There was silence in the room, followed by the noise of some people scuttling around, looking for their clothes. Their silhouettes, projected by the light of the few candles that were still alight, danced on walls, magnified and distorted on the walls.
'Halt!' Mlle Renouf ordered. 'All of you. Halt, this minute.'
The headmistress began walking through the naked bodies, carefully studying each face, staring at each detail.
'You. I recognise you. Get dressed.'
She walked past another girl.
'You too can get dressed,' the headmistress said then.
Slowly, as she was able to identify each one of the participants to the orgy, she allowed them to get dressed.
Everyone stood in silence along the walls, awaiting further instructions, wanting to know what their fate might be.
I, on my part, was terrified by being found in this state. I always believed that, if I was to be caught in my outings, it was going to be as I walked through the dark corridors, on my way to meet Bernard. I certainly never believed I would be found in such a state of patent guilt.
'These Jezebels have corrupted you too, my child,' she said, now recognising Marc Antoine. 'Very well.'
Although I knew our headmistress to be prone to anger, I never knew her to be so incensed by students' behaviour. I almost believed her capable of ordering, and maybe administering, our execution there and then.
'Who initiated all this?' Mlle Renouf asked, once we were all dressed.
Nobody spoke.
Then, a voice from the door spoke:
'It was Odile. And Eloise. I have been observing them for a long while. I knew they were up to something.'
It was Juliette.
The girl's face partially emerged from the darkness, as she spoke.
'Is it so?' Mlle Renouf asked, searching me and Odile among the girls.
Odile said nothing, and I thought better not to say anything either.
The girls were made to march up the stairs in a pitiful procession. We had dressed ourselves as best as we could, but our hair was messy; some of the girls had not been able to find this or that article of clothing; our faces were smeared with dirt.
We were all made to march to our dormitory. We were instructed to pack at once.
'I want to see Mlle de Broglie in my study,' she said, eyeing Odile. 'Each one of you will be interviewed individually. So, be ready to explain your involvement in that bacchanal.'
Odile followed the headmistress, and I walked upstairs, along with the other girls.
Juliette had obviously believed me guilty of organising the festivities that had just concluded, along with my friend, maybe for having seen us both leave the school at night some months prior. And, following the prefect's intelligence, Mlle Renouf believe it as well.
What was I to do? Was I to tell the headmistress that I had had no part in arranging the conjugation of all those girls with our well-endowed gardener? Was I to point the finger at Odile and cast all the blame on her?
Even though I now believed that Odile's friendship towards me had almost disappeared, if ever it existed, and that Odile might have been telling the headmistress that I was the sole responsible for the crime we were being accused of, I was not prepared to abandon my old friend to her fate and to seek full absolution instead.
Nobody spoke. Every girl quickly packed their trunks and sat on their beds in silence. Some cried. Most stared at the wall, without meeting each other's gaze.
After about an hour, a girl came up to our dormitory to call me to meet the headmistress, that she would be ready to receive me shortly.
I looked around at the familiar faces in the room. All those girls I had shared so many intimate moments with. What were they thinking? Were they now blaming me for what was about to befall them? Were they believing me to be innocent of the accusation that was now being cast upon me?
I walked out of the room, looking back for a moment, trying to find a sympathetic face. I found none.
I sat on a chair, outside Mlle Renouf's door, alone.
'What's happening, Eloise?'
I looked up to meet Mlle Clery's kind face. She spoke again:
'There's a strange excitement in the school, but nobody will tell me why, and now I find you here, with such a sad look, which is unlike you.'
'I am about to be expelled,' I said.
'Surely not,' she said with a forced laugh that died quickly, seeing that I was speaking in earnest.
How could I explain my situation to that kind teacher, after having demanded that the man she secretly met at night sodomised me before many of my friends?
Marc Antoine, I thought, what would be of him? Would the headmistress forgive him? Would she believe him to be too innocent to sin, or would she finally see his deception?
'Mademoiselle,' I said in a whisper, 'I have been caught having sex. Other girls are involved. A man too. Don't ask me anymore.'
Mlle Clery's face became very serious.
'Who caught you?'
'The headmistress,' I answered.
The teacher thought for a moment.
'So, there's no denying it?' she asked.
I shook my head. How could I?
'Now, tell me,' the teacher continued, 'how was the headmistress alerted of this?'
I chortled bitterly:
'The prefect. Juliette Aumont.'
The teacher considered this information.
'I do believe this to be a great infraction,' she said. 'Expulsion is almost inevitable.'
I looked at her, knowing that she too was fearful of being caught in the very act.
'I always liked you,' Mlle Clery said. 'While I never cared much for Mlle Aumont.'
I resisted the temptation to smile.
'Neither do I,' I confessed.
The teacher whispered then:
'Unlikable cunt, if I may be blunt.'
I cracked a smile.
This seemed to please Mlle Clery.
'Listen carefully,' she said, 'I believe you do have a chance to save yourself. I will tell you know what I know of our headmistress. Do with it what you think best.'
This surprised me, but I said nothing and awaited eagerly for the teacher to continue.
'I joined the school as a student. I was never rich, but my parents died when I was young, and an aunt of mine took me in. She had no children of her own and decided to use whatever money she had to foster my education. So, she sent me to this institute.
'I was a diligent a studious girl. Having no family and no expectation of coming into money and being very sensible to the sacrifice of my relative to have me study in this school, I believe hard work and a modest demeanour to be the best way to improve my prospects.
'When I turned eighteen, I was made a prefect. You may believe this title to be given to hard-working and diligent pupils, and I did believe this myself too, but, as you will soon hear, there are other qualities that are required to achieve this position.
'Mlle Renouf already ran the school. She was much younger but not very different back then. Upon my appointment, she informed me of my duties. I was to surveil the other girls to ensure they would abide by the rules of the institute. I was to assist them whenever they needed assistance, and reprimanded when their behaviour required adjusting.
'I was honoured by the trust she was giving me, and I said so, thanking her for it.
'The headmistress, who by then knew my obedient temperament and knew how to instruct me. She therefore added that I was to report to her after dinner from time to time.
'I took this task seriously, even though I always tried to assist my fellow students to be better and to improve whenever possible, instead of reprimanding them only to fuel my ambition.
'On the first night that I was to report to the headmistress, I saw her in her private chamber. Here, she asked me how I found my fellow students, whether they obeyed my instructions or fought my authority.
'I told her I loved those girls I had grown up with, and that I believe they returned these feelings. It was then quite easy to ask and to receive in turn.
'This seemed to please the headmistress, who then began a long sermon, where she told me that young girls are always looking for ways to circumvent the rules and to resist authority. For this reason, I was to be vigilant, so that the other girls would not take advantage of my kindness.
'Girls, moreover, were also supremely dirty, and I was to watch that they maintain the upmost state of cleanliness, as a dirty body would lead to a dirty mind.
'I said that I would take special care to mention this fact to everyone, so that they would perform their daily ablutions thoroughly.
'Then, the headmistress fixed her gaze upon me. She watched me in that special way she still employs. It is a way that is meant to inspire fear that Mlle Renouf can in fact see your most secret thoughts and divine your darkest secrets.
'After a moment, she asked me whether I maintained a good state of sanitation. When I said I did wash daily, she asked me to prove this fact, for she knew many girls, from notable families and beyond suspicion, who were actually quite filthy under their pretty clothes.
'I asked her how to prove such a fact, and the headmistress, still not moving her eyes from me, but holding them fixed and full of intensity, said I was to disrobe.
'I protested that this was not necessary, that I assured her of my condition.
'Mlle Renouf then looked away, declaring she probably had made a mistake in appointing me a prefect, that I was not obedient, and I was hiding the truth from her.
'Not wanting to upset her, but feeling it was my duty to obey her, I disrobed.
'The headmistress then studied my body in a cold, detached way, like a doctor would. Then, she instructed me to get dressed once more and leave, professing her satisfied with my hygiene.
'When I met her, a few nights after, this request was repeated, and, having done so once before, I disrobed without raising any objection.
'Here, Mlle Renouf said that she was not quite so pleased after all.
'I asked her what she meant, for I had washed that very morning with great care.
'The headmistress offered to show me what she expected. She proceeded to undress and demanded I studied her body. This was very pink, for the headmistress scrubbed her skin with great force to rid it of any impurity. Furthermore, she had plucked all hair from it, so that her pube and her armpits were as pink as the rest.
'I promised I would follow this example.
'She said she was pleased to hear this and said I was coming along nicely.
'The following night, when I met her, Mlle Renouf didn't have to ask me: I disrobed eagerly as soon as the door was shut behind me. My body was now hairless and thoroughly scrubbed with a hard brush.
'The headmistress then told me that I had a pretty body. That, sooner or later, a man would foul it with his touch. He would penetrate me, sow me with his filthy seed. That couldn't be helped, but I was to resist any pleasure that the association with such act might give me. They had to be performed as duties, as they were, but they still had to be seen for what they truly were: a debasement of my nature and a defilement of my purity.
' 'I had never known man,' the headmistress declared. 'I am lucky enough not to require it, nor to want it.'
'She then studied my body once more, explaining to me how she was training me to achieve the greatest potential that Nature had furnished me with. She caressed my breasts, lauding their shape, my back and bottom, applauding their slimness.
' 'You see,' she said then, now sitting on a chair and beginning to massage her large breasts, for these sessions were now conducted in full nudity, 'the only downfall in perfecting you to such heights is that I am naturally filled with some of the impurity that comes from you to me. It is not your fault, and I believe this to be the sacrifice I make for you.'
'I asked her what she meant by it, for I didn't want to cause her any grievance.
'The headmistress explained that, as she emptied a good girl's head of impure thoughts, as she explained to us how corrupt our nature was, and how to attain perfect purity, she would be filled with impure humours that demanded to come forth and that, until she was rid of them, clouded her judgment and filled her with the darkest thoughts.
'As I offered to assist her in any way she could, she said that, as innocent as I was, I was probably still ignorant of what she was talking about, but that, sooner or later, I was to know these facts.
'I, once more, offered my services, and the headmistress, finding me so compliant, instructed me to help her release her impure humours that our discussion had generated.
'She made me kneel between her knees, place my head between her thigs, and then she spread her pink and smooth labia.
' 'You are now to lick until I achieve my release,' she said.
'I was much ashamed of what she was asking me to do, and I asked her whether this was not an impure act, but she reassured me that this was a necessary operation, where she gained no pleasure.
'I then began to run my tongue on the part that she was offering me.
' 'See how clean I keep myself?' she asked. 'No man has ever entered these parts.'
'I kept licking, now and then looking up towards the headmistress to see whether my actions pleased her. I was startled to see how her face, normally stern, had changed to a look of great excitement.
' 'I need more force, my girl!' she then said. 'Bite a little.' Then again, she would ask me: 'Slap it with your hand. Harder… Until it's so red it might bleed.'
'I did as I was instructed, but, when I made to insert a finger into that natural canal, I was forbidden to continue: 'Nothing has ever entered there!' So, I kept my activity to the external surface of the headmistress's private parts.
'As my actions intensified, becoming almost violent towards those parts, that were now indeed painted of the brightest crimson, the headmistress began to cry out and lament greatly, inciting me to continue.
' 'Mademoiselle, I beg you to slap me harder… Aaahhh! That's it… Now, kiss it… Yes, yes… Harder, harder… Oooh, I need a big… yes… harder… hit!' the headmistress instructed me.
'As she spoke, she also pinched her large breasts, lifting them from the end of the nipple, which she held with great firmness. She then pushed those large parts against her chest, finding some solace, as the pain she had just provoked receded. She sighed: 'A minute… yes, a minute rest…' Then, the slapped them or claw at them once more, each time sending loud cries: 'Aaah! It burns so!'
'I never wavered. I licked her thoroughly. I would even chew on the fleshy part with the end of my teeth, lowering them in until the headmistress howled. I sucked until blue marks were left on the skin. Nothing seemed too forceful for her. In fact, she often begged me to repeat or to intensify this or that act.
' 'Clean it, mop it up, like a good girl… See how it will squirt!... Mmmh… I'm about to… Aaah!' she would say, and, in fact, a gush of humour came forth, wetting my chest.
' 'See what needs to come out?' the headmistress asked me, all red in the face, and out of breath.
'Once she had calmed herself, she looked at me with great intensity and asked: 'What about you? Has this activity filled you with any impurity that needs to be let out?'
'I confessed that I felt very warm, and that my own genitals were now tingling in a new, strange way.
'The headmistress then scoffed and said that I had to then rid myself of those secret impurities.
' 'It's better if you let me do it, or you will learn to provoke these sensations on your own, even when there is no need for it, which would only lead to your ruin.'
'I thanked her for this lesson and allowed her to repeat onto me what I had done onto her. As she had done before, I also sat down and spread my legs, so that the headmistress could examine my most tender parts. The first touch of my clitoris, which I had never toyed with until then, made my head spin. I couldn't believe my body was capable of those sensations, but the headmistress didn't allow me to dwell on that first impression: she quickly began caressing it in the most expert way. She eyes my reactions so that her touch would never be more nor less than what I needed.
'I was quite ashamed for I was now sighing and crying under her fingers, and I could not control myself, but I had to give a voice to that pleasure that I was receiving.
'Then, the headmistress gave my pussy a slap. The pain that shot through my body was so intense, I believe I was blinded by it, and my head began to spin. Then, as the pain subsided, a great sense of relief flooded my body, and I felt so light.
'The headmistress was now caressing me once more, and I felt that the pleasure I was receiving had been doubled by that great shock.
' 'I think I will faint…' I cried. 'Oh, how good it is!'
'Seeing that she had attained the desired outcome, the headmistress alternated caresses with pinches, and kisses with slaps.
'Soon, my body was rocking back and forth, following a rhythm I couldn't control. I gave loud cries and said I knew not what. Like Mlle Renouf had done, I too began to play with my breasts, finding I could echo the alternation of pleasure and pain I was receiving from her fingers.
'Finally, I felt a great warmth within me, and a great tension which was released once my body became incapable of containing it, and, as my pleasure was released, I began to twitch all over, and I began to sob, as if filled with great sadness, even though I was in the most joyous state.
' 'How do you feel?' Mlle Renouf asked me, once I had recovered myself.
' 'Cleaner. Much cleaner,' I said.
' 'If you allow me,' she then said, 'we can assist each other in this way, and in the name of maintaining the greatest form of purity.'
'I readily agreed and, in fact, returned and repeated those activities for many years.
'These sessions, I soon found out, were common practice with all the other prefects. Of course, we were not to repeat a word of what passed inside the headmistress' chamber with anyone else.
'I believe that the current prefect, Mlle Aumont spends many an evening with our headmistress doing exactly what I had witnessed before and what I had told you without reticence.'
I thanked her kindly for this confidence.
'I hope you can find a way…' Mlle Clery said.
Then, she quickly left me to my destiny.
I thought for a moment. Surely, I was about to be called into the headmistress's study.
I wasn't too sure of how to utilise the information that my kind teacher had just shared with me. I didn't know if I even had a chance to exonerate myself and not to be expelled, for I was fearful of having to leave the school and having to face my mother's disappointment and Mr LeClair's wroth for my failure.
I quickly raced back to the dormitory. I had an idea. It was a desperate attempt at salvation, but I didn't have any time to spare.