The Art of Seduction (80 page)

Use Physical Lures

Targets with active minds

are dangerous: if they see through your

manipulations, they may suddenly develop

doubts. Put their minds gently to rest, and waken

their dormant senses, by combining a nondefen-

sive attitude with a charged sexual presence.

While your cool, nonchalant air is calming

their minds and lowering their inhibitions,

your glances, voice, and bearing
—
oozing sex

and desire
—
are getting under their skin, agi-

tating their senses and raising their temperature.

Never force the physical; instead infect your targets

with heat, lure them into lust. Lead them into the

moment
—
an intensified present in which mo-

rality, judgment, and concern for the fu-

ture all melt away and the body

succumbs to pleasure.

Raising the Temperature

In 1889, the top New York theatrical manager Ernest Jurgens visited France on one of his many scouting trips. Jurgens was known for his honesty, a rare commodity in the shady entertainment world, and for his ability to find unusual acts. He had to spend the night in Marseilles, and while wandering along the quay of the old harbor, he heard excited catcalls issuing from a working-class cabaret, and decided to go in. A twenty-one-
The year was 1907 and
year-old Spanish dancer named Caroline Otero was performing, and the
La Belle
[
Otero
]
, by then,
minute Jurgens laid eyes on her he was a changed man. Her appearance was
had been an international
figure for over a dozen

startling—five foot ten, fiery dark eyes, black waist-length hair, her body
years. The story was told
corseted into a perfect hourglass figure. But it was the way she danced that
by M. Maurice Chevalier.
made his heart pound—her whole body alive, writhing like an animal in •
"I was a young star
about to make my first

heat, as she performed a fandango. Her dancing was hardly professional, but
appearance at the Folies.
she enjoyed herself so much and was so unrestrained that none of that mat-
Otero had been the
tered. Jurgens also could not help but notice the men in the cabaret watch-
headliner there for several
weeks and although I

ing her, their mouths agape.

knew who she was I had

After the show, Jurgens went backstage to introduce himself. Otero's
never seen her before on
eyes came alive as he spoke of his job and of New York. He felt a heat, a
stage or off • "I was
scurrying along, head bent,

twitching, in his body as she looked him up and down. Her voice was deep
thinking of something or
and raspy, the tongue constantly in play as she rolled her Rs. Closing the
other, when I looked up.
door, Otero ignored the knocks and pleas of the admirers dying to speak to
There was La Belle, in the
her. She said that her way of dancing was natural—her mother was a gypsy,
company of another
woman, walking in my

Soon she asked Jurgens to be her escort that evening, and as he helped her
direction. Otero was then
with her coat, she leaned back toward him slightly, as if she had lost her
nearly forty and I was not
balance. As they walked around the city, her arm in his, she would occa-
yet out of my teens but
—

ah!
—s
he was so beautiful!

sionally whisper in his ear. Jurgens felt his usual reserve melt away. He held •
"She was tall, dark-
her tighter. He was a family man, had never considered cheating on his
haired, with a magnificent
wife, but without thinking, he brought Otero back to his hotel room. She
body, like the bodies of the
began to take off some of her clothes—coat, gloves, hat—a perfectly nor-
women of those days, not
like the lightweight ones of

mal thing to do, but the way she did it made him lose all restraint. The nor-
today."
•
Chevalier smiled.
mally timid Jurgens went on the attack.

• "Of course I like modern

The next morning Jurgens signed Otero to a lucrative contract—a great
women, too, but there was
something of a fatal charm

risk, considering that she was an amateur at best. He brought her to Paris
about Otero. We three
and assigned a top theatrical coach to her. Hurrying back to New York, he
stood there for a moment or
fed the newspapers with reports of this mysterious Spanish beauty poised to
two, not saying a word, I
staring at La Belle, not so

conquer the city. Soon rival papers were claiming she was an Andalusian
young as she once was and
countess, an escaped harem girl, the widow of a sheik, on and on. He
maybe not so beautiful, but
395

396
•
The Art of Seduction

still quite a woman.
• made frequent trips to Paris to be with her, forgetting about his family, lav
"She looked right at me,
ishing money and gifts on her.

then turned to the lady she

Otero's New York debut, in October of 1890, was an astounding suc
was with
—
some friend, I
guess
—
and spoke to her in

cess. "Otero dances with abandon," read an article in
The New York Times.
English, which she thought

"Her lithe and supple body looks like that of a serpent writhing in quick,
I didn't understand.

graceful curves." In a few short weeks she became the toast of New York
However, I did.
•

" 'Who's the very
society, performing at private parties late into the night. The tycoon Wil
handsome young man?'

liam Vanderbilt courted her with expensive jewels and evenings on his
Otero asked.
•
"The other
yacht. Other millionaires vied for her attention. Meanwhile Jurgens was
one answered, 'He's

dipping into the company till to pay for presents for her—he would do
Chevalier.'
•
" 'He has

such beautiful eyes' ha

anything to keep her, a task in which he was facing heavy competition. A
Belle said, looking straight

few months later, after his embezzling became public, he was a ruined man.
at me, right up and down.

He eventually committed suicide.

•
"Then she almost floored

me with her frankness.
•

Otero went back to France, to Paris, and over the next few years rose to

" 'I wonder if he'd like to
become the most infamous courtesan of the Belle Epoque. Word spread
go to bed with me. I think

quickly: a night with La Belle Otero (as she was now known) was more ef
I'll ask him!' Only she
didn't say it so delicately.

fective than all the aphrodisiacs in the world. She had a temper, and was de
She was much cruder and
manding, but that was to be expected. Prince Albert of Monaco, a man
more to the point.
•
"It

who had been plagued by doubts of his virility, felt like an insatiable tiger
was at this moment I had

after a night with Otero. She became his mistress. Other royalty followed—

to make up my mind

rather quickly. La Belle

Prince Albert of Wales (later King Edward VII), the Shah of Persia, Grand
moved toward me. Instead

Duke Nicholas of Russia. Less wealthy men emptied their bank accounts,
of introducing myself and

and Jurgens was only the first of many whom Otero drove to suicide.
succumbing to the

consequences, I pretended I

During World War I, a twenty-nine-year-old American soldier named

didn't understand what

Frederick, stationed in France, won $37,000 in a four-day crap game. On
she'd said, uttered some

his next leave he went to Nice and checked himself into the finest hotel.
pleasantry in French and

moved away to my dressing

On his first night in the hotel restaurant, he recognized Otero sitting alone
room.
•
"I could see La

at a table. He had seen her perform in Paris ten years before, and had be
Belle smile in an odd
come obsessed with her. She was now close to fifty, but was more alluring
fashion as I passed her;

than ever. He greased some palms and was able to sit at her table. He could
like a sleek tigress watching

its dinner go away. For a

hardly talk: the way her eyes bored into him, a simple readjustment in her
fleeting second I thought

chair, her body brushing up against him as she got up, the way she managed
she might turn around and

to walk in front of him and display herself. Later, strolling along a boule
follow me. "
•
What would
Chevalier have done had

vard, they passed a jewelry store. He went inside, and moments later found
she pursued him? His

himself plopping down $31,000 for a diamond necklace. For three nights
lower lip dropped into that

La Belle Otero was his. Never in his life had he felt so masculine and im
half pout which is the
Frenchman's exclusive
petuous. Years later, he still believed it was well worth the price he had
possession. Then he
paid.

grinned.
•
"I'd have

slowed down and let her

catch up."

Interpretation.
Although La Belle Otero was beautiful, hundreds of

— A R T H U R H . LEWIS,

LA BELLE OTERO

women were more so, or were more charming and talented. But Otero was constantly on fire. Men could read it in her eyes, the way her body moved, a dozen other signs. The heat that radiated out from her came from her own inner desires: she was insatiably sexual. But she was also a practiced and calculating courtesan, and knew how to put her sexuality to effect.
Use Physical Lures
•
397

Onstage she made every man in the audience come alive, abandoning her
You're anxiously expecting
self in dance. In person she was cooler, or slightly so. A man likes to feel
me to escort you \ To
parties: here too solicit my

that a woman is enflamed not because she has an insatiable appetite but be-
advice. \ Arrive late, when
cause of him; so Otero personalized her sexuality, using glances, a brushing
the lamps are lit; make a
of skin, a more languorous tone of voice, a saucy comment, to suggest that
graceful entrance
— \
Delay
enhances charm, delay's a

the man was heating her up. In her memoirs she revealed that Prince Albert
great bawd. \ Plain you
was a most inept lover. Yet he believed, along with many other men, that
may be, but at night you'll
with her he was Hercules himself. Her sexuality actually originated from
look fine to the tipsy: \

her, but she created the illusion that the man was the aggressor.

Soft lights and shadows

will mask your faults. \

The key to luring the target into the final act of your seduction is not
Take your food with dainty

to make it obvious, not to announce that you are ready (to pounce or be
fingers: good table manners
pounced upon). Everything should be geared, not to the conscious mind,
matter: \ Don't besmear
your whole face with a

but to the senses. You want your target to read cues not from your words or
greasy paw. \ Don't cat
actions but from your body. You must make your body glow with desire—
first at home, and nibble
—

for the target. Your desire should be read in your eyes, in a trembling in
but equally, don't indulge
your \ Appetite to the full,

your voice, in your reaction when your bodies draw near.

leave something in hand. \

You cannot train your body to act this way, but by choosing a victim
If Paris saw Helen stuffing
(see chapter 1) who has this effect on you, it will all flow naturally. During
herself to the eyeballs \

He'd detest her, he'd feel

the seduction, you will have had to hold yourself back, to intrigue and
her abduction had been \ A

frustrate the victim. You will have frustrated yourself in the process, and
stupid mistake. . . . \ Each
will already be champing at the bit. Once you sense that the target has
woman should know
fallen for you and cannot turn back, let those frustrated desires course
herself, pick methods \ To
suit her body: one fashion
.

through your blood and warm you up. You do not need to touch your tar-
won't do for all. \ Let the
gets, or become physical. As La Belle Otero understood, sexual desire is
girl with a pretty face lie
contagious. They will catch your heat and glow in return. Let them make
supine, let the lady \ Who
boasts a good back be

the first move. It will cover your tracks. The second and third moves are
viewed \ From behind.
yours.

Milanion bore Atalanta's

legs on \ His shoulders:

nice legs should always be

Spell SEX with capital letters when you talk about Otero.

used this way \ The petite

She exuded it.

should ride a horse

(Andromache, Hector's

—MAURICE CHEVALIER

Theban \ Bride, was too