“Let’s talk this over,” said the Saint stupidly.
“Afterwards, if you like. But you must do what I tell you. Otherwise I shall send for Miss Morland at once.”
Don Morland spoke, his voice desperate but clear.
“Please do what he tells you. Please. Please.”
Simon stepped forward like an automaton into the harsh glare of the headlights. The whip whistled as he raised it. He hit Morland once across the shoulders. There was no strength in his arm.
“One,” counted Julius contentedly. “But you must try to make it look more convincing — otherwise I shall still have to let Neumann demonstrate on Miss Morland. However, we will count that as a first attempt. There are still ninety lashes that you can save Miss Morland.”
It was a nightmare, a Grand Guignol horror that made the Saint feel as if black clouds were creeping into his mind. His arm rose and fell, quickly, because he knew that in a flogging the pause and waiting between blows while the curling agony of each stroke sinks into the flesh is half the torture. He put everything that he knew of control and timing into the job of seeming to throw all his weight into every blow, and pulling his arm at the last fraction of an inch to let it land as lightly as possible, always trying to land on a loose fold of Morland’s shirt that would make the maximum noise while it helped to cushion the shock.
Even so, he must have hurt the old man. He couldn’t tell how much. He hoped that most of Morland’s writhing and groaning was in co-operation with him, to make it look good. He would a thousand times rather have been flogged himself. But that was not the alternative. He could see Jean Morland there, the red bars creeping up her white skin, and red beads swelling and trickling down to criss-cross them in a ghastly network, Neumann’s powerful muscles bunching and stretching, Eberhardt’s hungry black eyes and damp pink mouth...
“...ten,” said Julius.
Simon stepped back and threw down the whip. He felt sick. The inside of his head was numb and throbbing, as if he had taken a terrific pounding in the ring.