Her instructions are lengthy,  hand-written on scented paper in an elegant, flowing hand, neatly divided into sections with headings underlined. The shapes of her letters are striking, some of them perhaps revealing. Her letter ‘y’ sports a long, curled tail that suggests in my mind the lash of a whip. It’s a thought that scares me, after the evident pleasure she took in the crop. A long-lashed whip is a much more fearsom...