noon
I dreamed of no such thing . Hitherto I had been indebted only to the girls of the house for the corruption of my innocence : their luscious talk , in which modesty was far from respected , their description of their engagements with men , had given me a tolerable insight into the nature and mysteries of their profession , at the same time that they highly provoked an itch of florid warm-spirited blood through every vein : but above all , my bed fellow Phoebe , whose pupil I more immediately was , exerted her talents in giving me the first tinctures of pleasure : whilst nature , now warmed and wantoned with discoveries so interesting , piqued a curiosity which Phoebe artfully whetted , and leading me from question to question of her own suggestion , explained to me all the mysteries of Venus . But I could not long remain in such a house as that , without being an eye-witness of more than I could conceive from her descriptions . One day , about twelve at noon , being thoroughly recovered of my fever , I happened to be in Mrs. Brown 's dark closet , where I had not been half an hour , resting upon the maid 's bed , before I heard a rustling in the bed-chamber , separated from the closet only by two sash doors , before the glasses of which were drawn two yellow damask curtains , but not so close as to exclude the full view of the room from any person in the closet . I instantly crept softly and posted myself so , that seeing everything minutely , I could not myself be seen ; and who should come in but the venerable mother Abbess herself ! handed in by a tall , brawny young Horse-grenadiers , moulded in the Hercules style : in fine , the choice of the most experienced dame , in those affairs , in all London . Oh !