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forgiveness, then I shall administer your penance.’
    Leo got down on his knees and pretended to pray. While he did so, she looked around for a means of chastising him, and noticed the hazel switch near the door. They used it to scare pigeons and stray cats off the roof, but now it would come in handy for another purpose. She removed her jacket, rolled up her shirtsleeves and picked up the supple wand. ‘Hitch up your skirts!’ she commanded in George’s deep voice.
    Slowly, Leo obeyed, revealing his man’s firm rump, and as she approached him he tensed his muscles so his shapely buttocks appeared even more defined to her appreciative eyes.
    ‘I hope you will take this correction to heart,’ she told him. ‘Your insolence shall never go unpunished, so mind you behave yourself in future. But harsh words are not enough; you need to be properly punished in order to learn your lesson.’ She raised the flexible rod in her right hand, her bosom heaving beneath the white shirt. She brought the switch down hard upon his pliant flesh, heard him gasp as she saw his body recoil beneath the blow, and watched a red stripe appear across the pale skin of his left buttock.
    ‘And again,’ she announced. This time, the stinging blow fell on his right cheek, but Leo’s bottom was braced against it and the rod landed with a resounding crack.
    ‘One more…’
    He gasped loudly this time beneath the impact, and then gave a low moan of fulfilment as he fell facedown across the bed. ‘Thank you, George,’ he muttered, pulling himself up onto the mattress and slipping beneath the sheet. ‘Forgive me, but I am exhausted now. Hetty will make up a bed for you in the corner when she returns. Make yourself at home until then. Do not give me another thought, I shall sleep all the more soundly for that welcome diversion.’
    He pulled the sheet up over his head and Hetty knew this was her cue to change back into her own clothes. This time, however, she would not follow the usual script. She was determined to take up Milord’s invitation, and it would be safer to travel alone through the streets of Paris as George. Slipping silently out of the apartment, she crept downstairs, her heartbeat loud in her ears.
Chapter 2
    Hetty had never been out alone on the streets of Paris at night, but her bold stride attracted only a few curious glances as she descended to the square below the Sacré Cœur where a cab could usually be found. Dressed as George she felt strangely confident, but her heart was still thudding in her chest as she gave her instructions to the driver and climbed up into the dark interior of the hansom cab.
    As the horse began clopping slowly over the cobbles, she felt obliged to shout to the driver, ‘Come on, man, I have not got all night!’ the way a true gentleman might.
    Soon they were trotting at a faster pace, heading south through the narrow streets towards the Seine, and she sat back in the leather seat reflecting on what she was about to do. She left Leo sound asleep, but there was every chance he would wake in the night and find her gone. Her only alibi was her friend Marie, a sickly woman she could say she had gone to visit and found in such a bad state she felt obliged to remain at her bedside all night.
    Her thoughts drifted to what awaited her in reality at the end of her journey. There was the possibility Milord would fail to recognise her and refuse to admit her in men’s clothing. It was a risky venture, for she did not have the money to pay for the carriage ride there, let alone for the journey home, and a cold fear took hold of her as she contemplated being stranded in the heart of Paris with no money.
    Fortunately, before the full implications of her predicament could sink in, they reached the street near the Opera where Milord had his residence in exile – a large house set well back behind black wrought iron railings and an imposing gate. A man was stationed in a small hut just inside the grounds, and he