Installment 37
The halls of the convent echoed with footsteps, as one of the novitiates led Lady Xenia towards a cell in the unused wing, her candle casting meagre light upon the smooth stone floor. Xenia was still dressed in the muddy cloak that she had worn since fleeing Paris, abandoning her gowns and jewels to escape the clutches of Baron Estabrook. Her coalblack maidservant, Azimba, had spotted Estabrook's hired man outside the Tuileries, consulting with the concierge at the hotel, doubtless plotting to shanghai Lady Xenia as she emerged that evening to attend the opera.
"I pray that this room shall be to your liking, madame," the novitiate said, as she opened the door. Lady Xenia was roused from her reverie, and for the first time noted the childlike innocence in the novitiate's eyes, as well as her supple skin and lovely mien.
"This will do, for now. Though I believe I shall need some help unlacing my corset before I am able to retire. Do you think that you might be able to render me one more service?" Lady Xenia entered the cell, after glancing at the young girl's face and noting her sudden intake of breath and the downcasting of her eyes. Ah, she thought..."What is your name, child?"
Sister Maria entered the room, and after Lady Xenia had hung her cloak, moved towards the mirror. Odd that a nunnery would have a mirror within one of the cells, but she dismissed the thought, assuming that perhaps this room was always used for guests. Maria moved her trembling fingers to Lady Xenia's back, and began to undo the lacing, slowly and carefully. Lady Xenia was able to observe her face, and noted that her chest heaved with fear...or perhaps it was excitement.
Swiftly, when Maria had finished unlacing the corset, Lady Xenia turned and grabbed both her arms, pulling her close. She stared into those dark eyes, and herself shuddered. The girl could not have been more than 18, and her dark Spanish beauty was entrancing. This flesh should not be shut up in a nunnery to turn dry as an old parchment before crumbling to dust...Maria licked her lips, and they became like the berries that Xenia remembered from her childhood in Devon, the ones that she would greedily gorge herself on in the summertime, until the juices stained her chin and the front of her pinafore. She moved closer, and listened as Maria's breathing became more audible. Maria did not turn away, and Lady Xenia's lips met Maria's, first chastely but then opening into soft passion. Lady Xenia released Maria's arms, and the two broke apart.
"Madame...I do not know...I must leave..."
"Nonsense. I felt your acquiescence to my kiss, and could taste your eagerness. Remove that wimple, child, and let me see your hair."
Maria could not resist Lady Xenia's exhortation, and allowed her hair to flow down her back as she shook her head like a panther. Lady Xenia exposed her bosom and walked towards Maria, forcing her backwards onto the bed. Her gasps of delight overwhelmed Maria's squeak of shock, and soon the two were entwined, moaning to each other like turtledoves as their pleasure mounted and subsided in waves. Articles of clothing were shed until both wore only skin and hair, and their hands wandered over hillocks and dales of warm flesh, pilgrims in pursuit of some encaverned reliquary. Sighs floated from their mouths, drifting about the room, as their tongues were far too busy to shape words.
Finally, after an hour or so, their two bodies decoupled, and they exhaled with an admixture of pleasure and exhaustion. Lady Xenia's hands traced an arabesque over the abdomen of the young nun. Maria turned towards her, and gave her the smile of an experienced courtesan.
"I knew that you innocence would fall from your eyes like scales, cheri. Perhaps now you shall rethink your decision to remain in the convent?" Little did Lady Bloodsweep realize what the rest of the evening had in store, for the mirror on the wall hid a secret room from which an handsome older woman had been watching all along...
"I pray that this room shall be to your liking, madame," the novitiate said, as she opened the door. Lady Xenia was roused from her reverie, and for the first time noted the childlike innocence in the novitiate's eyes, as well as her supple skin and lovely mien.
"This will do, for now. Though I believe I shall need some help unlacing my corset before I am able to retire. Do you think that you might be able to render me one more service?" Lady Xenia entered the cell, after glancing at the young girl's face and noting her sudden intake of breath and the downcasting of her eyes. Ah, she thought..."What is your name, child?"
Sister Maria entered the room, and after Lady Xenia had hung her cloak, moved towards the mirror. Odd that a nunnery would have a mirror within one of the cells, but she dismissed the thought, assuming that perhaps this room was always used for guests. Maria moved her trembling fingers to Lady Xenia's back, and began to undo the lacing, slowly and carefully. Lady Xenia was able to observe her face, and noted that her chest heaved with fear...or perhaps it was excitement.
Swiftly, when Maria had finished unlacing the corset, Lady Xenia turned and grabbed both her arms, pulling her close. She stared into those dark eyes, and herself shuddered. The girl could not have been more than 18, and her dark Spanish beauty was entrancing. This flesh should not be shut up in a nunnery to turn dry as an old parchment before crumbling to dust...Maria licked her lips, and they became like the berries that Xenia remembered from her childhood in Devon, the ones that she would greedily gorge herself on in the summertime, until the juices stained her chin and the front of her pinafore. She moved closer, and listened as Maria's breathing became more audible. Maria did not turn away, and Lady Xenia's lips met Maria's, first chastely but then opening into soft passion. Lady Xenia released Maria's arms, and the two broke apart.
"Madame...I do not know...I must leave..."
"Nonsense. I felt your acquiescence to my kiss, and could taste your eagerness. Remove that wimple, child, and let me see your hair."
Maria could not resist Lady Xenia's exhortation, and allowed her hair to flow down her back as she shook her head like a panther. Lady Xenia exposed her bosom and walked towards Maria, forcing her backwards onto the bed. Her gasps of delight overwhelmed Maria's squeak of shock, and soon the two were entwined, moaning to each other like turtledoves as their pleasure mounted and subsided in waves. Articles of clothing were shed until both wore only skin and hair, and their hands wandered over hillocks and dales of warm flesh, pilgrims in pursuit of some encaverned reliquary. Sighs floated from their mouths, drifting about the room, as their tongues were far too busy to shape words.
Finally, after an hour or so, their two bodies decoupled, and they exhaled with an admixture of pleasure and exhaustion. Lady Xenia's hands traced an arabesque over the abdomen of the young nun. Maria turned towards her, and gave her the smile of an experienced courtesan.
"I knew that you innocence would fall from your eyes like scales, cheri. Perhaps now you shall rethink your decision to remain in the convent?" Little did Lady Bloodsweep realize what the rest of the evening had in store, for the mirror on the wall hid a secret room from which an handsome older woman had been watching all along...