Anonymous - Frank and I

So we at once walked back to the hotel, and went up to our apartments to get the forgotten ankles. On opening the door of the bedroom, we saw the chambermaid who always attended us, a girl named Annette, kneeling beside one of Frances’ trunks, from which nearly all the contents had been taken, and scattered on the floor. Annette had thought we had gone away for the day as I had told her that we should not be back to dinner.

When she saw us suddenly enter the room, she jumped up, turned very pale, and stood looking at us, utterly taken aback, and trembling all over. She was a tall, slim, good-looking girl about twenty-one years old; with a trim figure, black hair and eyes, red lips, and white teeth, and a saucy little nez retrousse. She had a clear olive complexion; and she was dressed in a well-fitting black frock, with white apron, collar and cuffs; and her luxuriant hair was covered with a white, frilled cap with scarlet ribbons, Frances at once went to the toilet table, on which she had left her purse; but it was gone, and when she informed me of the fact, I locked the door and put the key in my pocket.

Then I went to the trembling girl and searched her capacious pocket, finding in it the purse, half-a-dozen lace handkerchiefs, the same number of pairs of gloves, and also a number of small articles which she had taken out of the trunk. And had we not happened to return unexpectedly, and thus catch the thief red-handed, we should never have known who had stolen the things.

Frances could not speak French, so I acted as spokesman; saying to the girl in her own language; which I will here translate into English: “We have caught you nicely, Annette.

You are a thief. What have you got to say for yourself before I send for the manager of the hotel and ask him to hand you over to the police?” I had no intention of giving her in charge; as the whole thing would have been a great bore; but I wanted to give the girl a fright.

She burst into a flood of tears, wringing her hands, and exclaiming in accents of entreaty: “Oh, sir! Oh, sir! Don’t give me to the police. I am an honest girl, but I was suddenly tempted to do wrong when I saw the purse and the keys on the table. Oh, do not have me arrested! Forgive me! Oh! please forgive me, I have an old mother co support Oh! do forgive me!”

She was in an awful funk, and it suddenly struck me that I might get some fun out of the affair. I thought it very probable, that rather than go to gaol, she would let me flog her. At any rate I would give her the choice of the alternatives; and I hoped she would choose the flogging. She was a clean-looking, pretty girl, and my cock stirred at the thought of turning her up, and reddening her bottom.

So, I said to her: “You are a thief, and therefore you must be punished; but I will not hand you over to the police, if you will consent to receive a flogging, in the same way that we flog naughty girls in England.” She stopped crying and looked at me for a moment, with her big black eyes widely opened, as if she hardly grasped the meaning of my words; then she said in a tone of relief: “Oh, sir, rather than go to prison and lose my good character, I will consent to receive any punishment you like to inflict upon me.”

“Very well,” I said. “But you must clearly understand that I will flog you soundly.”

She shuddered slightly, and asked in a shaky voice: “But, sir, in what way do you intend to flog me?”

“I intend to flog you upon your bare bottom,” I replied.

She blushed scarlet, and again began to cry, saying in a horrified tone: “Oh, but sir; when I said I would cake the punishment, I did not think you intended to inflict it on my bare person. I thought you were going to flog me over my clothes. You must not strip me. I cannot bear the exposure. It would be too shameful. Oh! I cannot suffer it.”

“Well, if you will not submit yourself to me entirely, I must send for the police,” I said, walking to the bell-rope and taking it in my hand.

“Oh, don’t ring the bell! Wait a moment. Oh! what shall I do! Oh, don’t send for the police!” she wailed in a piteous tone, stretching out her arms with an imploring gesture towards me, while the tears ran down her flushed cheeks.

“I will ring the bell if you don’t consent to take the flogging on your bare bottom,” I said sternly.

She wrung her hands, and wept bitterly; then after a few moments’ hesitation, she sobbed out in broken accents: “Oh-sir-it is shameful to be laid bare. But-I-cannot-go to prison. I-must-submit. Oh! Oh!”

Then, turning her back to us, she covered her blushing face with her apron, and sobbed.

The girl’s horror at the idea of her bottom being exposed, was deep and unfeigned; for though she was a French chambermaid, she was evidently a modest girl. But I must confess that the sight of her distress added piquancy to the whole affair. It always affords great pleasure, to a “lover of the rod,” to flog a female culprit who appears to feel the shame of the exposure more than the pain of the whipping.

All the time this talk had been going on, Frances had stood looking much interested, but not understanding a word that was said; and she now impatiently asked what I had been saying.

I told her that I had given Annette the alternative of going to gaol or taking a flogging; and that she had chosen the flogging.

“She deserves it,” said Frances emphatically, and with rather a grim smile. Then, eagerly: “Let me flog her. You know I have long been wanting to inflict corporal punishment; and now there is a chance for me. Do let me flog her.”

I smiled; but I could quite understand her desire to whip, and I resolved to let her have her wish. “All right,” I said. “I will ‘horse’ her on my back, and you shall flog her.”

Frances looked very pleased, and at once prepared for action, by taking off her gloves, hat, and jacket. Then she said: “We have got no rod; and I am not going to make my hand sore by spanking her; so you must find something for me to flog her with.”

I looked round the room for some instrument of punishment, and my eyes fell on a pair of small rug straps, each about a couple of feet long and half-an-inch wide. One of them would do very well, as it would sting the culprit’s bottom sharply without bruising the flesh.

So I pointed the straps out to Frances, and told her to take one of them. Annette was still standing with her back towards us, her apron was over her head, and she was crying. Going to her, I laid my hand on her shoulder, turned her round, and drew her hands away from her face; saying: “The lady-my wife-is going to flog you. So your punishment will not be so severe as it would be, were I to flog you. Now, take off your dress and stays.”

“Oh, if Monsieur would please leave the room. I promise not to resist Madame while she flogs me,” said Annette, clasping her hands, and speaking in a pleading way.

“I will not leave the room. I am going to hold you while you are being punished. Remove your dress and stays; and be quick, or I will ring the bell.”

She hesitated a moment; and I laid my hand again on the bell-rope; then heaving a deep sigh, she slowly, with trembling fingers took off the two garments, and stood before us, with her head averted, and with streaming eyes; and as her chemise was cut rather low at the neck, I could see the division between her small, but well-rounded bubbies.

I had made her partly undress, because when a woman is “horsed” for a flogging with her dress and stays on, it 5s very difficult to get her petticoats turned up high enough to bare her bottom in a satisfactory way.

At one side of the room, there was a large pier glass, and opposite it there was a wardrobe with a long mirror; and it struck me that if I stood between the two articles of furniture, I should be able to see the whole of the girl’s body reflected in the looking-glass, and thus be able actually to witness the flogging.