Chapter 1, Part 2 (pp. 19-35) Summary

"The Lovers of Roissy", Part 2. The "housemaids" take O to her room, introduce themselves as Andree and Jeanne, and tell her that her valet is Pierre - the valet, they say, is the servant responsible for locking and unlocking her chains and whipping her when she misbehaves. Pierre unlocks her room, which narration describes as actually being lined with mirrors. After bathing her, Andree and Jeanne leave her (still naked) with Pierre, who chains her into her bed and goes. Alone with her thoughts, O tries "to figure out why there [is] so much sweetness mingled with terror in her, or why her terror seemed itself so sweet", and wonders why the whipping left her feeling so calm while the thought of never knowing which man took her where is terrifying to her. As she reacts with...