Venus in India (12 page)

'One day when my husband was out, Charlie came to see me. Oh! I was glad to see him. We had a long explanation and it all ended in his having me on my husband's bed! I was fucked again - joyful thought - by the darling man who had taught me what a sweet thing it was! But hardly had Charlie gone than in came Tom. Going from room to room he saw his own bed tumbled, and then he grinned! He accused me of having had Charlie whom he had met, and of whom he had heard, goodness knows how, and there and then he made me an offer which I accepted. It was that to bring him custom, I should let myself be - admired. He would hear nothing, see nothing, know nothing! I was too unhappy with him not to jump at an offer which would give me back Charlie! All that had to be done was that a suit of clothes should be ordered from time to time, and Charlie ordered at least a dozen. More and more officers followed his example and soon my husband had them all, every one, from colonel to junior lieutenant, on his books, and I had them all as my lovers. I had several children. I only know the father of one for certain, and that was my husband. I think the second was Charlie's, but I am not sure. None lived. That is my story, a sad mixture of happiness and misery, folly on my side and wisdom on my mother's.'

I could not but wonder how it could be that such a sweet countenance could be the seat of a temple in which Venus reigned, not only to the exclusion of all other gods and goddesses, but with more than ordinary power. I must leave my gentle readers to form their own opinions of this lovely wanton, but that there was much good in her I became convinced the more I knew her. At all events it is not for me to throw the stone of condemnation at her. To enjoy a woman and then run her down is not my style. Lizzie must have had a yearning for a purer and a better life, for she was constantly urging me to send for my beloved Louie, warning me that if I did not I should most certainly constantly wander from the path of virtue, and also saying that it was not fair to any woman, especially one who loved her husband, in every sense of that expansive word, to leave her to pine alone. Well, it was my hope that either I should rejoin my Louie in England, or that she should come out to me in India, but the fates were against us.

During the remainder of my stay in Nowshera, I enjoyed my tender Lizzie in all tranquillity and my tender girl readers may be sure that every opportunity was taken, and none lost, of procuring both for her and for myself the most complete pleasure which our active senses could expect. Her poor thighs were still marked by the violence of the brute Searle when I last saw them, but the sweet, sweet cunt between them lost neither beauty nor attraction on that account. To this day I look back upon that week of ardent fucking with regretful delight. I have never yet succeeded in regretting having sinned against heaven and my dearest wife in having broken the seventh commandment with Lizzie. 'Stolen waters are sweet,' saith Solomon, and I, Charles Devereaux, say to that, 'Amen, Amen, verily that is true.'

Our new station staff officer, my good friend Major Stone, got a dak gharry for Lizzie and two ekkas for me, and we started off on our respective routes on the same day; Lizzie started in the morning and I in the evening, she making for India proper, and I for Shakkote, at the foot of the hills on which Cherat is situated. It was not without a pang on each side that we parted, and we exchanged locks of hair, pulled from our respective bushes. I have hers still and never look at its now somewhat faded curl but that the delicious days and nights I spent in her fair arms at Nowshera come back to my memory with a force that, if she only knew it, adds to the happiness I feel every time I recall the joys I experienced so keenly between her delightful and voluptuous thighs; and my Louie does not lose, I can assure you, by my having been unfaithful with Lizzie!

I took Soubratie with me, leaving 'Mrs Soubratie' to look after my luggage for which her husband was to return when he had seen me safe as far as Shakkote. I heard that she proved the delight of the gallant officers at Nowshera during her husband's absence, and that she brought a big bag full of rupees with her to Cherat, where her charms enabled her to add a good many more to the stock earned by her active and diligent cunt.

Of my journey, of my arrival at Cherat and of the two lovely maidens I found there, who as yet had not known a man, but to whom it was my most happy privilege to communicate the thrilling sensations of soft desire and voluptuous sentiment, I must tell my readers in the chapters which follow.

CHAPTER TWO

A Position of Trust

I never in my life journeyed in such an uncomfortable conveyance as an ekka, and I only hope that none of my fair readers may be subjected to such aches and pains as I had to suffer. But what is an ekka? some of my fair readers may ask. I will tell you. It is a two-wheeled conveyance much used in northern India. It has no springs. It has a platform of but three square feet on which you sit as best you can. It is drawn by a small pony. The shafts generally rise so the platform on which you sit generally slopes back. The driver sits on the shafts, and if, as is very likely, he is highly odoriferous, you get the benefit of his evil smell. But that is not all about the ekka. It has its good points. It can go almost anywhere. It is light and strong. Many and many a time I have seen one carrying half a dozen natives, who can squat with ease where one European cannot find half room enough for himself. It is a cheap conveyance, and it is generally a most gorgeous one to behold, for from every one of its four corners there rises a pillar of white carved with all the cunning of the Indian carpenter's art. Over this is a dome, generally surmounted by some brass ornament, and the entire ekka is painted in the most brilliant colours and ornamented with quaint patterns cut out of brass and hung with little tinkling bells and, in fact, presents the sort of barbaric appearance which pleases the native eye and fancy so much.

Amongst the European soldiers and their wives the ekka is known as a jingling Johnnie, a name which perfectly describes the noise it makes when in motion, for it does nothing but jingle, thus adding to the civilised ear as much torment as its uncomfortable shape and motion do to other parts of his anatomy. Altogether it is not the kind of carriage which I can recommend as forming one of the comforts of Indian travel.

Added to the great discomfort the ekka afforded were several others. First the road had been cut to pieces by the thousands of men and carts of all descriptions, including artillery, light and heavy, which for the last two or three years had been constantly pouring along it, over all the road, to and from Afghanistan. It was consequently inches deep in dust as fine as flour. This dust rose during the day and did not settle for hours; it formed a perfect fog which choked the driver, dried up his mouth and filled his eyes and ears, besides covering me from head to foot. Again, how many camels died on the march? I believe they numbered tens, even twenties of thousands. Judging from the stench which hardly without break filled the air between the outskirts of Nowshera and Publi, there must have been a fair proportion of those deceased camels all along the road. As fast as possible the carcasses were either burnt or buried, but enough were left above ground to sicken even the strongest stomach.

I fell fast asleep and did not wake until the ekka stopped and I found myself in a little grove of trees close to which was the last military outpost with its guard of native infantry; here I was told I had to dismount as I was at Shakkote.

Towering high above me and looking perfectly unclimbable was a lofty range of mountains whose torn sides testified to the violence with which the rain dashed upon them in its hurry to reach the lower level. Cherat, I was told, was on the very summit, and was some four and half thousand feet above where I stood; that is higher than Snowdon, the highest mountain I had yet ascended, and these mountains seemed twice as steep. A couple of ponies stood at the door of the shanty, one had a saddle on, the other not. I asked whose ponies these were, and hearing that they had been sent down to meet an officer expected with baggage, I asked no more questions, but at once claimed my right to them, which fortunately was not contested. Mounted on my pony and directing Soubratie to be quick to strap my portmanteau as best he could on the other animal, I told the syce or groom who was in charge of my beast to proceed, and show me the way, which the half-naked savage did.

At last, after a perilous ascent, my pony staggering with immense fatigue and the fearful strain the terrible climb had cost him, we reached the top. The pony's trot soon died down into a quiet walk along a very good, well-made path, some five or six feet broad, which followed the edge of the valley, across which I saw facing me a pretty cottage, and good heavens! quite a sweet-looking English lassie, walking with a child, evidently taking her early-morning walk. I therefore encouraged my pony to put on his best paces, and almost as soon as I had caught sight of her, the unknown girl seemed to see me too, for she stopped in her walk and stood looking towards me. I soon got within twenty or thirty yards of her, for the path rounded the end of the valley, at the head of which was the cottage.

The first view I had of her close up, showed me that she was a really pretty girl - not exactly beautiful in the sense that Lizzie Wilson was, but more like my own beloved Louie, sweet, feminine, pretty in every sense. Her cheeks, rounded with health, were coloured like the rose, showing that the climate of Cherat certainly agreed with her. Her skin was perfectly clear; and her lips, those dear lips which were in days yet to come to be so often joined to mine in passionate ecstasy, were of the brightest red, that red that only belongs on the lips of the young, and which my experience has shown me is a sign of a nature tender, passionate and voluptuous. Her throat was beautifully formed, round and full, and her figure was that of a maiden passing from the stage of girlhood to that of womanhood. I could see that although her bosom was not yet fully developed, it was already adorned with two charming little mounds; it was certainly not a pair of empty stays which formed the slight hemispheres on either side, but good, sound, solid flesh. Her waist, though not so tapering as Lizzie's, was sweetly small, and her hips had that generous breadth which announces a fine, beautifully shaped belly, fit couch for any man to repose upon! Repose! Can a man be said to repose when he lies between the thighs of his darling, and fucks her with movements so full of sweetness, of joy, of ardent rapture for both him and her? I know not! - but no matter - my maiden showed two well-shaped little feet and ankles beneath her petticoat, as she stood watching my approach, and a smile began making her eyes alive with a kind expression of welcome, and two bewitching dimples began to form which gave her lovely face the appearance of great sweetness, just such a look as might well take any man by storm who saw it for the first time.

I took off my hat and bowed, and asked this charming girl, 'Can you kindly tell me where I should go to find Colonel Selwyn?'

'Papa is at the orderly room, but he will be home soon. This is our house. I suppose you are Captain Devereaux?'

'Yes! I have only just arrived. I have been travelling all night and I am afraid I am more than dirty, and you must kindly excuse me for venturing to come near you in such a condition. You see I did not know which way to go, but left it to my pony and he brought me to you.'

'Well! Won't you let the syce take him, and come in and meet my mother and have a cup of tea? Papa won't be long, I am sure.'

'I am very much obliged to you Miss Selwyn, but I really feel much too grimy and dirty to present myself for the first time to Mrs Selwyn! It would make a bad impression I am sure and I should be sorry for that, for it might perhaps have the effect of her taking a dislike to a man who, since he has seen Miss Selwyn, would wish to be on good terms with her father and mother!

'Don't talk rubbish!' said this downright little maiden, blushing and looking as pleased as punch. 'My mother will, I am sure, make every allowance, and I am sure you must want a cup of tea or a peg, which perhaps you would prefer. Do come in!'

At this moment a lady, somewhat taller than Miss Selwyn, accompanied by another girl, much the same height as her sister, came to the door of the bungalow, evidently attracted by the voices they heard.

'Oh! mama!' cried my friendly maiden, 'here is Captain Devereaux, just arrived. I have asked him to come in and see you, and have a cup of tea or a peg, but he says he wants to see papa first, and is much too - too - well! dirty! Do make him come in!'

'Hush! Fanny! you let your tongue run away with you too fast! I am glad to see you, Captain Devereaux. I suppose you have had a terrible time at Nowshera during the last week. We heard you were there and could not move on account of the troops returning from the war wanting all the ekkas and carts.'

I made my excuse, saying that I considered it my first duty to report myself to the colonel, and that then, after I had made my toilet, I would do myself the honour of calling.

Fanny looked at me with reproachful eyes, as much as to say, 'You might as well have done what I wanted.' The other girl looked at me out of her great lustrous eyes, her mouth smiling slightly, while Mrs Selwyn gave me directions how to find my way to the orderly room, viz., by going back a part of the way I had come until I found a road leading to the barracks in which all the regimental offices were situated, about a mile from where we stood. Making my bow, and thanking Mrs Selwyn, giving the now pouting Fanny a bright look, as full of thanks as my dust-filled eyes would permit me, and taking another long look at the daughter whose name I had not yet learnt, I handed over my pony to the syce and walked along in the direction I had been told to go.

Before turning the corner I looked back. Fanny was alone, still standing in front of the house, looking after me. Her attitude was one of wistfulness. Somehow I felt she had been snubbed, and I was sorry for her, but glad to find my lines would be cast amongst people who, at first sight, seemed to be so lady-like and nice as Mrs Selwyn and her two daughters. These thoughts rather interfered with my admiration of the wild and savage beauty of the scenery I was passing through. Presently, turning a jutting shoulder of the cliff wall, I saw, perched on a slight eminence above me, a long, low wooden structure of large proportions, having an extensive red-tiled roof. Seeing a group of soldiers in their khaki, or mud-coloured, uniforms standing at the door I guessed this was the building housing the regimental offices, and passing through the group, I entered what seemed to be one vast hall with wooden pillars supporting its roof. The first person I saw proved to be the paymaster; hearing my name, he welcomed me warmly enough and showed me whereabouts I should find Colonel Selwyn, whose office was at the far end of the building. Thither I proceeded. The colonel was seated at his table dispensing justice. Around him stood officers in uniform, some red, some khaki, some blue, who had to bring up men. I scanned their faces. I knew none of them, and not being in uniform myself, and moreover covered with dust and dirt, I dare say I did not present a very favourable appearance. I waited until the last unhappy 'Tommy' was weighed off and then, advancing to the table, reported myself as Captain Devereaux, just arrived to join the battalion. Colonel Selwyn looked at me with interest for a moment, whilst the hitherto glum and stern-looking faces of the surrounding officers broke into smiles of welcome.