I have tons of questions I’m dying to ask him about Georgiana. But he’s been at the gym, then playing squash, so I haven’t yet had the chance. Instead, I find a note from him at breakfast: I shall expect you to present yourself to me in Dungeon 4 at 11:30 precisely. Wear what you wish. And be on time. I shall be waiting. Robert. Dungeon 4—a dark, forbidding place with all manner of medieval contraptions hanging from the wall: a whipping bench, a rack of whips, canes, crops, and paddles. And in the middle of it all, a vast water bed. I am standing in front of Robert, naked and afraid. He towers over me, brandishing a cane. “Miranda, this fourth test is specifically designed to test your capacity for enduring pain.” I hear his words, but potent as they are, they are totally eclipsed by the sight of him holding the long, thin rattan cane by its crooked handle in his strong and masterful hands.
