It was an old-fashioned type of bookshop, sort of Harry Potter-like, with wooden shelves groaning under the weight of dusty tomes, and the ones that wouldn’t fit on the shelves piled up on every other available surface. I visited it fairly regularly because I fancied the boy who worked there like crazy – he was seriously sexy.
I’d been browsing along the shelves – at one point tripping over a huge book lying on the floor (god knows what it was about, it was in Latin), and eyeing the guy from time to time as he mooched about doing book shop stuff – and I was thinking about going for an espresso. But on the way out, I saw a slim volume lying on the ground near the door. I picked it up, intending to hand it to the guy – I guessed he must have dropped it - but the title made me stop: “The Exquisite Torment – A Short Treatise on its Practice, and Including The Preparation of the Youth, and Appropriate Techniques” by one Hosiah Shadwell. It was very old, there was no doubt about that, although I couldn’t find a date on it. It had been published in London by J. F. Carter & Nephew. The cover was black, and very dusty. I turned it over in my hand – it was battered but intact, and all the pages seemed to be there. I went over to the sexy guy and asked the price, expecting it to be way out of my range. He inspected the book, looked at me speculatively for a few seconds, then a small smile appeared. “To you, sir, three pounds.” I was very pleasantly surprised, and walked out of the shop with the book in my hand. I didn’t go for the coffee, I went home. I sat down and started to read. The English was slightly odd, there were some words I had to guess at, and some of the sentences were ridiculously long. But as I read, I forgot the time. Completely.
by
Hosiah Shadwell
Prologue
Most of the tortures devised by the mind of man: the thumbscrews, the rack, the boiling in oil, the bastinado, the wheel, the strappado… may be seen as coarse, crass, and vulgar to one of a higher sensibility, who is possessed of the wit to imagine a more intelligent species of torment. Unquestionably these practices may be said to be effective, in the manner of the taking of a rock to crush an ant, but they come with attendant inconveniences: many kill the victim, or damage him so that he cannot be tortured again; or they leave him so disturbed that he is no longer a satisfying subject for subsequent torture.
Almost all torments are based on the application of pain in one form or another – with all the disadvantages concomitant with that - and it occurred to this writer to wonder if it were possible that there was one which did not. I make no claims to have invented this, which I name “The Exquisite Torment”, but I am not in possession of any knowledge to the effect that it has been thought of before this time.
The principle of torture in general is straitforward to one’s understanding: take something which the subject is unable to endure, and apply it in a controlled way to the subject. The Exquisite Torment does that extraordinarily effectively when properly administered – but further, not only does no harm befall the subject, but he enjoys it. Stated succinctly: it is a torment of pleasure, not pain. And yet, be of no doubt for a single moment: it is indeed a torment of the most prodigious nature.
This torment is one whose use is limited to the males of the world and, moreover, it is most efficiently potent when carried out upon youths.
One’s sensitivity to pain is largely an absolute; with only vanishingly small exceptions, all men are susceptible to its power. But the Exquisite Torment exploits another susceptibility altogether, and one which is not absolute, but which may be increased - elevated to unsuspected heights of intensity and overwhelming power. That susceptibility is the delightfully controllable need, of the male, for orgasm.
I stared at the book in my hand. Several questions came to mind – like what was a book like this – one that clearly was about to deal with overtly sexual matters - doing in a shop like that? And had the guy in there known what it was?
I got up, poured myself a glass of wine, adjusted the light, and settled down to read more.
The Type of Boy
When you select a boy, take one that is young enough that the sap is high, and the fires of youth rage, so that the flames of lustful need, when awakened, may be fanned to a fine blossoming of torment - but of sufficient years that there is strength in the muscles, and a knowledge of the world acute enough that his awareness of what is being perpetrated upon him is profound; this latter will serve to increase his anguish by invoking sensibilities of physical and mental powerlessness which are wholeheartedly to be both desired, and encouraged.
The Disposition of the Boy
Here opinions are divided. Some Masters are of the view that a boy who is rendered as a specimen upon a vivisectionist’s slab – incapable of movement to the smallest degree – is the one who will experience suffering of the most perfect kind; while others think rather that a youth who is given the capacity to try to defend himself, to attempt to evade the practitioner’s hand – but while, by means of devious and cunning restraint is not permitted quite to do so – is more susceptible to the Exquisite Torment. My own opinion is straightforward: let the boy be permitted as little movement as is commensurate with the material resources at your disposal – and also with your skill in the design and application of restraint - especially about the hips, as necessity dictates that his cock must be definitively immobile. Neither let him be permitted to see; his inability to perceive either you or his surroundings, and his unknowingness of what is about to happen – or when – will be found very greatly to increase both the effectiveness of the torture, and also the efficiency of its administration. A head covering – a hood - which, while allowing the boy to breathe, is otherwise tight, restrictive and completely opaque is, in my view, an ideal arrangement.
In my own workshop, I have constructed a device especially to facilitate the administering of the Exquisite Torment. It is a table, some six-and-a-half feet long, by the width of a prone body plus a few inches, and is otherwise unremarkable except for there being a hole cut through it in the centre of its width, and a little lower than half its longest dimension. The upper suface is softened by a wool padding some one inch in thickness, over which is laid sturdy leather of a black colour. The table stands on four legs which elevate it to the height of a standing man’s waist. I have, by means of solid rivets, attached leather straps at four points along the table – one such being particularly wide where the pelvis of a lying youth will be, and that one is capable of fine adjustment. There are further straps to keep the feet immobile – these fasten around the ankles. Vertically from the shoulders to the floor, attached to the topmost pair of legs by thick wooden struts of a solid construction, are rigid metal cylinders into which the arms of the boy are placed as he is strapped down onto the table. Inside these cylinders is a sleeve of the softest black leather – it is loose, and has many folds. Although, strictly, this lining is unnecessary, I find that a youth who is constantly exposed to the presence of leather on his naked arms inside the cylinders which hold them helpless, is rendered even more rewardingly susceptible to the devious actions that are about to be perpertrated upon his person.
The means of employment of this device is straitforward to understand: the youth is placed upon the upper surface, lying face down, his arms inserted into the immobilising cylinders, his cock and balls being gently guided through the hole in the centre of the table; the straps are tightened until all facility of movement is denied him (the wide strap over his buttocks being given particular attention as to tightness), and a hood secured over his head. Thus restrained, it remains only for the practitioner to lie comfortably below the table, where he will find himself presented with a wondrous sight: that of the cock and balls, exquisitely available to the practitioner’s dexterity. This position of the cock is consummately ideal in divers ways: being satisfyingly accessible, wholly unprotectable by the boy, supremely sensitive, and extremely vulnerable. To a boy rendered thusly immobile, deprived of sight, his cock isolated from his body for the purpose of precise – but as yet unexperienced - torment, the arrangement maximises his feelings of helplessness and apprehension; indeed, they will be consummate. His inability to see further than the hide pressing over his eyes plunges him into a private, small but sharply-focussed universe – at the exact centre of which, by virtue of its being rendered so particularly and unaccustomly vulnerable, is his cock. The practitioner will find that the smallest stimulus to such a cock will produce a gratifyingly intense reaction.
However, much to be desired as such an item of furniture may be, it is not a necessity; perfectly good results may be obtained on a boy in any position or type of physical restriction, provided his cock and balls are accessible, that he can not move them, and that he can not gain access to them with his hands.
I suddenly realised that I had an enormous erection in my jeans. I wondered who this guy Hosiah Shadwell had been – where he lived, what he did. He was clearly into the idea of torture – as was I – and also like me, he seemed not to be into pain. The thought of getting boys strapped down helpless on that fiendish table was making my head swim. Shadwell had obviously given a great deal of thought to the design of that thing, specifically for edging boys on. I squeezed my cock at the thought.
A Suggested List of Tools
Select a quill – that of the goose or the pheasant bird will prove to be ideal – one that is soft enough that it feels like cat’s fur when lightly brushed against the underside of the nose and creates the need in you to scratch that spot afterwards.
Take another quill, but this of a slightly stiffer body, such that it has a point which may be directed into divers nooks and crannies, and an edge that may be employed to caress the most sensitive parts of a boy. These two plumes are the minimum required; select further ones which feel interesting to you; you can not have too many.
Select further a thong of one-eighth inch leather, of some twelve inches in length. It should be soft and pliable, and should rest, when not in use, wrapped in cloth which is soaked in a thin oil (lamp oil is perfect for the purpose).
A bottle containing a good quantity of thicker oil should be acquired; this oil should be of a lubricating viscosity, and not unhealthy for the skin.
Gloves are of excellent use in the Torment, and it will be found that for most youths, those constructed of smooth leather are the most erotically tactile (though if it is known that a boy has an erotic weakness for some other material – and some boys have – then gloves of that other material will prove to be the most effective). Gloves should be worn as tight as possible, for accuracy and feel, and such in leather can be found at many better-quality purveyors, in various thicknesses and degrees of flexibility. It is the opinion of this writer that as many different kinds should be attained as finances permit. For the serious practitioner, bespoke gloves may be made from a chosen hide, selecting for softness, shininess, and tightness. A sound application of oil to them will always render them more suitable for use. A note: it will often be found that cool leather is of especial effectiveness; in view of this, it is a good practice to keep several pairs of gloves (and even some other pieces of leather) in a cold place, ready for retrieval and use on the cock when needed. Notwithstanding this advice, it should also be remembered that naked fingers may be of devastating effect when trained properly.
Other instruments may come to your mind and, if so, freely test their employment; the above is merely a suggested basic for the practitioner.
Leather gloves chosen specially for using on a helpless boy’s cock – that was a very interesting thought. And feathers… Oh I loved this guy.
Objectives of the Art
The Exquisite Torment functions on the principle of seizing a boy’s need for orgasm; controlling it; encouraging it and magnifying it as a bellows in a furnace, rendering him increasingly incapable of resisting it. This male need for orgasm is a fascinating phenomenon: it can vary from something not even thought about at one moment, to being the most compellingly urgent compulsion a boy’s mind is capable of experiencing at another – an itch that must be scratched – the most intense itch it is possible for a male to feel; one that drives out the possibility of any other thought, and one – if denied for sufficient time – is capable of unhinging the boy totally. The objective of the practitioner is to increase that need steadily and relentlessly to that compellingly urgent point, and either to keep the youth poised there, or to allow a slight recovery so that the process may be repeated, as many times as required - without once permitting the boy the relief of actually attaining that orgasm.
Oh fuck. Stilted as the language was, old Shadwell certainly had a way with words. “Seize a boy’s need for orgasm”, “incapable of resisting it”, “compellingly urgent compulsion”… My cock was beginning to demand attention. I put the book down, went into the bedroom and changed into my tight leather jeans and bike boots. I topped up my wineglass and read further.
Techniques of the Art: the Thighs and the Balls
Any person is capable of tightening a thumbscrew – it is an activity which calls for very little in the way of either intelligence or skill; however, to be an effective practitioner of the Exquisite Torment, one must possess a certain degree of expertise.
The general area which is of interest to us is, of course, the cock and the balls. However, the inner thighs are also extremely sensitive, and good use may be made of them – especially in the early stages, or when allowing recovery from a ‘precipice’ point. The entire leg above the knee may be utilised, being sensible to the fact that the higher one reaches, the closer to the genitals, the more erotic to the boy will the feeling of touch there be. A quill (or two) may be usefully employed here, stroking lightly. The direction of the blood is known to be towards the heart, and consequently stroking in that direction will lend it fire. Be of deliberate countenance – a practitioner requires patience; the slower the journey towards your goal, the more sensitive your destination will be when you arrive.
To learn your technique here, when you are alone, use the plume upon yourself. Commit to memory how different strokes and pressures feel to you. Try different quills, and different parts of them. Even the end of the quill stem, where you would otherwise cut the nib, may be of use. Your nose and your ear lobes may prove to be more informative than your own thigh – devoid of such explicit eroticism, they may provide a clearer picture of the effect of the feather.
When you stroke the youth’s golden skin, try to envisage in your mind the feeling from his perspective. A good modus operandi is to do to the boy what would feel the most maddeningly sensual if it were being done to you – but always keep your mind open to learning; if he responds well to something, no matter what it is, commit it to your memory and make consideration of employing it more, or at another time, when he does not expect it. Bear in your mind that he can not see, and does not know what you will do next, or when; if the unexpectedness of something makes him react well, it may be possible to use that unexpectedness again, at a later time. Also be aware, from one moment to the next, of his state of arousal. By this time, his cock should be stiff, or becoming so. If it is not, or it begins to subside, wait for a while and begin again.
When working close to the balls, exercise caution that you do not touch them unintentionally – they are of supreme sensitivity, and when you first touch them, you must mean to touch them. Every single part of them is of superlative use – do not neglect any spot at all. The pointed quill may be used to good effect when inserted between the ballsack and the inner thigh to reach the side of the scrotum (an extremely sensitive spot on a youth, by virtue of its usually being protected) and if you have a curved feather, the back of the scrotum may be reached with more ease.
Stroke and caress with precision, again watching carefully for the best reactions, so that you may employ that which gave rise to them again and again – but remember also that unpredictability is a powerful weapon which may be used against the youth.
The idea of an orgasm was becoming more attractive to me by the minute. I’d been playing with my cock through my jeans while I’d been reading, and it seemed that I’d got myself fairly close. I smiled – Hosiah would have approved. I took my hand away from my crotch.
The Cock
Thus far, we have dealt with the thighs and the balls. Now we have reached our goal: that part of the youth which will produce the most intense effect of the Exquisite Torment. If we have done our work well, the boy should already be highly aroused, his cock stiff and erect. Even though the cock has not yet been touched, there may be an exudation of a thin, sticky fluid from the tip. If so, this is a sign that all is going well. The sleeping monster that is the desire for orgasm in the youth should, by this time, have been awakened, and be beginning to flex its talons. Our aim now is to increase its hunger – to goad that monster into full and vociferous rage so that it may sink its irresistible claws into the boy on our behalf.
We have employed gentleness, patience, and skill with the feathers. Now, there is another motivation which we may feel free to add: that of sadism . The attitude of the practitioner is of cardinal importance: his objective is not simply to give the boy enjoyment – that may, in the end, be considered nothing but a by-product of our activities – our goal is to make the boy suffer. But it is more than this: it is to make his suffering as intense, as unendurable, and as exquisite as possible. To this end, after first having used the soft plumes on his cock to stroke and tickle, instilling in it an urgent need for firmer touch, we will move directly to using our fingers – either enclosed in slippery leather gloves, or naked.
Take the cock between your finger and thumb, very lightly, as if you were holding a priceless, fragile, ancient artefact. Remember that too firm the handling now will desensitise the cock slightly – and we desire it to be as sensitive as it can be. Simply hold it for a while, then move your hand, gripping it again but in a different place. Work your way slowly up the shaft, but leave the head for the present – that part of his anatomy will now be the perfect centre of his blinded world. If you are wearing gloves, gently enclose the shaft with leather. Permit him to feel it. Stroke it, caress it – but lighty. Allow your oil-slippery fingertips to slide over the cock. Grip it and release. Tease it – cause it to want to ejaculate; create in it an increasing desire for gratification. Apply your concentration to fan the embers of his need until they are white-hot flames of lust, passion, and desperation – the fulfillment of that need you intend so sadistically and gratifyingly to deny.
Shit! I dropped the book and convulsed as I came in my jeans. That had not been intentional – my hand had gone back to it of its own accord. I cleaned myself up in the bathroom, sat back down in the chair and looked at the book. It was giving me ideas. I tried to decide whether to carry on reading now, or leave it until I was horny again. The book lay on the arm of the chair. I picked it up...
Now, here is where experience counts for everything. It may be that the boy is not yet close to needing orgasm badly enough, or it may be that he is already on the precipice – but most likely he is somewhere between those two states. The skill of the practitioner is to judge how close he is, and to move him from that present level up to the precipice – without allowing him to fall over the edge into orgasm. That would be catastrophic and a premature end before the torment has begun. So, exercising extreme care, allow your attention now to include the head of the cock. Begin, as you did with the shaft, very lightly indeed, perhaps even resuming the use of the feather, or if not, then employing exceptionally gentle stroking. On its underside, at he base of the head, lies a spot which is usually the most erotically sensitive of all – use it, but carefully and sparingly, so that your fingers are the cause neither of unintended orgasm, nor of desensitisation of that spot.
You will find a finger and thumb placed either side of the root of the cock, and gripping there gently, to be of inordinate value in informing you of impending orgasm: when such is imminent, an observant practitioner will feel a sudden and further hardening there. If this is detected, cease all stimulus immediately - failure to do so sufficiently early will almost certainly permit orgasm. However, if that signal is detected in time, the practitioner now is aware exactly of the level of arousal of the youth, and will find it much easier to keep him there, at that point, or to return to it after allowing a short recovery.
It is here that the sadism, mentioned earlier, may be given free reign; the ideal objective of the Exquisite Torment is to maximise the suffering of the youth by holding him in that unsupportable, unendurable state of being as close as possible to the point of orgasm without permitting him to achieve it, or to control with perfect precision his repeated approach to that point. It is not an ideal world, however, and perfection is rarely attained here, as anywhere else – but we will do our utmost to approach that perfection as closely as we can. By this time the youth will be struggling in his restraints, his overwhelming need for orgasm driving every other thought from his mind. Employ your sadism: in order to make him suffer as intensely as possible, and for as long as you wish, use tiny movements of the fingers over the shaft and over the sensitive head, pour oil onto your leather gloves to make them slippery and erotic, pull his cock down away from his body – this will increase its sensitivity even further. Enjoy his screams of unbearable frustration every time you release his cock completely, making his longed-for orgasm unattainable yet again.
If you have decided to allow him recovery so that you may repeat the approach towards orgasm, the leather thong may be of use here. First making sure it is very well-oiled, carefully wrap it around the cock, just below the head, where it joins the shaft, and use it to pull the cock downwards away from his body, as descibed above. Then, by slowly pulling one hand while moving the other forward – but retaining the tension - and subsequently reversing the procedure, cause the thong to rub back and forth around the base of the head. This technique has been proved to be of extreme effectiveness: it can bring the boy to orgasm, but as long as it is done slowly and carefully enough, this is unlikely. It will, however, keep a boy who is already close to the precipice very near indeed. It is an excellent way to approach the point of orgasm in a slow and controlled way.
Good grief, I was hard again. Just thinking about doing that to a boy was turning me on like fuck. I could imagine him there, strapped down to that devilish table so he couldn’t move, hooded so he couldn’t see, with black leather pressing tight across his face, more inside the arm restraints, his hard, horny cock sticking down through the hole, separated from his body by the table, so that he couldn’t get at it, couldn’t touch it, couldn’t make himself cum. It was an inhumanly devious restraint – designed to be as intensely frustrating as possible, and to make a boy as horny as fuck. Hornier than fuck – a lot hornier than fuck. And then, when he’d got the boy helpless like that, the fiend Shadwell set about working on him slowly and sadistically to make him need to cum more and more. God, that was so fucking perfect.
Additional techniques
Described above are the basic methods the practitioner will find to be efficacious in the administering of the Exquisite Torment. Further, I include a short list of additional items which may be found – on some boys – to be of use:
For those who are not averse to the practice, bringing the mouth to bear upon the cock is another excellent technique. The mouth is warm and wet, the lips are soft, and the tongue is incomparably mobile. By licking, sucking, and caressing over and around the head – and even the shaft – of the cock (very slowly and gently, so that not only is the libido encouraged, but also that the frustration of the youth is increased in proportion) he can be brought to the required degree of arousal with considerable ease. A secondary benefit of using the mouth will be discovered: that both hands are freed so that they may, at one and the same time, be applied to the balls or thighs.
I have found that the gentle insertion of a well-oiled plug into the anal sphincter of the youth often heightens his response to erotic stimulus generally. This plug may be of smoothed wood, hard leather, or even some raw vegetables are of a suitable size and shape (I have employed a small carrot with notable success, though I have subsequently constructed a rounded plug from leather, which I keep for the purpose). The occasional moving of this plug while working on the boy is often effective in fuelling his lust and need.
The nipples are always sensitive: on some boys, pleasantly – on others unpleasantly so. I recommend your testing them early in the procedure and, if they are found to be of use, then the attachment of a device made from sprung pieces of wood, to maintain a moderate pressure on them, may be useful.
This guy Shadwell had thought of everything. It was as if he had sat down and tried to design a device and techniques that would push all the available buttons of his victim at once. The whole thing was so deliciously unfair. The poor boy had no chance at all. The ‘practitioner’ had every single advantage that was going. Oh yesss…..
Over-enthusiasm in the Practitioner
Working on a responsive boy, when all is going well, seeing the desperate struggling and hearing the pitiful screams of need, is one of the most rewarding experiences possible for the practitioner. However, this in itself brings a danger: it is quite possible that the enjoyment of the suffering of the boy is so great that the practitioner may, through inattention to his own state, find suddenly that he is in the throes of orgasm himself. Arousal fuels sadism, and in its own turn, sadism motivates enthusiasm. If orgasm of the practitioner is permitted to occur, then those will both, to a great degree, be lost. Therefore, be attentive to your own state of arousal every bit as much as to that of the boy, so that your own increasing lust and sadism may continue to drive your actions, delivering him to heretofore unimagined states of suffering.
This guy had been a real sadist. I would love to have met him – I think we would have got on very well indeed. He was right about one thing: I’d already cum once reading this and I wasn’t far off another. My cock was bulging in my leather jeans again. I poured a little more wine, and continued to read.
Appearance of the Practitioner
It is difficult to overexpress the importance of appearance. When the boy first sees both the practitioner and the device on which he is about to be tortured, he must immediately feel cowed. He must be made to feel beyond any doubt at all that he is in the presence of one who intends to control and torment him – and one who is capable of doing so with ease. To facilitate this, the wearing of clothes which present an aura of authority and power is recommended. I myself wear sturdy, tall boots, breeches and jerkin – all in black leather, and oftentimes a mask fashioned in the manner of an executioner’s hood, also of black leather. I find these garments have a usefully intimidating effect on the youth – but in this, let your own preferences guide you.
So, the old bastard was well into leather too. I really do wish I had met him.
Conclusion
For the Exquisite Torment to be worthy of its name, diligence must be exercised by the practitioner. He must be attentive, careful, enthusiastic when appropriate, restrained when necessary. As he becomes more finely practiced in the Art, he will find that he is able to bring a boy ever closer to the precipice point and to hold him there at his pleasure. This is worth the realising: if you imagine two points, A and B; A being a hair’s breadth away from the point of orgasm, and B being two hair’s breadths away, there is a thousandfold greater difference in intensity of torment between the point of orgasm and A, than there is between A and B. The goal is to be able to force the boy into the former of those two regions.
As he progresses in expertise, the practitioner will not only gain greater and greater gratification from his skill in unleashing his sadistic lust upon a helpless youth, but he will also be capable of inflicting ever greater suffering on that youth, and thus truly merit the title: “Practitioner of the Exquisite Torment”.
H. Shadwell, London
Whew! I put the book down carefully. I sat back and gently squeezed my hard cock. I knew I was going to make a table exactly like the one Shadwell had described.
It took me a few days, but eventually it was done. Now all I needed was a boy to try it out on.
I found one the following evening. He was in the bar, looking cute and smug, as these boys do. I bought him a couple of drinks and we went back to my place. It worked well – even better than I’d hoped. I’d never tried to edge anyone before, but I reckon I must be a natural at it, cos it was no trouble at all to make the little bugger beg, while not letting him cum. I wish I could say the same for me, though – working on him was so fucking horny that it made me shoot my load a lot too soon. I think that table is going to get a great deal of use.
It had been a few weeks since I’d been to the book shop, but I was passing that way so I popped in. The guy behind the counter smiled when he saw me. There were other customers in there, so it wasn’t possible to talk much about the book, but from what he did say, it seemed he’d also read it. On an impulse, I told him I’d made a table like the one Shadwell had described, and that it was standing in my bedroom. I gave him my phone number and said get in touch, that it would be good to talk about it.
He rang the same evening, said he’d rather talk about the book in person. With an image in my mind of him strapped down helpless to that table, and the beginnings of another erection in my jeans, I invited him round. He said his car was in dock at the moment, but I was welcome to go round to his if I liked.
He smiled when he opened the door, and we sat and made small talk for a while. Then he got up and went into his bedroom. A few minutes later he was back – and I stared. He was dressed in full black leather. He looked mouthwateringly sexy. “Come with me,” he said. He led me into a room, in the exact centre of which was a table very like my own – but this one, down to the last detail, was identical to the one in the book.
I’m hooked. I am completely and utterly addicted to Steve. He is my entire world. I am not allowed to go with other guys, I am not allowed to wank – and both of those are perfectly fine with me. Every few days – I never know when – he calls me and I go round to his house. He straps me down, gagged and hooded, and he works on me until I am screaming and insane with the need for orgasm. But he very, very rarely allows me to cum – and when he does, it is beyond my ability to describe it. And the more often he works on me, the more dangerously well he gets to know my weaknesses. It is unimaginable hell, and it is the most wonderful heaven I’m capable of experiencing. He is the supreme expert in the Art of the Exquisite Torment - but then, being the great-grandson of one Hosiah Shadwell, that’s not really surprising.