Mrs. Constance W...'s Letters 25

I'd like to thank Witchkitty for her invaluable advice and feedback.

Both of these were written by Constance on the same day.

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Constance W...'s letters 25

Constance's Journal 5

Sunday August 14th, 1863

Washington

12:15 am

I am exhausted! Too many irons in the fire at once! I am being worn to a frazzle and I'm certain that this constant to and fro is not healthy for the baby. Alvin is concerned. More than once he has urged me to return home, to rely on my associates more. He is such a dear. Even now he stands ready by the door for any need that might arise. I do not know how he does it. I've been up and out at dawn each day this week and returned long after the sun has bedded down and he has been up before me each day and refuses to rest until I do. He has taken well to his new role as my personal valet. Shaven and washed regularly he strikes a fine figure of a man. One out of myth I should think. Like an ebon Adonis. I never tire of gazing upon his strong manly features. Next to him I appear to my own eyes no more than a porcelain doll. A fat one. The baby grows with each passing day.

Alvin has pressed upon me a small glass of sherry to relax me. He has laid out the shift that he knows that I like to sleep in now and taken a few moments to wash my feet. It feels so good to get out of my shoes! His powerful hands kneaded my calves clear up to my knees. Oh what bliss! And he has helped loosen my dress in preparation for retiring. Oh what a dear, I love him so.

The day's correspondence lies before me. Letters from colleagues, invoices from merchants, communiques of all sorts, but not one word from Thomas. Oh darling, what has become of you? No word has returned declaring your untimely demise so I feel no fear on that point. But why will you not write? Each day without word from you, my Heart, I grow more despondent. I've written again though I fear my thoughts have become increasingly dark. The letter is correspondingly dark. I try to fill the page with glad tidings to brighten your day even though my own is overshadowed by your silence for across the ocean. Thomas, where are you?

And these dark thoughts turn to paranoia. I find it increasingly difficult to schedule and keep assignations amongst the bureaucracy. On more than one occasion I have been turned away from their office on Capitol Hill. I have come to imagine that some force has interposed itself against me even to the point that I feel a fell presence lurking about me. Which is utter non-sense as there are none that can divine my purpose here in the city; nevertheless, I must persevere.

I must close this entry now. Alvin is most insistent that I retire for the sake of the baby. I am as yet frustrated having found no opportunity for myself tonight. I might still find some satisfaction but I know that Alvin will not permit that for health's sake.

Sixth Letter to Annabelle

1472 Virginia Avenue SW

Washington D.C.

Sunday

August 14, 1863

Mrs. Annabelle K...

82 Piedmont Avenue NE

Atlanta, Georgia

Dear Sister,

I have risen late today and am taking brunch upon the balcony overlooking the avenue as I write to you. The heat in this city is positively stifling and I feel it most keenly. The breezeless air is heavy and cloying and I am constrained to wear a linen robe over my night shift for propriety's sake, but it is even more unbearable indoors. This weekend's festivities have left me drained. I do so hope that this letter finds you in fine spirits now that you have been reunited to your love. I too long to be reunited to mine and bless the day you found the good Doctor.

Mama has written to me about the situation in Asheboro. Pressure continues to mount against father. I intend to engage an advocate on his behalf. I've written to encourage him to stand fast to his principles and I encourage you to do likewise. He dotes on you so very much a letter from you is certain to lift his spirits.

Our operations are expanding far more rapidly than could be anticipated. Recent events here have spurred me to make a change in how we conduct our business. I will be selecting certain of our cohorts that show particular promise; imagination, industry and discretion; to return to Hazel Park. I've already written to mama about my plans. There they will begin a regimen to train them in the more sophisticated ways of political society. Our long time associates will return there also in shifts to teach the others. In preparation I've reviewed the staff of the Sisters of the Second Revolution but do not find any that I think are suited to the more advanced instruction; instead I 'm going to close my efforts there in Atlanta and transfer the more professional of them to Richmond and DC. The truly compassionate among them I will leave in your care to continue our benevolence toward the wounded. I believe this will be more in keeping with your true calling. Any further acquisitions I will leave in your hands instead. Don't hesitate to forward anything of interest that falls into your hands.

Speaking of DC I've acquired a second house of il' repute.

As you know my modus operandi has been to glean treasures from targeted individuals on the sly. Anne though has the most wonderfully devious mind. My plan to suborn the movers and shakers here in Washington through the use of masques and balls, though effective, is terribly expensive. I have begun to fear the cost is prohibitive. Food, drink, musicians and accouterments of entertaining have nearly drained my ready funds. At Anne's suggestion I secured an enterprise that will generate an immediate revenue stream that I can then use for my more clandestine efforts. To this end she took me to a ramshackle structure that was the home of the least prosperous and most sordid brothel in the city. Its only redeeming quality is the fortuitous proximity to the houses of power and that it could be had for a song. She made a very convincing argument and the deal was made and I became the owner. Anne directed the repurposing of the establishment. She offered the low women employment as sculleries and the like as they had no real skills and we had in mind a higher class of clientele than these bauds are capable of entertaining. The ones that refused were turned out where I think they will end up prowling the docks. The ones that remained have been clothed and washed and tasked with providing the catering service for our guests. Mrs. A..., Sarah's friend from her camp experience, is our chief cook. She orders the girls, some hardly adults at all, smartly and kitchen and scullery at both the new establishment and my own house are run with naval-like precision. Anne interviewed new women to fill the rooms with clean, sophisticated girls. She doesn't feel that any of them are suited to the information gathering that we are primarily interested in, but that is not the purpose of this enterprise. We have labored long these last two weeks to repair and improve the house. On Friday we reopened as the Federal House. We think it has a nice touch of irony to it.

My anxiety was extreme. There was no certainty that we would experience anything other than the meager trade of the city's riffraff. This is where Anne's true brilliance shown forth. While I was engaged in trade negotiations and overseeing the restoration process she was out greeting the intelligentsia of the city. Oh, to see her work. With practiced eye she sought out not the power mongers but the preeminent among the cultural elite. She toured gallery after gallery, studio after studio. She purchased here and there, small but significant items tasteful for a social club. And always she made great airs of sponsoring artists and hosting galas on their behalf. And she touched them. The agents she clasped hands with delicate strokes and knowing winks. The artists and scribblers she embraced. I marvel at the way she turned chaste bussing into a promise for future delights. Her hand would stroke their shoulders. Her lips would mouth sweet nothings with each peck. When she approaches it is like the dance of Salome and when she departs it is like watching silk move. I've never seen someone more undressed while fully clothed.

It was a triumph! Anne is an absolute genius. We didn't open a whorehouse; we opened a social club for men. The new design features a large common room on the first floor for smoking and drinking. It is filled with overstuffed chairs singly and in small groups where the men can take their brandy and smoke their pipes. The wood paneled walls hang with the artist's newest offerings. Intricately worked carpeting muffles footsteps and voices. A well-heeled staff caters to their whims. Last night we hosted a showing of the private works of one of the city's more well-disposed artists.

Anne has installed herself as the new madam. She wore her golden locks only partially up. It gave her a vivacious appearance. I'm sure that it was calculated to impress upon our guest her availability. Her dress was off the shoulder. The décolletage was deep and afford a most splendid and daring view of her earthly delights. They vied with the paintings for our clients' attention. And at every opportunity she stooped and bowed always neglecting to cover with her fan.

Anne and I kept a discreet distance between us and our patrons last evening to allow our women unfettered access to them. Rather, we confined ourselves to the task of charming hostesses. In this manner we were able to steer, prompt and otherwise guide the conversations toward more illuminating subjects. The general low regard men in power have for women's intelligence makes them surprisingly easy marks. Here again Anne has proven prescient. She has brought in some Negro youths that are practiced in their letters. We stationed them around the premise in guise as servants but their real task is recording what they hear. My cursory glance at the records suggests this will bear some measure of profit.

I had doubts as to the effectiveness of Anne's plan, but this evening has put them to rest. No matter what the enticement she would never stray more than a few minutes from our guest of honor, the young master artist. Only so long as to allow him the recognition of his other admirers. Then she would sweep back in to his presence echoing the praises lavished on him.

Here let me say that his current focus is on portraitures. His is a flowing style in oils that convey a sense of impending action from the subjects that is almost sensual. There is emotion that communicates straight to the heart of the observer. We two have often of late been guest of his at his studio to watch as he paints. His work with the brush is erotically hypnotizing. I felt my own heart race as I watched him feverishly apply the brush alternating between long fluid strokes and sudden jabs at the canvas. I noted that his model on one occasion became flush and allowed her cover to slip more than once to reveal the excitedly erect nipple before remembering herself and restoring her modesty. I cannot tell if Anne is similarly affected or if she is play acting.

Last evening she was his ever doting admirer. As I worked the room expressing my appreciation for all my guests a small commotion arose in the vicinity of the two. A man was pressing his attentions upon Anne in a most indecorous fashion. He had seized both of her wrists and was plainly trying to lead her out of the room. As it turned he is an undersecretary in some department that I have taken little notice of. That seems to be a mistake. As I later learned from Anne, the subordinates have far more specific knowledge about those things that interest me than their superiors and are far more easily enticed into relinquishing it. She has been cultivating a chaste romance with the man for some weeks. She had put on a charade of noble chastity while frequently enticing him with unchaste contacts and sights which she feigned to be unaware of. The result is an earnest sense of guardianship in the man for her wellbeing with an undercurrent of lechery. Later she confided in me that she had culminated her admiration for his work with a request for some specific, though slight, intelligence in his keeping and had included him on the guest list, though I took no note of him at the time, nor upon his arrival, to puff up his sense of importance and provide the opportunity to deliver the requested intelligence.

Upon arrival he had sought her out to pass on his offering only to be rebuffed. She feigned disinterest in the knowledge and even affront that he attempted to entice her with so little. I was shocked at this choice when told of it as I feared he might reveal our purpose to the authorities. However, she had conveyed that if the offering was of a significantly greater value she would look upon his suit more favorably. At every turn she communicated by word and gesture that the dangled affection would be of a physical nature coupled with genuine emotion. This had the effect of voluntarily sealing his lips from unwanted disclosures in hopes of greater access to her charms.

Upon his return he tried to separate her from our dear artist proclaiming his own affection and the need to protect her, but without the required gift. Fortunately Corporal Conrad, our young gendarmes, interceded before anything untoward occurred. The man would not leave though, instead retreating to a secluded place where he refused any service. I had a mind to speak to her about this business but a subtle wink told me that all was as she had designed. It seems that throughout the evening she, while fawning over our virile young artist, had been directing her little revelations toward that little man. Naturally he became jealous, which was Anne's goal from the first.

After this initial breach she redoubled her fascination with her escort to the extent that he began taking liberties with his hands. I am certain that he has done so with more than one of his models and now felt that Anne was at his disposal. She did nothing to dissuade him. At each pinch or cup she would giggle and laugh and ineffectually push him away. The effect was not lost on her mark. Apparently he had returned with weightier knowledge but had thought to retain it while still acquiring the object of his lust. Seeing that this was not so, he again approached her, this time in a more subdued fashion. I watched with concern as she bent down so he could whisper in her ear. The conversation took some minutes and I could see that she asked some questions the he appeared not to want to answer. Only once did she have to turn away and from then on he answered her every question. She pulled him to the side as some of the other woman had done to refine the details of their transactions so as not to draw attention to their conversation. It lasted long enough that our young lion took note of her absence so that I had to intercede drawing him away.

Suddenly she bussed the little scoundrel soundly then returned to our company. He pursued but she deftly turned him away saying that he could see that she has a commitment with this young man and that he was very much mistaken if he thought her dignity could be bought with so little. At his plea she promised to make herself available, in public, the following day but only if he could promise that he could demonstrate his affection more substantially. Then she whispered, "All will be yours if you prove how much you love me." Then without a backward glance she seized our talented friend and took him to her boudoir. The meaning was clear and not lost upon the man. He malingered for some time before slinking away. I can assure you Annabelle that at the time I was much concerned that we were on the brink of exposure.

Sometime later Anne sent a message down requiring my presence. Upon entering her chambers I noticed that she was still flush from her exertions. Her hair was down completely and damp. Her gown lay across the chase and only her thin shift clung to her body. One strap hung loosely from her shoulder exposing the breast with its bright pint nipple. She was naked from the waist down and I had a fine view of her golden fleece. Her paramour sat naked beside her scratching away at his ever present notebook while she leisurely stroked his softened member.

At this time Anne quite candidly revealed to me all that she had in mind concerning our enterprise. She detailed how she had seduced her target and what she expected to gain from her efforts. Rather than acquire by deception, if we entice the weak minded or the glory seeker through seduction, appeals to vanity or outright purchase the resultant harvest of information will escalate dramatically as the number of gatherers will be greater. Furthermore, this way will distance us from the actual theft and has the added benefit of securing their silence out of self-interest. I am chagrined that I did not think of this myself. Last night had been the test and this afternoon the payoff.

As she spoke, Anne continued to stroke her young man's organ. As his vigor returned, he has a finely shaped member, he scribbled more rapidly until driven to distraction he flung the incomplete pencil study of Anne to the floor. "You are insatiable, madam," he said. Smiling sweetly she leaned forward and took him into her mouth. I watched as he stood receiving her ministrations with his hand lightly upon her head. She reached between his legs and fondled his sack. He groaned in response.

I watched fascinated at the scene. Always previously I had been a participant with no time or vantage to appreciate the spectacle. Tonight I was privileged to watch two lovers at leisurely play.

He reached down to cup her exposed breast. She dipped delicate fingers inside her own body. Though his need pressed him to hurry she kept a methodical pace to prolong the encounter. When she released his manhood, slick and shining, she pulled him to her breast holding him there as he savagely tore with his teeth at her soft flesh. She moaned loudly at this. I moved to the vacated chair next to the two lovers, my hand stealing to my bodice to cup my own breast as he had done hers.

She whispered in his ear and nipped at it playfully. Between her legs her fingers drove knuckles deep into her well. Below she rubbed one long leg up his thigh; above his talented hands sought to touch all of her at once. I sat rapt.

The more they played the more fevered I became. Their passion rose. They moaned and cooed. Their scent filled the room. I fidgeted with a need of my own yet could not effectively undo myself to reach the itch. Anne glanced my way and with that supernal awareness of hers divined my state in an instant. She withdrew her slick fingers and extended them to me with a smile. I took them into my mouth and savored the sweet tangy flavor of their previous lovemaking.

She opened her legs to him now and taking his now rigid staff in hand guided him to her sex. He plunged to the hilt in one thrust. The breath rushed out of her in a loud growl. I watched as she wrapped her smooth legs around his narrow waist then her arms around his back, lacquered nails digging deep, she held him tightly to her body.

He is beautiful, lean and muscular. Trapped by her legs he ground his organ into her vagina with a swirling like motion. They fell to a rhythm as she thrust her pelvis to meet his. I could hear the sound of penetration which only added to my own distress. Soon his urgency overcame her strength and he broke free of her grasp. Propped at length upon his arms above her he plowed forcefully into her fevered and trembling body. She clutched at his arms. Their love moans had turned to grunts of lust. His untrimmed hair clung to his forehead. Sweat dripped onto her shift causing it to cling to her stomach. She grasped her knees and pulled her legs up and open in a most undignified way. He pounded even more desperately into her breach.