Maria did not want to come. She was frightened and embarrassed, and insisted on washing her face and repairing her make-up. Therese led her by the hand but pushed her through into the club in front of her. The room erupted in cheers and clapping. Maria’s face went bright red. The General gestured her over.
“Well, my dear. Am I safe? I suppose so, because you have your shoes on your feet again. Oh, don’t look so embarrassed. I haven’t laughed so much in years. Come and sit on my knee and tell me how to play my cards. Therese, could we have a drink for Maria? What would you like?”
By the time Therese had returned with Maria’s Tokay, she looked happy again. Her ample bottom was parked on the General’s lap, and the two of them were attempting to play cards.
“Well, what do you think, Therese? Did you know you had such a little wildcat in your nest? If she weren’t so useful here, I’d sign her up as a sergeant. She’d soon frighten the men. Now, what are you going to do about her? I can’t have her savaging my officers. She’ll have to be punished.”
“But, General, the man tried to….”
“Therese! I’m surprised at you! Arguing with a General officer. I don’t know what the Imperial Army is coming to. No, leave her to me.” Without letting Maria off his knee, he tapped the table. “Gentlemen, a moment please. After dinner on Sunday. All officers to be present in the mess to witness punishment. You too, Therese, and all the girls. That’s all; carry on.”
He gave Maria a squeeze. “So, my dear. Do you think you could visit me tomorrow afternoon?”
“Well, I could, General, but Major Lamoreaux did ask me to go for a walk tomorrow.”
“And you’d rather be with him than an old man like me, I suppose.”
“Of course not, General. I’m sure he won’t mind.”
“No, no, my dear,” he said, patting her bottom. “I wouldn’t want to deprive the Major, but do put yourself on the list to visit me again as soon as possible. Try not to damage any more of my officers. Now step down and let me try and play my cards. I shall see you on Sunday evening. I think I shall enjoy it—but I don’t know if you will.”
Chapter 25
Therese felt worried enough to go looking for Mefist on Sunday. She caught up with him in the refectory.
“Mefist, you’ve got to help me. What’s going to happen tonight?”
“Don’t worry, my dear. It’s easy. All the officers meet for dinner and when we’ve eaten the best that Montebello can provide, and drunk the cream of your cellar, we’ll send up for you. You come down with Maria and all the rest of the girls, and the General will ask a few questions and decide how Maria should be punished. That’s all. It’s really very simple.”
“I don’t know what we are meant to wear.”
“Oh, something a little formal I suppose. We’ll all be in our dinner uniforms. Even Drazevich, because the General ordered him to get one.”
“And that’s all?”
“Yes, that’s all. What else can I do for you?”
“You haven’t been to visit me for a long time,” she pouted.
“You’ve been so busy recently, and I thought you had a visitor, anyway.”
She glowered at him. “Mefist, you promised to take care of me. You’re the only one I can talk to about important things. Come and visit.”
“Would it be worth my while?”
She bit her lip. “Alright, I’ll take my dress off again. Will you come?”
“In that case, I’ll definitely consider the idea. Not tonight, of course.”
“Really, Mefist! I thought you came for my company, not just to leer at my body.”
“Oh, I come for both! I come to see you, and the more I see, the happier I become.”
That evening found Therese waiting with the girls in the quiet of the club. They had all dressed in their Sunday clothes and had done their best with hair and makeup to make themselves presentable in the officers’ mess. They were nervous, and none of them had felt much like eating. Eight o’clock had already past and no one had come for them. Time crept by until at last they heard Mefist’s voice calling.
He looked cheerful and well-fed. “Come on, girls. Don’t keep the General waiting!” He whispered to Therese as they hurried past, “What have you done with them? They could go to church dressed like that. Oh, well. It’s too late now; we’ll wait and see what the General says. Now, give me a moment to sit down, and then file in. You and Maria stand at the front, facing the General. The others can fan out on either side.”
He pushed through the door. Therese waited a moment and then steered Maria to the door and stepped inside.
The room looked crowded and smoky. The long tables had been arranged on three sides of the room and were covered with bottles and glasses. The General sat in the centre of the top table. The girls arranged themselves in a line facing the General, looking across the empty court in the middle. Therese looked left and right. They stood demurely with their hands held together in front of them. She raised her eyes and looked nervously at the General. He raised a knife to tap on an empty glass.
“Silence, gentlemen. We are gathered here to witness punishment arising from the disgraceful incident that occurred in the club on Friday night. The two people concerned are present, so we’ll start immediately. Lieutenant Nielsen! Front and centre!”
Nielsen squeezed himself behind the chairs of his colleagues and came to stand at attention in the centre. Therese was pleased to see that he looked nervous, but she still had a little sympathy for him.
The General had some papers in his hand. He set his glasses down and addressed Nielsen.
“Lieutenant Nielsen, I have your charge sheets in front of me. They are confusing, but that’s life in the Army for you. Can’t make head or tail of them.” His manner surprised Therese. The old man behaved as if the matter was not serious, but he had gone to the trouble of setting up this court… He started to speak again. “The charges seem to come down to two major military offences. Firstly, navigation. You are charged with losing your way. What do you have to say for yourself?”
What was the old man talking about? Was he referring to some other incident? Had Nielsen got lost on patrol?
“Beg pardon, Your Honour. The charge is incorrect. I was just a little undecided on the direction I wanted to take.”
“Undecided, eh? Oh dear. That makes my task very difficult. Let me demonstrate this point of military law. Suppose an officer has been commanded to charge the enemy to the left and, without wishing to disobey orders, he charges to the right. A case like this is simple. He has taken the wrong direction; he is lost and an idiot. Quite possibly a dead idiot. However, if the officer has no orders and, indeed, is not certain himself about the direction he should choose to go in, then he cannot fairly be said to be lost. Merely undecided. So we can imagine Lieutenant Nielsen standing at a fork in the way, trying to make up his mind what to do. Lieutenant Nielsen might choose to go up or perhaps to go down, so what shall we say?”
The officers were muttering to each other and laughing.
“Very well. Lieutenant Nielsen, can I take it that, faced with a choice of directions in which to proceed, you had not finally made up your mind which to choose? Very well. Charge dismissed!” He slipped one of the papers over to Mefist.
“Now, I’ll move on to the second, more serious charge. Gentlemen, getting lost is a very serious thing. You might fail to find Brigade HQ and inadvertently miss your evening meal. You could wander into the front lines and be taken prisoner by the enemy or worse. However, it is the nature of our work as field officers to be lost on occasion. It has happened to us all, even to me when I was younger.
“However, a thing that has never happened to me or, I trust, to any of you, has now been charged against Lieutenant Nielsen. Nielsen, what branch of the service are you commissioned into?”
“The Artillery, Your Honour.”
“And at the Academy you have been taught all there is to know about the care and maintenance of our bi
g guns?”
“Yes, Your Honour.”
“Then why are you brought before me on a charge of having kept your weapon inadequately greased? Eh? Answer me!”
A wave of laughter swept around the table. Even from behind, Nielsen radiated embarrassment. “Er, I have no defence for my, er, neglect, Your Honour, but I regret it deeply.”
“Very well. I shall not expect to hear a second complaint. Now what punishment shall I impose? Captain Mefist?”
“I believe some perfume would be appropriate, Your Honour.”
“Very well, Nielsen, you will present the lady concerned with a large bottle of perfume.”
“And chocolates!” shouted someone.
“And a large box of chocolates—”
“And stockings!”
“And six pairs of the finest stockings you can acquire from Vienna! There, that should make you think next time. Dismissed!” Lieutenant Nielsen wheeled and marched off.
“Now the most serious charge of the evening. Assaulting an officer of the Imperial Army and attempting to inflict grievous bodily harm using an evening shoe. Will the accused and her superior officer please step forward?”
Therese touched Maria’s elbow, and they both stepped forward.
“Madam Therese!” the General said severely. “What do you mean appearing before me improperly dressed? Eh? This is not a church or a mothers’ meeting. I do not expect girls to appear in the officers’ mess wrapped in enough clothes to brave the Arctic. Go and get changed immediately, and take your girls with you.” Therese bit her lip and ran.
They all rushed up stairs in confusion. “What does he want, Mistress? How shall we dress?” they asked.
“Quick, get into your working clothes. And–and–and I don’t know. Get changed anyway.” Therese threw off her dress and re-arranged her hair. She was wearing nothing more than stockings and suspender belt and her jewelry. What else could she put on? She looked in the cupboard and pulled out her nun’s cape. It was a formal garment, little used. Black, with a hood, and held together by a hook at the neck. She threw it over her shoulders and looked into the mirror. Her body disappeared into the shadows, but when she moved, the cape opened provocatively. She tried folding the sides back over her shoulders. It pulled a little at her neck, but the pose displayed everything she had. She rushed out to tell the girls.
They knocked at the mess door and waited. The door opened and they passed in. The men gave a light smattering of applause and murmurs of approval as they arranged themselves in front of the court. Then, taking their timing from Therese, they folded the sides of their capes back. This time the applause was overwhelming, and the General smiled.
“Will the accused and her superior officer please step forward? Maria, you are charged with attacking Lieutenant Nielsen with an evening shoe. What have you got to say for yourself?”
“Please, Your Honour, he hurt me.”
“That’s no excuse! He has told us himself that he was just a little bit lost and had neglected to grease his weapon. Nothing more than that.”
“But, Your Honour—”
“Madam Therese, tell the accused to hold her tongue.”
“Maria, hold your tongue!”
“Yes, Mistress,” she said in a hopeless voice.
“Very well. The charge is admitted. Now—how shall you be punished? What would you say, Mefist? A hundred? Would that be enough?”
“Your Honour, she’s a very small girl, and her dupka is not very large either.”
“Mmh. I see. Perhaps fifty, then. What do you say?”
Therese spoke up for her, “Your Honour, she has a delicate constitution, and if her dupka is too severely punished, she might not be able to perform her duties. I believe she has an appointment with you tomorrow afternoon.” The tables erupted with laughter.
“Very well. That is something I shall have to bear in mind, but all the same, I shall insist on a good dozen. Lamoreaux, have you brought your whip?” Lamoreaux passed his riding crop along the table to the General. He slapped it into his palm. It made a sharp crack, and Maria cringed. “Very good, Lamoreaux, but I don’t know how you’ll get her to forgive you.” More mocking laughter from Lamoreaux’s colleagues.
He passed the riding crop to Therese. “Very well, Therese. Get on with it.”
“Me?”
“Of course you. Who else? Or do you think Maria would prefer me to do it?”
“Please, Mistress, you do it. I’d be frightened of anyone else.”
“Give me your cape, Maria,” she whispered. “I’ll try to be gentle.” She took the cape and handed it to the nearest girl. Maria’s eyes shone wet and Therese felt for her, but she turned her around until her back faced towards the General and prepared to strike.
“Stop!” called the General. “That’s not good enough. Get a chair or a stool for her.”
They brought a dining chair for Maria. She grasped the back of it and bent forward, pushing her bottom towards the General, but still he was not happy. “Not good enough. Get her something to bend over.”
“Excuse me, Your Honour, I know just the thing,” said Mefist. “Give me a hand, Jadrovski.”
They came back with a large and heavy coffee table, solid oak, from the General’s office. They removed the chair and placed the table in the centre of the room. Therese did not understand what they intended until Mefist said, “Kneel on it, Maria.”
Maria clambered onto the table and stopped on all fours. Her bottom was on display. To Therese she looked attractive in her helplessness. The men admired her rounded figure and her plump breasts hanging down below. Therese remembered how Wanda had forced her to display her bottom to Mefist and knew what to do. “Put your head down, Maria. Rest it on the table.”
Maria pushed her elbows outwards and lowered her face to rest on the backs of her hands. She disappeared behind the curtains of her dark hair. Her back dipped and climbed up to the summit of her bottom, tight and round, with the pink of her sex protruding below its dark furrow. Therese was surprised to see the pink frills were wet and shiny. She looked at the General. “Perfect,” he said with a smile.
“Your Honour,” called Mefist. “Madam Therese is not properly dressed.”
Oh God help me, she thought, what does he want this time? She reached for the fastening of her cape and passed it back. Being ordered around by these men was beginning to make her cross.
“That’s better,” said the General. “Now off you go. A dozen of the best!”
She looked at Maria’s bottom and suddenly started to blame her. If Maria had not lost her temper, if she had just behaved like a lady, they would not all be here, taking part in this farce. She raised her arm and swung it gently against the white mound below her. “Oh!” squeaked Maria in surprise.
“One!” shouted the men.
“Stop!” shouted the General. “What are you doing, Therese? If you don’t whip her properly, you’re next, and I shall claim the privilege! Try again.”
Therese lashed out quickly. “Oh!” cried Maria, and she immediately felt guilty. She had not intended to hit Maria quite so hard.
“Two!” shouted the men. She struck again.
There were three pink stripes on Maria’s bottom. Therese looked at them in horror. She tried to lay the fourth one a bit lower. She felt a little more confident now and continued. Maria had stopped squeaking, but Therese could hear her crying, and she hurried through the rest of the strokes.
As the count reached twelve, the General shouted for them to stop. Therese stood, crop in hand, uncertain of what she should do next. The General worked his way out from behind the table and came to stand next to Maria. He made a show of inspecting her bottom and then walked around the table to inspect the other side. He reached out and smoothed it with his hand. “White and pink and very pretty. Well done, Madam Therese. What does the accused have to say for herself?”
“Maria?”
“Please, Mistress, I’m very sorry,” she said without raising her
head.
“She says she’s very sorry, Your Honour.”
“Good. I’m glad to hear it. Now up you get.” He took her by the arm and helped her up onto her knees. “Oh dear, your eyes are wet. Here…” He pulled his handkerchief from his pocket and, reaching his arm around Maria’s shoulders, he gently cleaned her eyes. “There you are! Now come and sit on my knee. You too, Therese. Mefist is waiting for you. Gentlemen, you may take care of the rest of them.” As Therese followed Maria and the General behind the tables, the girls were laying their capes on the floor and choosing a lap to sit on.
Therese came uncertainly to Mefist. She wished she had not come by order, or that they were in the privacy of her office, but there was no help for it. She settled into his lap with his arm comfortably around her hips. It felt good, and she enjoyed the smooth cloth of his dinner uniform against her bare skin. Mefist felt strong and smelled excitingly male.
Maria was already happy on the General’s knee, chattering and sharing his glass. Thank God the punishment seemed to have done her no harm. Therese put her arm around Mefist’s shoulders to steady herself and reached for his glass.
“Do you mind, Mefist? What are you drinking?”
Mefist did not answer. She looked down at him and realized that he was staring at her breasts, only centimetres away. Her stomach jumped. “Stop it, Mefist! You’re meant to be talking to me, not staring like that.”
“I can’t help it, my dear. They’re so beautiful, and they’re standing up! Look! Therese, my dear, I think our little bit of theatre has left you feeling excited. In fact, I bet you are leaving a wet patch on my trousers right now.”
“No!” she cried. “It’s not true!”
“I’m sure it is, my dear. Can you see?”
She rocked back and opened her legs. Between her thighs the petals of her sex shone brightly against the dark uniform on which she sat. She pressed her fingertips onto her mound and pulled up so she could look further around the corner. The pink folds opened and stuck out further. She was wet and shiny, but that came from sitting naked on Mefist’s lap. She looked lower for a wet patch on his trousers. Mefist was looking too, his head close to hers.
The Prince and the Nun Page 16
