Every Pro-Domme dreads the thought of a client dropping dead in her care. No matter how many provisions we make for pre-existing medical conditions or obvious physical hazards, we know that there is a risk, just as with any other situation of physical or emotional exertion a person may partake in – whether it be sport, sex or just sitting on the sofa in front of a particularly tense episode of Eastenders.

On Tuesday, a man died at the Belgium premises of Mistress Lucrezia. She and her assistant Juno were arrested and charged with “assault and battery leading to death, without intent to kill.” Until the autopsy, it would be foolish for anyone to speculate on what actually killed the gentleman and whether the Dominatrices should bear any legal responsibility.

However, the Daily Mail have, of course, speculated. In their article, they decide that nitrous oxide, used by dentists, midwives and many Pro-Dommes who offer medical services, must be the reason that the man later collapsed when showering. Repeatedly referring to the two Dominatrices as “prostitutes”, the Mail explains that the anaesthetic is used “to prolong sadistic sex sessions”.

Mistress Lucrezia clearly states on her website that sexual services are not offered. “As with any other real Pro-Domme,” she writes, “no sex or body contact is allowed and will never be performed”.

However, having quoted most of the text from her home page, the Daily Mail decides to leave out this part. Instead, it describes the circumstances surrounding the man’s death as a “sado-masochistic sex session”. As a result, here are some of the enlightened comments left by its online readers:

“Hahaha, what a fool! If he hadn’t died then, he’d probably have had a slow death from an STD, so better to go out quickly! Disgusting people!”

“Two perverts torture another pervert to death.”

“It is better for perverts to get their kicks from ‘professionals’ than to wander the streets preying on innocent women or kids.”

“Sad that people seem to think sex is the be all and end all in life.”

“People who follow this act are satanists!”

“dirty nasty woman, rot in your cell!”

And, living up to stereotypes:

“Yet another reason we should keep away from Europe.”

If you really feel you must, click here for the Daily Mail article.

The Government announced the budget earlier today, but cuts in public funding are already taking their toll elsewhere. Truro’s Royal Cornwall Museum is hoping to raise some much-needed revenue through the sale of two pieces of its Victorian artwork. “Bondage” by Ernest Normand was painted in 1895 and, like many of his works, depicts a fetishised notion of ancient slavery and harem life. Herbert Draper’s “The Sea Maiden” shows a nude mermaid trapped in the nets of a fishing boat. Like many artists of the era, Draper’s work concentrates mainly on the femmes fatales of classical literature and mythology.

I’ve spoken briefly before about the theme of dangerous women in Pre-Raphaelite art. In middle and upper-class Victorian Britain, puritanical morality, enforced modesty and prudish behaviour reigned for both men and women. Yet things were not as they seemed. Beneath society’s respectable surface, a wealth of erotic art and literature subverted the sexual norms. Much of it lurked happily under the guise of classicism. By enjoying the nude antics of the ancients – men lured into peril by deadly seductresses or Homeric, homoerotic acts of heroism, for example – Victorian ladies and gents could explore their personal kinks and appear cultured, rather than reveal themselves to be ordinary perverts like the rest of us.

If you’ve got a spare million quid or so, go here.