Thongs

— 2-

"Gertrude!"

Harry Prentice hurried across the room and kissed my hand. He nodded to Hazel.

"You'd better wait here," he said to her. We were in the big reception room. "And if you don't mind, Gertrude, I'd like you to come with me."

I followed him into a large, comfortably furnished library where a fire blazed in the open hearth. He sat down opposite me.

"I was going to get in touch with you in the middle of the week," he said, "but now that you're here, it's just as well. What brings you?"

I told him of the fatal battle.

"I see," he said. "So really, you don't need to be back now. That's just as well too. Since I spoke to the special Nuncio I've been worried about you. Your father was a dangerous man."

"Nuncio?"

"Yes. The man who put the Holy Seal on you, a kind of traveling ambassador from the Holy Seat itself. He has returned to Madrid."

"Madrid!"

"Yes. The Holy Seat is in Madrid, Gertrude, but I have a great deal to explain to you, so it would be better if you listened for a while."

I nodded.

"First, about myself," Harry said. "As you know, I was Mr. Oakes' secretary. But it wasn't in a private capacity. I am a Permanent Secretary to the Holy Seal. Thus I am automatically your secretary, for it is you who now bear the Holy Seal. I am now entirely at your disposal as a counselor and servant. It is my job to make you entirely conversant with the duties and privileges of your office and to be always at your side to advise and help you.

"Now, I must tell you something of the organization of the Order. At the head of the Order, in the Holy Seat at Madrid, is the Holy Pain Father. His identity, like the identities of most of the members of the upper echelon, is not known to me. Under him, forming the Central Executive Committee, are the twelve Pain Cardinals. They have a position roughly equivalent to that of the Cardinals in the Roman Church. They meet in a conclave to elect the Holy Pain Father who is most often referred to simply as Pain. Each Pain Cardinal has six Grand Painmasters under him, and they in turn each have twelve Painmasters or Painmistresses under them. Thus you see that you are one of eight hundred and sixty-four Painmasters or Painmistresses. In your present capacity, the nearest you will come to the Holy Seat is to have direct contact with your own Grand Painmaster, Sir William L., who will be present at your official inauguration. Then there is the Permanent Secretariat of which I am a member. We have only that authority delegated to us by you, the true members of the Hierarchy. If you were chosen as a Grand Painmistress while I was still in your service, you would have the choice of taking me with you as your secretary or of accepting the secretary of the ex-Grand Painmaster. In one sense, his services would be an advantage since he would be already acquainted with all the customary forms pertaining to his master's office, but that can be learned and I don't suppose it's necessary to point out to you that a man who has risen with you is likely to prove more loyal.

"Then, there are various Nuncios, one of whom you met the other night. They are the private messengers of Pain and hold a kind of honorary position within the hierarchy.

"After that, there are any number of paid retainers. Hazel is one of them. She is a Whipmistress. Theoretically, her services can be dispensed with at any time, but if that decision were taken, it would be necessary to do away with her because she knows too much. Once she had the honor of whipping Sir William L. himself, for example.

"Finally, there is the main body of ordinary members, the Members of Pain. The gentlemen you met here on your first visit were in that category. There are the Novices, and from time to time Men or Women-Elect, as they are called. You became automatically a Woman-Elect after your first visit here. Under normal circumstances you would have become a Novice at the next General Meeting. But before his death, Mr. Oakes set out his reasons carefully and persuasively for recommending you to the Office of Painmistress. Sir William was evidently convinced and got in touch at once with his Pain Cardinal. That's all I know."

He got up and poured himself a drink.

"Would you like one, Gertrude?"

I nodded.

When he handed it to me, he said: "I agreed with Mr. Oakes. I think you are just what is needed to bring discipline back to the Order in this area."

I smiled and thanked him.

"If you have any questions?" he said.

"I have," I said. "Does this house belong to me?"

"As long as you are Painmistress."

"What about money?"

"You needn't worry about expense," he said with a smile. "You have a rich congregation."

"Will they like me?"

"They will obey you."

"Can I chose new retainers if I wish to?"

"Of course."

"I know a man."

"Ah, you have one in mind?"

"My personal Whipmaster," I said. "A Glasgow cobbler. It was he who groomed me to be what I am."

"Excellent! We should employ him at once!"

"Tomorrow I shall fetch him. I'll want you to come with me."

"Gladly, my Lady!"

"I like you, Harry."

"I like you, Gertrude!"

I smiled at him. "Why did you call me 'my Lady?'"

"In public, Gertrude, I shall always call you that in future. We must preserve the dignities of the Order. Mr. Oakes had become too lax. Many suspected it. You, Gertrude, must be a disciplinarian from the beginning."