Justine (Chapter 1)

Foreword

The final philosophy would reveal to man God's means of guiding him along his personal pathway to his own destiny or fate, thus allowing man to wend his way through the cruel caprices of circumstance. God's inscrutable method of operation could, thus, be clearly defined enough that a man may guard himself against tragedy and pitfalls. Such a philosophy would bring illumination to those more accustomed to acting out of blind passion instead of steady reason.

Those that give into social conventions, who follow the straight and narrow path of the righteous, only to find that they bruise their heel, while the wicked, whose life is a study in wanton and crime, prosper--I say, would not such as these begin to reconsider their choices, surmising that, indeed, it were far better to follow the path offering less resistance, less struggle?

If, all things being equal, Nature reward the guilty and punish the innocent, would they not begin to be utterly indifferent whether they be counted saints or sinners? Would they not begin to see the vast wisdom in emulating the misdeeds of the wicked, rather than passionately pursuing the penurious piety that offers only...pain?

But these are sophisms, the dangerous fruits of a false philosophy! It is therefore necessarily urgent that the Christian soul, steeped still in the soothing balm of highest moral rectitude, yet, perhaps, having fallen through sheer exhaustion of will into alleyways of moral turpitude, be chastened with a few examples of misfortunate virtue being rewarded, finally, by a moral order. Such an elucidation may, in point of fact, bring an errant soul, a lost sheep, back into the fold.

It proved difficult, of course, to paint the dark tragedies surrounding the gentle, good woman whose trials and travails are presented here; and whose life, while an example of good conduct in every possible sense, was mortified and crushed by the whims and caprices of an inscrutable Fate, while the wicked and haughty are inevitably lead, time and again, down the rose-bedecked path of pleasure and profit.

But we do not regret revealing a basic truth: those that follow Heaven's dictates most scrupulously are, quite often, the first to fall by its unforseen thunderbolts of chance.

It is with the consideration of these salient points I endeavor to prepare the reader for the wily words and wicked ways of so many of my characters, who will best serve as example of warning for the attentive reader.

Chapter 1

There were two girls, sisters, both very much unlike one another. One, Juliet, was vain and pretty, with a dark complexion and dark eyes, with a fine, supple figure, the compliments of which she received already making her world-wise; an aspiring coquette. She was, furthermore, unlike her quiet, gentle, pious sister, wanton, with the soul of a libertine.

And, just as Juliet was already wordly-wise, with an eye to making her fortune in the world, by whatever means, her sister Justine was a simple, melancholy creature, rather too trusting; naïve, so that her simplistic, even child-like and trusting nature lead her, unwary, into the snares and pitfalls reserved for those who are ultimately marked as victims

The two sisters grew to womanhood cloistered away in a religious school, cared for by the Carmelite Sisters, and their lives were a study in quiet comfort and contemplative serenity until unforeseen tragedy, stalking like a devouring lion, fell upon their lives.

Their father, a businessman of some means, was hit by a series of financial reversals. In a fit of despair, he committed suicide, their mother following suit soon enough. Now, essentially orphaned, the two young maidens found that they had no one to turn to.

Their relations, not caring to take charge of two young women whose inheritance had, for the most part, been lost to the whims of cruel chance, wanted nothing to do with them, and the religious school which they attended decided they could no longer board there, as they no longer had money for their upkeep.

Thus, the two girls were unceremoniously turned out of doors, to fend for themselves, after being given the paltry remains of their father's dwindled estate. Juliet was rather happy to finally be free of the strict religious regimen of the school, but Justine soon fell to weeping.

Juliet was perplexed by her sister's despair, as she was overjoyed to be free of any yoke of restraint, and was quite eager to give vent to the strange and sodden lusts that infused her body, racking her with a delicious lubricity of shameless, guiltless desire.

Juliet prodded her sister sarcastically, giving vent to her contempt as the poor young woman began to weep in sorrow, letting her fear control her with a free and terrible hand. Juliet assured her sister that, in this, the best of all possible worlds, it were far, far better to indulge the pleasures coursing beneath the fine folds of the flesh, a half an inch down below the epidermis, than to dwell pointlessly upon the miseries presented by life; a life neither fair nor unfair, just nor unjust, yet that was simply the outward manifestation of the cruel yet unimpeachable logic of Nature.

"People should not concern themselves with the sufferings of others," began Juliet, "for, they should never acknowledge that suffering which does not, personally, affect them. And besides, with our fine figures and pretty faces, it is impossible we should starve!"

And Juliet was simply being honest with her sister. For, it would be child's play to find a procuress to arrange for them a situation wherein they became "kept women."

Justine, who was religious to the point of sanctimony, recoiled in horror at this suggestion. She reminded her sister that only marriage would suffice to bring a young woman happiness in this world.

It was to this suggestion that Juliet cried "Fie!" scoffing at such outmoded ideals and saccharine sentiments.

"Why," she began, "a woman twisting under the iron vice grip of 'holy matrimony' is liable to find herself in an unhappier place than ever she dreamed possible. But, come Justine: with our fine figures, with our, intelligence and, above all, our youthful and beautiful faces, we can be assured, as courtesans, a huge glut of wealth, pleasure, finery and a luxuriant life!"

Justine's hands flew to her face, and Juliet, seeing that her stubbornly pious sister intended to walk the thorny pathway wherein trudge the virtuous and pure, huffed and puffed, and picking up her skirts, forthwith flew away from her, not to see her again, for many, many years.

Justine wiped the tears from her red, swollen eyes, picked herself up from the country lane down which they had both traversed out of the grounds of their school; and, looking back toward the gate of her beloved former sanctuary, turned and fled into the forest.