Anonymous - Pauline

It had been arranged that I was to maintain a small cottage during my stay in Vienna, and about a week after my arrival, I was successful in getting one that suited my needs. Also, I was supplied with a very pretty and charming maid, and while she was unusually smart and quite happy in her new environment, she was not for me-at least not in the manner I preferred!

I had been at the school not quite a month when my professor suggested to me that I have what he termed “a tryout” with a local booking agent he seemed to be well acquainted with. The very next day he took me there. This agent happened to be a Spaniard, and though I had never taken kindly to Spaniards, this one proved to be most unusual in many ways. To begin with, he seemed quite taken with me. He told me frankly that I had a very wonderful voice and encouraged me to accept a place with a small opera company operating under his supervision. It wouldn't, he said, amount to very much of anything, but it would give me the “atmosphere” I needed, as well as get me used to appearing before an audience.

Naturally I accepted this generous offer, and the following day I was interviewed by the manager of the opera company. I had a most interesting talk with him, and then, quite without warning, he said, “Now, my dear, let me see your legs."

And though he said this in a very matter-of-fact manner, I was somewhat taken aback with the suddenness of it. Seeing my cheeks turn a flaming red, he added, “Have no fear, my dear-to me legs are something to hold up the body, nothing more."

He then explained to me that, besides a voice, I must possess very pretty and shapely legs, since the costumes I would have to wear would be rather revealing. Thus reassured, I got over my timidness and brazenly lifted my dress. But I quite overdid it. Catching sight of my reflection in a large mirror, I discovered my dress was high enough to display not only my legs, but a considerable portion of my hips and belly. This, coupled with the fact that I was wearing only the briefest possible drawers, gave him a view of everything he might have cared to look at.

But it so happened, he cared only to view my form for exactly the reason he had said. He never so much as placed his hand on me, nor did he make the slightest suggestive remark. He only told me, quite frankly, that I had the most beautiful legs, hips, and buttocks he had ever gazed upon. The whole affair ended by my being engaged to perform with his company.

I was so happy I burst into tears. My rise so far had been sudden, and my good fortune quite overcame me. The old gentleman allowed me to have my cry, and when I had recovered, he told to report for rehearsal the following morning.

That night I wrote mother telling her of my good fortune, and I'm sure she found traces of my tears on the pages.

Somehow it never occurred to me to investigate the type of theatrical company I was joining, and I didn't discover its true nature until the following day when I reported for my first rehearsal. As you might already have guessed, I wasn't left long in doubt.

The company, as I recall it, consisted of some fifty persons, thirty of which were women and girls, the remainder young men.

My first surprise came when I viewed the type of dress I was supposed to wear at these rehearsals. I use the term “dress” lightly. If a pair of short, lacy drawers can be called a dress, then they were dresses. What shocked me more was that the female members of the company were expected to change from street clothes in plain sight of the men. Some even seemed to enjoy it, going so far as to literally strip stark naked before them. And, strangely enough-I thought-the men seemed to take little or no notice of them. It was with much misgiving that I likewise stripped off my outer clothes and took my place with the others.

Despite my nervousness and seeming modesty, don't think I wasn't aroused, my dear. Having been away from the caresses of Vera for so long a period, and having none other with whom I might indulge my passion, I became quite smitten with some of the girlish charms I saw so freely displayed. Indeed, I became quite overcome with them.

And the talk among them! Everyone, it seemed, had a sweetheart, and each one seemed to be competing with the others in their descriptions of them. This one had a boyfriend who possessed the most wonderful cock in the whole world. Another boasted of the wonderful party she and her friend had attended; there had been endless quantities of wine and champagne, and long before midnight the whole crowd had taken off their clothing and finished the night in the various beds supplied for the purpose. The teller of the story seemed to be the heroine of the evening and boasted of the fact that she had had two men at one time.

Very startling to say the least. No one seemed to pay the least attention to me; they simply took me for granted. It being but a rehearsal, I got through with it somehow. There were two full weeks of this, and by the end of that time, I became quite used to the whole thing, even to the point of going about almost completely naked. Before the opening of the show, I had forgotten all about such a thing as modesty and found myself undressing-quite nonchalantly-in the presence of the male members of the company.

And when this idea of modesty had forever been banished from my thoughts, I took to it like a duck takes to water. Indeed, I quite surprised myself. And do not think for a moment, my dear, that I hadn't chances to pick out a lover. Indeed, no! There was a never-ending line to choose from. It being a new show, and a good place to pick out new beauties, the stage and wings were constantly filled with men and women who, as I stated before, flirted in the most brazen manner. While several of the girls listened to the giddy tales whispered into their ears, I remained aloof. I wanted none of them. The man who was to get my maidenhead was to get it through pure love and not for a cheap thrill.

As I have already mentioned, by the time the show opened I had become quite used to appearing in various stages of undress among the members of the troupe, but the opening night was quite something else again, and I'll never forget the thrill I experienced when the curtain went up! As I have said, my costume was brief. It consisted of but a tiny, fluffy skirt which flared out about my waist, while the waist-if you could call it such-was nothing more than a bit of gauze which left both breasts naked.

My part in that first show was small. It consisted of a few lines, and I sang in the assembly numbers. But it wasn't the lack of a juicy role that bothered me; it was the almost complete state of undress in which I was obliged to perform. Now, it also happens that I was positioned beside our leading lady-or prima donna, as she was known-and she was always whispering encouraging words into my ear. This woman was about thirty years old. Besides being very beautiful, she had a splendid voice, and at that time was all the rage in Vienna. She was the whole show, of course. That opening night the stage was a sea of flowers. Baskets and boxes of them sat everywhere.

There was nothing of the drama about the thing; it was a simple little Shakespearean era piece chosen primarily for its erotic songs, a part quite suited to our prima donna. I well recall a little scene in the last act. The stage was set like a flower garden. In the center of this bower-like place was a flower-decked couch, and upon this reclined our leading lady. Just before the curtain descended on this last act, I was supposed to step close to her-while she lay upon the couch in almost total nakedness-and sprinkle flower petals down on her upturned face. I was doing very nicely until she touched my thigh with one of her hands, a little gesture which quite startled me. She whispered something to me, but I was so taken by surprise at her silken touch that I didn't make out the words.