Goodbye, Janette by Harold Robbins Page A

Her voice grew gentle. “Because you’re the only child I want. I don’t want any other baby but you.”
    A smile suddenly broke over Janette’s face. She left her chair and ran to her mother, throwing her arms around her. “Really?” she exclaimed.
    Tanya hugged her. “Really. You’re all the babies I need.”
    “I’m glad,
Maman
,” Janette said. “I don’t want you to have any other baby except me.”
    ***
    It was almost midnight when she turned the bed lamp off. Her eyelids felt as if they were lead-weighted. It had been a long day, starting before six o’clock in the morning in Geneva. The nine-hour train ride hadn’t been that restful either with its many stops and starts. She had wanted to be awake when Maurice returned but there was no use. She had to get some sleep.
    The faint sound of voices and laughter filtered through her sleep. She stirred restlessly, trying to block out the sound, but it was persistent. Finally she opened her eyes and stared at the radium numbers glowing on the alarm-clock dial. It was ten minutes to three. She rolled over on her back, listening to the noise.
    It seemed to come through the narrow corridor connecting their rooms. Someone was in there with Maurice, but the sound was too blurred for her to tell whether there was one person or more. She lay quietly in the dark. After a while the sounds seemed to die down and her eyes closed and she drifted off.
    She didn’t know how much later it was that the sharp click of the light switch and the sudden flooding of light into the room woke her up. She sat up in bed, her eyes blinking against the blinking lights. Quickly her eyes adjusted.
    The connecting door was partly open and Maurice was standing behind it, looking at her.
    “Get out!” she said coldly.
    Instead he threw the door wide and stepped into the room. He was completely naked and the cat-o’-nine-tails trailed along the floor as it fell from his right hand. He stopped in the center of the room, staring at her, and with his left hand began to stroke his penis into an erection.
    She glanced up at him, then up into his face. “It won’t work this time,” she said, her voice still cold. “Get out.”
    He laughed suddenly, then turned and called. “Come in, Jerry darling. Let me show you how to treat a German whore.”
    Jerry appeared in the doorway. He, too, was naked and holding a bottle of cognac. He stared at her and giggled drunkenly.
    The cat snaked across the bed at her. She threw up her hands, catching most of the lashes across her arms, shielding her face. The cat snaked again, falling across her breasts, still covered by the bed sheet.
    “Get out of bed, whore cunt!” Maurice snarled.
    Silently she got out of bed, her white cotton nightgown touching the floor. She stood erect, facing him.
    “Jerry, tear off her gown,” Maurice commanded.
    Still giggling, Jerry minced toward her. “Like a drink, darling?” he asked, waving the bottle of cognac.
    She stared at him without answering.
    “Give her shit!” Maurice snapped. “Tear off her gown. I’ve got what she wants.”
    She said nothing as Jerry tried to rip the gown from her. But the cotton was too strong and wouldn’t give. Finally he pulled it down over her shoulders and it fell to the floor. He stared at her, then reached out and touched her breasts. “She has big tits,” he said almost enviously.
    Angrily she slapped his hands away from her.
    He giggled. “Don’t worry, darling. Another year and they’ll begin to fall down to your belly. Bit tits always do. Then you won’t be so proud of them.”
    The cat slashed across her. She bit her lips against the pain. “Come over here,” Maurice commanded.
    Silently she moved toward him, stopping directly in front of him, her eyes fixed on his face. He gripped her by the hair, forcing her to look down at him. “Look at your master, slave bitch!”
    She tried to turn her head away from him but the cat slashed across her shoulders as he angrily