. Poor Fifine looks very pale and dis- 
 trait, but she will soon recover her spirits, for he is 
 safe for some time : the very day after he left Tours 
 he was arrested for forgery and robbery, and lies 
 awaiting his trial. It would be no loss to society if 
 they sent him to the galleys for life- the monster! 
 
A CONJUGAL SCENE. 145 
 
 To think of little Fifine having such a story belonging 
 to her ! " Still waters run deep," the proverb says ; 
 but I should never have thought there was anything 
 below the surface in her. There's my lady calling : 
 now I shall hear what the discussion has been about. 
 It is sure to be something to make more toilet work 
 for us girls. Good-bye till I write again, which won't 
 be long. Ever your affectionate, 
 
 M. Anson. 
 
LETTER VIII. 
 
 THE WOMAN IN WHITE. 
 
 My Dear Marion, 
 
 I promised to tell you about the installation 
 of Mme. Hautville to a place in the Order of St. 
 Bridget. It took place at the very next meeting 
 after I had caught Gustave and he had been whipped. 
 There was nothing new to be done — whipping is whip- 
 ping, and nothing can make it different. But the 
 ladies resolved to have something fresh about it, and 
 agreed, that instead of all having the orthodox rods 
 they should have as many kinds of instruments of 
 punishment as they could think of ; thus, one lady 
 should use a slipper ; another a birch, tightly tied ; 
 
 another a loosely-fastened rod, and so on. Mrs. D 
 
 declared for nothing at all : she would use the palm of 
 her hand only, she said, " and if I don't make as much 
 impression as any of you," she added, wickedly, " why 
 I have forgotten my practice, that's all," 
 
I4# MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 Mme. Hautville made a very pretty toilette for the 
 occasion ; she was all in white, not a penitent like the 
 Princesse had been for her admission, but in the cos- 
 tume of a novice when she takes the veil. The dress 
 had been considerably modified as being too flowing 
 for the occasion, but it was all white silk and lace, 
 and a lovely little angel she looked when it was com- 
 pleted. From head to foot she had nothing on that 
 was not pure white. White satin shoes, with diamonds 
 sparkling on the rosettes ; white silk stockings, gar- 
 tered above her round knees with white velvet garters, 
 with satin rosettes ; white petticoats — one of the finest 
 flannel, embroidered with lilies, and one of soft lawn, 
 with a lace flounce. Her robe was silk, the soft noise- 
 less sort that does not rustle, richly trimmed with 
 costlyMechlin lace, and over her head she had a square 
 veil. She had Gustave in to assist at her toilette, 
 and allowed him to put on her exquisite stockings, 
 and fasten her garters and shoes. I could see the 
 delight the mischievous rogue felt in doing it ; his face 
 flushed, and his hands trembled so that he could 
 hardly clasp the silver fastenings. But Madame never 
 minded him a bit ; she seemed rather to like feeling his 
 hands about her, and very nice hands they had grown 
 
THE WOMAN IN WHITE. 1 49 
 
 into by now, I can assure you. He looked wistfully 
 after her as we escorted her down stairs, but he dared 
 not follow this time. Madame submitted to be blipd- 
 folded with a very good grace, though she tried hard 
 to get me to tell her what was going to be done ; she 
 had such pretty coaxing ways that it was hard to re- 
 sist her ; but I did, and she went in quite unprepared. 
 We led her slowly up the room, and at the first stroke 
 of the rod, nearest the door, she winced, but did not 
 cry out ; the next blow she received was a stinging 
 one from a slipper my lady held in her hand (she 
 knows how to strike with a shoe, I can tell you), and 
 she gave a little scream and a jump. " Oh, what is 
 it ? " she said, between her teeth ; but the next stroke, 
 
 a fair open-handed slap from Mrs. D 's fat hand, 
 
 made her fairly shriek out, and twist herself out of 
 our grasp on to the floor. It was a slap, and rang 
 out even above the laughter of the ladies, leaving a 
 broad red mark on the white, firm flesh of the little 
 lady. 
 
 " Stop punishment ! " said Lady C from her 
 
 dais ; " the applicant will answer the questions of the 
 Merry Order before she is further whipped." 
 
150 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 We led her to the ottoman, and she knelt over it. 
 
 " Angeline Marie Hautville," she went on, " you 
 promise to obey the Merry Order of St. Bridget in all 
 things pertaining to their rites ?" 
 
 " I do." 
 
 " And to answer all questioning from their presi- 
 dent ? " 
 
 " I do." 
 
 " You are accustomed to the practice of the rod ? '' 
 
 " I am. 
 
 " And have a passion for|it ? " 
 
 Mme. Hautville bowed, but made no answer. 
 
 " Your husband joins you in the practice ? " 
 
 Another mute bow, and the fair face turned fiery 
 
THE WOMAN IN WHITE. 151 
 
 red, no doubt at the thought of that same private 
 practice, and how it must have been seen by some 
 one. 
 
 " State to the Merry Order how you became ac- 
 quainted with the use of the whip, and whether you 
 or Mons. Hautville was the first to introduce its 
 pleasures into your married life ? " 
 
 Again she blushed, and did not immediately speak ; 
 and Lady C repeated her question, when she re- 
 plied in a low tone, " I was." 
 
 " You first taught your husband to find pleasure in 
 whipping ?" 
 
 " I did." 
 
 " And where did you learn it yourself? " 
 
 " In the convent where I was brought up." 
 
 " Was it practised there as a punishment only, or 
 as a pleasure as well ? " 
 
t$2 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 " Both — as a punishment by the sisters and priests, 
 and as a pleasure by the girls of the convent school, 
 who learned the use of the rod from their superiors/' 
 
 " You have not told your husband of our meeting 
 and your intentions ? " 
 
 " I have not." 
 
 " And you will not?" 
 
 There was a difficulty in the answer to this question. 
 Mme. Hautville would say no more than " Not if I can 
 help it," which caused much laughter and some con- 
 sternation, though the ladies agreed amongst them- 
 selves, that as M. Hautville practised whipping him- 
 self he would not be likely to say anything even if his 
 wife did let the secret out. Whether she did or not, 
 he held his tongue ; and I heard my lady remark that 
 he was exceedingly attentive to and careful of her the 
 next day, when she kept her room. The whipping 
 she got was a pretty severe one ; the different kinds 
 of instruments used made the punishment harder to 
 bear than the continuous stroke of a single rod, and 
 
THE WOMAN IN WHITE. 153 
 
 her poor hips were all weals and bruises. When I 
 took her away to her room Madlle. St. Kitts went with 
 her, and remained in her rooms ; she and that lively 
 young lady took a fancy to one another at once, and 
 Mademoiselle sympathised with her in her sufferings. 
 Madlle. St. Kitts was an orphan, or she would never 
 have been admitted. She was staying at the chateau 
 under the protection of her aunt, Madlle. Loupe, one 
 of the before-mentioned old maids, a cross, strait-laced 
 creature, but quite powerless to control the wayward 
 girl, who was to all intents and purposes her own 
 mistress. She lectured her severely upon her joining 
 " those women,'' as she called the ladies, and vowed 
 she would make the Count put an end to their secret 
 meetings. 
 
 ' : The Count would be only too glad to join us, 
 aunty," she replied ; and indeed, when Madlle Loupe 
 spoke to him indignantly about the proceedings of the 
 tabagie, he replied, " That so far from trying to stop 
 the amusements of his guests, he intended to apply for 
 admittance to their meetings himself, for he was sure 
 that what ladies could keep secret with such pertina- 
 city must be intensely interesting and amusing." 
 
154 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 Madlle. St. Kitts related all this at the next meeting 
 of the society, to the amusement and indignation of 
 the sisterhood, and added, that her aunt was exces- 
 sively curious about their ceremonies. 
 
 " I think the best plan would be to enlighten her," 
 
 said Mrs. D , with a laugh, and she drew her rod 
 
 through her ringers as she spoke. 
 
 " What, admit her ! " said Lady C . " I don't 
 
 think we should find her an agreeable associate, nor a 
 silent one either." 
 
 " I don't think we should ; but we might initiate her 
 for all that : let her have a taste of our proceedings, 
 and I don't think she would want any more, or would 
 be likely to go tattling to the Count again. We'll 
 leave Madlle. St. Kitts out of the scheme if she likes." 
 
 " Oh no ! I owe auntie a grudge for many a bit of 
 spite, and if you don't serve her worse than you served 
 me, 1 shan't grumble, and she'll be none the worse." 
 
 " Half the whipping will do, my dear, but I think 
 we can cure her of curiosity, and complaining too," 
 
MADLLE. LOUPE. 155 
 
 replied Mrs. D ; and then, rising, she begged per- 
 mission to lay before the meeting a plan of revenge 
 upon Madlle. Loupe for her ill-will towards the society. 
 It was received with much laughter and approbation ; 
 and it was resolved that if the lady shewed any more 
 animosity it should be immediately carried out. 
 They had not to wait long. The very next day the 
 fair lady again assailed the Count with a request that 
 he would deprive the ladies of the use of the smoking- 
 room, and put down the " disgusting orgies " held 
 there. The Count repeated her words to my lady 
 and the sisters resolved upon instant revenge. When 
 Madlle. Loupe retired that night to her room she found 
 a note upon her dressing-table, inviting her to join the 
 rest of the ladies in the tabagie the next evening. It 
 further directed her to knock at the door of the smok- 
 ing-room at a certain hour alone, otherwise she would 
 not be admitted. The note concluded by saying the 
 ladies trusted to be able to convince her of the com- 
 plete harmlessness of the secret society, about which 
 she had so kindly interested herself. She went to her 
 niece's room in great excitement to know who sent the 
 invitation, but Hilda was mute upon the subject. 
 
156 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 " She had heard the ladies express a wish to have 
 her aunt join them," that was all she would say about 
 it ; and Madlle. Loupe passed the night and the next 
 day in a state of extreme excitement. 
 
 The ladies met that night in their ordinary evening 
 costumes, for reasons which will presently appear, ex- 
 cept the two footmen and the page, who were on duty 
 
 beside Lady C 's chair. The room was almost in 
 
 darkness ; the only lights were two candles on the 
 stands at the top of the room, and as soon as the 
 knock was heard at the door these were blown out, 
 leaving us in total darkness. This had been arranged 
 before-hand, and the Princesse's maid removed from 
 
 her post of outside door-keeper. Mrs. D disguised 
 
 her voice, which she had a knack of doing, and asked 
 who was there? Madlle. Loupe answered timidly, 
 and was immediately drawn into the room, and the 
 same voice told her she must be blindfolded. In the 
 twinkling of eye, and before she could resist, her hands 
 were pinioned, and a handkerchief tied over her eyes. 
 While this was being done the candles were lit, and a 
 dozen hands seized upon the unlucky victim. Struggles 
 were vain — screams of no avail ;. indeed, they were 
 
MADLLE. LOUPE. I 57 
 
 lost in the peals of laughter which resounded on all 
 sides. Madlle. Loupe was prepared, horsed, firmly 
 held on the back of one of the footmen, and soundly 
 whipped. To describe her appearance would be vain. 
 Fancy a scraggy, sallow woman, with skin like parch- 
 ment, and a coiffure composed mainly of false hair, 
 which loosened itself in her struggles and kept tum- 
 bling off; and a shrill voice, which now and then raised 
 itself above the general tumult in a sharp squeal, which 
 was more temper than pain, for the ladies laughed too 
 much to make their blows very hard. A very few 
 minutes sufficed to give each of them an opportunity 
 to use their rods, and then one by one they glided 
 silently from the room. The pins which held up her 
 dress were taken out, and the bandage over her eyes 
 loosened, and she slid to the ground to find herself 
 alone with two men and a page. They stooped over 
 her with well-acted surprise, but she shrieked and hid 
 her face. 
 
 " Men, too ! " she screamed. " Oh ! oh ! go away ; 
 it only wanted that to complete their wickedness. Go 
 away, I tell you ! how dare you come here ? send my 
 
158 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 maid, you wretches — Madlle. Loupe's maid — oh, 
 oh ! they've murdered me." 
 
 She was wasting her lamentations on the empty air, 
 and when she looked up again she was alone. There 
 was the empty room, not a trace of any occupancy 
 remaining, and she rolled over again on the couch 
 bewailing her smarts and the way she had been tricked. 
 She must have lain there some time, when, getting a 
 little calmer, she sat up upon the couch and confronted 
 a man gazing at her, no less a person than the Count's 
 valet, a very fine gentleman indeed, who had been 
 passing near the tabagie, and, attracted by unusual 
 sounds, had entered, and was surveying Madlle, 
 Loupe's disarranged dress and disordered coiffure 
 with mingled admiration and astonishment. 
 
 " Another man ! " she shrieked. " Are you one of 
 them ? Are you leagued with the wretched women 
 who moet here and indulge in such abominable 
 
 practices ? I have been " she stopped suddenly, 
 
 and said, " insulted, outraged in this room, and I will 
 have reparation," 
 
MADLLE. LOUPE. 15^ 
 
 " There is no one here but Mademoiselle," the man 
 replied, puzzled ; w the ladies are in the drawing-room ; 
 there has been no meeting in the tabagie to-night." 
 
 " No meeting ! Do you dare to stand there and 
 
 tell me that when I ? Ah ! I see you are one of 
 
 them ; perhaps one of the vile men who was here just 
 now, hired by those women to insult me." 
 
 " I will send Mademoiselle's maid to her," was all the 
 reply he condescended to make to her, and walked off 
 to the drawing-room, where, after a little delay, he 
 was able to speak to his master, and tell him that 
 Madlle. Loupe had gone mad in the smoking-room. 
 
 " Is it a secret, Count ? " asked the Princesse, who 
 had dressed and was moving about the room, deli- 
 cately lovely in a pale primrose-coloured dress. "Your 
 face looks interesting." 
 
 " Does it ? It was a serious piece of news Andrea 
 brought me, I can assure you ; he says Madlle. Loupe 
 is in the tabagie raving mad. Have you anything to 
 do with this sudden alteration of her intellects ? " 
 
l6o MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 " I have done nothing to produce such a catastrophe 
 as that." 
 
 u I strongly suspect your sisterhood, who hold the 
 secret conclaves yonder, have been practising upon 
 her amiable nature. Ladies, shall we go and see how 
 far Andrea's dismal tale is true ? " 
 
 Down in a body went the ladies, with the Count at 
 their head, to gather round Madlle. Loupe, and question 
 and condole with the utmost innocence. She spoke 
 out plainly now, declared she had been shamefully 
 outraged, whipped, and degraded in the presence of 
 his servants, at a secret meeting of the ladies in the 
 chateau. 
 
 " But, my dear madam, there has been no meeting 
 here to-night ; the ladies have given us the pleasure 
 of their society in the drawing-room, where we have 
 missed you, I can assure you." 
 
 " You have been tricked, and so have I ! " she said in 
 a fury. M I tell you I was beaten by two men in livery, 
 and a page stood by and looked on ; and I heard the 
 
MADLLE. LOUPE. l6l 
 
 laughter of a room full of people at my sufferings. 
 Count de Floris, if there is law in the land, I will have 
 it ! " 
 
 " Certainly, my dear madam ; if you can point out 
 the offenders, I will aid you to the utmost in bringing 
 them to justice." 
 
 " Point them out ! They are your guests, these 
 women who think nothing too shameless to indulge in 
 in their vile meetings." 
 
 " I think we had better retire, Count," said Mrs. 
 
 D ,with dignity. " Mademoiselle's malady appears 
 
 to be one for which a night's rest will be the best 
 remedy." 
 
 " Dear, dear, how sad ! " said the Princesse. slyly 
 " I had no idea of anything of that sort ; better ring 
 for her maid, poor creature, and have her taken up 
 stairs at once." 
 
 The Count was puzzled, and half inclined to think 
 
 that his guest had been indulging too freely in cham- 
 
 L 
 
l62 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 pagne at dinner, but he spake gently to her. ' In- 
 deed, my dear madam, you are under some delusion ; 
 if you will allow me to conduct you to your room, the 
 matter will be most carefully investigated." 
 
 There was nothing for it but to comply, and the next 
 morning every servant in the house was strictly exa- 
 mined. No one knew anything about it, of course ; 
 none of the men had been near the tabagie on the 
 previous night, and the women had only to report that 
 they had dressed their ladies for the evening as usual, 
 with no information regarding any meeting. It's my 
 belief that the Count knew or guessed at the truth, 
 and rather enjoyed the discomfiture of Madlle. Loupe ; 
 who, poor soul, remained under the imputation of 
 having taken more wine than was good for her on that 
 particular day, and who never attempted any more to 
 meddle with the other ladies, or to interfere with the 
 doings of Madlle. St. Kitts. It gave her a lesson she 
 did not forget, and she was obliged to take it to heart 
 in secret and without any fuss. She had no witnesses 
 to bring forward, and of course there was only her own 
 word as to the whipping. She could not very well 
 produce ocular proof of the fact, and her assertion 
 
MADLLE. LOUPE. 163 
 
 did not go for much. She was a much more amiable 
 woman after the little ceremony, which gave her an 
 insight into the doings in the tabagie, than she was 
 before ; and it was a long time before she again tried 
 to learn any of the secrets of St. Bridget. When she 
 did — but that is too long a tale to tell now ; I'll let 
 you have it in its proper place. My lady is calling, 
 so I must go. — Believe me, as ever, 
 
 Your sincere friend, 
 
 M. Anson. 
 
 P.S. — My letter is quite long enough, but I may 
 not be able to write again for some time, and I see I 
 have been scribbling on without ever answering your 
 question about Gustave. My lady only wanted me to 
 give me some orders about her dress for a hunting 
 party that is to come off next week, where they are all 
 to be in Moyenage costumes, and make fools of them- 
 selves, by pretending to hunt a poor tame boar that 
 has been kept in a pen in the woods here ever since 
 we came. My lady is going in a crimson dress, with 
 gold trimmings ; Mme. Hautville, in blue and silver ; 
 
164 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 and the little Princesse in green and gold. Old Lady 
 
 C (and what a spectacle that woman will be on 
 
 horseback, to be sure !) has composed a costume out 
 of two old black velvet and satin dresses, and trimmed 
 them with white and silver like a coffin ; she'll look 
 like an undertaker's advertisement. But all this has 
 nothing to do with that imp of a page. You ask 
 whether he took all the punishment he got quietly, 
 and whether he did not retaliate upon us for his whip- 
 pings. Of course he did, and in a way we little ex- 
 pected, and could not resent. There was a ball at 
 Tours, a very select and genteel one, and most of the 
 ladies and gentlemen at the chateau — I mean in our 
 circle — were invited. We had some work to get per- 
 mission, but as it happened on an evening when we 
 were not much wanted we did get it, though I must not 
 tell you how we were harassed till the very last minute, 
 and barely allowed time to dress and get off. I was 
 fully prepared two or three days beforehand ; as I 
 told you, my foot and my lady's are the same size, and 
 though she is taller and stouter than I am, a little 
 alteration makes her dresses fit me. I was resolved 
 not to be outdone in the matter of dress, and I selected 
 a blue and white shot silk, which had been only twice 
 
A ROLAND FOR AN OLIVER. 165 
 
 worn, and Honiton trimmings. There were shoes to 
 match the dress, which my lady did not much like — 
 she always said it did not suit her complexion. It 
 did mine beautifully, and I can tell you that there was 
 quite a buzz of admiration when I walked into the ball- 
 room with Mons. Pierre, Mons. Hautville's valet. For 
 ornaments, I had a garnet and pearl set belonging to 
 my lady, and a perfumed fan, which had just come 
 with a lot of other things from Paris. Fifine had 
 much more trouble with her dress ; she was taller and 
 bigger than her little mistress, and she was obliged to 
 content herself with a lace dress as the only one she 
 could alter successfully. I helped her with gloves and 
 shoes ; and with some Paris diamonds and deep crim- 
 son flowers she looked very pretty. Gustave helped 
 with our toilettes, and was very demure and quiet all 
 the evening — so quiet, that we could not help fancying 
 he meant mischief. 
 
 " I know he's up to something," Fifine said, as we 
 drove off. " Oh, Mademoiselle, suppose he was to go 
 to our ladies and tell about these ! " 
 
 She put her hand up to her neck where her mis- 
 
166 MERRV ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 tress's ornaments glittered, and looked frightened, for 
 the Frincesse had a temper, and was easily offended. 
 
 " Oh, no fear ! " I replied. " Gustave is not a bad 
 hearted boy : he may play us some prank, but he 
 won't do anything deliberately spiteful." 
 
 The ball was a most delightful one ; we were uni- 
 versally pronounced the belles of the room, and had 
 more attention paid us than any other people of the 
 place. It was late when we got home, and we found 
 that Stephens, good-natured for once, had attended to 
 our duties for us, and we could go to bed at once. 
 Not a sign of Gustave was to be seen ; the men said 
 he was in bed long ago, and we went off to our rooms, 
 glad to be rid of him, and tired enough. We un- 
 dressed and folded up our dresses, which were none 
 the worse, and chatted freely about the ball and 
 what we had seen and done there. All at once I 
 heard a smothered laugh somewhere ; I was sure of it, 
 but though we looked well about we could see nothing. 
 Our lights were soon out, and I got into bed. I had 
 left the door open, and could hear Fiflne get into hers ; 
 
A ROLAND FOR AN OLIVER. 167 
 
 a moment more, and she sprang out with a terrified 
 scream. 
 
 " What is the matter ? " 1 asked, and then there 
 came a peal of mischievous laughter, and Gustave 
 rushed past me, and in a moment had locked the outer 
 door communicating with the corridor, and taken out 
 the key. 
 
 " You little wretch ! " I exclaimed. " What do you 
 want ? Where were you ? " 
 
 " In my bed," gasped Fifine. " I — I " 
 
 She could not speak between rage and fright, and 
 the boy, who was half dressed, only laughed the more. 
 
 " That's just where I was," he said ; " and now, you 
 two girls, look here : I've let you whip me and lead 
 me a precious life, and I'm going to turn the tables. 
 I'm going to whip both of you, and try my hand, or 
 else go straight to the Princesse the first thing in the 
 morning and tell her about the fine dresses I helped 
 to put on." 
 
1 68 MERRV ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 The little brute was quite in earnest. Not only had 
 he been lying in bed in wait for us, but he had two 
 rods there, which I knew at a glance had come from 
 the Princesse's store ; and do you know, my dear, 
 many things made mc fancy afterwards that she knew 
 about it — both the dresses and the whipping too. 
 Well, to make a long story short, and to save myself / 
 consented that Gustave should whip me —and the 
 little wretch made me go through all the proper cere- 
 monies, and then gave me as good a flogging as ever 
 my mistress did. Fifine resisted for a long time, but 
 she, like me, knew what he could do to spite us if he 
 chose in other ways besides the ball affair (for we 
 had talked quite unrestrainedly before him), and she 
 submitted at last. How the little wretch chuckled 
 when he got hold of her, and we recovered our breath 
 after the scuffle. 
 
 " Now, Mademoiselle," he said, mimicking the Prin- 
 cesse's voice to a nicety," kneel down and kiss the rod !" 
 
 Fifine hesitated, but a smart cut across her unpro- 
 tected legs brought her to reason. 
 
A ROLAND FOR AN OLIVER. 169 
 
 " Let him have his way," I said ; " it is no good 
 thwarting him." 
 
 So she knelt and did as he bid her, and he lectured 
 her the while with such a serious face that I could not 
 but laugh, though I was smarting, I can tell you. 
 
 u Madlle Fifine," he said, " you have been guilty of 
 a grave offence in wearing your mistress's dresses 
 and jewellery ; you will now take punishment for the 
 same at my hands. Rise, and lean over the ottoman ! 
 Madlle. Anson, hold her hands ! " 
 
 We both laughed — we could not help it ; but Fifine 
 saw it was best to submit, and she took her flogging 
 quietly — the imp of mischief asking her whether it 
 was not much nicer to be whipped by a fine hand- 
 some young man (fancy a monkey of fourteen calling 
 himself a man) than by an angry mistress. At length 
 he stopped, and Fifine was as sore as I was ; she 
 jumped up and made for the door. 
 
 " Oh, I haven't done with either of you ! " he said, 
 
170 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 wickedly ; " that was only for the dresses : now about 
 the jewels." 
 
 In vain we protested and begged ; he declared if we 
 did not do all he required of us he would go to our 
 ladies the first thing in the morning and describe ex- 
 actly what we had worn. There was nothing for it 
 but to obey, and, standing by the chair where he had 
 whipped us, he ordered us to turn up our night-dresses 
 and fasten them. When we had done this he made 
 us march before him round and round the room, ad- 
 ministering alternate cuts to one and the other. I 
 looked at Fifine, and she at me ; we had had about 
 enough of it, and when he once more sat down we put 
 our own smarting hips out of the question, and sprang 
 upon him, one on each side. In a twinkling he was 
 down, and his head tied up in a towel ; then his hands 
 fastened, then his legs, and then he was at our mercy. 
 
 " Now it is our turn," Fifine said, while I hastily 
 undid the fastening of his trousers, the only clothing 
 he had on, except his shirt. 
 
 " Oh. let me go !" he begged. " I won't tell ; indeed, 
 indeed I won't !" 
 
A ROLAND FOR AN OLIVER. I/I 
 
 " 1 don't intend you shall," I replied; " but we shall 
 whip you in case you forget and let a word slip ; " and, 
 rolling him over, we administered a full payment for 
 what he had given us. He was not a vindictive fellow, 
 for he never told ; and as far as my lady was con- 
 cerned our secret was safe. From a good many little 
 things that slipped out I always fancied that the Prin- 
 cesse was not so ignorant either of the dressing or the 
 whipping, but she kept her own council, and we heard 
 no more about it. But I must not write more now, 
 for my lady will be back directly. Let me know 
 when you get this, and believe me. 
 
 Your affectionate friend, 
 
 M. Anson. 
 
LETTER IX. 
 
 FANCIFUL FLOGGING. 
 
 My Dear Marion, 
 
 I can quite understand your impatience to 
 hear more from me, but the fact is that after the 
 practical joke the ladies played on Madlle. Loupe 
 they deserted the tabagie for a while. That outraged 
 lady's bewailings, they feared, would draw too much 
 attention to their proceedings. Besides, they felt 
 sure that the Count suspected something, and though 
 they would not restore the room to the gentlemen, 
 they practised in their secret convocations. Poor 
 Madlle. Loupe paid the place many a visit in secret 
 to see if she could discover anything, and so did many 
 of the servants, who enjoyed the story of the whipping 
 immensely (for the victim made no secret of it) ; but 
 there was nothing to be discovered— the pretty room 
 was just as they left it — dais, crimson chairs, lamps, 
 and all, but no sign of anything to tell of what went 
 
174 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 on there. As for Gustave, that boy knew pretty well 
 the truth — his own experience had taught him, and 
 the way in which he condoled with Mademoiselle, and 
 offered her his services to help her to discover the 
 culprits, was edifying to see. At first she took it into 
 her head that he was the page who had witnessed her 
 humiliation, and meeting him in the corridor one day 
 in the identical ruby velvet suit the Princesse had 
 worn, she caught hold of him, and cuffed him, and 
 shook him till his howls brought out his mistress, and 
 one or two more of the ladies, to see what was the 
 matter. 
 
 u I assure you, you are mistaken, madam," the 
 Princesse said, when the accusation was preferred. 
 " Gustave wears that suit for the first time to day ! 
 he has never seen it before." 
 
 M Oh, haven't I ? " the boy said, sotto voce, with 
 a comical glance at the petite figure of his lady, who, 
 I fancy, caught the words, though Madlle. Loupe 
 did not. 
 
 " But it is the same dress, colour, ornaments, and 
 everything, even to the crest on the buttons," 
 
FANCIFUL FLOGGING. 175 
 
 " There is no crest on the buttons," replied the 
 Princesse demurely. " I do not use a crest for Gus- 
 tave ; it is a simple fleur-de-lis which anyone may 
 use if they like." 
 
 Madlle. Loupe looked confounded, and the Prin- 
 cesse went on in the same grave fashion — 
 
 " As to the colour of the dress, it was a fancy of 
 mine, but as it so exactly resembles that of some one 
 else, he shall never wear it again : I like my servants 
 to be unique if possible. For the rest, madam, I 
 shall feel obliged if you will leave Gustave alone for 
 the future ; 1 can correct him myself when there is 
 any occasion for it." 
 
 She sailed off in a dignified fashion, so foreign to 
 her general manner that the ladies could scarcely 
 refrain from bursting into peals of laughter; indeed, 
 Ivlme. Hautville, who was one of those who were with 
 her, made a most precipitate retreat from the scene, 
 and we could hear her silvery voice in uncontrollable 
 merriment after the door was closed behind her, 
 
176 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 As for Gustave, Madlle. Loupe made him a sort of 
 half apology; that is to say, she admitted she had 
 been mistaken, and declared that the page she had 
 seen was not so stout as he was, which was very true. 
 He accepted her apology, and vowed he would help 
 her to find out the truth, which coming to the ears of 
 the ladies through Madlle. St. Kitts, they had him up 
 to my lady's dressing-room, and whipped him in full 
 conclave, every lady using a different instrument, as 
 had been done in Mme. Hautville's case. He was 
 sore enough afterwards, and made no more proffers of 
 assistance to Mme. Loupe. My lady did not relish 
 the cessation of the whipping festivities ; it was a 
 pastime she delighted in, and I can assure you, my 
 dear, that I suffered from her enforced abstinence 
 from her favourite recreation. She used to practise 
 upon me to keep her hand in, and she was no mean 
 performer with her pet instrument, I can tell you. 
 
 She had a dozen ways of indulging her fancy, 
 always at my expense, and one of them was peculiarly 
 Aggravating. 
 
 She got hold of a great book out of the library, 
 
FANCIFUL FLOGGING. 1 7 J 
 
 which had a history of feminine manners and customs 
 in ancient Rome (and nice manners they must have 
 been), and she resolved to make me attend upon her 
 toilet as the slaves of the Roman ladies did. So she 
 looked up a short tunic which was among the fancy 
 dresses, and the next morning she made me go and 
 strip, and come back to her with nothing on but this 
 garment, which was just like a sack, with short sleeves 
 only, of soft white merino, trimmed with red satin. 
 It did not come to my knees, and my legs and feet 
 were bare, except for a pair of sandals of red leather. 
 
 " Now take care what you are about, Anson," she 
 said. " I am going to deal with you exactly as the 
 ladies in Rome dealt with their slaves." 
 
 " But I am not a slave, my lady," I said, imper- 
 tinently enough, 1 dare say, for I felt angry. " There 
 are no slaves here." 
 
 " You are mine as long as you are in my room," 
 she replied. " When my toilet is sufficiently com- 
 pleted, I shall punish you for that speech." She 
 
 made me bathe her, and perfume her, and dress her 
 
 M 
 
178 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 hair, and then before she put on her stays she said 
 quite calmly, " Bring the rod." I brought it, and she 
 made me kneel and kiss it, and beg her pardon for 
 what I had said ; and then I knelt over the couch, 
 and she whipped me till she was tired, — and I, — well, 
 I did not get over it for a long time. For a good 
 while after that she made me attend her in that 
 detestable tunic ; and how that boy Gustave used to 
 jeer and laugh about it to be sure ! But I had some 
 
 fun out of it too, for Lady C heard of it, and 
 
 took a fancy to have Stephens do the same ; but the 
 sight of her skinny yellow legs was too much for her 
 mistress and such of the ladies as saw her, and after 
 one sound whipping she was let off. The way that 
 she lamented and anointed herself after she was 
 whipped was very funny. The ladies teased her un- 
 mercifully, and took a delight in getting her punished ; 
 they knew her legs were a sore point with her, poor 
 soul. But though my lady languished for the use of 
 the rod, she was not alone in her longing, and on the 
 second day after the meetings ceased there was quite 
 a gathering of ladies in her rooms. I knew quite 
 well what they were come for, and was not at all 
 surprised when my lady told me to lock the door, 
 
FANCIFUL FLOGGING. 1 79 
 
 They were all en peignoir, and were certain of an hour 
 or two to themselves, the gentlemen being engaged 
 with their own pursuits, and most of them out of 
 doors. Madlle. St. Kitts was among them ; they had 
 all taken a fancy to her, and, indeed, she was first 
 and foremost in all their frolics ; she was dressed in 
 a white muslin robe, trimmed with fine lace and 
 amber satin ribbon ; my lady was in pink, and Mrs. 
 
 D in blue ; the little Princesse was all in white, 
 
 and Lady C in a hideous old flannel dressing- 
 gown that looked as though it had been fifty times 
 washed. They were all anxious for a little practice 
 with the rod, and despatched me to the chamber of 
 the Princesse for the necessary weapons. She kept 
 them in a long box, lined with velvet ; and splendid 
 rods they were, lithe and well tied, regular stingers, 
 not like the clumsy things we used to make up when 
 you and I were girls together. When I returned with 
 them, I found the ladies in full gossip ; they were 
 questioning Madlle. St. Kitts as to where she learnt 
 anything of the use of the rod, and that lively young 
 lady did not scruple to relate her experiences for their 
 benefit. 
 
l8o MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 " I've been used to it all my life," she said, in 
 answer to a question from my lady ; " ever since I 
 can remember I have been accustomed to see whip- 
 ping. My father had a whipping house on the estate, 
 and we used regularly to go and see the slaves 
 whipped, especially the girls ; they were stripped and 
 tied up, not horsed like " 
 
 " Like you were," said my lady with a laugh. " Con- 
 fess, my dear Miss St. Kitts, were you not frightened 
 out of your wits ? " 
 
 11 I was ; I thought for a moment that you really 
 had introduced the male element, but auntie's fright 
 has atoned to me for mine." 
 
 " Does Madlle. Loupe still think it was the ser- 
 vants ? " asked Lady C . 
 
 " That she does, and wants the Count to have a 
 police inquiry." 
 
 " Which he knows better than to do. I dare say 
 she was not always so frightened of a man." 
 
FANCIFUL FLOGGING. l8l 
 
 " No, that she wasn't. I've heard mamma tell stories 
 of her younger days : and when she was at St. Kitts 
 no one took more interest in the whippings. I've seen 
 her take a rod myself in the slaves' dining-room, and 
 she has whipped me often ; she was considered an 
 'elegant hand." 
 
 " Ah," said Lady C ,." there is a great difference 
 
 in the style of whipping. There is no enjoyment 
 either in the use or endurance of the rod when it 
 is vulgarly used, like a woman would strike in a 
 passion ; but when an elegant, high-bred woman 
 wields it with dignity of mien and grace of attitude, 
 then both the practice and suffering becomes a real 
 pleasure." 
 
 " That is just what our governess and the nuns at 
 the convent school used to say," said Miss St. Kitts, 
 her eyes flashing and her cheeks glowing at the 
 recollection ; " and they let us feel it, too. 
 
 " Ah, I've had some convent experiences, too," 
 laughed the lovely little Princesse. " Lay that box 
 down, Anson ; though Mademoiselle here is impatient 
 
1 82 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 to feel one of those dainty weapons, she will have to 
 wait — we are going to have our gossip out first." 
 
 "Am I to be the victim ?" asked Madlle. St. Kitts ; 
 " I had no notice." 
 
 " Yet you came prepared, 1 know, said Mrs. D , 
 
 merrily lifting the girl's skirts as she spoke, and dis- 
 playing the shapely brown legs and slim ankles of the 
 West Indian heiress. She had nothing on under her 
 peignoir but an embroidered petticoat and a fine 
 chemise, 1 and her feet were thrust into quilted satin 
 slippers. 
 
 u Convicted," she said. " What say you, ladies ; 
 shall not she be whipped, being ready ? " 
 
 " Agreed, agreed ! " responded the ladies, laying 
 hands on the plump W T est Indian, with looks of delight. 
 
 " Oh, a truce, a truce ! " exclaimed Mademoiselle- 
 " Fair play, ladies ! I plead guilty to having come 
 ready, but have you not all done the same ? I pro- 
 pose that the one to be whipped should be the one 
 
FANCIFUL FLOGGING. 183 
 
 who has not thought of preparation, not those who 
 have." 
 
 The ladies laughed and agreed, and a general 
 examination ensued, when, lo ! it turned out that the 
 Princesse Z was the only one who had come un- 
 prepared for the ceremony. In vain she pleaded that 
 she had come in a hurry, that there had been no 
 notice given her, &c. ; she was ordered into my lady's 
 bedroom to prepare, while the ladies gossiped and 
 chattered among themselves. 
 
 " Your whippings are child's play compared to our 
 school punishment," Miss St. Kitts remarked. " The 
 sisters used to pick the bits of birch out of our skins 
 for us after a severe flogging, and the priests used to 
 scold them for it, and tell us that those prickles were 
 part of our penance." 
 
 "Ah ! " said Mrs. D , twitching uneasily on her 
 
 chair ; " that's carrying matters too far. Did those 
 worthy gentlemen help at the punishment, my dear ?" 
 
 " As far as looking on was an assistance, they did. 
 
184 Merry order of st. Bridget. 
 
 The sisters professed to do it in private, but there was 
 a sliding panel between the refectory and the room of 
 penance, and they could apply their eyes to it if they 
 chose." 
 
 " And you may be sure they did choose." 
 
 " Oh, we know they did, but we got used to it ; 
 besides, we had to walk through the refectory pre- 
 pared for punishment, where the whole school was 
 assembled — Lady Superior, nuns, confessors, and all 
 — and they made us walk very slowly, too.'' 
 
 " Prepared ? " said Lady C . 
 
 " Yes ; this sort of thing,' said the lively girl, giving 
 her drapery a dexterous twitch up over her shoulders, 
 and assuming a most comical expression of face, as, 
 with her arms crossed, she walked slowly through the 
 room. The sight of her plump, round hips and 
 smooth, firm flesh which the action disclosed was 
 too much for my lady, and, slyly seizing a rod which 
 lay beside her, she gave the young lady a smart cut 
 
FANCIFUL FLOGGING. 185 
 
 with it, which made her jump and sit flat down on the 
 floor, amid the laughter of them all. 
 
 " That's not the way to receive punishment," said 
 
 Lady C , when their mirth had subsided. " This 
 
 meeting do agree that Madlle. Hilda St. Kitts shall 
 stand up and submit to such chastisement as the 
 sisters shall think proper for such an undignified 
 proceeding." 
 
 Which Miss St. Kitts did, and folding her hands, 
 humbly begged that the punishment might not be too 
 severe, so that she should not be able to partake of 
 any fun which might come after, and she was con- 
 demned to walk up and down the room twice, pre- 
 pared for punishment, and to receive or elude as she 
 could the blows from the ladies' rods. This proceeding 
 ended in a romp, and I don't think Miss St. Kitts got 
 much hurt, for she looked so funny with her pretty 
 morning robe pinned up round her neck, and her 
 brown legs contrasting so oddly with her snowy 
 chemise, that the ladies laughed too much to be 
 very mischievous. Just as their fun was at its height 
 the Princesse entered, having removed all her under- 
 
1 86 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 clothing. When the turmoil had a little subsided, and 
 the heiress lay breathless and rolling on the floor, she 
 
 presented the rod, and kneeling to Lady C 
 
 begged for punishment. The Countess, my mistress, 
 
 and Mrs. D voted for a few minutes' pause ; they 
 
 were out of breath, as, indeed, were all the ladies. 
 
 " Then let some one tell a story," said Lady C . 
 
 •' Princesse, you are the only one of us with breath 
 enough ; entertain us while we rest." 
 
 " As a ransom ? will you take a story and let me go 
 free ? " asked the little lady, who, truth to tell, did not 
 much care for the whipping, having, as she confided to 
 my mistress, been taken to task by her husband on 
 one occasion as to the meaning of sundry marks on 
 her white skin. He had been at the chateau during a 
 visit he paid to Paris, and was expected again for a 
 day before returning to St. Petersburg, and his ap- 
 pearance was curiously ill-timed, having taken place 
 on the day following a grand meeting of the ladies, at 
 which the Princesse had come in for a full share of the 
 rites of St. Bridget. 
 
FANCIFUL FLOGGING. 187 
 
 11 What say you, ladies ? shall the Princesse ransom 
 
 herself?" Lady C asked. " Far be it from us to 
 
 make his highness uncomfortable when he comes to 
 visit his lovely wife, or to make conjugal differences 
 through our secrets." 
 
 " Oh, we never differ," the Princesse said, laughing. 
 u Michael is afflicted with curiosity, that is all, and 
 he knows I never do penance, so it was awkward to 
 answer him. What must the story be about ? " 
 
 11 Something bearing on the rod, its use, &c. — some 
 of your own experiences." 
 
 '• I haven't any," she said, ruefully ; " I told you 
 so when I first joined you." 
 
 " I have it," said Mrs. D . " Let us consider the 
 
 Princesse absolved if she can tell us quite a new story 
 about whipping— something we have not heard before.'' 
 
 " Perhaps Mrs. D will take my burden off my 
 
 shoulders," she said, comically ; " she looks full of 
 stories." 
 
1 88 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET, 
 
 " No, Princesse ! no shifting," said my lady ; a story 
 from you, or the rod." 
 
 " I do know something ! " she replied, her face 
 brightening ; u but it is not my own experience, it 
 is my grandmother's." 
 
 " No matter, so it is new to us ; can we take a hint, 
 any of us ? " 
 
 " You might give your husbands one," she said 
 laughing. " A lady could not undertake such a matter 
 very well." 
 
 " Is Anson to hear it ? " asked my lady." 
 
 " Oh, anyone may hear it who is bound to keep our 
 secrets. Anson, fetch me a shawl : this costume is 
 slightly cold." 
 
 I fetched a soft wrap, and she curled herself up in a 
 corner of the soft couch like a dormouse, with nothing 
 out but her head and the point of her tiny slippers. 
 She was a luxurious little creature, and loved warmth, 
 
FANCIFUL FLOGGING. 1 89 
 
 and soft cushions, and perfumes, and lace, and all the 
 graceful appliances of her rank, very dearly I think 
 to strip her of them would have been to kill her. 
 
 " My story is about my grandmother when she was 
 a school-girl," she said. " She was an Englishwoman, 
 and educated at a school of the first fashion, near 
 Bristol. She married afterwards the Marquis de 
 Bearne, but that has nothing to do with my story." 
 
 rt I'm afraid it won't be very original, Princesse," 
 
 Lady C said. " School punishments are all alike 
 
 — kissing the rod, asking pardon, and the rest of it." 
 
 " There was something unique about this one, any 
 way," she replied ; " and I think you'll all acknow- 
 ledge it when you have heard it." 
 
 But the Princesse's tale was too long for this letter, 
 Marion. My mistress is to be out to-morrow the 
 whole day, and I will try and take up the story of the 
 flogging ladies then, and let you hear what amused 
 them all immensely. — Meantime, believe me, as ever, 
 
 Your sincere friend, 
 
 M, Anson. 
 
LETTER X. 
 
 the princesse's story. 
 
 My Dear Marion, 
 
 I will try to take up my story where 1 
 left off, and tell you the tale the Princesse related 
 to the ladies to save herself from a whipping. Every 
 one is out— gone to a Watteau pic-nic in the grounds 
 — so I have a little time to myself. It was an odd 
 story she told, and sounded very like a page out of a 
 romance, but she vouched for its truth ; and Mrs 
 
 D , when she had done, corroborated it, having 
 
 heard something of the sort from her own mother. 
 
 " I have the whole story in grandmamma's own 
 hand somewhere," the Princesse said, " but it is at 
 Paris, so you must be content with it as 1 can tell it. 
 She was a very dashing girl, of about nineteen, when it 
 occured, so you may well imagine it made an im- 
 pression on her, There were no private governesses 
 
I92 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 in those days, and families of the first fashion and 
 highest station sent their daughters to school. That 
 of Miss K , at Chiton, was one of the most cele- 
 brated and select ; she received no ladies but those of 
 the highest birth — not even clergymen of any grade 
 under a bishop could get their daughters admitted. 
 The number was limited to twenty, and the rate of 
 payment was very high. My grandmother had a list 
 of what the young ladies were required to take with 
 them in the way of toilet, and it was most expensive 
 and recherche. Carriages were kept for the use of the 
 scholars ; and they appeared every evening in full 
 dress. It was essentially a finished school, fourteen 
 being the very earliest age at which a young lady could 
 be admitted, and many remaining there until they 
 left to be married, To fall in love was not permitted 
 to an English demoiselle in those days : all was 
 arranged by her parents. Clifton was a secluded 
 place then, and select — not a vulgar show watering- 
 place as it is now — and the school stood alone. Miss 
 
 K was a rigid disciplinarian, and the punishment 
 
 of the rod was enforced for every offence ; the pupils 
 submitted to it as a matter of course, and getting 
 many a lesson in the manner of wielding it from their 
 
THE PRINCESSES STORY. 193 
 
 elegant preceptress, who had quite a reputation for 
 the grace with which she inflicted punishment on the 
 young ladies under her care. 
 
 " One morning, while they were at their studies, a 
 carriage and four dashed up to the gate ; this was no 
 unusual apparition, as there were no railways in those 
 days, and the parents of many of the pupils travelled 
 in that manner, and the young ladies usually arrived 
 at Cliff House and departed therefrom in great style. 
 
 Miss K was in the schoolroom, but she made no 
 
 movement to go to see who the new arrival might be ; 
 she stood on her dignity, and waited for his card to be 
 brought to her, The scholars nearest the window saw 
 a tall, elegant man step out of the carriage, which 
 was most handsomely appointed, and enter the house. 
 In a few minutes the footman brought in a card on a 
 salver and presented it to his mistress ; it bore a crest 
 and the name of Sir Arthur Kempe, and, in the 
 corner, in very small letters, ' Inspector of Schools 
 under His Majesty's Commission,' surmounted by the 
 Royal Arms. 
 
 M Miss K looked at it a moment in a little per- 
 plexity, and then at her scholars, 
 
 N 
 
194 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 11 ' Young ladies,' she said, ' this is a gentleman to 
 inspect the school ; go to your dressing-rooms all of 
 you and take off your morning dresses. A quarter 
 of an hour is allowed for the change.' 
 
 " She rang the bell, and ordered the maids who 
 attended to the toilettes of the pupils to be at their 
 posts, and the girls filed off to their respective 
 chambers to change their dresses. The morning 
 dress at Cliff House was a sort of uniform of white 
 muslin and lace, trimmed with pink or blue ribbon, 
 according to the complexion of the wearer, and this 
 was worn till the hour of the mid-day lunch, when 
 they were changed for walking costumes, and these 
 again for dinner dresses later in the day. But little time 
 was lost over dressing ; the young ladies were taught 
 promptitude and neatness, and a very few minutes 
 sufficed for the change of attire. While the girls went 
 to their rooms, full of curiosity as to the new arrival, 
 and wondering whether they were to be subjected to 
 
 any examination, Miss K was closeted with the 
 
 stranger in her private apartment. He greeted her 
 with a bow of the latest fashion, full of grace and 
 dignity, and took care to display his fine figure to the 
 
THE PRINCESSES STORY. 195 
 
 best advantage. He wore a dark plum-coloured coat 
 and breeches, and an embroidered vest of canary 
 colour ; his ruffles were of the finest lace, and his 
 stockings of the most delicate shade of pink silk ; he 
 wore his own hair, tied at the back in a que. His 
 appearance was slightly effeminate and dandyish, but 
 his manner that of a complete gentleman. 
 
 " ' I have not the honour,' " Miss K began. 
 
 " ' Of knowing me ? No, madam/ he replied ; 
 
 ' but I rejoice thus to commence an acquaintance with 
 
 a lady so widely known and respected as Miss K . 
 
 I bear his Majesty's commission, madam, to make a 
 somewhat delicate investigation into the state of ladies' 
 schools in this realm. I trust you will give me all the 
 assistance in your power. 
 
 " ' Certainly,' Miss K replied ; ' I court inspec- 
 tion in my establishment, and have ever done so.' 
 
 " ' My mission, madam, is to inquire into the punish- 
 ments in use in the various schools. There has been 
 a great deal of discussion in London lately as to the 
 
ig6 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 use of the rod in ladies' schools ; and my commission 
 empowers me to inquire how far it is used, the effect 
 of it, and, if I deem it necessary, to see impending 
 punishment inflicted.' 
 
 " Miss K looked somewhat aghast at the 
 
 announcement ; she had never heard of such an 
 official proceeding as this, and she hardly knew what 
 to say. 
 
 " ' Allow me to show you my credentials,' he said, 
 taking a flat leather case from his pocket, and pro- 
 ducing a parchment deed. It was regularly indorsed, 
 and bore the King's sign and seal, and empowered 
 Sir Arthur Kempe to enquire into the discipline of 
 ladies' schools all over the kingdom ; and declaring 
 that any lady who refused information would be liable 
 to condign punishment on being reported by ' His 
 Majesty's Commissioner.' 
 
 "' I am perplexed,' the governess remarked, when 
 she had read the parchment. ' I use the rod, of course, 
 and my pupils submit to it when necessary ; but I do 
 
THE PRINCESSES STORY. 1 97 
 
 not know whether they would yield to any examina- 
 tion or punishment from another.' 
 
 " ' If they do not, madam, your school will be ruined. 
 I have found most of the ladies whom I have visited 
 amenable to reason. In the last house I called at, 
 
 Mrs. J , of Mark Villa, Gloucester, I found the 
 
 discipline too slight, and was present at the punish- 
 ment of no less than six young ladies. The verbal 
 orders I received, in addition to yonder document, 
 were very stringent, I assure you.' 
 
 u ' How do you wish to proceed ? ' 
 
 " ' Assemble your school, madam. Let me see 
 your black book ; I shall examine into the condition 
 of pupils after punishment, and superintend the next 
 whipping. If discipline is properly exercised (and I 
 am sure it is),' he added, with a bow, ' you will hear 
 nothing more of me or my commission ; if not, why, 
 I shall have to put a black mark against you, as you 
 do against your pupils.' 
 
 " There was nothing for it but to lead the way to 
 
I9« MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 the schoolroom, where, by this time, the pupils were 
 all assembled, and introduce her guest. They rose 
 and courtesied at his entrance, and he saluted them 
 with easy grace, and took his stand by the governess's 
 desk, who explained to her pupils, not without some 
 trepidation, the object of his visit. One of the younger 
 girls was ordered to fetch the black-book and the rod, 
 which she presented kneeling, and the gentleman 
 turned over its pages. 
 
 " ' Angeline Summers,' he read, ' corrected yester- 
 day for inattention and untidiness, In the usual way^ 
 madam ? ' 
 
 11 ' In the usual way, Sir Arthur.' 
 
 " ' Prepare the young lady, and allow me to see the 
 effect of the punishment.' 
 
 " Now Angeline Summers was a fat roly-poly girl 
 of fifteen, or thereabouts, who was always getting 
 whipped. She did not care for the rod, not she, but 
 she did for the presence of this stranger, and she flatly 
 refused to let her weals and stripes be exhibited to 
 
THE PRINCESSES STORY. 1 99 
 
 him. But he was firm, as became a man in authority ; 
 andJMiss Summers was securely held by two of the 
 maids, and her silk dress turned up over her head. 
 She bore the marks of plenty of whipping, and Sir 
 Arthur Kempe declared himself satisfied, and the 
 young lady was released and sent off to arrange her 
 dishevelled hair, with another whipping in prospect 
 for having been so restive. 
 
 11 Another girl's name was then read out, a tall } 
 slight, plain girl this time., who had been whipped but 
 slightly that morning for some trifling offence. She 
 resisted very little when ordered to prepare, for she 
 had sense enough to see that Miss Summers only 
 made matters worse by kicking and struggling ; and, 
 though she put up her hands to hide her burning face, 
 she said nothing, but allowed her clothes to be turned 
 up in silence. 
 
 " ' The punishment in this case has been very slight,' 
 the commissioner remarked. What was the offence ? ' 
 
 " ' Insubordination and neglect of duty,' was the 
 answer ; ' two black marks.' 
 
200 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 " * It should have been at least double, Miss K . 
 
 Allow me.' 
 
 li And, taking the rod from her with a bow and a 
 smile, which half the girls present would have thought 
 cheaply bought by a whipping, he administered some 
 half dozen cuts to the shrinking figure before him, 
 which made the culprit shrink and writhe more than 
 Miss K had ever done. When she had been re- 
 leased he turned to the book again. 
 
 •' ' There is one name down for punishment I see,' 
 he said ; '• Emily Saltere. for neglect of duty. Which 
 of these ladies is Emily Saltere, madam ? ' 
 
 u All eyes were turned to my grandmother, whose 
 handsome face turned scarlet, and there was no need 
 to answer his question. He started as he saw a tall, 
 handsome young woman curtsey, with the grace of a 
 Parisienne, as he mentioned her name, and, stepping 
 forward, he bowed to her with much respect. 
 
 " ' I regret, mademoiselle, he said, gracefully, ' that 
 my duties should take a form disagreeable to you, but 
 
THE PRINCESSE'S STORY. 201 
 
 I am bound to attend to them. Madam, I desire to 
 see the punishment carried out exactly as it is always 
 performed in your establishment — omit nothing, and 
 add nothing, if you please.' 
 
 " Miss K , with a trembling voice, gave the 
 
 order — 
 
 " ' Arrange yourself for punishment, young ladies. 
 Prepare Miss Saltere.' 
 
 " Miss K signed to the attendant, but before 
 
 she could turn up the handsome dress my grand- 
 mother wore, Sir Arthur Kempe interfered. 
 
 " ' I think, madam, with your permission, that 1 will 
 break through the rule of public punishment in this 
 instance, and have the punishment inflicted in another 
 room ; I have no wish to hurt the young lady's feel- 
 ings more than is necessary. My duty compels me to 
 be an unwilling witness of the chastisement, but I do 
 not desire to make it harsher than is needful.' 
 
 " 'Remove Miss Saltere to the drawing-room,' Miss 
 
202 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 K said, much relieved ; and my grandmother 
 
 was led away to her bedroom, where she was stripped, 
 and taken back to the drawing-room in her chemise and 
 a delicately frilled dressing-gown, trimmed with costly 
 lace. Sir Arthur Kempe bowed to her as she entered, 
 and himself handed her the rod, which she delivered 
 
 to Miss K kneeling, and was bidden to kiss. 
 
 Then her dress was carefully pinned up, leaving her 
 completely bare, and she was made to lean over a 
 large ottoman while the governess whipped her. Miss 
 
 K was generally severe, but her agitation on this 
 
 occasion made her strokes fall lightly, and the punish- 
 ment, though somewhat tedious, was not severe. The 
 gentleman watched the performance with critical eyes, 
 for my grandmother was a well-formed, plump girl, 
 with a fine clear complexion and healthy skin. He 
 complimented both mistress and pupil on the manner 
 in which the whole thing had been gone through, and 
 himself handed Miss Saltere to the door, kissing her 
 hand as she left the room. He made an entry of a 
 report in his book, which already held many such, and 
 
 assured Miss K that he should speak in the very 
 
 highest terms at head-quarters respecting her select 
 establishment. He stayed to dinner, insisted on the 
 
2o3 
 
 rest of the day being given to the pupils for recrea- 
 tion, and departed for the next school on his route, 
 having won golden opinions from all in the house, in 
 spite of his unpleasant errand. The following morn- 
 ing Miss K received two or three letters from 
 
 ladies who kept schools asking if she too had been 
 visited, and describing the bearer of the novel com- 
 mission. Some time after my grandmother received 
 a visit from her aunt, the wife of a dignitary in the 
 church, to whom she told what had happened ; and 
 inquiries were made which led to the discovery that 
 the elegant gentleman who had visited the schools 
 and had the young ladies whipped for his delectation 
 was not Sir Arthur Kempe at all, but an Earl's 
 brother who had taken this extraordinary method of 
 gratifying his passion for the rod. It was all hushed 
 up for the sake of the many young ladies concerned ; 
 but the story got wind, and many schools fell into 
 disrepute through it. 
 
 " And that's my story, ladies," said the lively little 
 Princesse ; '* and I think it is something new in the 
 history of the rod." 
 
2C4 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 But I must break off here, Marion, and leave what 
 followed for my next. 
 
 Your sincere friend, 
 
 M. Anson. 
 
LETTER XI. 
 
 A PROFITABLE PUPIL. 
 
 My dear Marion, 
 
 I left off the other day at the conclusion 
 
 of the story the Princesse Z told, which the ladies 
 
 received with much laughter and applause. She 
 made it so piquant by her charming manner and 
 pretty imitation of the different people she talked 
 about that they were all delighted, and unanimous in 
 declaring she should be considered to have ransomed 
 herself from her whipping. 
 
 " I think that is something new" Lady C said ; 
 
 " I don't fancy any of us can equal that in our ex- 
 periences." 
 
 " And it is true? Mrs D added ; " my mother's 
 
 school received a similar visitation. I have heard her 
 
206 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 speak of it, though I had forgotten it until now. But, 
 ladies, time flies ; who is the next " 
 
 " Victim, eh ? " said Miss St. Kitts, gaily. " Why, 
 
 you, dear Mrs. D , of course. How say you, 
 
 sisters, shall Mrs D be now whipped ? " 
 
 " Oh, yes, yes," they cried, seizing upon the plump 
 lady, who was fat, fair, and nearer forty than thirty, 
 and preparing to turn up her richly trimmed peignoir 
 
 over her head. " Yes, Mrs D by all means ; she 
 
 does not get her fair share of the rites ! " 
 
 I saw my lady draw her rod through her fingers, as 
 if she relished the idea of letting it fall smartly on the 
 
 plump white flesh of the buxom Mrs D , who was 
 
 as comely and wholesome looking a lady as I ever saw. 
 Her limbs were as firm and round as those of the 
 youngest of the whipping sisterhood, and a rich 
 healthy tinge shewed under her clear skin, the result 
 of a sound constitution and regular habits. Mrs 
 
 D never left her bed in the morning without 
 
 plunging into a cold bath, and braced her system 
 with regular exercise, which she never omitted, what- 
 
A PROFITABLE PUPIL. 207 
 
 ever the weather might be. She was a large woman, 
 tall and inclined to be stout, — had she been indolent 
 she would have become corpulent ; as it was she was 
 just fleshy enough to be handsome, and to give the 
 idea of perfect health, which, indeed, she enjoyed. 
 She had regular features, blue eyes, and white teeth, 
 which ill-natured people declared were not her own, 
 so perfect were they in preservation. She had an 
 abundance of silky hair of a very pale shade of brown, 
 not light enough for flaxen, nor brilliant enough to 
 be called golden ; its slight tinge of red preserved it 
 from insipidity, and, wound round her handsome head 
 in a style peculiar to herself, it was at once striking 
 
 and beautiful. Mrs D \s passion for the rod was 
 
 intense ; she never missed an opportunity of witnessing 
 or practising the use of it. To do her justice, she 
 never shirked it from the hands of the other ladies, and 
 more than once I have led her away from the tabagie 
 and assisted her to bed after a severe whipping, for 
 her maid was not in the secrets of the meetings. She 
 was always ready for her share of the fun, but on this 
 occasion, to the surprise of the ladies, she demurred. 
 
 " Not this morning," she said, laughing, twisting 
 
208 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 herself free of their detaining hands, and shaking 
 down her peignoir over her plump legs. " Like the 
 Princesse I call a truce ; I will take my punishment 
 at our meeting to-morrow night, but not now." 
 
 " Why not ? " demanded Lady C . " A good 
 
 reason, mind, or the punishment will be doubled." 
 
 " Well, then," said the lively lady, " time flies ; our 
 lords and masters will soon be in, and we must pre- 
 sent ourselves in the drawing-room in trim array. 
 Dinner time is drawing on, and I, for one, should not 
 like to go down smarting and twisting from the effects 
 of the rod ; what say you, ladies ? Is not my reason 
 sufficient ? " 
 
 They all agreed that it was, and that it would be 
 better to defer any further practice of the rod till the 
 next night, when they were again going to meet in 
 
 the tabagie ; but Mrs. D was informed that she 
 
 must follow the example of the Princesse. and tell a 
 story relating in some way to the practice of whipping. 
 
 " I have none of my own experience,'' she said. 
 
A PROFITABLE PUPIL. 2(X) 
 
 " Whipping is all the same wherever practised, but 
 I could tell something about a lady I once knew, 
 once upon a time." 
 
 " Oh, don't go back into remote ages ! " said the 
 little Princesse ; " let us have a story of our own days." 
 
 " It is not so very long ago ; did I not say I knew 
 the lady ? it all happened when I was a girl. I was 
 
 living with my parents at E , when there 
 
 suddenly appeared in society there a rich, or 
 
 apparently rich, widow, Mrs. A . She lived 
 
 in good style, kept her carriage, and had a hand- 
 somely appointed house and plenty of well-trained 
 servants ; no one knew the source of her wealth 
 or where she came from, but she rapidly became 
 popular in the best society, and by her dashing 
 manner and splendid appearance won for herself 
 an eminent position in the fashionable world. Like 
 many fine ladies, she cherished a secret passion for 
 the rod, and odd stories began to circulate, through 
 the medium of her maids, of the way she used it on 
 herself and them. But flogging her maids was poor 
 
 pastime for Mrs. A , who, report said, had been 
 
 o 
 
2IO MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 accustomed to use the rod upon her husband very 
 freely, and she cast about in her own mind for a 
 victim fresh at once to the practice and to her. For- 
 tune came to her, and in rather a strange way. The 
 back windows of her handsome house looked across 
 the corner of a square towards the rear of a row of 
 houses somewhat less pretentious, some of which 
 were let out in aristocratic apartments, In one of 
 these lodged a Mr. B , a young gentleman of im- 
 mense fortune, and some two or three and twenty 
 years of age. At twenty-five he was to come into 
 absolute possession of his estates and property, and 
 in the meantime he was studying, under the care of a 
 
 guardian, at the university at E . That some one 
 
 should overlook his studies and pursuits was necessary 
 from the fact that he was slightly weak in his intellect, 
 — not enough to make him unable to study, or suf- 
 ficient to render him an object of remark, but so 
 much so as to make it necessary that his inclinations 
 to extravagance and propensity for childish display 
 
 should be controlled. One night, when Mrs. A 
 
 was retiring to rest, she accidently cast her eyes 
 towards a window on the ground floor of a house 
 opposite, where Mr. B , thinking himself unseen, 
 
A PROFITABLE PUPIL. 21 T 
 
 was preparing for bed. She watched him for a long 
 time, for the young gentleman, fancying himself un- 
 seen, indulged in a variety of pranks, by no means 
 disagreeable to the eyes of a sensual woman, like the 
 lady who sat at her darkened window looking on. In 
 the morning Mrs. A took up her post of observa- 
 tion again, and found that the light streamed full 
 into the room the young man occupied, and discovered 
 him lying undressed upon the sofa with a book. A 
 powerful opera glass disclosed every object in the 
 room with the utmost distinctness, and shewed her 
 the tastes and habits of its owner. She could discern 
 two or three German books on the table, the very 
 simplest of grammars, such as a child might use, and 
 one or two rough exercises evidently written by a 
 
 beginner. Now Mrs. A was an accomplished 
 
 linguist, and she saw in this circumstance a way to 
 make the young man's acquaintance, for his hand- 
 some face and fine form had inflamed her with a 
 strange desire to know him. Again the next night 
 she watched, and had ample opportunity of studying 
 the stranger's perfection of form and limb, and she 
 resolved to set about making his acquaintance the 
 very next day. He was a singularly handsome young 
 
212 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 fellow, blue-eyed and fair-haired, and a very Apollo 
 in form. The lady was fertile in expedients, and the 
 next morning despatched her maid to inquire if there 
 were apartments to let in the house where he lived. 
 She was informed there were, and Mrs A immedi- 
 ately proceeded to inspect them " on behalf of a friend." 
 Of course she wanted no rooms, but the landlady, 
 garrulous after the fashion of her class, gave her un- 
 asked all that she did want — viz., information respect- 
 ing her lodger. She could speak of his wealth and 
 his prospects, and tell who he associated with, and 
 
 where he visited, &c. Mrs A. learned that he 
 
 had but few friends, and no young men companions 
 of his own age, which was rather pleasant for her to 
 hear. One of the houses he frequented was one of 
 which she herself had the entree^ and she resolved 
 that she would meet him there. A little dexterous 
 questioning, not unaided by the universal talisman of 
 money, made her as au fait to the young man's 
 habits as the landlady's tongue could make her, and 
 she returned home to wait once more for the evening, 
 when she might again watch him alone in his luxurious 
 room. He was evidently possessed of taste as well as 
 wealth, and his apartments were furnished with every- 
 
A PROFITABLE PUPIL. 213 
 
 thing that could conduce to his comfort or appeal to 
 the sensual tastes she had already discovered he pos- 
 sessed. Again she was able to remark him unseen, 
 and feast her eyes upon the form and proportions 
 which had so taken her fancy, and she retired to rest 
 more than ever determined to lose no time in obtain- 
 ing an interview with him. Chance favoured her 
 project, — cards of invitation arrived for a select party 
 at the house of the mutual acquaintance, and she 
 
 found to her delight that Mr. B was invited too. 
 
 She dressed herself to the best advantage (she was, 
 as I have said, a splendid woman), donned her hand- 
 somest jewellery, and set out, bent on conquest. 
 The introduction was soon made, and she knew at 
 
 once what course to pursue. If Mr. B was free 
 
 and easy in his conduct in the privacy of his own 
 apartments, he was shy to a fault in company. Almost 
 painfully awkward, he shrank from conversation, and 
 seemed fully conscious of the slight defect which 
 
 existed in his mental organization. Mrs. A saw 
 
 this, and set herself to draw him out as only an ac- 
 complished and self-possessed woman can. In an 
 hour he had forgotten his shyness, and was sitting by 
 her side chatting with perfect freedom of himself and 
 
2i4 Merry order of st. Bridget. 
 
 his pursuits. He talked to her with the utmost con- 
 fidence, told her of his studies and how trying he 
 found them, and she listened and sympathised till he 
 grew quite bewildered with her kindness and intoxi- 
 cated with her beauty and fascination. It was so 
 rarely that ladies cared to talk to him much, — he 
 lacked the graces which make a young man's society 
 
 agreeable to the fair sex, but Mrs. A resolved 
 
 that he should not lack them long. She pondered 
 over some way to find an excuse for inviting him 
 to her house, and he supplied it himself, by confiding 
 to her that, of all his studies, the German language 
 puzzled and tormented him most. Now, she was an 
 excellent linguist ; she had a natural gift in acquiring 
 languages, and, having spent years abroad, spoke 
 French and German like a native. Here was an 
 opening. She at once proffered her services, declared 
 so much more could be done by conversation than by 
 poring over books, and invited the delighted youth to 
 come and take lessons of her. Before the evening 
 was over he was completely captive to her charms, 
 and, when her carriage came round, and he was per- 
 mitted to wrap her costly shawl round her handsome 
 shoulders, and to draw the overshoes on her shapely 
 
A PROFITABLE PUPIL. 21 5 
 
 feet, his hands trembled so he could hardly perform 
 the pleasant little duties gentlemen delight to take 
 upon themselves for pretty women. He hardly 
 waited till noon next day had passed before he 
 presented himself at her house, where he was most 
 cordially received. From that hour his subjugation 
 
 was complete ; Mrs A might have done anything 
 
 with him, and she made full use of the advantage she 
 had gained. He became a constant visitor at her 
 house, her follower wherever she went, while she, on 
 her part, was rather proud of exhibiting the faithful 
 attachment of her handsome Adonis. Unlike the 
 beautiful youth of Venus's adoration, he was nothing 
 loth to pay back, in her own coin, the attentions she 
 lavished on him. For a long time it came to nothing 
 more than untiring attention on his part, and flattering 
 condescension and fascinating smiles and witcheries 
 on her's. But servants will be servants, and ere long a 
 whispered rumour got afloat that there was more in 
 
 their acquaintance than mere politeness. Mrs A 
 
 began to wear handsomer jewellery than ever, and 
 more fine dresses and silk stockings found their way 
 into the possession of her maid than formerly. The 
 daily visits went on, and Mr B 's infatuation grew 
 
2l6 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 greater than ever for the well-developed charms of his 
 idol. He was happy in obeying her slightest whim, 
 delighted to be allowed to fetch her shawl, or her 
 dainty slippers, when she chose to sit with him for 
 a cosy chat. The excuse for all this was German 
 
 lessons, Mrs. A 's services as teacher being well 
 
 appreciated by her well-grown pupil. But somehow 
 it soon began to be whispered that other matters 
 besides German teaching were attended to in these 
 frequent tete a tetes which took place in the lady's 
 boudoir. The room was fitted up in the most volup- 
 tuous style, with amber satin hangings to suit the 
 dark style of her beauty, and white lace to interpose 
 between them and the too fair complexions of some 
 of her visitors. Pictures of the most suggestive kind 
 covered the walls, and helped to increase the infatua- 
 tion of the youth, who, from the moment that he 
 entered the house, seemed completely carried away 
 by the sensuous splendour around him. The boudoir 
 had an unused door, opening into a spare room, behind 
 
 which Mrs. A 's maid used to ensconce herself, and, 
 
 without the knowledge of her mistress, became a silent 
 witness of the sort of teaching that went on, Before 
 her acquaintance with Mr. B , her lady was a 
 
A PROFITABLE PUPIL. 21? 
 
 splendid dresser, but now she became more luxuri- 
 ous than ever. One time she would appear before the 
 enamoured youth in a neglige costume trimmed with 
 the most costly lace, made so that every movement 
 displayed her handsome bust or rounded arms ; at 
 another she would dress herself in full evening cos- 
 tume, and meet him under the soft light of the lamps, 
 with every surrounding that could appeal to the senses 
 or excite the imagination. One toilet, which caused 
 no small sensation at more than one party that winter, 
 
 figured afterwards in the bills sent in to Mr B 's 
 
 guardian. It was composed of green velvet of a tint 
 peculiarly becoming to the brunette complexion of 
 
 Mrs A , and was trimmed with the rarest lace 
 
 to be procured in E , which was set down, by 
 
 the draper who supplied it, as " fifty yards, at two 
 guineas per yard. ' From dressing to receive her pupil, 
 the lady soon got to threatening him with punishment 
 if he failed in his lessons. At first it was all joke. 
 
 " ' You deserve to be whipped,' she would say ; and 
 down he would go on his knees, and kiss her white 
 hands, and clasp his arms around her to caress away 
 her anger, while she submitted to his endearments, 
 
218 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 nothing loth. After a few encounters of this sort 
 affairs grew more serious, and her fancy for whipping 
 her interesting pupil could be restrained no longer. 
 
 " ■ I shall whip you this time,' she said at last, after 
 a more than usually blundering performance of her 
 scholar. 
 
 rt ' Not this time,' pleaded he, casting himself at her 
 feet, and clasping her plump, white hands, which he 
 covered with kisses. 
 
 •' ' Yes, now ! Stand up, and take down your 
 trousers.' 
 
 M ' No, no ! I will try and do better; I will indeed.' 
 
 •' ' No excuses, sir,' she said, with feigned severity, 
 while the maid listened intently, and marked how her 
 eyes flashed with excitement. ' At once, sir/ and she 
 took off her dainty slipper, affording more than a 
 glimpse of her handsome leg as she did so. The 
 young man fell at her feet, and embraced them, and 
 kissed them ; but it was all to no purpose — she was 
 
A PROFITABLE PUPIL. 219 
 
 inexorable : she made him undress, and bestowed 
 upon him a smart slapping with the slipper she held. 
 But this only gave her a more decided zest for the 
 rod ; and when she informed her scholar that the next 
 time he transgressed he should be whipped with a rod, 
 and severely, too, he kissed her hands and her rosy 
 mouth, and intimated that he was ready to submit to 
 anything she chose to do with him. The maid held 
 her tongue about this, but not about the more cere- 
 monious whipping which took place shortly after, and 
 
 of which she was also a witness. Before Mr B 
 
 arrived, she was ordered to fetch a box out of her mis- 
 tress's dressing-room, the contents of which she was 
 very well acquainted with, and place it in the boudoir. 
 This she did, and then took up her post of observation. 
 The young gentleman came as usual, and began his 
 studies, blundering egregiously in a very short time. 
 She made him stand before her like a little boy, 
 lectured him severely on his carelessness, and ordered 
 him to bring the rod. In vain he begged and prayed, 
 kneeling before her, and kissing her feet, covered only 
 by a thin silk stocking. She commanded him to stand 
 up and prepare, which he did, still begging and pray- 
 ing to be released. Mrs A would have no mercy, 
 
22C MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 and his trousers were quickly taken off. Then he was 
 bidden to bring the rod, then to kiss it, and finally, 
 the lady laying him across her knee, administered a 
 thorough whipping, till he fell on the floor, smarting 
 and exhausted. All this the maid saw, not once, but 
 man) times, and, after the fashion of her class, did not 
 hold her tongue about it. The result of all this was 
 
 that Mr B grew so wildly in love with his fair 
 
 instructress, that he became in danger of ruining 
 himself for her. There was no limit to his extra- 
 vagance, and Mrs A was a lady of expensive 
 
 tastes. Gifts of all sorts began to find their way to 
 her house. Gems which he would swear could not 
 rival the lustre of her eyes — dainty slippers which he 
 would fit on, and kiss the exquisitely shaped foot they 
 were made to adorn — articles of vertu, and sumptuous 
 feminine adornments of all sorts, were almost daily de- 
 livered at her door, and the affair became a matter of 
 public scandal. The guardian of the infatuated young 
 man remonstrated with him on his extravagance with- 
 out effect, until a bill for £2000, for a parure of 
 emeralds, opened their eyes to the true state of the 
 case, and they refused to pay for the jewels. Mrs 
 A — - as stoutly refused to give them up, and the 
 
A PROFITABLE PUPIL. 221 
 
 result was an exposure of the circumstance, which 
 
 resulted in Mr B being at once despatched to 
 
 his estates in Ireland, and the lady having to make 
 a hasty retreat to ' fresh fields and pastures new,' 
 where she might perchance pick up another wealthy 
 innocent to minister to her whims and passions." 
 
 » And is that all true ?" Miss St. Kitts asked, when 
 Mrs D had stopped. 
 
 " Quite, my dear ; I remember the lady perfectly, 
 and a handsome creature she was, just the style that 
 boys fall in love with. But come, ladies, we have not 
 much time before dinner ; I vote an adjournment till 
 to-morrow night." 
 
 They all agreed and dispersed. I'll write again 
 and tell you about that other meeting in the tabagie, 
 which, as it happened, was the last. — Meantime, 
 
 I am, 
 
 Your sincere friend, 
 
 M. Anson. 
 
LETTER XII. 
 " which ends this strange eventful history.'' 
 
 My dear Marion, 
 
 I have only one more meeting in the 
 tabagie to tell you about, for, as it befel, the ladies 
 were discovered, and my lord was so indignant that 
 he insisted on my lady leaving the chateau at once. 
 The day after they met in my mistress's dressing- 
 room for the private practice I told you about, there 
 was to be a grand meeting at which they intended to 
 hold a perfect festival of flogging. Every one was to 
 flog and be flogged in turn, and the dresses they were 
 to wear were to be of the most piquant and expensive 
 description. Every lady was to go prepared to sub- 
 mit to a whipping ; and those who wore male attire 
 were enjoined to put on nothing underneath but a 
 fine chemise. Two ladies dressed as footmen, and 
 one as a page ; Madlle. St. Kitts as a savage, and 
 very handsome she looked, She had a white chemise 
 
224 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 hanging very loosely over the bosom, with pendant 
 gold coins along the edge of it ; a cashmeer shawl of 
 brilliant orange colour curiously disposed about her 
 by way of drapery, and a tiger skin thrown over her 
 shoulders. The shawl, which had a beautifully em- 
 broidered border of all the colours of the rainbow, 
 served her at once for skirt and scarf, and was draped 
 in a very picturesque manner. Nearly the whole of 
 one leg was bare, and the other was seen up to the 
 knee ; her feet were thrust into sandals made out of 
 the skin of a panther, or some skin dyed to represent 
 it ; and her hair was suffered to flow as loosely as 
 such a curly crop could be made to do, and was 
 adorned with a fillet of pendant gold coins the same 
 as those on her bodice. She made a charming picture 
 as she walked up the room with the free nndulating 
 grace so remarkable in her movements, and the ladies 
 all murmured their admiration. The little Princesse 
 elected to represent Ariel for this night only, and 
 looked a study for a painter with her round bare limbs 
 and soft white drapery. The dress was very low and 
 short, hardly reaching to her knee, and was confined 
 round the waist and across the shoulders with bands 
 of gold. A diamond star formed the buckle of her 
 
END OF THIS STRANGE HISTORY. 225 
 
 belt, and another glittered on her forehead, held there 
 by a secret fastening, which made it quiver and shake 
 like a living thing over her glossy hair, which fell in rip- 
 pling masses to her waist. My lady chose to go in the 
 Pompadour costume, which suited her style well ; and 
 
 Lady C , like a stingy old thing, as she always 
 
 was, went as a Lady Superior of some convent or 
 other, in a costume of grey stuff and white flannel, 
 with a string of wooden beads, and a crucifix which 
 
 never cost above half-a-crown, I am sure. Mrs. D 
 
 at first thought of being a gentleman, but, as she said 
 afterwards, it was next to impossible to cram her fat 
 proportions into any sort of men's clothes, so she gave 
 up the idea, and appeared in a sort of Dame Durden 
 costume, with a steeple-crowned hat, high- heeled 
 shoes, scarlet petticoat, black bodice, and point lace. 
 She looked very funny with her fine hair all stuffed 
 away under a mop cap, and spectacles on her good* 
 humoured-looking face, and the ladies laughed im- 
 mensely at her and her costume. As for Stephens 
 and myself, we were ordered to dress like two charity 
 girls, with caps, mittens, and aprons all complete, and 
 nice figures we looked, 1 can tell you — one in red, and 
 
 one in blue. I was almost forgetting Mme. Hautville's 
 
 P 
 
226 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 toilet for this grand night ; she went as a Vivandiere, 
 and bewitching she looked. Her skirt was of bright 
 scarlet silk, soft and noiseless, with bands of velvet, 
 and buttons down one side exactly as you see it in 
 the opera, only that every button was a cluster of 
 diamonds worth a little fortune ; her jacket was of 
 blue velvet, with scarlet facings, buttoned with dia- 
 monds ; a tiny white linen collar stood up round her 
 full throat, and dainty white gauntlets covered her 
 little hands. She had rolled up her splendid hair 
 into somewhat masculine-looking curls, and wore a 
 grey felt hat with a splendid ostrich feather, fastened 
 by a diamond aigrette in front. Her boots were of 
 soft black kid, and her legs were bare — the dress 
 being short enough to show about half of the 
 calf of her leg. She made a lovely addition to the 
 varied picture the bright dresses presented as she 
 walked up the room and a 4 hearty burst of applause 
 greeted her appearance. 
 
 The room was decorated with the prettiest flowers, 
 and I had a day's work helping my lady and the 
 Princesse to tie the rods afresh with different coloured 
 ribbons. The weather was intensely warm, and the 
 
END OF THIS STRANGE HISTORY. 227 
 
 skylight of the tabagie was left open till the very last 
 moment, for the sake of the air. It fastened on the 
 inside, and could be opened and shut at will by any 
 one in the room ; it was of ground glass, and effectu- 
 ally kept out prying eyes even if any one could have 
 got up there to look. When the ladies were all 
 
 assembled, each with her rod, and Lady C in her 
 
 place on the dais, as president, she bid me shut the 
 window. 
 
 11 Ah, is it necessary ?" Mrs. D asked with a 
 
 shrug. u We shall melt, as well as smart, before the 
 evening is over. ' 
 
 11 Consider, madam," Lady C replied, " if we 
 
 leave the window open, we are at any one or every 
 one's mercy. Even in such an apparently inaccessible 
 place it would be dangerous to leave a loophole." 
 
 " I fancy the only spies would be cats and sparrows," 
 the Princesse said, with a laugh ; " but Madame la 
 Presidente is right. We had better be sure ; so shut 
 the window, Anson, and fasten it that no inquisitive 
 folk may lift it up." 
 
228 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 I loosened the cord, and the heavy skylight came 
 down with a bang, shutting out the glimpse of the 
 starlit sky we had before seen, and I stood upon a 
 chair to make it fast. I felt sure, as I did so, that the 
 rope did not come to its usual place upon the hooks ; 
 that the window, in short, was not quite shut. I 
 looked up, but it appeared close ; and as no pulling 
 of mine could make any difference, I just held my 
 tongue, and fastened it. It was no business of mine, 
 and no one could get up there to peep, so it did not 
 signify much. The proceedings of that meeting were 
 somewhat different to those which had gone before ; 
 the ladies wanted a fresh sensation, and they resolved 
 to have it. Instead of one of the sisterhood being 
 horsed and whipped, or running the gauntlet of all 
 the ladies' rods, each one was to whip her next neigh- 
 bour ; in fact, a round robin of flogging, with neither 
 
 beginning nor end. Previous to this, Mrs. D was 
 
 to take the punishment she had promised not to shirk, 
 and then, after a short interval for her recovery, she 
 was to be the centre figure of the next performance, 
 and give the signal for the blows to be struck, which 
 were to be given with the precision of clockwork. 
 The lady being duly prepared, she was found too big 
 
END OF THIS STRANGE HISTORY. 229 
 
 to be horsed, and, amid the laughter of the ladies, she 
 was escorted by the two footmen to the square otto- 
 man in the middle of the room, over which she was 
 made to kneel, held by the supposed livery men, while 
 the page handed the rod. There was a great deal of 
 tittering over the performance, for she looked very 
 funny in her mop cap, with her old woman's dress 
 turned up, and her tall hat on the floor in front of 
 
 the ottoman. Lady C , too, looked extremely 
 
 grotesque in her nun's costume, whipping away with 
 all her might, with the perspiration washing the rouge 
 down her face in red lines. While all this was going 
 on, I fancied — nay, I was sure — that 1 heard a curious 
 noise something like a groan, though where it came 
 from I could not tell. Looking round I saw, from 
 the startled faces of some of the ladies, that they had 
 heard it too." 
 
 u What is that ? " said the Princesse. " Where did 
 that noise come from ? " 
 
 No one could tell, and though every nook and 
 corner of the room was searched, and the two outer 
 rooms explored, no way of accounting for the noise 
 
230 MERRY ORDER OF St. BRIDGET. 
 
 could be found, The skylight was fast, and, after a 
 moment or two of confusion, the alarm subsided, and 
 the ladies prepared for the universal whipping they 
 had planned. They arranged themselves all round 
 the room after a short interval, during which they 
 partook of champagne and biseuits, and cooled them- 
 selves a little with perfume from a pretty fountain, 
 which was one of the latest additions to the luxury of 
 the smoking-room. I was placed in front of Lady 
 
 C , and I shivered as I thought of how she could 
 
 hit, and Stephens before the little Princesse, who did 
 not much like her, and whose tiny hands could deal a 
 
 stinging blow. Mrs. D was seated in the middle 
 
 on the ottoman over which she had been whipped, 
 and when they were all ready she gave the word 
 " Prepare ! " 
 
 Up went the dresses simultaneously, but the 
 " gentlemen " found more difficulty with their cos- 
 tumes, and there was not a little laughing, which 
 caused peals of merriment. At length, however, the 
 buttons were mastered, and the nether garments 
 turned down ; the gentlemen were in place and 
 position, and Mrs. D gave the word, " Strike !" 
 
END OF THIS STRANGE HISTORY. 23 1 
 
 Every rod was uplifted, but ere they could fall 
 there came a slight shriek, and an unmistakably 
 feminine voice exclaimed, in cracked tones — 
 
 " Oh, the disgusting monsters ! Oh, the abandoned 
 wretches ! " 
 
 A peal of irrepressible laughter from another voice 
 followed and accompanied the words, and the ladies 
 gazed at one another in amazement and consternation. 
 Ere they could recover their scattered wits, another 
 catastrophe occurred ; a sudden crash, as of some 
 heavy body falling on the flat roof, was heard, and a 
 hand dashed through the skylight, scattering the glass 
 in all directions, and admitting a rush of cold air. 
 Screams and howls succeeded to this catastrophe, 
 through which we could still catch the sound of 
 laughing, smothered this time, as though stifled with a 
 handkerchief, and then a pair of lightly shod feet 
 pattered lightly away over the roof. 
 
 " Out with the lights, " said lady C , " and then 
 
 to your rooms, ladies ; we have had spies upon us. 
 
232 MERRY ORDER OF ST. feRtDGET. 
 
 Let everyone dress as quickly as possible, and appear 
 in the drawing-room." 
 
 Out went the lights in a moment, and not an in- 
 stant too soon, for the screams and cries of the person 
 on the roof brought plenty to her aid. Feet sounded 
 over our heads, and sympathising voices mingled with 
 exclamations of amazement and alarm. 
 
 11 Not a word," whispered Lady C , ** and re- 
 member, dress as you were dressed before ; we must 
 be presentable before many minutes are past. Away 
 at once, and silently." 
 
 You may be sure we lost no time in obeying her 
 orders, and, seizing our cloaks from the ante-rooms, 
 we rushed off. We met several of the guests and ser- 
 vants, who asked what was the matter, which no one 
 seemed to know ; and the Count and several of the 
 gentlemen were nowhere to be found. Madlle. St. 
 Kitts came to my mistress's room to dress, and very 
 quick she was about it, for nol many minutes elapsed 
 before she was ready for any emergency. It was for- 
 tunate for her, for there came a knock at the door, 
 
END OF THIS STRANGE HISTORY. 233 
 
 and the Count's voice was heard enquiring for her. 
 Something seemed to have affected him powerfully, 
 for he was shaking with suppressed laughter, and 
 could hardly speak. Mademoiselle went out to him, 
 and left the door open, so that we heard the conversa- 
 tion. The Count looked surprised to see her dressed, 
 and made her a low bow. 
 
 " Will you come to your aunt, mademoiselle ? " he 
 said. " She has met with a slight accident." 
 
 The young girl looked him in the face without 
 blenching, though her eyes twinkled. 
 
 " Poor auntie," she said ; " she seems unfortunate. 
 What has happened to her ? *' 
 
 " She has cut her hand rather badly with some 
 broken glass ; any other information she will give you 
 herself." 
 
 He spoke gravely enough ; but their eyes met, and 
 the girl's uncontrollable spirit of fun burst out in a 
 hearty peal of laughter, in which he joined. She saw 
 
234 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 that he knew it all, and she put a bold face on the 
 matter. 
 
 " What extraordinary gymnastics my aunt must 
 have practised to-night," she said, demurely, after their 
 laughter had somewhat subsided. " Did you assist 
 her, Count ? * 
 
 "No, on my honour," he replied, as they walked 
 away. 
 
 My lady was too frightened to laugh at what had 
 happened. 
 
 " That old cat," she said, when she had heard all ; 
 11 she must have had some crack to peep through* 
 Anson, we are undone ; she is quite capable of holding 
 a levee of gentlemen, and telling them everything." 
 
 Which I have no doubt, from the sequel, she did. 
 I was dreadfully frightened and angry too, and I 
 took an opportunity of getting away to seek Gustave, 
 who, I felt sure, had been the mover and helper of 
 Madlle. Loupe's scheme. If my vengeance was swift, 
 
END OF THIS STRANGE HISTORY. 235 
 
 some one else's was swifter, for I came upon Mons- 
 Hautville in the corridor dragging him by his collar, 
 and in a very few minutes indescribable yells issued 
 from his apartments. I saw no more of Gustave, for 
 I had enough on my hands before long, but I heard 
 all about it afterwards. He and Madlle. Loupe be- 
 tween them had concocted a plan by which to get on 
 the roof of the smoking-room, which they carried out 
 by means of a ladder purloined from the garden. 
 How she must have bribed him, to be sure, before he 
 joined her in her freak. He had better have peeped 
 by himself, for the discovery led to his instant dis- 
 missal by his mistress. However, he didn't lose much 
 by that, for my lady heard afterwards of his being 
 seen in Paris in the train of the little golden-haired 
 Mme. Hautville. 
 
 Within an hour from Madlle. Loupe's summons to 
 her niece, my lord came to my lady's dressing-room 
 and had a long talk with her. He never got into a 
 passion, but he was very decided. All I heard was, 
 " Julia, you will be ready to leave this place at six 
 o'clock to morrow morning," and then he came to me 
 in the bedroom. 
 
236 MERRY ORDER OF ST. BRIDGET. 
 
 " Anson," he said, " you will pack up all your mis- 
 tress's and your own things, and be ready to leave 
 here the first thing in the morning. I shall take the 
 early train to Paris." 
 
 I curtsied, of course, and he went on — 
 
 "I don't know how far to blame you for the disgusting 
 business which was accidentally discovered to-night, 
 so I will take the most charitable view of the case, and 
 suppose you to be a mere tool in the hands of others. 
 For your lady's sake, I will not dismiss you now, but 
 warn you to be careful of your conduct for the 
 future." 
 
 And that was all, my dear. We were hustled off in 
 the morning without being allowed to see any of the 
 other guests. The Count accepted the plea of sudden 
 and particular business, and gave me a billet-de-banc 
 for a hundred francs, when he bid me good-bye. I 
 heard afterwards that Madlle. Loupe had a bad hand 
 for a long time (and serve her right, a nasty prying 
 thing), and that Madlle. St. Kitts got so tired of her 
 tyranny that she ran away from her to her guardian 
 
END OF THIS STRANGE HISTORY. 237 
 
 in Paris. But there were no more meetings in the 
 tabagie, and the Order of St. Bridget was broken up. 
 And that's how we come to be vegetating here in 
 England, with my lord as cross and stiff as you can 
 imagine., and my lady low-spirited and dull. Write 
 again, and believe me as ever, 
 
 Your sincere friend, 
 
 M. Anson. 
 

• 
 
 ^ e jr M2018I0 
 
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