The Chastised Husband

A man who was already middle-aged decided to get married, although he had lived without a wife until then, and in view of his inclinations the most serious mistake he probably made was to choose a young girl of eighteen, with the most attractive face in the world and a most pleasing figure. Taking a wife was an even worse fault on the part of Monsieur de Bernac, as this husband was called, for he could hardly be less accustomed to the pleasures of married life and it was far from likely that the strange habits which he substituted for the chaste and refined pleasures of conjugal existence would please a young person like Mademoiselle de Lurcie, the unfortunate girl whom Bernac had just linked to his fate. On their wedding night, after first making her swear that she would say nothing to her parents, he explained his preferences to his young wife; in the words of the famous Montesquieu, it was a question of that ignominious treatment which harks back to childhood: the young wife, assuming the posture of a little girl who has merited punishment, lent herself in this way for fifteen or twenty minutes to the brutal caprices of her elderly husband, and it was in the illusion created by this scene that he succeeded in enjoying that delightful intoxication of pleasure that any man with a more normal constitution than Bernac would certainly have wished to enjoy only in the arms of the delightful Lurcie.

The procedure seemed somewhat harsh to a sensitive pretty girl who had been brought up in comfortable circumstances and far from pedantry; however, since she had been told to be submissive she believed that all husbands behaved like this, perhaps Bernac had even encouraged her to believe so, and she lent herself in the most straightforward way possible to the depravity of her satyr-like husband; it was the same every day, and often more likely to be twice rather than once. After two years Mademoiselle de Lurcie, whom we shall continue to describe in this way, since she was still as virginal as on her wedding day, lost her father and her mother, and with them any chance of obtaining their help in the relief of her suffering, for which she had been hoping for some time.

This loss only made Bernac more enterprising, and if he had restrained himself to some extent during the lifetime of his wife's parents, now that she had lost them and it was impossible for her to beg anyone to avenge her, he lost all control. The treatment which at first had seemed no more than a joke gradually became real torment; Mademoiselle de Lurcie could not bear it, she became embittered and thought only of revenge. She saw very few people, for her husband isolated her as much as possible. However, the Chevalier d'Aldour, her cousin, in spite of all Bernac's representations, had never stopped seeing his young relative; this young man was extremely handsome and it was not without some purpose that he continued to visit his cousin. Since he was very well known in society the jealous husband, for fear of being laughed at, did not dare turn him out of the house too often.. Mademoiselle de Lurcie selected this relative to free her from the slavery in which she was living: she listened to the attractive propositions that her cousin put to her every day and in the end she confided in him completely, telling him everything.

'Avenge me on this horrible man,' she said to him, 'and avenge me by a scene so strong that he will never dare tell anyone about it: the day you succeed in this will be the day of your triumph, I shall be yours only at this price.'

D'Aldour was delighted, he agreed to everything and concentrated on the success of a venture which was to ensure him such pleasant moments. When everything was ready he spoke to Bernac.

'Sir,' he said to him one day, 'since I have the honour to be so closely related to you, and since I have such complete confidence in you, I must tell you about a secret marriage that I have just contracted.'

'A secret marriage!' said Bernac, delighted at finding himself freed in this way from the rival whom he feared.

'Yes, sir, I have just united myself to a charming wife and tomorrow she is to make me a happy man; she is a girl without property, I admit, but that is immaterial to me, I have enough for both of us; it is true that I am marrying the whole family, there are four sisters all living together, but since their company is pleasant it means only additional happiness for me.. I hope, sir,' the young man went on, 'that my cousin and you will do me the honour tomorrow of coming at least to the wedding breakfast.'

'Sir, I go out very little, and my wife even less, we both live a retired life, she enjoys it, I do not restrict her in any way.'

'I know your tastes, sir,' replied d'Aldour, 'and I assure you that all will be to your liking . I enjoy solitude as much as you do, in addition I wish to keep things secret, I told you so: it is in the country, the weather is fine, everything invites you, and I give you my word of honour that we shall be absolutely alone.'

Lurcie in fact indicated that she would like to go, her husband dared not oppose her in front of d'Aldour and the party was organised.

'Must you want such a thing?' said the complaining husband as soon as he was alone with his wife, 'you know very well that I don't care a fig for all this, I shall oppose all your wishes for outings of this sort, and I warn you that I plan shortly to send you to one of my estates where you will see nobody except me.'

And since this pretext, whether real or not, greatly enhanced the attractions of the lewd scenes which Bernac invented when the reality was lacking, he took advantage of the opportunity, made Lurcie go into her bedroom and said to her: 'We will go . yes, I promised to do so, but you shall pay dearly for the desire you showed for it..'

The poor unhappy girl believed that she was nearing the end and tolerated everything without complaining.

'Do as you wish, sir,' she said humbly, 'you have shown me a favour, I owe you only gratitude.'

So much sweetness and resignation would have disarmed anyone except the libertine Bernac, whose heart was steeped in vice, but nothing stopped him, he took his pleasure, they went to bed quietly; the next day d'Aldour came as arranged to collect the husband and wife and they set out.

'You see,' said Lurcie's young cousin, taking them into an extremely isolated house, 'you see that this does not look much like a public celebration; not one carriage, not one lackey, I told you so, we are absolutely alone.'

Meanwhile four tall women of about thirty, robust, vigorous and all of them five feet six inches in height, came out on to the steps and advanced in a very civil way to receive Monsieur and Madame de Bernac.

'This is my wife, sir,' said d'Aldour, presenting one of them, 'and the other three are her sisters; we were married at dawn today in Paris and we are awaiting you in order to hold the nuptial feast.'

There were expressions of mutual politeness all round; after everyone had been together in the drawing-room for a moment, when Bernac convinced himself to his great satisfaction that he was just as much alone as he could possibly desire, a lackey announced that the wedding breakfast was served, and they went to table; nothing was gayer than this repast, and the four so-called sisters, who were very accustomed to jokes, revealed while at table all the vivacity and liveliness possible, but since decorum was not forgotten for one moment Bernac, who was thoroughly taken in, believed himself to be in the best company in the world; in the meantime Lurcie, who was delighted to see her tyrannical husband falling into the trap, joked with her cousin, and having decided out of despair that she would finally renounce the continence which so far had brought her nothing but sorrow and tears, tossed off champagne with him, overwhelming him with affectionate glances; the heroines, who needed to get their strength up, drank also, and Bernac, who was carried away, still suspecting only straightforward pleasure in such circumstances, hardly restrained himself any more than the rest of the company. But since it was important that no one should lose their self-control d'Aldour interrupted the proceedings in time and suggested that they should go to take coffee.

'Now, cousin,' he said to Bernac as soon as this was over, 'deign to come and see my house, I know you are a man of taste, I have bought it and furnished it expressly on the occasion of my marriage, but I fear I have made a bad bargain, you must please to give me your opinion.'

'With pleasure,' said Bernac, 'nobody understands these things better than I do, and I will estimate the value of the whole thing within ten louis, I wager.'

D'Aldour dashed to the staircase, giving his hand to his pretty cousin, Bernac was placed in the midst of the four sisters, and in this order they entered a very dark and isolated apartment, right at the end of the house.

'This is the bridal chamber,' said...