True to her word, I received a brief note in the post on Tuesday morning from Amelia confirming that she would be arriving at Arundel Court around half-past five the following day and would expect to stay the night.

Georgina was thrown into an orgy of anticipation and yet again had to be disabused of the notion that she would be joining in whatever activities I had in mind for my new friend. More pouting and flouncing followed until finally I was forced to grasp her firmly by the waist and look her in the eye.

‘My darling, you simply have to control yourself. If anything happens, you may watch from the mirror, but otherwise you will have to make yourself scarce when she is here. Or hide in the house at least.’ I leant forward and let my lips brush her neck. She shivered deliciously as I whispered, ‘You like seeing me naked, don’t you, Georgina?’

‘Yes, I do,’ she answered unequivocally, then turned her head to me, her lips parting, and for a moment we might have kissed, but I gently pushed her away and smiled. She looked ruefully at me, then said rather flatly, ‘My word, you are learning, aren’t you? Very well. Jimmy and I will watch.’

‘Not Jimmy. I’ve got plans for Jimmy,’ I said.

With a little sigh of regret, she turned on her heel, and moments later I heard her footsteps on the stairs as she retreated to the boudoir.

Amelia Harrison and I had a most enjoyable time that evening. We dined early at the Langham and drank a fine bottle of claret with our roast lamb. The waiter was most attentive, and so he should have been. I had prepared for the evening with extra care, and Amelia’s eyes had lit up as she saw me all ready to go out, dressed in a royal blue silk gown. Unknown to her I wore nothing underneath it, a state that always imbued a purring excitement in me when in public.

She also looked wonderful, her face animated and excited in a way far removed from the rather flat expression that had greeted me when I had first entered her morning room in Francombe. I think that, perhaps, after three years of limbo, the opportunity to throw caution to the winds and have a night on the town was more than attractive. She wore her hair styled high with loose ringlets falling onto her graceful neck and, like me, had used a little powder and lip stain to enhance her already very attractive face. The thought of kissing her made my pulse beat harder and sent little thrills through all sorts of places.

After dinner, we took a cab to the Adelphi Theatre, where Mr Henry Vickers was starring in a musical comedy called It’s All Down to Her! We took a box and were served a bottle of champagne as we watched the show, which certainly deserved its reputation as one of the hits of the season. Amelia’s eyes were glowing as she watched the tall, elegant, and distinctly good-looking Mr Vickers as he sang and danced his way through a series of numbers.

‘He’s rather handsome, isn’t he?’ I whispered.

She nodded without taking her eyes off him. ‘Oh yes, rather.’

After the show, we took another cab to Claridge’s and enjoyed a late supper as we watched the couples dancing. A pair of young naval officers in uniform asked permission to join us, and we danced and laughed with them for some time. Amelia blossomed as they paid her compliments and chattered lightheartedly. At last I caught her eye and, to the obvious disappointment of our friends in blue, we asked for a cab to be called.

When we got back to Arundel Court, it was late and we were both distinctly tiddly, but I suggested a last nightcap in the boudoir and she readily agreed. As we stood in the hall, she told me how much she had enjoyed the evening and how grateful she was that we had become friends.

‘Even after such an unusual introduction?’ I laughed.

‘Even so,’ she replied, and as we climbed the stairs, she took my arm. ‘Where’s the upstanding Mr Chandos when you need him?’ she whispered naughtily.

‘Amelia Harrison!’ I feigned shock for a second, then as she collapsed into giggles, I joined her, and it was a very merry pair of ladies who sank onto the comfortable settee in front of the big mirror.

‘Someone’s lit the fire,’ she observed. It was true that the room was warm and the fire burned down low.

‘Jimmy must be back,’ I said. I’d mentioned him earlier, even though, like Georgina, he had not put in an appearance before we went out.

We sat and chatted about the evening for a while with our brandies until I asked her to excuse me. She naturally assumed I was going to the bathroom, and in this she was quite correct, although she would have had the wrong idea about my purpose. I opened the door quietly and had a whispered conversation with the person inside. He was ready. My word, he was ready. And having seen him, so was I.

I walked quietly back along the corridor, popped my head around the door of the boudoir, and with a confidential grin, hissed at Amelia.

‘Come here, my darling. This is distinctly worth seeing.’ I put my finger over my lips as her eyebrows rose in a query, but, clearly intrigued, she stood and came over to the door. I breathed in her ear, ‘Follow me. Shhhh.’

Taking her hand, I crept towards the bathroom door, which was now half-open, allowing the smell of sandalwood and steam to drift into the corridor. Arriving outside it, I again put my finger to my lips and raised my eyebrows.

She frowned a little and silently mouthed, ‘What?’

I gently steered her into position so that she could look through the inch-wide crack between the door and the jamb. She put her eye to it, and I heard a deep intake of breath and felt a quiver run through her body. Kneeling down, I edged in below her and looked too.

The bathroom was lit by two candles that had been placed on the chest. Their light threw a warm but faint glow onto Jimmy, who had clearly just bathed. He was standing at an angle to us, his front concealed, towel in hand and stark naked. As we watched, he tossed the towel onto a chair and reached forward to pick up a dark brown bottle of oil that was standing next to the candles.

Seemingly unaware of our voyeuristic presence, he tipped some into his hand and started to rub his arms and shoulders. Hearts beating, we watched as the oil slowly covered them, making every muscle and sinew stand out in the dim glow of the candles. He continued across his torso, his hands out of sight, but when he reached behind and oiled his buttocks, Amelia uttered something between a quiet sigh and a groan of longing. Still with his back to us, finally we saw his hands reach down to his groin, and it became apparent that he was slowly oiling his cock and balls.

After a minute or so of this, his head went back a little and he uttered a sigh of satisfaction as his hands worked away.

I stood and tapped Amelia on the shoulder. She turned to look at me, her eyes unfocused and far away, a deep red flush across her neck. I gave her my best imitation of Georgina’s mock outraged horror look. I think she must have realised what I had in mind, and she started to shake her head, mouthing, ‘No. No.’

Too late, my darling. This is what you need, I thought.

Hooking her arm firmly in mine, I pushed the bathroom door open with my foot. It swung silently back on its hinges, and as Jimmy sensed the air change in the room and stilled his hands, I spoke quietly.

‘Who’s going to do your back, then?’

He froze for a moment but did not turn around. Instead, his hands resumed their regular movement. ‘Is that you, Miss Felix?’

‘And my friend, Jimmy. This is Mrs Harrison.’ I felt her stiffen and try to pull away from me, but I had her arm too tightly. ‘Turn around and say hello.’

Slowly, he moved to face us, stepping back a pace so the light from the candles shone onto one side of him, leaving the rest of the room in darkness.

‘Oh my God,’ whispered the woman at my side as she stared spellbound.

And she had a point.

Standing tall and naked in the steamy shadows, his magnificently muscled body glistening where the light caught it, he did indeed look like a primeval god, as though from a classical myth. His cock was semi-erect and standing out from his groin, the head exposed. Like myself, he shaved down there, so his long, thick shaft and heavy balls looked enormous.

Smiling silently, he picked up the oil and held it out to me. I could hear Amelia breathing heavily next to me as I led her into the bathroom and took it from him. He was at least a foot taller than us, and his close physical presence was profoundly exciting, a latent masculine energy that reached out and engulfed us both.

‘Hold out your hands, Amelia,’ I said to her. As if in a dream, she obeyed my instruction, and I poured a generous measure into her cupped palms before taking some for myself. ‘Now turn round, Jimmy,’ I instructed, and he complied.

With no further ado, I placed my hands on his broad shoulder blades and started to rub the oil in. ‘Come on, Amelia. It’s in your hands now; you might as well use it,’ I whispered to her, and with a faint sigh she placed her hands next to mine and started to massage the oil into his skin.

We took our time and worked slowly over his entire back, then, with increasing enthusiasm on Amelia’s part, we started on his buttocks and thighs. The fact they had already been done mattered not. His muscles were firm and unyielding, and the devil in me meant that I spent some time working the oil deep into his crack, stroking and occasionally slipping my finger into his bum hole, a little at first, then deep, past my second knuckle. Amelia looked shocked at this, but he sighed and flexed as I did it, and from my position at his side I watched his cock climb some degrees and approach the vertical. It was a veritable beast of a thing, no doubt about it.

There was no resistance from Amelia as I took her hand and slowly guided it down between his buttocks. ‘Stroke his balls, my darling. That’s what he needs,’ I said quietly.

She reached forwards. Her mouth opened and I heard Jimmy sigh as she connected with her target. ‘They’re so big, Mary,’ she whispered, wide-eyed.

I placed my hands on Jimmy’s waist and gently rotated him so that he faced us. I heard Amelia exhale quietly.

‘More oil, my darling?’ I asked innocently. But she ignored me and knelt down in front of him, her evening gown spreading out on the floor. Then, with her face less than a foot away, she began to wank him with long, slow, two-handed strokes from cockhead to balls. She kept up a quiet but insistent moaning, her entire being focused on what she was doing. Jimmy sighed and reached out to place a hand next to the candles, then leant back and braced his glistening thighs as she worked on him.

Given her position, what followed was inevitable, and after two minutes she took a deep breath and leant forwards. Opening as wide as she could, she took his great cockhead into her mouth. I drew my fingernail over Jimmy’s nipple and felt him shudder.

‘Is she sucking you nicely, Jimmy?’ I whispered as discreet slurping noises floated up from below his waist.

‘Oh yes, Mary, she is that,’ he managed to gasp. Amelia continued her diligent work down below for some time until, with a groan, he looked at me, an unspoken question in his eyes. I looked down.

‘Do you want his come, Amelia?’

Her only response was a frenzied whimper, which I took to be answer enough.

‘Get ready, Mrs Harrison,’ said Jimmy, his hips starting to move.

‘There will be a lot of it, Amelia,’ I warned, my voice low as I let my hand trace down his back and between his buttocks. My finger stroked his bum hole as he started to shudder and shake, and I felt his thighs and buttocks tighten as his climax approached.

‘Here it comes,’ he muttered, then reached down and held Amelia’s head firmly between his big hands, hips working as I slid my finger into him.

With a great cry of passion, he spent. I heard Amelia spluttering and gurgling but, looking down, saw that she was remaining at her post, head bobbing and hands working as he released himself into her mouth. A woman of considerable application when aroused, I thought as I merrily joggled my finger on his gland.

Finally he released her head, and she rocked back on her heels and looked up at us. Her earlier composure had been replaced by a lustful narrow-eyed sneer and her carefully styled hair had broken loose, the ringlets cascading over her neck. A portion of Jimmy’s come had missed her mouth, and I knelt down next to her and, leaning forward, licked it off her cheek and swallowed. She shivered and, seizing the moment, I kissed her gently on the lips, lingering for as long as I dared.

‘Nice?’ I whispered. She nodded silently, seemingly unable to speak. I helped her to her feet and looked at the tall shadowy man standing smiling at her, his eyes glittering in the candlelight. ‘The bedroom, I think, Jimmy.’

With a swing of his muscular arms, he picked her up and carried her out of the bathroom, down the corridor, and into the boudoir. Amelia said nothing, but her arms wrapped themselves around his neck and she laid her head upon his chest.

The double doors that led into the bedroom were closed, and I slipped past him to open them. He strode into the room and eased her to the floor next to the bed. The room was lit by four candles, one on top of each corner post on the bed, and the atmosphere was warm and intimate. I gently touched Amelia’s arm, and as she turned to face me, I took her hand and met her eye. Her expression was wary, as though she had suddenly realised what had just happened and what was to come. I recalled Georgina’s words to me. Speaking calmly and seeking to reassure her, I said something similar.

‘This is a place of great freedom, Amelia. You are quite safe here, and you can be certain that nothing that happens here is ever spoken of elsewhere. This house retains its secrets.’ I smiled at her and was relieved to see a faint smile appear on the lovely face opposite me.

‘Would you undress me, Jimmy, please?’ I said this without losing eye contact and was gratified to see a flicker of excitement cross her lovely face.

He moved behind me so he could tackle the buttons on my gown. As he did so, I slipped my feet out of my shoes so when the final button was released I was able to slide the gown off my shoulders and step out of it in front of Amelia. As she gasped, I realised that she had probably never seen another fully mature naked woman. And certainly not one in all her glory, complete with a serpent tattoo and a shaved cunny. Frankly, I knew that in the candlelight I looked spectacular, and I could see her slowly taking me in.

‘And now Mrs Harrison, if you please, Jimmy.’

He took a pace behind her and began to unbutton her dress. Within a minute, it was draped over a chair and she was standing barefoot, looking at me shyly in her neat close-fitting chemise. I could see her nipples through the thin material and felt a powerful surge of excitement. Suddenly I wanted to see her unclothed very much.

She pointed at my serpent and said in a small voice, ‘You didn’t have that last time I saw you.’

‘No. My gentleman insisted I get it. And down below – the shaving. He likes it.’

‘Jimmy’s hairless too,’ she observed.

‘Oh yes, I’m afraid he’s rather fond of that as well.’ Jimmy’s deep voice carried a note of wry amusement as he cut into our conversation. I burst out laughing, and seconds later, Amelia joined me as she turned to stare at him, her hand over her mouth in shock.

‘You mean you also …’ She hesitated and searched for the right word.

Oh well, in for a penny, I thought. ‘Yes, Amelia. The gentleman in question is a great admirer of both men and women.’

‘Often together,’ added Jimmy with relish, clearly enjoying the tale.

I stepped close to her and placed my mouth next to her ear. She smelled faintly of some deliciously sophisticated scent that I could not place. It made my head swim with desire. ‘Three in a bed, my darling. What a scandal,’ I whispered. Then I took hold of her chemise and raised it over her head. Jimmy was still standing behind her and closed immediately, his great hands slipping under her arms to gently lift and caress her white breasts. Late thirties she might be, but with no children they had retained a fine full shape, and, greatly daring, I bent down and licked one of her upstanding pink nipples. She shivered beautifully at this, and as I was leaning forward anyway, it was the work of moments to open the button at the top of her drawers, sink to my knees, and gently slip them down her shapely thighs and calves.

Something between a groan and a gasp came from above and I glanced upwards. Jimmy was kissing her neck below the ear, his tongue busy as his hands worked her titties. He was not holding back either, and they were moving and distending as he squeezed and massaged the soft flesh very firmly. She was offering no resistance. In fact, she was leaning back onto him, her arm raised backwards to stroke his head. A lusty smirk enlivened her face as he indulged himself.

Her cunny was as neat as a new pin, a dark little triangle of thick hair through which two lips peeped shyly. I kissed her belly and let my tongue circle her tummy button before standing.

I felt the strongest desire to kiss her mouth and feel her tongue, but something told me she was not yet ready for such blatantly sapphic excitements. Instead, Jimmy and I led her to the wide bed, and in a couple of seconds we were tucked under the covers with Amelia nicely positioned on her back between us. The candles threw a lovely mellow and intimate light onto the bed, while the room’s corners remained in shadow.

We went to work on her, stroking and caressing her throat and breasts, our three faces close on the pillows. Feeling her begin to respond, Jimmy went to kiss her, but she gently turned her head to face me, denying him. After a further minute or so I sensed she was distracted and, with a shock, realised I could see tears on her face.

‘Darling Amelia, whatever is the matter?’ I asked softly, but was only rewarded with a sob in return. I cursed myself silently for being so foolish, thinking perhaps that the whole scenario was too much for her, especially after a three-year abstinence. She was probably a virgin when she married, so it was hardly surprising that she was feeling overwhelmed if her previous experiences were limited to a single fellow.

She sniffed again and then sat up in the bed. We followed suit, and I noticed her eyes run over Jimmy’s torso as his muscles flexed when he pulled himself upright. Somehow the sheet did not rise above our waists, possibly due to my hand holding it down, meaning my breasts and hers were fully exposed. As was the top half of Jimmy’s upstanding cock, peering cheekily out from the covers below. Georgina must be enjoying herself, I thought.

I repeated my question. ‘What’s wrong, Amelia? Have we upset you?’

She turned her head one way, then another, looking at both our faces. ‘No. It’s just that I so want Jimmy to take me. So very much.’ She reached over and caressed his face. ‘I need to be kissed and fucked hard.’

He grunted and moved, but she lowered her hand on his chest and gently pushed him back.

‘But?’ I asked.

She turned to me. ‘It’s David. As long as he might be alive, I cannot let another man kiss me, let alone take me. Not even a man as magnificent as Jimmy.’

I heard her regret and felt the shiver as she said this and realised that the poor woman was in a frenzy of frustration. She had been celibate for a long time, and her reaction to his cock in the bathroom showed she had powerful appetites, so it truly must have been painful to feel his arousal and still deny herself.

I put my arm over her shoulders, thinking hard. ‘But earlier, with Jimmy …?’ I tailed off.

‘The moment took me, Mary. I am a passionate woman and I gave in to my urges. But now I find the natural conclusion to such events is denied me. And it is a great frustration. A great frustration.’ She paused and sniffed.

‘Do you trust me, Amelia?’ I asked, an idea forming in my mind.

‘I trust both of you,’ she answered tearfully.

‘Then let Jimmy please you for a while. I will be back shortly. There may be a solution to our difficulty.’ I kissed her on the lips and slipped out of the bed. Crossing the boudoir, I entered the corridor and climbed the stairs to my bedroom, where I made certain preparations that took five minutes or so. After briefly admiring myself in the mirror, I donned my green silk dressing gown and descended to the landing.

Georgina was there, of course. She must have crept out from the mirror chamber and was now rather hopelessly concealed behind the curtain of the landing window. She peeped out in a frenzy of round-eyed excitement. Even as she did so, a long low moan of female pleasure drifted out of the boudoir door behind me.

She made to say something, but I frowned at her and put my finger over my lips. Then, reaching down, I undid the silk ties that secured my robe at the waist. Pulling it open, I displayed myself to her. She grinned with naughty delight, just about managing to avoid rubbing her hands together, and scuttled silently past me and back along the corridor, past the boudoir door, and into the storage room that concealed the mirror chamber entrance. She really was incorrigible and delightful in equal measure.

I heard another gasp from the bedroom and, pulling my robe together again, I made my way there, walking briskly if a little awkwardly.

Amelia was being meaningfully serviced by Jimmy’s agile mouth. The covers were on the floor and she was lying back, propped up on the pillows, her thighs widely spread. He was lying on his stomach, his head between her legs, licking and sucking to his heart’s content. And to hers, it seemed.

Even in the candlelight, I could see a deep red flush of arousal across her neck and breasts. Her expression was a delicious combination of lustful desire and vulnerability that made my pulse race as she stroked both nipples and watched his tongue working deep in her cunny. I stood in the doorway for a moment until she became aware of me, and a look of embarrassment briefly crossed her face as I walked towards the bed.

‘That’s enough for now, Jimmy,’ I said quietly, and he raised his head and then lifted himself to kneel up facing us both. His mouth was glistening wet, I noticed. Good. Amelia gave a little groan and closed her thighs.

For my part, I simply undid the robe, let it drop onto the floor, and said, ‘Here we are, my darling.’ She gasped in amazement and Jimmy chuckled as she saw the thick white cock protruding from my groin.

Georgina’s box of tricks contained two beautifully carved ivory cocks, one some six inches long, the other about eight inches and a little thicker. Giggling away, she had introduced them to me as her intimate and very dear friends, Lord Hardwick and Doctor Bone. The aristocrat having the larger offering. Both had a flange at the non-business end, and a simple arrangement of soft leather straps allowed them to be attached to a wearer so as to imitate a real-life cock. But the brilliance of the design enabled the two flanges to be locked into place together, so that they became one complete double-ended and arching weapon.

This is what I had done upstairs before sliding Doctor Bone into myself and securing the soft leather strapping around my waist and the top of my thighs. So I now had a fine long fat cock to match Jimmy’s on display and another snugly fitted inside me. I smiled down at Amelia and gently pulled on my nipples as she stared at my groin.

‘I am no man, my darling, so no rules will be broken, and your conscience may remain clear. It is best from behind. Help her onto her hands and knees, Jimmy.’

She was silent and compliant as we gently but firmly placed her bum high in the air, her knees apart, and her head down on the pillows. She knew what was required, though, and I realised that she was not unfamiliar with the position. Good for David, I thought.

I knelt up behind her and gently rubbed Lord Hardwick’s cockhead up and down her before slipping it in an inch or so. The poor woman was dripping wet with desire and shivered in anticipation.

‘All right, my darling?’ She gave a low moan and I felt her push back hungrily. Inside me, Doctor Bone penetrated to his full depth and then moved out again an inch or so as I withdrew from her, and I felt the pleasure course through me.

‘Now, Mary, please,’ she pleaded. I glanced to my side and saw that Jimmy was fully hard and his eyes were gleaming as he watched us, his hand slowly stroking up and down.

‘Fuck her,’ he said.

Placing my hands on her buttocks, I drove firmly forwards, deliberately giving her the full length of it in just two deep thrusts. She raised her head and cried out, echoes chasing through the entire house. It was an animal cry of surrender and lust, a cry that chimed of three years of frustration.

‘My poor darling,’ I whispered. ‘Here it is at last.’ And with that, I went to work.

*

Much later, I slowly came awake. The candles had burned low, and I sensed it was probably only two or three hours since we had finally fallen asleep in a tangle of limbs. Jimmy was gone, I realised, but Amelia was lying next to me, her leg over mine, her mouth breathing gently onto my neck.

The long and deep fucking I had given her had been explosive for her and extremely pleasurable for me also. As she pushed her hips backwards and forwards, the cock inside me had slipped in and out very nicely indeed. I had not quite come, but Amelia had – multiple times. Afterwards she had watched as I rode Jimmy, leaning forwards and sliding my splayed hips backwards and forwards until I also spent, with him arriving shortly afterwards with a great cry, his hands around my waist, heels braced and driving into me. Lovely.

I felt Amelia stir. ‘Are you awake?’ she whispered sleepily.

‘Yes, my darling.’

She stretched her arm over me and cuddled even closer, then sighed with satisfaction. ‘Thank you for tonight, dear Mary. It was an education. A delicious education.’

I turned my head to hers. Her mouth was inches from mine, and I felt her hand slide onto my breast. Her fingers stroked the nipple, which obligingly reacted immediately. ‘They are very big, aren’t they?’ she added quietly.

‘They are, my darling.’ Although to be fair, she could have been referring to breast or nipple. Her hand slowly traced its way downwards, stroking and caressing my belly and sending shivers through my groin. I closed my eyes and waited until finally it reached my cunny.

I held my breath. If she moved her hand, I would kiss her. But instead, to my surprise, she peeled back the bedclothes a little and, leaning forwards, sucked the other nipple into her mouth. Moments later, her hand slipped onto my cunny lips and began a steady circular stroking.

‘Oh yes,’ I breathed and eased my legs apart as her tongue and hand began to work in unison. I let her continue for some time with this utterly delicious procedure whilst my mind raced with delight at the prospect of the lovely Amelia deciding to sample some sapphic delights.

As the pleasure mounted, without even thinking about it, I raised her chin to mine and kissed her gently. Her tongue flickered over my lips and I opened my mouth to her, then reached down with my hand. She sighed with pleasure as I found my mark, and within seconds we were lying facing each other, kissing deeply, our hands slowly working each other’s cunnies. It rather seemed, I reflected, as though Amelia was keen to make up for lost time, and I was only too happy to oblige.

Feeling her arousal mounting, I took a risk and disengaged from her mouth. ‘Can I suck you, my darling?’ I asked. ‘Like Jimmy did.’

‘Oh Mary, is it all right?’ she whispered, pausing in her motions, her eyes wide in the faint light.

Well, anything less than an outright no was a yes as far as I was concerned. So in a low voice, I told her it certainly was and headed south.

She spread her legs as I pulled the covers back and wriggled down, kissing and licking her sweetly curving belly and stroking the inside of the thighs before reaching my goal. I slowly licked her, delighting as I felt her respond to my questing tongue and lips. Her hips started to move with me as the waves of pleasure rose and fell, each one rising higher than the last, until she cried out as the final one broke over her and she spent strongly.

I wriggled back north and kissed her lovingly. ‘My word, we’ve come a long way since I knocked on your door, Mrs Harrison,’ I whispered. But she had other things on her mind, it seemed.

‘Do you want me to do that to you?’ she asked, her voice hesitant.

I felt a surge of lust at the thought. Ever since I had seen her so beautiful and close and yet untouchable in her bay window I had wondered about her. Wanted her, in fact, and now here she was, offering to pleasure me in the most intimate way one woman can to another.

‘Oh yes, I do, my darling.’

Without another word, she slid downwards, and seconds later our positions were reversed. I felt her tongue slide over me, and then she found my big clitty standing proud. Uttering a low moan, she sucked it into her mouth and began to gently flick and suck it in a way that had me straining and bucking within a minute. It was not long before I spent into her mouth, my juices running freely with excitement.

She reappeared next to me professing that she had enjoyed the act very much, an opinion with which I concurred. For a long time afterwards we talked quietly in the dark, giggling as we compared the relative merits of Jimmy’s cock with Dr Bone and Lord Hardwick.

As we drifted off to sleep again, I felt warm and satisfied with my efforts and made a mental note to express my gratitude to Jimmy. He really was the best of men. It seemed that Amelia had turned a corner, as though she had been shown a window through which she could see a better life. Whether that would include me, I did not know, but I hoped that whatever the future held for her, she would find some happiness and peace.

Sitting here years later, I smile at the memory of it all, and Amelia and I did keep in touch for the rest of her life. For a year or so she continued to call at Arundel Court, sometimes staying overnight with me and Jimmy to our mutual enjoyment. I amused myself by sending her invitation cards from time to time, anointed thus:

Mrs Amelia Harrison

Lord Hardwick and Doctor Bone will be

‘At Home’

on Wednesday the 17th of June from 3.00 p.m.

Arundel Court, Sussex Street, London WC

She recounted to our great delight how the whippet had discovered the first card on the mantlepiece in her morning room and been most impressed that she was now moving in such elevated circles.

Then one day she telephoned to say she had met a fellow, a widowed doctor, with whom she had been spending time and that she was starting to think it might lead somewhere. And in the fullness of time, it did. She petitioned the High Court and received confirmation that David Harrison was presumed dead in the eyes of the law, and consequently she could legally remarry. After that, our relations remained social rather than physical, but I was very pleased to see her settled and happy within a loving marriage.