When Paul returned to his hotel, he noticed his door was open and in front of it was the housekeeping cart. Grabbing the cart he pushed it into the room and then closed the door behind him. Only then did he notice the housekeeper, a small, young woman, holding the balled up sheets, contemplating the dried blood stain in them. The young woman glanced at Paul, immediately dropping her gaze to the floor and then as she turned to pass him she stared knowingly at him.
As she deposited the sheets in the bin hanging from her cart, Paul sat in one of the upholstered chairs near the window. He watched at the woman returned to the room and began making the bed. Her movements seemed strained, as if she were nervous.
"You know, had I arrived earlier yesterday or you had worked on this room a bit later, that stain in the sheets might have been yours," he said, not sure if he was hoping to calm her nervousness or strengthen it.
"And what would your wife have said about that stain?"
"My wife? Why she is checked into another room and I tell her of my dalliances over drinks and dinner. I am not scheduled to meet her for another hour, you could always mark today's sheets and give me two tales to tell her," Paul softly replied.
"You presume I am a virgin," she said slyly.
"Ah, I presume you are a lady, just because you are a housekeeper should I presume otherwise?"
"In a hotel like this, with such fine gentlemen as guests, how could any of us resist?"
"Excellent point, especially with some of the fine young rouges I see about the lobby and restaurant, I should imagine virginity is a rare commodity indeed."
"And yet a woman of exceptional conviction could still present a husband with her maidenhead, in spite of all the offers from rogues and gentlemen," she replied, fluffing the pillows.
"I might submit to you that I am a husband, one willing and able to treat that maidenhead with proper reverence."
"By shattering it, leaving it to bleed into the bedsheets?"
"By lovingly opening it to the vast arrays of womanly pleasures, the blood in the sheets is but a ceremonial tribute to womanhood," he replied convincingly.
"Or just a bloody pronouncement of virtue less conquest?"
"Ah you question the veracity of my noble intentions I see," Paul said, smiling.
"Oh I don't question your veracity, just the nobility of those intentions."
"I guess in the end, the nobility may be defined by the ability of the lover."
"Or perhaps, the lack thereof?"
"Do you presume to chide me young lady?"
"Only if you presume to seduce me."
"Seduce you? Why we are merely having a friendly conversation," Paul replied.
"Your codpiece seems to show otherwise."
'My codpiece..."
"Has grown."
"What can I say, you inspire me."
"I inspire you? Or does the thought of my maidenhead inspire you?"
Paul hesitated, pondering. Her speaking of the codpiece seemed to show some interest, though he knew if he wanted to take her he could. The hotel, for a small stipend, would handle any unwanted repercussions and yet if she was interested, so much the better. He looked at the woman and replied, "You have caught me, yes the thought of your maidenhead does inspire, and yet I find your, your ah... playfulness enticing."
"Playfulness?"
"Yes playfulness."
"How so?"
"You speak of my codpiece."