La
Contessa’s Card Game
The setting for La Contessa is 18th
century Venice. Indeed, the city is almost like an extra character in the
story, providing the perfect back drop for the debauched games and political
plotting of its main character.
It was important for me to capture the
spirit of Venice or La Serenissima as it was called. The book contains detail
about fashions, masks, art, food and drink to try and evoke 18th
century Venice for the reader. Many social customs are referred to including
the famous Regattas and Carnevale. But one of my favourite scenes in the book
is La Contessa’s version of the card game Faro.
Il Ridotto was Venice’s state gaming
house, established in 1638 in a wing of Palazzo Dandalo. It was an attempt to
control the games of cards and dice that were appearing in the lanes of Venice.
The gaming house was notorious and attracted huge numbers of gamblers, usually
from the wealthy classes playing high stakes games. Gamblers were required to
wear tri-cornered hats and masks. One of the card games played at Il Ridotto
was Faro.
Faro was hugely popular in 18th
century Venice. It was a relatively simple and fast moving game, hence it was
possible to lose large amounts of money quickly. Without getting into the
details of the rules, basically gamers played against the dealer by placing
stakes on cards that were turned over. ‘Losing’ cards meant the stake went back
to the dealer, ‘winning’ cards meant the player gathered the stakes on that
card.
La Contessa invites some of her aristocratic
friends to join her in a game; there is Lady Rudston from England, Archduchess
Hofburg from Salzburg, Anastasia Petrova, a Russian Princess and Mademoiselle
Marie La Tour from Paris. However, this being a book of BDSM erotica, La
Contessa has an imaginative twist to her version of Faro. The stakes are
converted into punishments. These are administered by palm of the hand, whip,
flogger and cane to the respective servants of the women. Roberto, La
Contessa’s servant and the narrator of the story, ends up receiving the lion’s
share of the beatings.
Il Ridotto was eventually closed in
1774. But the game of Faro went on to become popular in the casinos of the wild
west.
Story
extract
I hear a commotion of
chatting and giggling from the other side of the door before it’s flung open by
Lucio dressed in formal attire for the occasion. Lucio sees me standing by the
card table and shoots me a disdainful stare across the room. La Contessa enters with her four guests.
They are a bizarre sight
dressed with the formal extravagance of Venetian court life. Julia has done a
remarkable job in transforming her mistress into the epitome of current
Venetian fashion. The wigs are enormous, even by the standards of the day. It’s
as if they’ve entered a competition for the tallest wig, which, inevitably, La
Contessa has won, as hers is several inches higher than the others. They are
embellished with jewels and enormous feathers so that, even in the high ceiling
of the salon, they nearly touch the roof. In fact, I believe the size of La
Contessa’s wig is so preposterous a parody of the fashion of the day, or even a
mockery of her guests, is suggested. She has the statuesque figure and poise to
pull it off but, though I’d dare not hint it to her, as a group they appear rather
ridiculous.
It’s not only the enormous
wigs. Their faces are powdered white, their lips rouged and their faces adorned
with false moles in the shape of hearts or spades. Their gowns are sumptuous;
the quality of the material, their cut, and vibrant colours are stunning. They
walk stiffly, encumbered as they are by their wigs, bustles, and layers of
undergarments.
As they enter one of La
Contessa’s guests is nattering away to the others in good Italian with a
strange accent, which I take to be English, “I’m enjoying Venice exceedingly. I
must say, much to my surprise, so is Lord Rudston. I was most worried he’d be
bored away from his estate and his hunting, but he seems to have taken such an
interest in the architecture here. You know, he has taken to regular
constitutional walks where he simply insists on going out on his own to explore
Venice. I’m most delighted he’s shown an interest in things other than his
hunting, it’s most refreshing.”
I have to restrain myself
from laughing. I catch La Contessa’s gaze and we exchange discreet smiles. We
both know where Lord Rudston’s been! He’s taken himself off to the brothels of
the Cannaregio. He’s probably fucked
every prostitute in Venice by now without Lady Rudston suspecting a thing.
Well, I say every prostitute; that would be some achievement given there are
several thousand of them!
From the introductions made
by Lucio I can identify La Contessa’s guests. There’s Lady Rudston, with a
short round body and spherical face looking absurd in her massive wig.
Apparently,
Lord Rudston owns huge estates in a part of England I’ve never heard of called
‘Yorkshire’. There’s Archduchess Hofburg from Salzburg, who is tall, angular
and pointed, Anastasia Petrova, allegedly a Russian Princess and finally, and
most interestingly, Mademoiselle Marie La Tour, the wealthy heiress to the
Gobelins tapestry factory in Paris, who is young and pretty. They make for a
strange party.
Now, from the point of view
of La Contessa’s plans for her soiree, they have each come with a male servant,
dressed like me in combinations of leather straps and thongs. I expect La
Contessa has loaned this attire as I can’t imagine this being normal dress in
these aristocratic houses. They are directed to stand next alongside me at one
end of the card table.
The ladies take their seats
at the table and Lucio pours out a glass of malvasie
for each of them. They unfold their enormous fans, decorated with hand-painted
Japanese geishas, which must be the latest fashion. I appreciate it must be hot
under the thick velvet and damask dresses but the salon is not so warm. I can
only think the fans are an affectation or, it occurs to me, they might be used
for coded messages if the players had conspired to cheat La Contessa, as I know fans are used in this way.
But I consider this highly unlikely. Indeed, it’s hard to imagine Lady Rudston
having the wits to cheat anybody.
La Contessa explains the
rules of her game, “I know you are familiar with the rules of faro. I shall play the role of dealer.
You can bet up to five stakes for each turn. There is a delightful little twist
to my version of the game though. After each turn your winning stakes are
converted into punishments for our respective servants. So, if the dealer,
that’s me, wins, then I get to punish your servant. If a player wins, then you
get the chance to punish my slave. So, there you are ladies, it’s really
win-win for you, either you administer corporal punishment or you watch it
being delivered to another servant.”
As La Contessa explains her
rules I stand there mentally calculating the likely odds. Surely that means
with four against the dealer I have four times more chance of being punished
than the other servants? Oh well, I was expecting there to be a twist, and it
doesn’t surprise me La Contessa would load the odds against me.
“This is good. I am looking
forward to game. Salons of St Petersburg do not permit such goings-on. We are
not so, how do you say, opening of minds as in Venice,” explains the Princess
Anastasia in broken Italian.
“Oh my goodness! If only
Lord Rudston knew what I’m getting up to whilst he’s wandering around Venice
looking at churches. He’s such a stick-in-the mud,” laughs Lady Rudston. “He’d
never imagine I’d be doing anything as naughty as this whilst his back’s
turned!”
“I was once invited by the
Comte du Conde to a masked spanking ball at the palace of Vaux le Vicomte,”
added Mademoiselle La Tour, “it was great fun. Thank you for inviting me
Contessa, I’m looking forward to this.”
The thin Austrian
archduchess looks across at her haughtily, “I’m surprised Le Comte would invite
a tradesman and commoner to his palace.”
Mademoiselle stares daggers
at her, “Money opens doors, as you’ll no doubt discover soon Herr Hofburg.
Nobody will talk to an impoverished aristocrat as I expect you’ll soon find out
after your husband has settled his debts at Il
Ridotto.”
This afternoon could be fun!
But La Contessa has no time for this
squabbling amongst her guests and rapidly pulls them back to the game at hand.
“Lucio, lay-out the instruments of punishment
for me,” she orders.
He fetches an armful of
implements and arraigns them on the green baize of an adjoining card table.
There is a collection of whips, riding crops, tawses, straps, slippers, and
canes of varying sizes, materials, and flexibility all capable of delivering
severe corporal punishment. The servants of the other aristocratic guests stare
nervously at the tools arraigned before them.
“I will add a little more
interest to the game by giving a value to the implements. I believe the canes
are the harshest so they need two winning stakes before you can use them. For
the overall winner, the player with the most winning stakes, I have a special
treat. So, shall we begin ladies?”
La Contessa
S. Nano
Genre: BDSM, Historical Erotica
Publisher: eXcessica
Date of Publication: 26 January 2018
Number of pages: 271
Word Count: 90.500
Cover Artist: Kevin Blisse
Book Description:
The most decadent city…
The most perverted mistress…
Renowned for her beauty and cruelty, La Contessa’s reputation as a dominatrix is well established. And eighteenth century Venice has degenerated into a decadent and lascivious city, the perfect backdrop for her to play-out her debauched games and political ambitions.
She sends her maid, Julia, into the alleyways to search for a young man to act as her slave. Julia finds Roberto prostituting himself in the least salubrious district of Venice. He enters into La Contessa’s service to perform her bizarre and sadistic scenes.
From their first meeting there is a mutual attraction between maid and servant. The young couple engineer a series of sexual encounters, knowing the risks should their mistress discover them. Their situation is complicated when La Contessa rescues Becky and brings her to the palazzo as her submissive girl-slave. The interloper exposes Julia’s jealousies… and the feelings for her mistress.
How long can Roberto and Julia keep their love secret? Will Becky’s presence thwart their relationship? Will La Contessa’s scheming bring her the richest prize in all Venice?
All is resolved before the grand ball and masked, BDSM orgy held by La Contessa in her palazzo as the climax to Venice’s Carnivale.
Extract: heat level 1
La Contessa gestures for me to take up a
position at the opposite side of her from Becky.
She’s dressed formally, in her wig, a rich
embroidered gown, and as much make-up as I’ve seen her wear. She’s dressed to
impress, and when I see her guest, I understand why. His gown is grand, its
hood lined with ermine. But it’s the cane, capped with a silver winged lion,
which provides the vital clue for me. Nobody would openly carry such an iconic
symbol if they were not part of Venice’s ruling elite. The ensuing conversation
confirms my suspicions.
“May I speak frankly to you, Contessa?”
“Yes, these are my servants. I trust them not
to allow any report of our conversation to go beyond this room. They know the
severity of the punishment if they do.”
“This is a delicate matter, Contessa. As you
know the trade through Venice of late has declined, and the Doge and Council of
Ten are, let me be frank, in straightened circumstances.”
“Allessandro Fernasse, I’m perfectly aware
the interest on my loans to the Doge is due for payment in a matter of days. No
doubt you’ve been sent here to crawl on behalf of the Council of Ten to
renegotiate the interest payments. And, knowing the perverse lecher you are, I
don’t doubt you’d also like to avail yourself of the entertainments I offer.
You will see I have acquired a new slave and slave girl since you were last
here. The girl is especially delicious don’t you think… and very willing.”
The corpulent representative of the Council
of Ten squirms uncomfortably in his seat, sweat dripping from his forehead. I’m
intrigued by this exchange. It explains a lot. Venice is a place where money
rules. This must be the hold La Contessa has over the ruling elite of the city,
making her untouchable in whatever she does.
“Yes, Contessa, on behalf of the Council I’m
here to ask for a rescheduling of our debts.”
La Contessa raises an eyebrow, “Ask? You mean
beg, surely.”
“Well, to discuss what mutually beneficial
arrangements we might come to,” splutters Fernasse.
“Ha! You mean beg. And yes, I will make you
beg! Get out of the chair onto your knees and crawl towards me.”
“But, Contessa, is it your intention to
humiliate me?”
“Yes, indeed it is. Do as I say and get on
your knees or there will be no negotiation. I will simply insist on the
repayment of my loan. You know the consequences.”
Offered no alternative, Fernasse heaves his
body out of the chair and gets down on his knees. He crawls the short distance
to where La Contessa sits, her hand outstretched ready for him. He takes it in
his hand and kisses it. There is a pause.
“Yes?” prompts La Contessa.
“Contessa, I beg you on behalf of the Doge
and the Council of Ten to extend the period of your loan to the city for six
months. We are expecting a fleet of merchant ships to arrive from the Far East
by then with goods we can trade. I beg you to grant us this favour.”
“That’s better. And tell the Doge, next time
he wants to reschedule his debts, he must come himself, and I will make him get down on his knees and crawl. I
am minded to agree to an extension but I do have further conditions; a few
trifles to satisfy my whims.”
“Yes, Contessa; let me know what they are.
I’m confident we will be able to accommodate them,” said Fernasse, still on his
knees.
“The first stipulation is that, on the final
day of Carnevale, I will expect my
barge to lead the procession along the Grand Canal, and for the ball to be held
in my palazzo.”
“Why yes, Contessa, we would be honoured for
you to host the Carnevale’s masked
ball,” he says, relieved at the relative modesty of the request.
About the Author:
S. Nano is a writer of erotic stories with dark and exotic content in fantasy or historical settings drawing on the themes of female domination, BDSM and fetish but often with a seam of quirky humour running through them.
‘La Contessa’ is his third full length novel. ‘Adventures in Fetishland’, a BDSM/fetish re-invention of the classic Alice stories was published by Xcite Books and ‘Mistress of the Air’, a comic, Steampunk, erotic adventure was published by eXcessica. His novellas and short stories have been published by Xcite Books, House of Erotica, Forbidden Fiction, Coming Together and Greenwoman Publishing.
He is a regular participant in reading slams at ‘Smut by the Sea’ and similar events in the UK, contributing a workshop ‘Kinking Up the Past’, on getting inspiration for erotic stories in historical settings, in 2015.
Web site: http://www.slavenano.co.uk/writing
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/nano.vaslen
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