THE PENTAMERON; or, THE FIVE DAYS OF FIFTY STORIES, AS TOLD BY A GROUP OF FRIENDS ESCAPING THE COVID PANDEMIC
DAY TWO
by Mariah Ashe
THE PENTAMERON; or, THE FIVE DAYS OF FIFTY STORIES, AS TOLD BY A GROUP OF FRIENDS ESCAPING THE COVID PANDEMIC is a reworking of the 15th Century work “Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles.” First translated into English in 1899 by Robert Douglas, this collection is now, for the first time, elevated to the level of Boccaccio’s Decameron and the Heptameron of Marguerite de Navarre with a frame story fitting for it.
Story the Fourth
Let me start by saying that mental-health experts, no matter their expertise, are flesh and blood, just like the rest of us, and they can, therefore, just as easily become beholden to the body as we laymen.
In the town of Shoreline, there once—some years ago—lived a therapist of a rather lecherous disposition. He occupied a home office in the Richmond Beach portion of the city, and when he looked out his window, he had one of the more picturesque views of the Sound. Clients, too, this man had in abundance, and among them were a number of young and pretty ladies, one of whom he was bold enough to tell of his desire.
Won over by his fair words, not to mention the hundreds of empty promises that he made, the young woman was nearly ready to succumb to the man when, suddenly, the couple came to a rather curious settlement. In short, she happened to mention that she was not inclined to participate in love’s affairs until she came to be married; for if caught cheating by a boyfriend, even the betrothed, her situation would be far more precarious than if she was found out as a wife. To this, the therapist surprisingly agreed—the concern is, of course, well founded—and he said:
“So, you are, then, my dear, firmly decided to do nothing for me until you are married.”
“I say as much,” she said.
“What if you were married—well, too—and I am myself the means and cause, would you, then, remember the fact, honestly and loyally performing what you have offered?”
“Of course. I promise you.”
“Now, see how well I manage the business.”
It so happened that the therapist, among his other clients, had one who seemed to fit the new need—young, eligible, and well on his way to his fair share of wealth. In fact, so ideal did the match appear that, in past sessions with either individual, our therapist had found the matter coming to mind, not being able to help noticing what a good couple they would make, were they to be so made. This young man, therefore, the mental-health profession set about conditioning toward the young woman of his desire.
We may pass over the many sessions and machinations involved in bringing about the union, but let it be known that it happened. Indeed, it happened far quicker than the young woman expected, had she expected it at all. Not long into the process, she, being privy to our therapist’s motives, perceived he being prepared for her, and since she found the match agreeable, she participated accordingly, speeding along the process. Eventually, he proposed, she assented, and our therapist rejoiced.
The engagement period now ensued, which the therapist considered himself just as prepared for, though he was, as we shall see, not above accidental self-sabotage. We need not, of course, go into all that he did to keep the couple together, but an idea of his labor may be framed from the consideration that when such a mental-health professional undertakes to break up a couple, which is far less of an challenge than is putting one together, the matter is considered monumental, and it generally requires all of one’s craft and expertise, not to mention time.
Now, you may be sure that, throughout all, the young woman’s promise was kept close in the therapist’s mind, and any labor was lightened by its consideration. Too close, perhaps, this thought of reward was kept; for its nearness soon proved fatal. Some, however, say that the therapist, in his deprived state, was loving so unnaturally as to be nearly incapable of making the full wait without incident, though all admit that the particular way it came about could, with only a little caution, have been avoided.
As it happened, the couple-to-be, still just fiancés, were at their therapist’s home office for each’s weekly session with the man—at this point, they were months into their engagement, and lately, talks had begun as far as setting the date for their wedding. The therapist, of course, had made himself heavily involved in nearly all aspects of the coming union, and this issue of setting the date was rather important to him—it should not be wondered why. So far, all aspects of the thing had gone according to his design, he having his subtle way through them.
On the day in question, the therapist believed that, after much whispering in ears, he was finally nearing the setting of a date that was, for him, perfect, considering how soon it was. He had just driven this date into the young man’s head—his session, on this day, was before hers—and he was leading the young woman into his office when he could not help himself, speaking before the door was closed.
“My dear,” he said as he beckoned her inside, “our date is, I think, now decided. You remember our agreement, I am sure. I gave you him, so you give me you.”
“Have no fear,” she replied.
The office door was then closed, and the rest of the pair’s session was conducted in the full privacy that becomes such meetings. As it turned out, however, the prior exchange, which the therapist’s excitement would not allow to wait, was overheard by the young man, and during the ensuing hour that he spent in the therapist’s waiting room, he thought deeply upon the words.
Eventually, once enough of his long relationship with the mental-health professional was recalled, the young man came to the realization of the truth that had been, for some time, passing all around him, and he clearly saw that his fiancé had been driven into his arms merely so that the man in the adjoining room might paw at her from the side. A full hour was, of course, plenty of time to ruminate in the extreme, and it was, too, enough to realize that now was not the best time to reveal what had been learned. Indeed, it was enough time for the young man to formulate a plan by which he would, while still getting the best of the matter, never be required to reveal that knowledge. In other words, he thought to win without his opponents being so much as aware of the competition.
Some, perhaps, through experience of their own, may have an idea of what the young man, during that long hour, resolved on. For the rest, it can be explicitly stated that he first set about undoing the date that had been decided, which was not difficult to do, now that he was properly suspecting his therapist of motive ulterior to his patient’s mental health. Then, he did nothing further, going about his life as he always had, not dissolving his engagement but ensuring that it went no further, to thus eventually dissipate. In this way, some months passed.
It was, as the story goes, the therapist who first, of the conniving pair, realized that the trick had been turned on them—it should not be wondered why. Little by little, with each session, he was provided with the mounting evidence that he no longer held his same sway over the young man, and at first, this revolt confused as much as angered him. Then, once noticing that the young woman, too, was included in the new scorn, the man realized that the prey must have become privy to the plan. At once, the mental-health professional gave up any further design on the young man, which meant, of course, that he would have to come up with another for the young woman, if he still sought to be rewarded through her. This fact, he broke to her at their next session.
“What is this?” she said to the news. “Do you think to get a lessened price after the bargain has been struck? He whom you have chosen for me—I admit your selection, and I admit that you made it well—I am resolved on; for he is everything that I could want in a husband, being both handsome and rich and neither old nor poor. I tell you, I will not allow you to take him from me, since he is now mine, just as I am his. Such is our love.”
Despite his experience—it was, admittedly, not of the greatest length—the therapist was surprised by the young woman’s unwillingness to face the fact of their plot having been uncovered, and a second session of the same behavior was required before he was fully convinced that her stubbornness was not feigned, as if she were making fun of him in some way. Indeed, no matter what the therapist said, he found it impossible to communicate the changed circumstances to she whom they were most changed for, and the inability seemed so inexplicable that it bothered him more than did his unfulfilled love, the former taking the place of the latter, as it were. You see, in his zeal, the therapist had done his job too well, and his patient was very truly in love, believing, too, herself to be loved.
In the end, the therapist was able to move on, and he maintained the young man as a patient for some time. The young woman, meanwhile, unable to abandon that on which she was settled, stayed with the young man, first through the retraction of marriage date, then through the calling off of engagement, and then, finally, through his marrying another. Thus, from near-married, she passed all the way to secret mistress, all the while not accepting that the therapist had lost for her that which he had gained.
Neil: And that is how a love affair of any certainty can easily, if one is not careful, come to a disastrous end, the therapist’s lips being just a little too loose for him to keep hold of what his mouth had talked him into.
Chase: Disastrous for she involved, too.
Pierce: Moreso for her, I would say.
Phil: Think about how long that therapist must have borne his regret, though, knowing that it all came about because he could not spare a few more moments of patience.
Daisy: You all seem to be ignoring the sunny side that can be seen of the story. After all, what about this young man’s great fortune in being lucky enough to miss out on the bad ending that had been carefully prepared for him?
Chase: That is very true. For him, it was a good ending, for sure.
Neil: His best of endings, perhaps, if we consider what was possible.
Daisy: I would go so far as to say that, for all that was lost by she, he gained the same.
Pierce: He lived to be seduced another day.
Chase: Whatever she lost by him, he was saved from her.
Daisy: All this, I consider to be agreement.
Phil: What about the sheer numbers of the matter?
Neil: Counting the therapist, you mean?
Pierce: That is a good point. The two losers might be enough outweigh the one winner, even if he won big.
Phil: She lost big.
Chase: She did, indeed.
Neil: I think, then, that the numbers may have to have it.
Daisy: Let us move on to Phil’s story. He wanted to be the last of our first five, so it must be good.
Phil: It will be.
