At lunch time she was placed at a table with a food and a water bowl. She learned to kneel gracefully with her hands bound and rise again, decorously select pellets or be fed paste by others, and to drink without slurping.
Once as punishment for some error they took away her feed bowl before she had any; she began to cry and was told that meant no dinner either. She remained after the others rose from the table; an attendant stood by and watched until she regained her composure.
Francis was to train her that afternoon; he arrived early and viewed the scene. He said nothing, but on the path to the frame he stopped and gave her a cookie. Anne melted with gratitude. She knelt and touched the ground with her forehead in appreciation of this small mercy, and at her lesson she yielded herself to him at once.
She practiced the language of the leash that Paul showed her: to kneel when it was draped on her shoulders, to rise again when it was shaken, and to stand still as it was coiled around her neck or waist for storage.
She also had to attract her teachers physically by touch or look. This was a skill practiced by the meanest streetwalker, but she had to learn it.
With some men this was difficult. The one who garroted her was resistant to her charms but she abased herself to him, leaned her head on his thigh and humbly sought his opinion of her, until he mellowed. He even used her after one session and gave her a passing grade. Francis was both kinder and more demanding, but in time he certified her as well. She used those skills at Mr. Schuyler's many times when her owner offered her to his clients.
At the end of a lesson the trainer updated her performance chart before giving Anne her paste. The notes all went into her book, which grew quite large; Anne wondered if the academy still had it.
"It came with you to Mr. Schuyler's, Anne; I read it over."
"Oh; then you know about when I was nineteen. I was younger then, I hope you don't think - I - oh, I'm so -."
Francesca patted her on the head. "You were telling me about your day."
Anne resumed her story. The women trainers were good but most were brisk and cold; and they knew a girl's most sensitive places. Anne felt it for hours afterwards. The thought of the garrote hung over her whenever Gudrun did her though the woman was gentle and understanding, one of the best.
Some afternoons the girls were set loose to clean the grounds. They swept the walks and picked leaves and litter from the yard under the eye of a trainer until sundown. Those like Anne who were selected for use by club members that evening were led off to be bathed; the losers were taken to their cells dusty and sweaty for the night.
An attendant chained Anne outside to a marble bench in good weather or by a parlor couch on wet days. She was popular with the club members and her evenings were busy. At the end he led her back to her cell and gave her dinner. She was very hungry by then and thanked him, and sometimes he took her too.
As a child Anne was taught to say her prayers before going to bed. She hadn't done that for years, but at the academy she started again. She knelt and silently honored the work of the trainers and attendants to make her a better person. Then she lay down on the stone floor and disposed herself for sleep.
It was a difficult life but a rewarding one. She learned to please others and to value the smallest kindness she was shown.
Once again she felt the gentle pinching of her nipples and was quiet. They continued in a companionable silence for a while longer until Francesca stirred and said "Lie down now". With her hands bound behind her, Anne obediently toppled over on her side. To her astonishment Francesca planted a kiss on her cheek before leaving. Anne remained awake for some time with the memory of it.
Shortly before dawn she woke and could not return to sleep. She reflected on how meaningless her former existence seemed to her now.
She thanked her owners for this new life which she could never have undertaken alone. After giving up her career, her freedom and her body, she was living a dream. It would not last much longer, but she celebrated it. Thinking on this she drifted off again.
An hour or so after sunrise, Francesca woke Anne. She was wearing a black exercise outfit of some elastic material that showed her muscular body.
She pointed to the latrine. Afterwards she said Anne showed signs of improvement; Mr. Schuyler and Carol were asking about it. Anne's most intimate functions had become a topic of conversation in the household.
Francesca described with pride the results of her dinner with Georges. He owned a business that needed graduates in her field and spoke of opportunities for her there. Anne was nearly as happy at the news as she was.
The reason for Francesca's outfit soon became apparent when she took Anne outside and led her in a series of exercises. After a brief pause, she trussed Anne up and resumed her practice with various crops. She struck harder than the day before but Anne was better prepared and managed to cry out less though her tears flowed as before.
