he left, father I hear has
failed, what sister's doing I don't know,--sister I heard tells
everybody it was all my fault, and that the old man never held up his
head after I ran away,--perhaps it's true," said she with a flood of
tears, "but I was a good gal to him, till my poor Alfred took me away."

I have never before or since heard anything more simple or touching than
that girl's tale, as told me in the baudy house. I could almost swear
that every word was true. We stopped at the house till time for Mary
to leave. I had paid for the rooms two or three times over, being still
inexperienced. When we came out we were famished, having eaten nothing
but cherries and biscuits nearly all day. I bought buns, and we ate in
the cab, I feeling her cunt at intervals, and once making a fruitless
attempt at a fuck. The smell of her cunt on my fingers at that time I
dare say gave a relish to the buns, for I liked her. She went in first,
ten minutes afterwards I did. What a look we gave each other as she
opened the door! Old times again, and this time as charming as those in
every particular.

For some time afterwards it was impossible to have her, for we never
were alone, our only chance of exchanging whispers or a kiss was on the
stairs, or when the other woman went to the privy. In those few minutes
we used to stand whispering, kissing and feeling each other. Then at
table I used to feel her legs with my toes, putting my feet out of my
slippers as she put things on the breakfast or dinner-table, and looking
the other woman in the face all the time. This was so pleasant to me,
that I came down in the morning without socks, saying the weather was so
hot, and when I could get the naked toe up just to touch her thigh,
my prick would stand at the instant. But this was poor pleasure, and I
resolved on a course which I had actually to write to tell her of, so
little opportunity had I of conversing with her for the time.

Our old-fashioned house was one of a row with a narrow frontage, and
four stories high, had a long narrow garden, and a privy about thirty
feet from the back-door, hidden by some evergreens, the common mode of
building in London at that time. On the first floor was my own little
sitting-room and a drawing-room, and above two bed-rooms, the back one
serving as a dressing-room for me, above those a servant's attic. With
one servant only we helped ourselves a good deal as may be supposed. One
bath sufficed, one of us t