Horrors -- the elegant and lusty Countess Anna hasn't had a lover in two years! Now in her thirties, the aristocratic Anna has been singing the 18th century version of "They're either too young or too old." (Or, like her former lover/enemy James, too base-born for anything long term.) Then Anna's cousin Robert surprises her with a birthday present -- a blindfolded visit to a mysterious, forceful lover. Anna is so pleased with her "present" that she wants to have it again, if Robert can only be found to tell her how to arrange it."I demanded to know where he had been the night before and rather than answer, he asked me if I was still pleased with my birthday present, now that I had had time to reflect on it.In no mood to humor him, I said sullenly that it had been a wonderful gift, but hardly the thing I wanted most in the world, as he had promised. At that, he smiled enigmatically and said I shouldn't be too sure.'And what, in your opinion, do I want more than anything else in the world?' I demanded.Robert smiled at me again and said, "An equal."And indeed, Anna's incognito lover does seem to be a match for her, even tempting her to consider marrying again. "What is it worth, this freedom of yours? What does it gain you, besides the right to be bored by fatuous, overgrown boys?"If you've read the previous two erotic shorts about Anna, or probably even if you haven't, you won't be surprised at how this story turns out. Anna finally gets a romantic happy ending, and it's cleverly managed so that she is still the same imperious aristocrat as always, and still able to persuade herself that "I had not abandoned my former rule and let irresponsible sentiment triumph over the demands of reason."
