"Well, he never actually figured it out; I just surprised him in the library one evening. He was too engrossed in his activity to notice the manner of my arrival."

"What was he – oh." Joseph looked somewhat chagrined.

"Yes, 'oh'. He had another young, lanky blonde backed up against the bookcase. His face was buried in her chest and her skirt was hiked up around her waist when I opened the door. Neither one of them saw me. She was trying to get him, um, ready and he was having all kinds of fun with her. And no matter what he tried, he just wasn't able to, well, perform. I stood there completely frozen for what seemed like an hour. I guess it was really just a few minutes. Everything seemed so unreal. It was like watching a horrible movie. I couldn't stand to watch - it made me physically sick - but I couldn't look away."

She closed her eyes as if shutting out the pictures in her head. "I didn't know what to do – I couldn't go back up in the dumbwaiter and if I moved towards the door, they were sure to see me. Finally, I just walked right up to them. I tapped her on the shoulder and asked if she could move a little to the left because the book I wanted was right behind her head."

Joseph laughed out loud, breaking the tension. "You must have scared them to death, Clarisse!"

She smiled and said, "It certainly put a damper on their evening. She had big blue eyes and I'll never forget the way she looked at me. I was afraid her eyes were going to pop right out of her head!"

"Short hair?"

"What? Well, yes, I think so." Clarisse was confused by the question.

Joseph nodded in reply, then asked, "What did Rupert do?"

"He looked at me as if he could have killed someone right then – I don't know who; me, her, himself. I was just lucky he had his hands full."

"Oh, Clarisse, that's…" Joseph grinned.

"Horrible. I know. I walked out of the room, then ran back up here. I couldn't believe this was happening again, right in my own home. I wanted to kill him, to hurt him, but all I could do was sit here and cry. And think. Eventually, seeing the two of them together like that helped me to understand part of what was going on."

"It sounds pretty obvious – he was cheating on you. Again." Joseph sounded somewhat weary of the subject.

"That wasn't all that was going on. He wasn't able to 'seal the deal' with this girl. It was obvious. And when I saw that, I began to put some pieces together. He was having more and more trouble performing, Joseph. Even with me. I began to suspect that he was doing some of this as a means to try to prove to himself that he was still…virile."

Joseph shook his head angrily. "It doesn't excuse anything, Clarisse. It doesn't make it any less wrong."

She smiled warmly at him. "Oh, I know, Joseph. Trust me, I know that. I wasn't nearly so altruistic at the time. But I started to pay more attention. Unfortunately, that wasn't always a good thing. It cost me my taste for whipped cream."

"I'm afraid to ask how," Joseph said with raised eyebrows.

"It happened months later and was actually the last time I caught him with another woman. Rupert was on edge. He'd come to see me the night before and I had the distinct impression that he wanted more than just my opinion on the agenda for his summit meeting later on in the week. I was amenable, but he didn't do anything other than kiss me a few times. I didn't know how to take it quite honestly.

"The next day at lunch, we dined with visiting diplomats, Lord and Lady Sparre. We had a lot in common. He was older, she was younger. They had two teenaged children. We knew many people in common. They were very friendly, both of them. And Rupert was at his most charming. He was sending out feelers. And I knew - I knew! - what was going to happen. I wanted to scream. I wanted to slap her and yell a warning to Lord Sparre. And I wanted to kill Rupert.

"But there was nothing that could be done. How do you say 'I'm sorry, sir, but you should know that my husband plans to cuckold you before the day is out? So very sorry about that.'

"I tried to keep close to Rupert for the rest of the day, but I had a couple of meetings I simply couldn't miss. I thought about telling Charlotte to clear my schedule, but again, what could I do? 'Charlotte, be a dear and clear my calendar. I'm penciling Rupert in for the rest of the afternoon. I'll be tying him to my bed in hopes of keeping him from screwing the houseguests.'"

Joseph laughed at this.

"Rupert was tact itself while I was there. He made no mention of Lady Sparre. He was attentive, funny, and thoroughly pleasant to be around. He knew I would be leaving. I returned from my meetings as soon as I could. When I arrived, Rupert was having tea with the two of them in the garden. He looked at me like he could read my mind and was shocked by my baseless suspicions.

"He was well behaved throughout the rest of the day and the evening. I finally let my guard down and retired to my suite a few hours after dinner, leaving Rupert reading in his sitting room.

"Joseph, I'd been in my room for less than a half hour before I decided to go downstairs for a cup of tea and something to eat. I hadn't eaten much dinner. I stopped when I passed the broom closet. I hated myself for it, but I had to open that door – just to make sure.

"Of course, there was no one inside and I felt like an idiot. I was angry at him, and at myself. The stress was getting to me. I just wanted to crawl upstairs and into my bed and rest. I turned around to leave, then remembered I was hungry. I decided to just grab a tin of biscuits and go back upstairs.

"I will never, never forget that scene when I opened the door. She was lying back on the kitchen table and didn't have on a stitch of clothing. There was whipped cream on her breasts and her…well, elsewhere. Rupert was making a great show of ever so slowly licking it off her nipples. She was writhing around on the table.

"I just reacted. I slapped Rupert as hard as I could across the face. He was so shocked he didn't even speak. She at least had the decency to scream. I drew my arm back slap him again but he caught hold of my wrist and wouldn't let go. That caused the whipped cream on his hand to spray over my face. I could taste it and I thought I was going to be sick.

"I turned my attention to Lady Sparre. She seemed genuinely frightened. I hissed at her for her to get out - out of my kitchen, my home, and my country. She tried to gather up her clothes, but I told her to leave them. She hadn't needed them before, she didn't need them then. Rupert just stood there, still gripping my arm.

"I don't know where she went. She crept out of that kitchen stark naked. I never saw her again.

"Naturally, I was a bit unhappy with my husband.

Joseph snorted derisively.

"But I also noticed he hadn't even bothered to remove his clothing. He was playing, teasing, and yet there was no evidence that it had done anything for him. I noticed this, but it didn't make me any less angry.

"He just stared at me. His silence infuriated me even more.

"I screamed at him and told him how much I hated him for that and all the other times. He said he knew that and he wouldn't insult me by begging forgiveness. Then he walked away. He just dropped my arm and walked away." Her voice almost broke with emotion.

This time Joseph was sure he saw tears brimming in her eyes. He sat silently for a moment, giving her a chance to regain her composure.

"Clarisse, why did you stay?" Joseph asked quietly.

She didn't answer right away and seemed to be struggling with finding the right words. Finally she threw up her hands and said, "Because it was for the best, Joseph. That is the tragedy. It was for the best for everyone - everyone but me."

Joseph heard the strain in her voice. He said nothing but reached out and took her in his arms. He pulled her to his chest and kissed the top of her head. She sighed and seemed to burrow further into his arms. She was almost childlike as she clung to him, happy to hide in the cocoon of his embrace.