The life of a young castrato, the protegée and boy toy of a gay French poet.

    La Duchesse du Pont-Brisée stopped her carriage to listen to the voice of an angel proceeding from the throat of a grubby, ragged, 10-year-old street urchin. When he had finished the simple melody which he had been singing so ravishingly, the Duchess called to him "Garçon, venez ici."  "Si, Signora" replied the boy in Italian.

    Duchesse Amélie , having studied voice and harp in Italy spoke fluent, though unidiomatic Italian. "Cos' e il tuo nome ?" she inquired. "Giovanni, vostra Grazia" he answered, having by now recognized the ducal crest on the door of her carriage. "Giovanni da Cremona." The Duchess knew that the use of "da" with a place name in lieu of a family name betokened illegitimacy .

    He became a page in the Duchess' household. It was a wonderful change for little Giovanni. He now had enough to eat, a comfortable bed all to himself, and silk-&satin livery to wear. And, all he had to do for it was wait on the Duchess at table and sing for her.

    Over the next three years, he received instruction in singing and deportment and learned to speak passable French, though he was never to shed his Italian accent, which, however, merely enhanced his charm, for he was a singularly beautiful child. 

    At this time, the Duchess invited the famous poet, Philippe de Oultremer to visit her. At luncheon, the Duchess had Giovanni, now known as Jean de Crémoine, sing for her and Philippe. M. de Oultremer, well-known for his love for pretty boys, was immediately smitten, both by Jean's voice and by his beauty. Approaching adolescence, Jean had curly black hair, creamy silky skin, and warm brown eyes.

    Jean had chosen the amourous chanson, "Tant que vivrai" which he sang in a melting langorous tone. Philippe inquied "How old is he ?" On being told that Jean was thirteen, he was shocked, indeed alarmed, lest that heavenly voice soon break. "Is he.....intact ?" "So far, replied the Duchess.

    "Votre Grâce,"  replied the poet, "That glorious voice must be preserved, and it is already very late to do so. Any day, it might break, an irrecoverable loss. "  "We shall discuss this further, tomorrow, Monsieur. For, now I have surprise for you. Tonight, Jean, who so obviously pleases you, will share your bed." The Duchess, of course had no reason to seek the permission of a servant. Jean would do whatever she asked of him.

    Jean, though surprised, was not at all displeased or disconcerted. Like all street urchins, little Giovanni had experienced the way of a man with a boy many times before Duchess Amélie had taken him off the street. If the man, usually a sailor, was not rough, he enjoyed it.

    That night, Jean had a vastly more satisfying and enjoyable sexual experience than he had ever had with any of the sailors who had lain with him. None of them had ever kissed him and none of them either knew or cared anything about foreplay. Philippe was a skilled and considerate lover of boys and even, occasionally, for a change of pace, women.

    Philippe's kisses and caresses and his often reiterated declarations of "Jean, je t'aime." were as wine to the boy and he felt as if he were a virgin in the arms of a man for the first time. Philippe knew enough not to ask Jean if he had ever been had by a man before, and Jean knew enough not to tell him.

    Both of them regretted the coming of morning, though they had not slept. Why waste time sleeping whilst in the arms of a passionate lover ? Jean had received Philippe's membre virile into both ends of his body too many times to count during their  nuit d'amour. Both of the lovers were starry-eyed when they went down to breakfast, at which Jean sang as never before, love lending a special timbre to his voice.

    After breakfast, though, came the time for a serious discussion. Jean did not fear castration to preserve his beautiful voice except for one misgiving, which he voiced to Philippe as soon as the matter was brought up. "Can I still enjoy your lovemaking sans mes couilles ?"  "Let us ask the opinion of the Duchess' personal physician Abbé Reynaud." suggested Philippe.

    "Is this the kind of question one can ask of an Abbé ?" asked Jean. Philippe laughed uproariously. "Abbé Reynaud  is notorious as a connoisseur of boys' backsides. The question will not disturb him." And, indeed, it did not. He answered emphatically "Your ability to enjoy penetration by a man's membre will be unimpaired, perhaps even enhanced. You have nothing to fear. Not only your voice, but also your boyish beauty will be preserved for many many years to come. "

    His reservations about the matter having been laid to rest, Jean agreed to be castrated, recognising that haste was needed if his voice was to remain unchanged.

    The operation was performed by Abbé Reynaud. It was very painful, but Philippe sat beside Jean, kissing him , stroking his hair, and congratulating him on his bravery. It was the cautery of the severed cords which hurt most and Jean actually fainted during it. Following the bandaging of the incisions in his scrotum, a glass of brandy proved excellently restorative.

    The day finally came when Philippe had to return to Paris. He begged Duchess Amélie to allow him to take Jean with him. Though she regretted being deprived of Jean's beautiful voice, she agreed on the condition that Philippe and Jean return often to Pont-Brisée.

    Though he never performed publicly on the operatic stage, Jean often sang in private salons and was the rage of Paris. He was introduced as Philippe's protegée and , ostensibly, his nephew from Pont-Brisée. In fact, Jean's recitals were more popular than Philippe's readings.

    Philippe had a wandering eye, and Jean confronted him about it one night. Philippe swore by his honneur,which he had defended in many a duel, that though he might admire a pretty boy, he loved no one but Jean. To emphasise the point he made an extravagant gesture, one which he may not have taken seriously himself, but Jean did.

    Philippe pulled down his hose and his undergarment, exposing his manly parts. Taking his couilles in his hand, he said "These no longer belong to me. They are yours. If I ever betray your love, take them ! I swear this by my sacre honneur. " Jean replied, "I love you, Philippe, but I shall hold you to this oath. I also want assurance that you will never cast me aside and leave me destitute."

    "What more asurance do you desire ?"  Jean sighed and said "I never knew my father. Make me your son and heir." Philippe looked uncertain and it hurt  Jean that he would hesitate. "But, if I do that, what we have been doing at night will be incest. " Jean laughed. "Are you really worried by that ? It doesn't seem to have worried you that sodomy is illegal. "

    Philippe summoned a notary to draft the necessary documents and before sunset of that very day, Jean de Crémoine, né Giovanni da Cremona, became the son and heir to Philippe de Oultremer.

    Thus it was that Philippe began cheating on Jean. Almost every married man in Paris had a mistress, why should he not have a boyfriend ? Though Philippe was the soul of discretion, being much in demand for salon appearences, Jean's comings and goings were rather unpredictable.

    It was, therefore, probably inevitable, that Jean should catch Philippe in flagrante delicto. One day, owing to the sudden illness of his host, Jean returned earlier than expected from a salon. He found Philippe, his hose and drawers about his knees, buggering a boy in a similar state of undress who was on his knees and bent over the end of a sofa.

    "You swore to me by your sacred honor, which you have so often defended in duels with your rapier and this, that if ever you betrayed our love, you would forfeit your testicles to me because they belong to me, not you. I have come to claim them. If that honor by which you swore means anything, remove those testicles which you gave to me."

    Though he had not taken that oath which he had sworn so long ago seriously, Philippe de Oultremer was highly punctilious about his honor. In a moment of extravagant enthusiasm, he had spoken the fatal words. They could not be recalled. He lowered his hose and drawers again and took the main gauche from Jean.

    Jean went out to the kitchen and , finding some coarse salt, packed the testicles in it in a small cheese box which he placed high on a shelf. Dr. Legendre cauterised the severed cords and sutured the remains of the scrotum,while Philippe told him"This is entirely a personal matter. I did this to myself to atone for a personal transgression. On one else has any responsibility for it."

    Though his self-castration did not make Philippe impotent, it did make it impossible to derive pleasure or satisfaction from sex. Though he could obtain an erection and thus was able to bugger Jean, Philippe experienced less pleasure from it than he had from masturbation for, no matter how long he thrusted, nothing really happened. There was never a real climax. This was his punishment for infidelity.