"You look at a star for two reasons, because it is luminous and because it is inscrutable. You have beside you a sweeter radiance and a greater mystery -- woman." -- Victor Hugo,
Les Misérables
Daniel opened his eyes, yawned and sat up. The places beside him were empty. He struggled to recall what he had done with the lovely Lydia and the gorgeous Justine. Then he saw the chain fixed to the post at the foot of the bed. He quietly moved to that end of the mattress and peered over the edge. The two women were curled up on the rug, asleep, their naked bodies embraced, arms and legs intertwined. The connector between their collars had just two or three links, so they were coupled face to face, lip to lip, breast to breast, belly to belly. It was a vision so sublime, so alluring, so overwhelming that he had to hold his breath, lest he roar out his joy and waken them.
But then Lydia stirred. Her nose twitched as she felt Justine's gentle breathing on her face. She smiled and sighed, but her eyes did not open. Daniel studied the slumbering forms. In the morning light, Lydia's skin glowed honey-gold with a spray of caramel, Justine's a rich, sun-kissed mahogany. Across the thighs, backs, buttocks and hips of each woman was a criss-cross of faint pink markings and swellings, the slowly fading memoir of yesterday's games and last night's entertainment.
He lay down again and saw himself, sprawled in purple silk pajamas on black satin sheets, reflected in the overhead mirror. He laughed (but not too loud). Apart from that cliché, he might have been in the royal suite of some palatial hotel. Never had he seen such opulence in a bedroom. And yet, for all the lavish accoutrements, nothing surpassed the sumptuous splendour of his two sleeping beauties. It seemed a pity to disturb them, but he was not yet done with those succulent, obliging bodies.
It was barely a month since Lydia had summoned him and Jane to that extraordinary meeting.
The cousins had known each other all his life; Jane was a year and a bit older. He'd always had a crush on her, and as they were second cousins that was not out of bounds. She was pretty and popular, very smart and from what he'd seen utterly fearless. Because neither of them had siblings and they lived close by, they played together as children, and as teenagers were still friends; but in recent years their families had grown apart. Her Grandpa Joe had been an eccentric character, and something happened which caused a rift between him and his brother, Daniel's grandfather. No one spoke openly about the scandal, but there had been rumours of an affair between Joe and his sister-in-law. When they all gathered at the funeral, nothing was said of the falling out, and some healing took place.
The last to leave the gravesite had been a petite, dark-haired woman in a short black dress, whom nobody seemed to know... or at least everyone pretended to not know. When they assembled again for the reading of the will, Lydia the executrix proved to be a high-powered lawyer or agent or manager of some sort, with a top-floor office at the top end of town. She was stunning, with gleaming blue eyes and a penetrating gaze, a sexy charisma and an intimidating self-assurance which reminded Daniel of a sleek, predatory cat. She announced herself as Grandpa Joe's business associate, but she was vague. After that, she called them in one at a time for a private conference. Daniel did not know what the others were told, but Jane, who had preceded him, came out of Lydia's office looking unsettled, her face flushed. She murmured something he did not catch and averted her eyes as she brushed past him.
The full details of the bequest were unclear, except that he found himself, along with his cousin, title-holder of an estate in the countryside, a mansion which Lydia referred to simply as "the Château." Since it was Jane who was Joe's direct descendant, Daniel was gratified that he'd been allotted a half-share; but he was curious about the exact nature of the old man's legacy.
A week later he was called back. He was ushered in by one of the secretaries, a thin, pale, stiff-backed fellow in razor-pleated grey trousers, starched blue shirt and a magenta-and-gold striped tie. The other was a tall, strikingly beautiful young woman in a long-sleeved cream-coloured blouse and knee-length beige skirt. Her strawberry-blonde hair was cut short similar to Lydia's. She introduced herself and her associate as Gabrielle and Steven.
Jane was already there, in her office, she and Lydia deep in conversation. His cousin's expression was one he had seen before, when she was struggling with a momentous decision. Lydia whispered something as Daniel took his seat. Jane smiled and shook her head. She may have blushed, because she pointedly turned towards the big window so her face was suffused with the orange glow of the late afternoon sun.
This part of the conference did not take long. The cousins were given a mountain of paperwork to take away for signing and witnessing. Jane then left, while Lydia asked Daniel to accompany her and Steven to an adjoining room. There were four armchairs arranged in a circle, two occupied by men in neat, expensive business suits. Serving them coffee, on her knees, was Gabrielle, and she had changed out of her prim and proper skirt and blouse into a barely-there, white negligée. The front and rear were open almost all the way down, and there were no tan lines on her back or across her superb cleavage. Her magnificent legs were sheathed in sheer silk stockings held up with a lace-and-ribbon garter belt. Around her slender throat was a thin black metal choker.
Lydia waited until Daniel and Steven had taken their seats. Then, as she lowered herself onto the chair, in a single, smooth movement she put her hands under her dress and drew her panties down to her knees and then swept her hemline backwards so that, as her bottom touched the upholstery, it was bare flesh against the leather. Neither her secretaries nor her guests reacted at all to this. Without so much as a pause for effect, she began speaking.
