Free CarnalDevices by Helena Harker

effort to
keep on my side.
    “If you wish to visit another evening,” he says quietly,
“let me know in advance and I will let you in through the back door.”
    “Thank you, Lord Bennington.” As a sign of deference, I
curtsy, and promptly join my companions.
    We exit the Steam Society and descend the stairs, Ambrose on
my right, Phineas and his carry case on my left. I grasp both their arms in a
manner my deportment teacher would consider terribly unacceptable. For the
first time in a long time, I see a rosy future ahead, and it begins with these
two men.

Chapter Four
     
    Ambrose hails a hansom cab. One pulls up immediately, drawn
by a pair of bay geldings whose shod hooves clatter on the cobblestones. The
driver doffs his hat and Ambrose calls out, “To St. Paul’s!”
    After Ambrose disappears into the cab, I question Phineas.
“If you knew Madam Rowena was rejected by the Steam Society, why did you think
it would be different for me? Why did you bother going upstairs and asking if I
could enter?”
    He pauses before answering and there is a wicked gleam in
his eye. “I did not. I simply stood by the door a few minutes. My goal was to
test your determination in the face of an obstacle, and you responded
brilliantly.”
    “Oh, Phineas!” I smack his arm in anger, but my anger is
short-lived. Even after meeting me only yesterday, he knows exactly what to do
to obtain the desired responses.
    Holding the fabric that sweeps over my shoulder, I step
inside the cab. Briefly, I consider sitting between both men. No, better let
them sit next to each other. I sit alone on the opposite side, contemplating
them.
    They are tense, uncertain, their hands in their laps,
looking out the window as if some terribly fascinating event is taking place on
the street. They must be aware of the sexual energy they exude, and I imagine
it frightens them.
    “Phineas,” I ask, seductively crossing my legs, “with all
your expertise in sexual matters, can you clarify a few things for me?”
    “Of course.”
    At the mention of “sexual matters”, Ambrose turns his upper
body toward Phineas and leans slightly forward.
    “There are definitions for Sapphists and Uranians, but what
of an individual who is drawn to both sexes?”
    “This is a rare phenomenon that has been the object of few
psychosexual studies,” he answers. “There is no specific term.”
    “What conclusions have these studies arrived at?” asks
Ambrose. Concern clouds his face. “Because these individuals exist in our
society. Some may question their sexuality and whether their tendencies mean
they are aberrations in need of psychiatric intervention.”
    Oh, poor Ambrose. Is this how he sees himself? If so, he
must be a tortured soul.
    “These studies,” Phineas begins, “and all the studies I have
read concerning Uranian and Sapphist relationships, come to the same
conclusion. Love between individuals of the same sex is an abomination. The
Church has always deemed it so. The law sets out punishments for those found to
be sodomites. Now science is following suit with claims that homosexuality is
indicative of a baser nature and every effort must be made to eradicate it.”
    Ambrose swallows. He nods and shifts closer to Phineas. “Do
you also believe this?”
    “Personally this is a matter that I have pondered over the
years, but I have not conducted any studies, nor have I conducted interviews
with individuals who are drawn to members of the same sex. Needless to say,
they do not wish to be identified.”
    “That is a given,” I add.
    Ambrose’s eyes flicker. His breathing quickens. I see the
pulse at his throat as his heart rate increases.
    “I do not believe homosexuals to be innately perverse. There
might be something in the brain that drives them to be what they are,” Phineas
explains. “According to my beliefs, which are not yet founded on scientific
inquiry, having sexual intercourse with an individual of the same sex is not a
problem in and of