Page:Des Grieux, The Prelude to Teleny.djvu/124

 Anyhow he understood that I was staunch in my belief, and he therefore took the first opportunity he could find to convince me of the truth of his assertion.

Shortly after this confab we happened to be in his garden, behind a hedge of thick gooseberry bushes, quite a secluded little leafy dell, discussing erotic subjects.

Hearing his younger sister's voice, he called her to him, then, catching hold of her, he threw her on the grass, lifted up her skirts, opened her drawers, showed me the rosy flesh between her thighs, that tiny cleft bordered by two pale lips, like a long mouth, which contorted into grimaces as she tried to free herself from his clutches.

He however sat astraddle on her stomach, and with the tips of his fingers opened the lips. I sank down on my knees and looked within, astonished to see the numerous folds of living flesh.

"You see"—quoth he, "that girls have no hair as you thought."

I had to give in, there was no gainsaying facts.