Read Online Belle De Jour by Joseph Kessel - Free Book Online Page B

caressed the breasts of a big brunette didn’t seem to Séverine to belong in this room, which, till that moment, she had seen as pervaded by an atmosphere of quasi-mystical perversion. He sat in his shirt-sleeves. Strong suspenders followed the line of his jovial belly. His fat, soft neck supported a balding head, and good nature and smugness shone from his face.
    “Hi, doll!” he called out, moving too-small feet which wore a pair of flashy socks, “what about a glass of champagne with us—and my old friend Mme Anaïs too. ’Course, after the appetizer I just knocked off a good brandy would probably be better, only Mathilde here,” and he indicated a thin girl on the bed getting back into her dress, “she wants champagne. She worked hard and me, I’m not stingy.”
    M Adolphe’s eyes followed Mme Anaïs as she went to get the wine. Her powerful, well-built figure made him sigh.
    “You still not satisfied?” asked Charlotte, caressing the salesman.
    “No matter how you wear me out, when I look at her I feel just like new.”
    “Forget it,” put in Mathilde quietly. “It’s no use. Mme Anaïs is too respectable. Take a look at this new kid instead. Look, she’s afraid to sit down.”
    “Belle de Jour, dear,” Mme Anaïs came in with a bottle and glasses, “help me with the wine.”
    “She sure looks like a kid,” remarked Charlotte, “but sort of English in that two-piece, don’t you think?”
    Going up to Séverine she whispered in a kindly tone “you really ought to wear something that takes off easy. You know, like a slip, say. You’ll waste a hell of a lot of time otherwise.”
    The salesman caught the last words.
    “No, no,” he cried, “the kid’s right. That outfit suits her fine. Let’s see how you look a bit closer to.” He drew Séverine to him and muttered in her neck, “It’ll be fun undressing you.”
    Mme Anaïs, disconcerted by Séverine’s expression, intervened: “Girls, the champagne’s cold. Here’s to M Adolphe.”
    “Delighted to drink to that,” he answered.
    As the warmish over-sweet liquid touched her lips Séverine hesitated. As if she were being acted by someone else, she saw herself, bare-shouldered, seated beside a handsome, loving man named Pierre and ordering only the driest, coldest champagne. But the Séverine in this room felt herself damned to do what was expected of her, and she finished her glass. The first bottlewas emptied, then a second. Charlotte gave Mathilde a clinging kiss. Mme Anaïs’ honest laugh rang out rather too often. M Adolphe’s jokes verged on the obscene. Séverine alone kept stoically silent. Suddenly a strong hand gripped her by the hip and saddled her across a pair of fat thighs. Close against hers she saw wet eyes, heard the softened voice of M Adolphe whispering, “Belle de Jour, it’s your turn now. We’re gonna have a good time together, huh?”
    And again Séverine’s expression was one that didn’t go down well in the rue Virène establishment; and once more Mme Anaïs managed to forestall an anger that would hardly become a Belle de Jour. She took M Adolphe aside and said, “Look, I’ll send Belle de Jour in to you in a second. Only, don’t treat her rough, see. She’s brand new.”
    “In your place, you mean.”
    “In my place and anywhere else. She’s never worked in a house.”
    “A real Christmas present, huh? Thanks, Anaïs.”
    Séverine was back in the room with the cupboards and the work table.
    “Well, dear, I hope you’re pleased,” said Mme Anaïs. “Picked out the minute you came in. And by a rich, swell guy like that. Now don’t worry, M Adolphe doesn’t ask much. Just relax, that’s all he wants. The toilet’s to the left, but go back in dressed up like you are. He liked your suit especially. And smile, honey. Always make it look like you want it as much as they do.”
    Séverine seemed not to have heard. Her head was lowered, her breath came hard. The sound of her unevenbreathing was