Introduction

 

This is a fictional account of the early life of the Marquis de Sade. Although he is best known for his books written in the later part of his life, which was spent mostly in prison, most people overlook the fact that he had lived a long an adventurous life before then. He left the college of Louis-le-Grand, then the most famous school in Paris, at the age of fourteen to join the army, and by eighteen he was a Captain of Cavalry in the Royal French Army, having served with courage and distinction. It is known that in 1758 he fought at the Battle of Krefeld, which is in present day Germany, during the Seven Years War, where the French were badly defeated. In 1761 he returned to France, but little is known of his further life and adventures until 1763 when he married a woman that he did not love at the command of his father. It is in this misty period between 1758 and 1763 that this novel takes place. Because of a mix up at his christening, the name Louis was excluded, although he is known to have used both his "official" and "unofficial" names as it suited him. Given his rebellious nature and disdain for officialdom, and the Church in particular, I have chosen to let him use his lost given name of Louis. Oh, and there are actual historical records to show that his penis was about eight inches long.

Spelling and grammar are not faithful to the period, although in general, the vocabulary excludes relatively modern references and usages such as "Hi" and "sex" as in "to have sex". Measurements are in British Imperial i.e. feet, inches, yards, pounds, gallons, etc. as the Metric system was only introduced later during the Napoleonic period, and the old French system would be unfamiliar to most readers. "Dinner" in this novel refers to the mid-day meal. Local Minorcan words are in Catalan not Spanish, so the spellings may appear odd to those who speak Spanish.

For various reasons (including the obvious fact that they are not very sexy when undressing), the women in the novel are not seen wearing "paniers", which held the skirts stiffly out to the sides, although they were the fashion in the France of the mid-1700's.

 

 

"There is no more lively sensation than that of pain; its impressions are certain and dependable, they never deceive as may those of the pleasure women perpetually feign and almost never experience."

 

- Marquis de Sade

 

Chapter One

 

The officer of the Carabiniers rode tiredly into the Prussian town of Neuss, the hoofs of his horse making a rhythmic clattering on the cobblestones. The entire area was a swirling, cursing, stinking mess of men, horses and wagons. Wounded men screamed and women and children cried. The Army of France was in retreat, after a crushing defeat by the Prussians at nearby Krefeld. The army's baggage train and camp followers had been sent on to Neuss as soon as the battle had turned against the French.

Cornette (standard bearer) Louis de Sade brushed at his grey coat, which was stained with mud, gunpowder and blood. He fingered the hole where the musket ball had just missed his hip. The Carabiniers had fought hard at Krefeld and suffered crippling losses, with sixty officers and six hundred cavalrymen dead, and many more injured. He stood up in his stirrups and gazed around for the camp area of the Carabiniers, spotted their banner and rode slowly towards it through the crowds. He began to see familiar faces and he leaned from his saddle and asked, "Have you seen Mira?" Some of the camp women looked up and smiled at him.

One of the younger, prettier of the camp whores turned from her cooking to wave. "So you're still alive Louis. I'm glad. Are you looking for Mira? I think that she managed to grab a room in that house over there. The one with the blue curtains in the windows." She lifted the hem of her skirt to reveal a smooth thigh and said, "If she's too busy to look after you, come back here. I've always got time to fuck a hero." This statement was greeted by a round of whistles, jokes and counter offers from the other women. One huge, muscular woman slapped her rounded belly and said, "I'd pay to fuck him - If I had any money."

Louis smiled and waved his thanks, grateful for her crude humour and friendliness. The camp followers endured most of the hardships and dangers of the field that the soldiers did, but without weapons or the discipline and brotherhood of the military to defend them. He knew that women found him attractive, and the camp women especially favoured him because unlike most of the officers, he did not despise them. Of course, this was one of the reasons that the other officers found him strange and tended to shun his company. He guided his horse back on the cobbled road with just his knees as he adjusted his tricorn hat and then made for the house that the woman had indicated. As he drew near, he saw Mira standing in the doorway.

 

***

 

Mira was a Prussian battlefield orphan that he had taken in as his mistress. She was about his own age of eighteen, with blonde hair and startling blue eyes. She had wandered into their camp one night, shivering, starving and covered with mud. Louis had been inspecting the guard when he had come across her small damp figure staggering towards the camp fires. She was dressed as a boy, but his sharp eyes quickly saw through the simple disguise.

Normally he would have sent her on towards the area of the camp where the camp followers were set up, with the name of one of the more friendly women. But something in her eyes made him change his mind, and he led her back to his quarters. There was a large barrel of clean water at the back of the officer's quarters and he had made her strip off her filthy rags and washed her down with a bar of hard soap and the freezing cold water, after he had taken off his coat. He could have summoned his orderly Garnier to attend to the task, but he wanted to do it himself. Although she turned blue and shivered hard enough for her knees to knock together, she made no protest. Louis checked her critically for lice and fleas but the was miraculously clean of them, so he dragged her shaking body into his room, hung up his coat and threw a blanket over her. Garnier stood watching from the doorway, and Louis saw him shake his head in disapproval. "It's all right Garnier, she's clean. I inspected her for fleas and lice."

"She could still have the pox," his orderly grumbled.

To their surprise, the girl spoke. "I am a virgin. No pox."

Garnier guffawed. "Virgin? Yeah right, just like every girl in a whore house is a virgin and every man in prison is innocent."

She looked insulted and glared at Garnier. "I work, sometimes I steal. I pretend to be a boy. I didn't open my legs for anyone."

Louis had not had a woman for weeks and the girl was looking better by the minute. He waved Garnier to silence and said, "Get some coffee and stew." He pointed at the girl's clothes, tossed Garnier some coins and added, "Get those cleaned and mended, and find some women's clothes of her size."

Garnier shook his head and walked off grumbling. "Don't come crying to me when your dick falls off."

There was a blazing fire in the small fireplace, which Garnier had dutifully prepared in anticipation of his need for heat after returning from his rounds. Louis pointed at the stool next to the fire and said, "Sit there and warm yourself up. You're no good to anyone if you freeze to death." He watched as the girl dried her hair and slowly stopped shivering. "What's your name girl?"

The girl looked up at him silently, as if weighing up whether it was safe to reveal her name to him. Then she nodded to herself and said, "Mira. My name is Mira."

Garnier returned with the food, which he placed on the floor next to the fire and then tactfully withdrew, closing the door behind him.

Louis pulled up another stool and sat down facing the girl. He picked up a mug of coffee and nodded at the tray. "Eat, drink. It will warm you up."

She stared hungrily at the stew, but stubbornly shook her head. "I'm not a beggar."

Louis sighed with exasperation, although he felt admiration for her determination. He scratched his head and then said, "All right. You want to pay for the food, give me back the blanket and let me watch you eat the stew naked. I promise not to touch you. What have you got to lose? I've already seen you without your clothes."

Her stomach rumbled loudly and she stared at him with her large blue eyes. "You promise only to look?"

Louis placed his hand over his heart. "I, the Marquis de Sade swear it."

This seemed to satisfy her, and she slipped the blanket off of her slim, pale shoulders and handed the folded bundle to him. Louis bit back a sound of surprise. It had been dark and cold outside and he had been concerned with getting her clean as quickly as possible before she froze to death. He had not really paid much attention to her body other than to note that she was slim, which was not surprising, with two armies marching around the region eating up or stealing everything in sight. The peasants did not have much left for themselves once the military and the local bandits were done with them. Mira snatched up the bowl of stew and began spooning it into her mouth with fierce determination, as if she was afraid that someone would snatch it away from her. She pulled the bowl away, almost snarling as Louis held out his hand.

He slowly withdrew his hand and said, "Slowly. Eat slowly, or you might get sick and throw it all up again. There is more if you want it, I promise." He ate some of his own stew and grimaced at the taste. He had been in the army since he was fourteen, but of all the hardships of army life, he had never gotten used to the terrible food when in the field. Garnier did his best, and to be fair to the orderly, the stew wasn't that bad, but Louis had always been a connoisseur of fine foods, wine, and women. He came from an old, rich family, and had always had a way with women. When his charm and good looks failed, he always had money to spend on quality whores, as he did not gamble heavily.

She had a surprisingly good body for a peasant, with clear skin and no signs of the many diseases that plagued the poor. She did not hunch over or try to hide her nudity, honouring her part of the bargain by giving him a good view of her body as she ate. She had the high, perky breasts of youth, with pink nipples that called out to be suckled. Her belly was smooth and flat, with a tiny plumpness just below the navel, typical of a young woman. The warm light from the fire shining across her body revealed no stretch marks, which supported her claim to being a virgin, or at least to be fairly inexperienced in the matters of the bed chamber. With her thighs pressed primly together, he could only see a golden fringe of hair at the juncture of her legs, but he judged that like most blondes, she was not heavily haired down below.

Mira looked up from her bowl and noted the direction of his gaze. With a deliberate motion, she planted her feet apart, as if preparing to squat, and then went back to eating.

Louis said, "You don't have to do that if it makes you feel uncomfortable."

She gave a brief, fierce shake of her head and said, "I pay my debts. Look all you want." With a suspicious stare, she added, "But no touching."

He nodded seriously, hiding a grin, and sipped his coffee while admiring the view.

When she had finished her bowl and half of his as well as all of the coffee, she held out her hand and said, "Blanket."

Louis smiled at her acute mercantile instincts and handed the blanket back to her. When she was decently covered once more, he leaned back against the wall and said, "So what were you looking for when you came to the camp?"

She shrugged. "Food, shelter, safety."

"In return for what?" he said.

"Me," she said simply, and with the realism of the truly desperate.

In more civilised surroundings, Louis might have felt pity for her, but realistically he knew that whatever the camp could offer was probably better than anything she could possibly find elsewhere in a countryside ravaged by warfare. He said, "You are young and pretty. As a camp whore you could earn quite a lot from entertaining the troops. But you will live in a tent with other whores, and soldiers who are tired and often hungry often have bad tempers which they take out on the women. If a man takes a fancy to you he might even marry you. The officers are better, but they usually screw a different class of women, and without money and education you won't get near them except as a bit of entertainment for a drunken officer in an alleyway."

Again, she proved that she had a keen mind. She said, "You're an officer. Why are you bothering with me then?"

Louis smiled bitterly. "Because I don't have any friends amongst the officers, and perhaps because I do not see those less fortunate than me as animals."

She cocked her head to the side, birdlike, and said, "Take me as your mistress. Treat me fair and I will do anything you want."

Louis rubbed his chin, thinking about her offer. Something about this feral looking girl excited him. Perhaps it was the lack of pretence and coyness. Perhaps it was because his superior officers got all the best girls. He dug into the pocket in his vest and produced a one livre coin and held it up. He said, "I don't buy blind. I will give you one livre for your maidenhead and for a sample of how you do in bed. If I am pleased with what I get, then we can talk about your staying on as my mistress."

She studied the coin, as if there was some message written on it, then nodded her head and held out her hand.

There was a chance that she would just take the money and refuse to do anything, but he could have Garnier give her a good beating and recover the money for him, so he was not really concerned. He placed the coin in her palm and waited with interest to see what would happen. The change in Mira amazed him. The stiffness and hostility suddenly disappeared, and she smiled warmly at him. The blanket seemed to slide off of her shoulders like a grey rain off a duck's back. She was naked once more, but this time she somehow looked erotic. Louis thought about it and realised that where before she had been stiff and wary, her body was now soft and smooth, glowing with female warmth and allure. He shook his head in amazement at the change, but youthful lust and excitement drowned out any further speculation.

Mira stood up and twirled like a dancer, sending her shoulder length hair flying outwards in a halo of gold thread. She turned to show her rump to him and giggled as she slapped the cheeks of her bottom playfully.

Louis was surprised to find the sound of her hands striking her firm cheeks, and the pink hand marks that were imprinted on her pale skin to be strangely arousing, and it must have shown on his face.

Mira glanced over her shoulder and spotted his reaction. A cheeky grin appeared on her face. With her bottom still facing him, she said, "You like that? Does spanking a naughty arse excite you? I've been spanked lots of times. Beaten too. It's amazing how many charitable farmers and shopkeepers feel the need to show me some discipline in exchange for feeding me. But so far, it has always been with my pantaloons on."

Louis grinned and said, "But you don't have your pantaloons on now."

She covered her mouth and put the other hand protectively over her bum. "Oh dear. Well I suppose you'll just have to spank my naked bottom then." She turned around and raised an eyebrow mischievously. "Unless you prefer to wait until my pantaloons come back from the laundry?"

Louis pulled his shirt over his head, revealing his muscular chest. When he pulled the garment off of his face, he saw Mira kneeling in front of him, working on the buckles of his knee high boots.

When the boots were unfastened, she pushed him down on his stool, and then with a smile, she swung her leg over his so that she stood astride his boot with her back to him. She bent over and grabbed the foot of the boot with her hands and closed her thighs around his leg. Looking over her shoulder, she wriggled her bottom at him. "Push," she said.

Louis chuckled. He placed the sole of his other boot on her firm buttock and pushed. He felt the muscular springiness of her arse under his foot as he applied pressure, while simultaneously pulling back with his other leg.

The boot came off of his foot with a jerk, and Mira staggered forward, narrowly avoiding falling on her face. She waved the boot in the air triumphantly and then set it down so that she could repeat the process with the other boot.

This time Louis's stockinged foot pushed against her arse cheek, and it felt amazingly erotic under his toes as he kicked out against her bottom. He almost felt regret when the boot popped off of his foot and Mira staggered away again.

Undaunted, she came back and removed his stockings and then helped him stand up so that she could kneel down before him to unbutton his breeches. With these lying around his ankles, she unlaced his braces and lowered them to his ankles as well, exposing his cock and sack.

Louis stepped forward out of the puddle of garments, pressing his cock against Mira's cheek.

This intimacy did not seem to bother her and she affectionately nuzzled his cock as she reached around his legs to pick up his garments, which she folded and set aside. She stood up and looked up at his face. "What would you have of me now, sir?"

Louis cupped her face with his hands and kissed her soft lips. He felt her slim arms go around his waist and her leg slid gently between his so that his cock rubbed against her smooth thigh and her cunt pressed moistly against his. He ran his palms over her shoulders and down her back and then traced her spine with his fingertips until they reached her neck again.

Mira shuddered and pressed her breasts against his chest, rubbing her nipples against his skin. She gasped when his hands closed over her buttocks, squeezing and kneading and almost lifting her off her feet.

Although he had never done it before, Louis remembered the way her hand had smacked against her bottom and his palms itched to do it. His hand lifted, and then came down on her cheek with a loud "crack". The sensation was incredibly satisfying and his cock hardened against her thigh. He spanked her a few more times and she writhed against him, moaning softly and rubbing her body against his. But his had not fucked a woman in weeks and his rigid, eight inch cock formed a barrier between them. He pushed Mira towards the bed, and she willing dropped onto her back on the sheets and spread her legs.

Louis was young and had learned his sexual technique in the army, so he just dropped to his knees between her thighs, dabbed some spit on the tip of his cock and pressed his cock against Mira's and started pushing.

Her face twisted in pain as he drove against her dry and unready cunt, but she made no protest and pushed back the best that she could.

Louis persevered and finally managed to get the head of his cock lodged into her hole. To his surprise, she cried out in pain and he felt the resistance of her maidenhead against his cock. Despite all the odds, she actually was a virgin. He stopped pushing and looked into her face. He brushed the hair away from her face and said, "I'm sorry that I hurt you. I'll try to be more gentle."

Mira shook her head and said, "It's all right. There is no easy way to do this, but thank you for caring." She touched his face and ran her fingers through his hair. Then she nodded. "Go ahead," she said.