Jeanne-Pauline closed up the pharmacy. She went into her apartment, which was at the back of the shop, carrying the book under her arm. She was always pleased to retreat to her apartment in the evening. She had never gotten over the thrill of it.
The truth was, she had always liked being alone. Women never got to be alone. That was too much of a luxury. Women always had someone to take care of. She had no one to take care of. She got to really do what she pleased. She left her clothes on the side of the bed. There was no one who would yell at her for leaving them there.
One of her most vivid memories of her wedding day was of being so cold. She was standing at the altar and she was trying so hard not to let her teeth chatter. She was wearing a lace dress. It had short sleeves. Her wedding veil was hanging down over her face and shoulders. It was the most inappropriate shawl. She was carrying a bouquet of white roses. They were trembling in her hands. She was afraid everyone would think she was terrified of being married. She wished she at least could wear gloves. The diamond on her wedding ring looked as though it were made out of ice.
She had pushed the bathtub so it was close to the fire. And that way the bathwater managed to heat up and stay warm as she was sitting in it. As though she were a giant dumpling sitting in a pot of stew. The warmth of the water made her forget the cold sensation of her wedding day. She was free. She settled into the bath to read the book.
* * *
When George stopped by two days later, Jeanne-Pauline was very receptive to the idea of selling the books at her store.
“I’m very proud of you, George. I knew you would do something marvelous with your life since you were a very little girl. You were given a very powerful gift. You aren’t attracted to men. And so no man has been able to curb any of your natural talents. The written word is a deadly thing.
“Of course you will be punished for it. But your punishment will be glorious. When a punishment is glorious, it is no longer a punishment, but a sacrifice.”
“What do you think of the book?”
“It’s completely preposterous and it’s episodic. I’ve gone through my change in life, so I won’t get as excited as many of the younger readers will. I do like that you’ve begun a press. You were too intelligent to spend the rest of your life working at the brothel and ending pregnancies. Not that that isn’t a noble profession, but this is a new chapter in your life. I think this is just the beginning of your venture. When you begin publishing your own texts, that will be an extraordinary thing. You will have more interesting things to say than a spoiled aristocrat.”
George bristled at this dismissal of Sadie. She had known for some time that Jeanne-Pauline didn’t consider Sadie worthy of George’s affections. She thought Sadie was using George and treating her as though she were disposable.
“And will you sell it at your store?”
“I’ve always been prepared to make a martyr of myself for a cause. Honestly, it’s probably what has kept me going for so long. I’ve never been afraid of any death, including my own. I’ve lived so freely and fully, it would be an honor to be shot to death now. It isn’t practical to live past a certain age, especially if you don’t have any children. It’s a wonderful thing. I’ve come to love being independent.”
A criminal who disdains the law is a revolutionary.
* * *
Jeanne-Pauline was adept at selling Justine and Juliette. Jeanne-Pauline made fake covers for the books sold at her store. She made an illustration of an orchid to go on it. She called it A Quebec Book of Flora and Fauna. She seemed to find this particularly funny, although no one else did.
Once George received a box from the printer, she would head straight to Jeanne-Pauline’s, since there was always a demand for the books at her pharmacy. They sold more there than anywhere else.
Jeanne-Pauline began to sell packages of placebos. They were inexpensive, but the customers had to buy them in order to have the book. This way she could keep men from buying the book.
Men were the ones who would turn on you and report you to the police. She could look into women’s faces and know they were reliable. Even if she were betrayed by a woman, she would accept that as a calculated risk. She could never tolerate being duped by a man.
She always kept the women in the store for several minutes before allowing them to leave with the book. If there was too much coming and going, it was bound to draw attention from the authorities. They didn’t like to see women engaged in any furtive activity. They would by their nature be alarmed by women making money. “You really shouldn’t be afraid of masturbating. It’s a glorious thing. It’s very soothing. It’s a prescription for headaches,” she would say to them.
* * *
Every person who had agreed to sell the book contacted George within two weeks of its publication, asking for more copies. George found herself going to and from the printer on a weekly basis. They could barely keep up with the demand. Word of the book spread through the city, and everyone seemed to want a copy. Sadie loved to spot copies of Justine and Juliette on the street. It was surprising to her that women from all different walks of life would read it. She saw a woman sitting next to a perambulator and reading it on a park bench. The twins inside the carriage were wrapped in each other’s arms and her six-year-old was up in a tree.
She saw a girl in the back pew at a church. Her head was down and her lips were moving as she read. She wasn’t reading the Bible, however. She had a copy of Sadie’s book in her lap. She saw two girls on the trolley seated next to each other and sharing the book. One would try to turn the page, and the other would hold her hand up. They almost missed their stop.
She saw a young girl wink at a cat. She was holding Sadie’s book under her arm. She saw a girl riding a bicycle and whistling. She saw the book in her basket. The girl was wearing a violet tailcoat that flew up behind her as she rode like a pair of racing sea otters.
Sadie thought she could tell when a woman had read her book. The woman seemed a little more bold. There was a skip in her step. Sadie wondered if it was a livelier type of girl who picked up the book to begin with, or if the book itself had the effect of making the reader livelier.
It wasn’t just the fact that the book made a girl have an orgasm so intense that it made her more animated and bolder. It was the impression the characters in the book made on its female readers.
Justine and Juliette weren’t at all interested in men. They were fascinated with each other and being free. This was a book that was telling readers they had a right to a different kind of drive.