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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Venetian Years: A Cleric in Naples
+by Jacques Casanova de Seingalt
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Venetian Years: A Cleric in Naples
+       The Memoirs Of Jacques Casanova De Seingalt 1725-1798
+
+Author: Jacques Casanova de Seingalt
+
+Release Date: October 30, 2006 [EBook #2952]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK VENETIAN YEARS: A CLERIC IN NAPLES ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Widger
+
+
+
+
+
+MEMOIRS OF JACQUES CASANOVA de SEINGALT 1725-1798
+
+VENETIAN YEARS, Volume 1b--A CLERIC IN NAPLES
+
+THE RARE UNABRIDGED LONDON EDITION OF 1894 TRANSLATED BY ARTHUR MACHEN TO
+WHICH HAS BEEN ADDED THE CHAPTERS DISCOVERED BY ARTHUR SYMONS.
+
+
+
+
+A CLERIC IN NAPLES
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+My Misfortunes in Chiozza--Father Stephano--The Lazzaretto at Ancona--The
+Greek Slave--My Pilgrimage to Our Lady of Loretto--I Go to Rome on Foot,
+and From Rome to Naples to Meet the Bishop--I Cannot Join Him--Good Luck
+Offers Me the Means of Reaching Martorano, Which Place I Very Quickly
+Leave to Return to Naples
+
+The retinue of the ambassador, which was styled "grand," appeared to me
+very small. It was composed of a Milanese steward, named Carcinelli, of a
+priest who fulfilled the duties of secretary because he could not write,
+of an old woman acting as housekeeper, of a man cook with his ugly wife,
+and eight or ten servants.
+
+We reached Chiozza about noon. Immediately after landing, I politely
+asked the steward where I should put up, and his answer was:
+
+"Wherever you please, provided you let this man know where it is, so that
+he can give you notice when the peotta is ready to sail. My duty," he
+added, "is to leave you at the lazzaretto of Ancona free of expense from
+the moment we leave this place. Until then enjoy yourself as well as you
+can."
+
+The man to whom I was to give my address was the captain of the peotta. I
+asked him to recommend me a lodging.
+
+"You can come to my house," he said, "if you have no objection to share a
+large bed with the cook, whose wife remains on board."
+
+Unable to devise any better plan, I accepted the offer, and a sailor,
+carrying my trunk, accompanied me to the dwelling of the honest captain.
+My trunk had to be placed under the bed which filled up the room. I was
+amused at this, for I was not in a position to be over-fastidious, and,
+after partaking of some dinner at the inn, I went about the town. Chiozza
+is a peninsula, a sea-port belonging to Venice, with a population of ten
+thousand inhabitants, seamen, fishermen, merchants, lawyers, and
+government clerks.
+
+I entered a coffee-room, and I had scarcely taken a seat when a young
+doctor-at-law, with whom I had studied in Padua, came up to me, and
+introduced me to a druggist whose shop was near by, saying that his house
+was the rendezvous of all the literary men of the place. A few minutes
+afterwards, a tall Jacobin friar, blind of one eye, called Corsini, whom
+I had known in Venice, came in and paid me many compliments. He told me
+that I had arrived just in time to go to a picnic got up by the Macaronic
+academicians for the next day, after a sitting of the academy in which
+every member was to recite something of his composition. He invited me to
+join them, and to gratify the meeting with the delivery of one of my
+productions. I accepted the invitation, and, after the reading of ten
+stanzas which I had written for the occasion, I was unanimously elected a
+member. My success at the picnic was still greater, for I disposed of
+such a quantity of macaroni that I was found worthy of the title of
+prince of the academy.
+
+The young doctor, himself one of the academicians, introduced me to his
+family. His parents, who were in easy circumstances, received me very
+kindly. One of his sisters was very amiable, but the other, a professed
+nun, appeared to me a prodigy of beauty. I might have enjoyed myself in a
+very agreeable way in the midst of that charming family during my stay in
+Chiozza, but I suppose that it was my destiny to meet in that place with
+nothing but sorrows. The young doctor forewarned me that the monk Corsini
+was a very worthless fellow, despised by everybody, and advised me to
+avoid him. I thanked him for the information, but my thoughtlessness
+prevented me from profiting by it. Of a very easy disposition, and too
+giddy to fear any snares, I was foolish enough to believe that the monk
+would, on the contrary, be the very man to throw plenty of amusement in
+my way.
+
+On the third day the worthless dog took me to a house of ill-fame, where
+I might have gone without his introduction, and, in order to shew my
+mettle, I obliged a low creature whose ugliness ought to have been a
+sufficient antidote against any fleshly desire. On leaving the place, he
+brought me for supper to an inn where we met four scoundrels of his own
+stamp. After supper one of them began a bank of faro, and I was invited
+to join in the game. I gave way to that feeling of false pride which so
+often causes the ruin of young men, and after losing four sequins I
+expressed a wish to retire, but my honest friend, the Jacobin contrived
+to make me risk four more sequins in partnership with him. He held the
+bank, and it was broken. I did not wish to play any more, but Corsini,
+feigning to pity me and to feel great sorrow at being the cause of my
+loss, induced me to try myself a bank of twenty-five sequins; my bank was
+likewise broken. The hope of winning back my money made me keep up the
+game, and I lost everything I had.
+
+Deeply grieved, I went away and laid myself down near the cook, who woke
+up and said I was a libertine.
+
+"You are right," was all I could answer.
+
+I was worn out with fatigue and sorrow, and I slept soundly. My vile
+tormentor, the monk, woke me at noon, and informed me with a triumphant
+joy that a very rich young man had been invited by his friends to supper,
+that he would be sure to play and to lose, and that it would be a good
+opportunity for me to retrieve my losses.
+
+"I have lost all my money. Lend me twenty sequins."
+
+"When I lend money I am sure to lose; you may call it superstition, but I
+have tried it too often. Try to find money somewhere else, and come.
+Farewell."
+
+I felt ashamed to confess my position to my friend, and sending for, a
+money-lender I emptied my trunk before him. We made an inventory of my
+clothes, and the honest broker gave me thirty sequins, with the
+understanding that if I did not redeem them within three days all my
+things would become his property. I am bound to call him an honest man,
+for he advised me to keep three shirts, a few pairs of stockings, and a
+few handkerchiefs; I was disposed to let him take everything, having a
+presentiment that I would win back all I had lost; a very common error. A
+few years later I took my revenge by writing a diatribe against
+presentiments. I am of opinion that the only foreboding in which man can
+have any sort of faith is the one which forbodes evil, because it comes
+from the mind, while a presentiment of happiness has its origin in the
+heart, and the heart is a fool worthy of reckoning foolishly upon fickle
+fortune.
+
+I did not lose any time in joining the honest company, which was alarmed
+at the thought of not seeing me. Supper went off without any allusion to
+gambling, but my admirable qualities were highly praised, and it was
+decided that a brilliant fortune awaited me in Rome. After supper there
+was no talk of play, but giving way to my evil genius I loudly asked for
+my revenge. I was told that if I would take the bank everyone would punt.
+I took the bank, lost every sequin I had, and retired, begging the monk
+to pay what I owed to the landlord, which he promised to do.
+
+I was in despair, and to crown my misery I found out as I was going home
+that I had met the day before with another living specimen of the Greek
+woman, less beautiful but as perfidious. I went to bed stunned by my
+grief, and I believe that I must have fainted into a heavy sleep, which
+lasted eleven hours; my awaking was that of a miserable being, hating the
+light of heaven, of which he felt himself unworthy, and I closed my eyes
+again, trying to sleep for a little while longer. I dreaded to rouse
+myself up entirely, knowing that I would then have to take some decision;
+but I never once thought of returning to Venice, which would have been
+the very best thing to do, and I would have destroyed myself rather than
+confide my sad position to the young doctor. I was weary of my existence,
+and I entertained vaguely some hope of starving where I was, without
+leaving my bed. It is certain that I should not have got up if M. Alban,
+the master of the peotta, had not roused me by calling upon me and
+informing me that the boat was ready to sail.
+
+The man who is delivered from great perplexity, no matter by what means,
+feels himself relieved. It seemed to me that Captain Alban had come to
+point out the only thing I could possibly do; I dressed myself in haste,
+and tying all my worldly possessions in a handkerchief I went on board.
+Soon afterwards we left the shore, and in the morning we cast anchor in
+Orsara, a seaport of Istria. We all landed to visit the city, which would
+more properly be called a village. It belongs to the Pope, the Republic
+of Venice having abandoned it to the Holy See.
+
+A young monk of the order of the Recollects who called himself Friar
+Stephano of Belun, and had obtained a free passage from the devout
+Captain Alban, joined me as we landed and enquired whether I felt sick.
+
+"Reverend father, I am unhappy."
+
+"You will forget all your sorrow, if you will come and dine with me at
+the house of one of our devout friends."
+
+I had not broken my fast for thirty-six hours, and having suffered much
+from sea-sickness during the night, my stomach was quite empty. My erotic
+inconvenience made me very uncomfortable, my mind felt deeply the
+consciousness of my degradation, and I did not possess a groat! I was in
+such a miserable state that I had no strength to accept or to refuse
+anything. I was thoroughly torpid, and I followed the monk mechanically.
+
+He presented me to a lady, saying that he was accompanying me to Rome,
+where I intend to become a Franciscan. This untruth disgusted me, and
+under any other circumstances I would not have let it pass without
+protest, but in my actual position it struck me as rather comical. The
+good lady gave us a good dinner of fish cooked in oil, which in Orsara is
+delicious, and we drank some exquisite refosco. During our meal, a priest
+happened to drop in, and, after a short conversation, he told me that I
+ought not to pass the night on board the tartan, and pressed me to accept
+a bed in his house and a good dinner for the next day in case the wind
+should not allow us to sail; I accepted without hesitation. I offered my
+most sincere thanks to the good old lady, and the priest took me all over
+the town. In the evening, he brought me to his house where we partook of
+an excellent supper prepared by his housekeeper, who sat down to the
+table with us, and with whom I was much pleased. The refosco, still
+better than that which I had drunk at dinner, scattered all my misery to
+the wind, and I conversed gaily with the priest. He offered to read to me
+a poem of his own composition, but, feeling that my eyes would not keep
+open, I begged he would excuse me and postpone the reading until the
+following day.
+
+I went to bed, and in the morning, after ten hours of the most profound
+sleep, the housekeeper, who had been watching for my awakening, brought
+me some coffee. I thought her a charming woman, but, alas! I was not in a
+fit state to prove to her the high estimation in which I held her beauty.
+
+Entertaining feelings of gratitude for my kind host, and disposed to
+listen attentively to his poem, I dismissed all sadness, and I paid his
+poetry such compliments that he was delighted, and, finding me much more
+talented than he had judged me to be at first, he insisted upon treating
+me to a reading of his idylls, and I had to swallow them, bearing the
+infliction cheerfully. The day passed off very agreeably; the housekeeper
+surrounded me with the kindest attentions--a proof that she was smitten
+with me; and, giving way to that pleasing idea, I felt that, by a very
+natural system of reciprocity, she had made my conquest. The good priest
+thought that the day had passed like lightning, thanks to all the
+beauties I had discovered in his poetry, which, to speak the truth, was
+below mediocrity, but time seemed to me to drag along very slowly,
+because the friendly glances of the housekeeper made me long for bedtime,
+in spite of the miserable condition in which I felt myself morally and
+physically. But such was my nature; I abandoned myself to joy and
+happiness, when, had I been more reasonable, I ought to have sunk under
+my grief and sadness.
+
+But the golden time came at last. I found the pretty housekeeper full of
+compliance, but only up to a certain point, and as she offered some
+resistance when I shewed myself disposed to pay a full homage to her
+charms, I quietly gave up the undertaking, very well pleased for both of
+us that it had not been carried any further, and I sought my couch in
+peace. But I had not seen the end of the adventure, for the next morning,
+when she brought my coffee, her pretty, enticing manners allured me to
+bestow a few loving caresses upon her, and if she did not abandon herself
+entirely, it was only, as she said, because she was afraid of some
+surprise. The day passed off very pleasantly with the good priest, and at
+night, the house-keeper no longer fearing detection, and I having on my
+side taken every precaution necessary in the state in which I was, we
+passed two most delicious hours. I left Orsara the next morning.
+
+Friar Stephano amused me all day with his talk, which plainly showed me
+his ignorance combined with knavery under the veil of simplicity. He made
+me look at the alms he had received in Orsara--bread, wine, cheese,
+sausages, preserves, and chocolate; every nook and cranny of his holy
+garment was full of provisions.
+
+"Have you received money likewise?" I enquired.
+
+"God forbid! In the first place, our glorious order does not permit me to
+touch money, and, in the second place, were I to be foolish enough to
+receive any when I am begging, people would think themselves quit of me
+with one or two sous, whilst they dive me ten times as much in eatables.
+Believe me Saint-Francis, was a very judicious man."
+
+I bethought myself that what this monk called wealth would be poverty to
+me. He offered to share with me, and seemed very proud at my consenting
+to honour him so far.
+
+The tartan touched at the harbour of Pola, called Veruda, and we landed.
+After a walk up hill of nearly a quarter of an hour, we entered the city,
+and I devoted a couple of hours to visiting the Roman antiquities, which
+are numerous, the town having been the metropolis of the empire. Yet I
+saw no other trace of grand buildings except the ruins of the arena. We
+returned to Veruda, and went again to sea. On the following day we
+sighted Ancona, but the wind being against us we were compelled to tack
+about, and we did not reach the port till the second day. The harbour of
+Ancona, although considered one of the great works of Trajan, would be
+very unsafe if it were not for a causeway which has cost a great deal of
+money, and which makes it some what better. I observed a fact worthy of
+notice, namely, that, in the Adriatic, the northern coast has many
+harbours, while the opposite coast can only boast of one or two. It is
+evident that the sea is retiring by degrees towards the east, and that in
+three or four more centuries Venice must be joined to the land. We landed
+at the old lazzaretto, where we received the pleasant information that we
+would go through a quarantine of twenty-eight days, because Venice had
+admitted, after a quarantine of three months, the crew of two ships from
+Messina, where the plague had recently been raging. I requested a room
+for myself and for Brother Stephano, who thanked me very heartily. I
+hired from a Jew a bed, a table and a few chairs, promising to pay for
+the hire at the expiration of our quarantine. The monk would have nothing
+but straw. If he had guessed that without him I might have starved, he
+would most likely not have felt so much vanity at sharing my room. A
+sailor, expecting to find in me a generous customer, came to enquire
+where my trunk was, and, hearing from me that I did not know, he, as well
+as Captain Alban, went to a great deal of trouble to find it, and I could
+hardly keep down my merriment when the captain called, begging to be
+excused for having left it behind, and assuring me that he would take
+care to forward it to me in less than three weeks.
+
+The friar, who had to remain with me four weeks, expected to live at my
+expense, while, on the contrary, he had been sent by Providence to keep
+me. He had provisions enough for one week, but it was necessary to think
+of the future.
+
+After supper, I drew a most affecting picture of my position, shewing
+that I should be in need of everything until my arrival at Rome, where I
+was going, I said, to fill the post of secretary of memorials, and my
+astonishment may be imagined when I saw the blockhead delighted at the
+recital of my misfortunes.
+
+"I undertake to take care of you until we reach Rome; only tell me
+whether you can write."
+
+"What a question! Are you joking?"
+
+"Why should I? Look at me; I cannot write anything but my name. True, I
+can write it with either hand; and what else do I want to know?"
+
+"You astonish me greatly, for I thought you were a priest."
+
+"I am a monk; I say the mass, and, as a matter of course, I must know how
+to read. Saint-Francis, whose unworthy son I am, could not read, an that
+is the reason why he never said a mass. But as you can write, you will
+to-morrow pen a letter in my name to the persons whose names I will give
+you, and I warrant you we shall have enough sent here to live like
+fighting cocks all through our quarantine."
+
+The next day he made me write eight letters, because, in the oral
+tradition of his order, it is said that, when a monk has knocked at seven
+doors and has met with a refusal at every one of them, he must apply to
+the eighth with perfect confidence, because there he is certain of
+receiving alms. As he had already performed the pilgrimage to Rome, he
+knew every person in Ancona devoted to the cult of Saint-Francis, and was
+acquainted with the superiors of all the rich convents. I had to write to
+every person he named, and to set down all the lies he dictated to me. He
+likewise made me sign the letters for him, saying, that, if he signed
+himself, his correspondents would see that the letters had not been
+written by him, which would injure him, for, he added, in this age of
+corruption, people will esteem only learned men. He compelled me to fill
+the letters with Latin passages and quotations, even those addressed to
+ladies, and I remonstrated in vain, for, when I raised any objection, he
+threatened to leave me without anything to eat. I made up my mind to do
+exactly as he wished. He desired me to write to the superior of the
+Jesuits that he would not apply to the Capuchins, because they were no
+better than atheists, and that that was the reason of the great dislike
+of Saint-Francis for them. It was in vain that I reminded him of the fact
+that, in the time of Saint-Francis, there were neither Capuchins nor
+Recollets. His answer was that I had proved myself an ignoramus. I firmly
+believed that he would be thought a madman, and that we should not
+receive anything, but I was mistaken, for such a quantity of provisions
+came pouring in that I was amazed. Wine was sent from three or four
+different quarters, more than enough for us during all our stay, and yet
+I drank nothing but water, so great was my wish to recover my health. As
+for eatables, enough was sent in every day for six persons; we gave all
+our surplus to our keeper, who had a large family. But the monk felt no
+gratitude for the kind souls who bestowed their charity upon him; all his
+thanks were reserved for Saint-Francis.
+
+He undertook to have my men washed by the keeper; I would not have dared
+to give it myself, and he said that he had nothing to fear, as everybody
+was well aware that the monks of his order never wear any kind of linen.
+
+I kept myself in bed nearly all day, and thus avoided shewing myself to
+visitors. The persons who did not come wrote letters full of
+incongruities cleverly worded, which I took good care not to point out to
+him. It was with great difficulty that I tried to persuade him that those
+letters did not require any answer.
+
+A fortnight of repose and severe diet brought me round towards complete
+recovery, and I began to walk in the yard of the lazzaretto from morning
+till night; but the arrival of a Turk from Thessalonia with his family
+compelled me to suspend my walks, the ground-floor having been given to
+him. The only pleasure left me was to spend my time on the balcony
+overlooking the yard. I soon saw a Greek slave, a girl of dazzling
+beauty, for whom I felt the deepest interest. She was in the habit of
+spending the whole day sitting near the door with a book or some
+embroidery in her hand. If she happened to raise her eyes and to meet
+mine, she modestly bent her head down, and sometimes she rose and went in
+slowly, as if she meant to say, "I did not know that somebody was looking
+at me." Her figure was tall and slender, her features proclaimed her to
+be very young; she had a very fair complexion, with beautiful black hair
+and eyes. She wore the Greek costume, which gave her person a certain air
+of very exciting voluptuousness.
+
+I was perfectly idle, and with the temperament which nature and habit had
+given me, was it likely that I could feast my eyes constantly upon such a
+charming object without falling desperately in love? I had heard her
+conversing in Lingua Franca with her master, a fine old man, who, like
+her, felt very weary of the quarantine, and used to come out but seldom,
+smoking his pipe, and remaining in the yard only a short time. I felt a
+great temptation to address a few words to the beautiful girl, but I was
+afraid she might run away and never come out again; however, unable to
+control myself any longer, I determined to write to her; I had no
+difficulty in conveying the letter, as I had only to let it fall from my
+balcony. But she might have refused to pick it up, and this is the plan I
+adopted in order not to risk any unpleasant result.
+
+Availing myself of a moment during which she was alone in the yard, I
+dropped from my balcony a small piece of paper folded like a letter, but
+I had taken care not to write anything on it, and held the true letter in
+my hand. As soon as I saw her stooping down to pick up the first, I
+quickly let the second drop at her feet, and she put both into her
+pocket. A few minutes afterwards she left the yard. My letter was
+somewhat to this effect:
+
+"Beautiful angel from the East, I worship you. I will remain all night on
+this balcony in the hope that you will come to me for a quarter of an
+hour, and listen to my voice through the hole under my feet. We can speak
+softly, and in order to hear me you can climb up to the top of the bale
+of goods which lies beneath the same hole."
+
+I begged from my keeper not to lock me in as he did every night, and he
+consented on condition that he would watch me, for if I had jumped down
+in the yard his life might have been the penalty, and he promised not to
+disturb me on the balcony.
+
+At midnight, as I was beginning to give her up, she came forward. I then
+laid myself flat on the floor of the balcony, and I placed my head
+against the hole, about six inches square. I saw her jump on the bale,
+and her head reached within a foot from the balcony. She was compelled to
+steady herself with one hand against the wall for fear of falling, and in
+that position we talked of love, of ardent desires, of obstacles, of
+impossibilities, and of cunning artifices. I told her the reason for
+which I dared not jump down in the yard, and she observed that, even
+without that reason, it would bring ruin upon us, as it would be
+impossible to come up again, and that, besides, God alone knew what her
+master would do if he were to find us together. Then, promising to visit
+me in this way every night, she passed her hand through the hole. Alas! I
+could not leave off kissing it, for I thought that I had never in my life
+touched so soft, so delicate a hand. But what bliss when she begged for
+mine! I quickly thrust my arm through the hole, so that she could fasten
+her lips to the bend of the elbow. How many sweet liberties my hand
+ventured to take! But we were at last compelled by prudence to separate,
+and when I returned to my room I saw with great pleasure that the keeper
+was fast asleep.
+
+Although I was delighted at having obtained every favour I could possibly
+wish for in the uncomfortable position we had been in, I racked my brain
+to contrive the means of securing more complete enjoyment for the
+following night, but I found during the afternoon that the feminine
+cunning of my beautiful Greek was more fertile than mine.
+
+Being alone in the yard with her master, she said a few words to him in
+Turkish, to which he seemed to give his approval, and soon after a
+servant, assisted by the keeper, brought under the balcony a large basket
+of goods. She overlooked the arrangement, and in order to secure the
+basket better, she made the servant place a bale of cotton across two
+others. Guessing at her purpose, I fairly leaped for joy, for she had
+found the way of raising herself two feet higher; but I thought that she
+would then find herself in the most inconvenient position, and that,
+forced to bend double, she would not be able to resist the fatigue. The
+hole was not wide enough for her head to pass through, otherwise she
+might have stood erect and been comfortable. It was necessary at all
+events to guard against that difficulty; the only way was to tear out one
+of the planks of the floor of the balcony, but it was not an easy
+undertaking. Yet I decided upon attempting it, regardless of
+consequences; and I went to my room to provide myself with a large pair
+of pincers. Luckily the keeper was absent, and availing myself of the
+opportunity, I succeeded in dragging out carefully the four large nails
+which fastened the plank. Finding that I could lift it at my will, I
+replaced the pincers, and waited for the night with amorous impatience.
+
+The darling girl came exactly at midnight, noticing the difficulty she
+experienced in climbing up, and in getting a footing upon the third bale
+of cotton, I lifted the plank, and, extending my arm as far as I could, I
+offered her a steady point of support. She stood straight, and found
+herself agreeably surprised, for she could pass her head and her arms
+through the hole. We wasted no time in empty compliments; we only
+congratulated each other upon having both worked for the same purpose.
+
+If, the night before, I had found myself master of her person more than
+she was of mine, this time the position was entirely reversed. Her hand
+roamed freely over every part of my body, but I had to stop half-way down
+hers. She cursed the man who had packed the bale for not having made it
+half a foot bigger, so as to get nearer to me. Very likely even that
+would not have satisfied us, but she would have felt happier.
+
+Our pleasures were barren, yet we kept up our enjoyment until the first
+streak of light. I put back the plank carefully, and I lay down in my bed
+in great need of recruiting my strength.
+
+My dear mistress had informed me that the Turkish Bairam began that very
+morning, and would last three days during which it would be impossible
+for her to see me.
+
+The night after Bairam, she did not fail to make her appearance, and,
+saying that she could not be happy without me, she told me that, as she
+was a Christian woman, I could buy her, if I waited for her after leaving
+the lazzaretto. I was compelled to tell her that I did not possess the
+means of doing so, and my confession made her sigh. On the following
+night, she informed me that her master would sell her for two thousand
+piasters, that she would give me the amount, that she was yet a virgin,
+and that I would be pleased with my bargain. She added that she would
+give me a casket full of diamonds, one of which was alone worth two
+thousand piasters, and that the sale of the others would place us beyond
+the reach of poverty for the remainder of our life. She assured me that
+her master would not notice the loss of the casket, and that, if he did,
+he would never think of accusing her.
+
+I was in love with this girl; and her proposal made me uncomfortable, but
+when I woke in the morning I did not hesitate any longer. She brought the
+casket in the evening, but I told her that I never could make up my mind
+to be accessory to a robbery; she was very unhappy, and said that my love
+was not as deep as her own, but that she could not help admiring me for
+being so good a Christian.
+
+This was the last night; probably we should never meet again. The flame
+of passion consumed us. She proposed that I should lift her up to the
+balcony through the open space. Where is the lover who would have
+objected to so attractive a proposal? I rose, and without being a Milo, I
+placed my hands under her arms, I drew her up towards me, and my desires
+are on the point of being fulfilled. Suddenly I feel two hands upon my
+shoulders, and the voice of the keeper exclaims, "What are you about?" I
+let my precious burden drop; she regains her chamber, and I, giving vent
+to my rage, throw myself flat on the floor of the balcony, and remain
+there without a movement, in spite of the shaking of the keeper whom I
+was sorely tempted to strangle. At last I rose from the floor and went to
+bed without uttering one word, and not even caring to replace the plank.
+
+In the morning, the governor informed us that we were free. As I left the
+lazzaretto, with a breaking heart, I caught a glimpse of the Greek slave
+drowned in tears.
+
+I agreed to meet Friar Stephano at the exchange, and I took the Jew from
+whom I had hired the furniture, to the convent of the Minims, where I
+received from Father Lazari ten sequins and the address of the bishop,
+who, after performing quarantine on the frontiers of Tuscany, had
+proceeded to Rome, where he would expect me to meet him.
+
+I paid the Jew, and made a poor dinner at an inn. As I was leaving it to
+join the monk, I was so unlucky as to meet Captain Alban, who reproached
+me bitterly for having led him to believe that my trunk had been left
+behind. I contrived to appease his anger by telling him all my
+misfortunes, and I signed a paper in which I declared that I had no claim
+whatever upon him. I then purchased a pair of shoes and an overcoat, and
+met Stephano, whom I informed of my decision to make a pilgrimage to Our
+Lady of Loretto. I said I would await there for him, and that we would
+afterwards travel together as far as Rome. He answered that he did not
+wish to go through Loretto, and that I would repent of my contempt for
+the grace of Saint-Francis. I did not alter my mind, and I left for
+Loretto the next day in the enjoyment of perfect health.
+
+I reached the Holy City, tired almost to death, for it was the first time
+in my life that I had walked fifteen miles, drinking nothing but water,
+although the weather was very warm, because the dry wine used in that
+part of the country parched me too much. I must observe that, in spite of
+my poverty, I did not look like a beggar.
+
+As I was entering the city, I saw coming towards me an elderly priest of
+very respectable appearance, and, as he was evidently taking notice of
+me, as soon as he drew near, I saluted him, and enquired where I could
+find a comfortable inn. "I cannot doubt," he said, "that a person like
+you, travelling on foot, must come here from devout motives; come with
+me." He turned back, I followed him, and he took me to a fine-looking
+house. After whispering a few words to a man who appeared to be a
+steward, he left me saying, very affably, "You shall be well attended
+to."
+
+My first impression was that I had been mistaken for some other person,
+but I said nothing.
+
+I was led to a suite of three rooms; the chamber was decorated with
+damask hangings, the bedstead had a canopy, and the table was supplied
+with all materials necessary for writing. A servant brought me a light
+dressing-gown, and another came in with linen and a large tub full of
+water, which he placed before me; my shoes and stockings were taken off,
+and my feet washed. A very decent-looking woman, followed by a servant
+girl, came in a few minutes after, and curtsying very low, she proceeded
+to make my bed. At that moment the Angelus bell was heard; everyone knelt
+down, and I followed their example. After the prayer, a small table was
+neatly laid out, I was asked what sort of wine I wished to drink, and I
+was provided with newspapers and two silver candlesticks. An hour
+afterwards I had a delicious fish supper, and, before I retired to bed, a
+servant came to enquire whether I would take chocolate in the morning
+before or after mass.
+
+As soon as I was in bed, the servant brought me a night-lamp with a dial,
+and I remained alone. Except in France I have never had such a good bed
+as I had that night. It would have cured the most chronic insomnia, but I
+was not labouring under such a disease, and I slept for ten hours.
+
+This sort of treatment easily led me to believe that I was not in any
+kind of hostelry; but where was I? How was I to suppose that I was in a
+hospital?
+
+When I had taken my chocolate, a hair-dresser--quite a fashionable,
+dapper fellow--made his appearance, dying to give vent to his chattering
+propensities. Guessing that I did not wish to be shaved, he offered to
+clip my soft down with the scissors, saying that I would look younger.
+
+"Why do you suppose that I want to conceal my age?"
+
+"It is very natural, because, if your lordship did not wish to do so,
+your lordship would have shaved long ago. Countess Marcolini is here;
+does your lordship know her? I must go to her at noon to dress her hair."
+
+I did not feel interested in the Countess Marcolini, and, seeing it, the
+gossip changed the subject.
+
+"Is this your lordship's first visit to this house? It is the finest
+hospital throughout the papal states."
+
+"I quite agree with you, and I shall compliment His Holiness on the
+establishment."
+
+"Oh! His Holiness knows all about it, he resided here before he became
+pope. If Monsignor Caraffa had not been well acquainted with you, he
+would not have introduced you here."
+
+Such is the use of barbers throughout Europe; but you must not put any
+questions to them, for, if you do, they are sure to threat you to an
+impudent mixture of truth and falsehood, and instead of you pumping them,
+they will worm everything out of you.
+
+Thinking that it was my duty to present my respectful compliments to
+Monsignor Caraffa, I desired to be taken to his apartment. He gave me a
+pleasant welcome, shewed me his library, and entrusted me to the care of
+one of his abbes, a man of parts, who acted as my cicerone every where.
+Twenty years afterwards, this same abbe was of great service to me in
+Rome, and, if still alive, he is a canon of St. John Lateran.
+
+On the following day, I took the communion in the Santa-Casa. The third
+day was entirely employed in examining the exterior of this truly
+wonderful sanctuary, and early the next day I resumed my journey, having
+spent nothing except three paoli for the barber. Halfway to Macerata, I
+overtook Brother Stephano walking on at a very slow rate. He was
+delighted to see me again, and told me that he had left Ancona two hours
+after me, but that he never walked more than three miles a day, being
+quite satisfied to take two months for a journey which, even on foot, can
+easily be accomplished in a week. "I want," he said, "to reach Rome
+without fatigue and in good health. I am in no hurry, and if you feel
+disposed to travel with me and in the same quiet way, Saint-Francis will
+not find it difficult to keep us both during the journey."
+
+This lazy fellow was a man about thirty, red-haired, very strong and
+healthy; a true peasant who had turned himself into a monk only for the
+sake of living in idle comfort. I answered that, as I was in a hurry to
+reach Rome, I could not be his travelling companion.
+
+"I undertake to walk six miles, instead of three, today," he said, "if
+you will carry my cloak, which I find very heavy."
+
+The proposal struck me as a rather funny one; I put on his cloak, and he
+took my great-coat, but, after the exchange, we cut such a comical figure
+that every peasant we met laughed at us. His cloak would truly have
+proved a load for a mule. There were twelve pockets quite full, without
+taken into account a pocket behind, which he called 'il batticulo', and
+which contained alone twice as much as all the others. Bread, wine, fresh
+and salt meat, fowls, eggs, cheese, ham, sausages--everything was to be
+found in those pockets, which contained provisions enough for a
+fortnight.
+
+I told him how well I had been treated in Loretto, and he assured me that
+I might have asked Monsignor Caraffa to give me letters for all the
+hospitals on my road to Rome, and that everywhere I would have met with
+the same reception. "The hospitals," he added, "are all under the curse
+of Saint-Francis, because the mendicant friars are not admitted in them;
+but we do not mind their gates being shut against us, because they are
+too far apart from each other. We prefer the homes of the persons
+attached to our order; these we find everywhere."
+
+"Why do you not ask hospitality in the convents of your order?"
+
+"I am not so foolish. In the first place, I should not be admitted,
+because, being a fugitive, I have not the written obedience which must be
+shown at every convent, and I should even run the risk of being thrown
+into prison; your monks are a cursed bad lot. In the second place, I
+should not be half so comfortable in the convents as I am with our devout
+benefactors."
+
+"Why and how are you a fugitive?"
+
+He answered my question by the narrative of his imprisonment and flight,
+the whole story being a tissue of absurdities and lies. The fugitive
+Recollet friar was a fool, with something of the wit of harlequin, and he
+thought that every man listening to him was a greater fool than himself.
+Yet with all his folly he was not went in a certain species of cunning.
+His religious principles were singular. As he did not wish to be taken
+for a bigoted man he was scandalous, and for the sake of making people
+laugh he would often make use of the most disgusting expressions. He had
+no taste whatever for women, and no inclination towards the pleasures of
+the flesh; but this was only owing to a deficiency in his natural
+temperament, and yet he claimed for himself the virtue of continence. On
+that score, everything appeared to him food for merriment, and when he
+had drunk rather too much, he would ask questions of such an indecent
+character that they would bring blushes on everybody's countenance. Yet
+the brute would only laugh.
+
+As we were getting within one hundred yards from the house of the devout
+friend whom he intended to honour with his visit, he took back his heavy
+cloak. On entering the house he gave his blessing to everybody, and
+everyone in the family came to kiss his hand. The mistress of the house
+requested him to say mass for them, and the compliant monk asked to be
+taken to the vestry, but when I whispered in his ear,---
+
+"Have you forgotten that we have already broken our fast to-day?" he
+answered, dryly,---
+
+"Mind your own business."
+
+I dared not make any further remark, but during the mass I was indeed
+surprised, for I saw that he did not understand what he was doing. I
+could not help being amused at his awkwardness, but I had not yet seen
+the best part of the comedy. As soon as he had somehow or other finished
+his mass he went to the confessional, and after hearing in confession
+every member of the family he took it into his head to refuse absolution
+to the daughter of his hostess, a girl of twelve or thirteen, pretty and
+quite charming. He gave his refusal publicly, scolding her and
+threatening her with the torments of hell. The poor girl, overwhelmed
+with shame, left the church crying bitterly, and I, feeling real sympathy
+for her, could not help saying aloud to Stephano that he was a madman. I
+ran after the girl to offer her my consolations, but she had disappeared,
+and could not be induced to join us at dinner. This piece of extravagance
+on the part of the monk exasperated me to such an extent that I felt a
+very strong inclination to thrash him. In the presence of all the family
+I told him that he was an impostor, and the infamous destroyer of the
+poor child's honour; I challenged him to explain his reasons for refusing
+to give her absolution, but he closed my lips by answering very coolly
+that he could not betray the secrets of the confessional. I could eat
+nothing, and was fully determined to leave the scoundrel. As we left the
+house I was compelled to accept one paolo as the price of the mock mass
+he had said. I had to fulfil the sorry duty of his treasurer.
+
+The moment we were on the road, I told him that I was going to part
+company, because I was afraid of being sent as a felon to the galleys if
+I continued my journey with him. We exchanged high words; I called him an
+ignorant scoundrel, he styled me beggar. I struck him a violent slap on
+the face, which he returned with a blow from his stick, but I quickly
+snatched it from him, and, leaving him, I hastened towards Macerata. A
+carrier who was going to Tolentino took me with him for two paoli, and
+for six more I might have reached Foligno in a waggon, but unfortunately
+a wish for economy made me refuse the offer. I felt well, and I thought I
+could easily walk as far as Valcimare, but I arrived there only after
+five hours of hard walking, and thoroughly beaten with fatigue. I was
+strong and healthy, but a walk of five hours was more than I could bear,
+because in my infancy I had never gone a league on foot. Young people
+cannot practise too much the art of walking.
+
+The next day, refreshed by a good night's rest, and ready to resume my
+journey, I wanted to pay the innkeeper, but, alas! a new misfortune was
+in store for me! Let the reader imagine my sad position! I recollected
+that I had forgotten my purse, containing seven sequins, on the table of
+the inn at Tolentino. What a thunderbolt! I was in despair, but I gave up
+the idea of going back, as it was very doubtful whether I would find my
+money. Yet it contained all I possessed, save a few copper coins I had in
+my pocket. I paid my small bill, and, deeply grieved at my loss,
+continued my journey towards Seraval. I was within three miles of that
+place when, in jumping over a ditch, I sprained my ankle, and was
+compelled to sit down on one side of the road, and to wait until someone
+should come to my assistance.
+
+In the course of an hour a peasant happened to pass with his donkey, and
+he agreed to carry me to Seraval for one paolo. As I wanted to spend as
+little as possible, the peasant took me to an ill-looking fellow who, for
+two paoli paid in advance, consented to give me a lodging. I asked him to
+send for a surgeon, but I did not obtain one until the following morning.
+I had a wretched supper, after which I lay down in a filthy bed. I was in
+hope that sleep would bring me some relief, but my evil genius was
+preparing for me a night of torments.
+
+Three men, armed with guns and looking like banditti, came in shortly
+after I had gone to bed, speaking a kind of slang which I could not make
+out, swearing, raging, and paying no attention to me. They drank and sang
+until midnight, after which they threw themselves down on bundles of
+straw brought for them, and my host, who was drunk, came, greatly to my
+dismay, to lie down near me. Disgusted at the idea of having such a
+fellow for my bed companion, I refused to let him come, but he answered,
+with fearful blasphemies, that all the devils in hell could not prevent
+him from taking possession of his own bed. I was forced to make room for
+him, and exclaimed "Heavens, where am I?" He told me that I was in the
+house of the most honest constable in all the papal states.
+
+Could I possibly have supposed that the peasant would have brought me
+amongst those accursed enemies of humankind!
+
+He laid himself down near me, but the filthy scoundrel soon compelled me
+to give him, for certain reasons, such a blow in his chest that he rolled
+out of bed. He picked himself up, and renewed his beastly attempt. Being
+well aware that I could not master him without great danger, I got out of
+bed, thinking myself lucky that he did not oppose my wish, and crawling
+along as well as I could, I found a chair on which I passed the night. At
+day-break, my tormentor, called up by his honest comrades, joined them in
+drinking and shouting, and the three strangers, taking their guns,
+departed. Left alone by the departure of the vile rabble, I passed
+another unpleasant hour, calling in vain for someone. At last a young boy
+came in, I gave him some money and he went for a surgeon. The doctor
+examined my foot, and assured me that three or four days would set me to
+rights. He advised me to be removed to an inn, and I most willingly
+followed his counsel. As soon as I was brought to the inn, I went to bed,
+and was well cared for, but my position was such that I dreaded the
+moment of my recovery. I feared that I should be compelled to sell my
+coat to pay the inn-keeper, and the very thought made me feel ashamed. I
+began to consider that if I had controlled my sympathy for the young girl
+so ill-treated by Stephano, I should not have fallen into this sad
+predicament, and I felt conscious that my sympathy had been a mistake. If
+I had put up with the faults of the friar, if this and if that, and every
+other if was conjured up to torment my restless and wretched brain. Yet I
+must confess that the thoughts which have their origin in misfortune are
+not without advantage to a young man, for they give him the habit of
+thinking, and the man who does not think never does anything right.
+
+The morning of the fourth day came, and I was able to walk, as the
+surgeon had predicted; I made up my mind, although reluctantly, to beg
+the worthy man to sell my great coat for me--a most unpleasant necessity,
+for rain had begun to fall. I owed fifteen paoli to the inn-keeper and
+four to the surgeon. Just as I was going to proffer my painful request,
+Brother Stephano made his appearance in my room, and burst into loud
+laughter enquiring whether I had forgotten the blow from his stick!
+
+I was struck with amazement! I begged the surgeon to leave me with the
+monk, and he immediately complied.
+
+I must ask my readers whether it is possible, in the face of such
+extraordinary circumstances, not to feel superstitious! What is truly
+miraculous in this case is the precise minute at which the event took
+place, for the friar entered the room as the word was hanging on my lips.
+What surprised me most was the force of Providence, of fortune, of
+chance, whatever name is given to it, of that very necessary combination
+which compelled me to find no hope but in that fatal monk, who had begun
+to be my protective genius in Chiozza at the moment my distress had
+likewise commenced. And yet, a singular guardian angel, this Stephano! I
+felt that the mysterious force which threw me in his hands was a
+punishment rather than a favour.
+
+Nevertheless he was welcome, because I had no doubt of his relieving me
+from my difficulties,--and whatever might be the power that sent him to
+me, I felt that I could not do better than to submit to its influence;
+the destiny of that monk was to escort me to Rome.
+
+"Chi va piano va sano," said the friar as soon as we were alone. He had
+taken five days to traverse the road over which I had travelled in one
+day, but he was in good health, and he had met with no misfortune. He
+told me that, as he was passing, he heard that an abbe, secretary to the
+Venetian ambassador at Rome, was lying ill at the inn, after having been
+robbed in Valcimara. "I came to see you," he added, "and as I find you
+recovered from your illness, we can start again together; I agree to walk
+six miles every day to please you. Come, let us forget the past, and let
+us be at once on our way."
+
+"I cannot go; I have lost my purse, and I owe twenty paoli."
+
+"I will go and find the amount in the name of Saint-Francis."
+
+He returned within an hour, but he was accompanied by the infamous
+constable who told me that, if I had let him know who I was, he would
+have been happy to keep me in his house. "I will give you," he continued,
+"forty paoli, if you will promise me the protection of your ambassador;
+but if you do not succeed in obtaining it for me in Rome, you will
+undertake to repay me. Therefore you must give me an acknowledgement of
+the debt."
+
+"I have no objection." Every arrangement was speedily completed; I
+received the money, paid my debts, and left Seraval with Stephano.
+
+About one o'clock in the afternoon, we saw a wretched-looking house at a
+short distance from the road, and the friar said, "It is a good distance
+from here to Collefiorito; we had better put up there for the night." It
+was in vain that I objected, remonstrating that we were certain of having
+very poor accommodation! I had to submit to his will. We found a decrepit
+old man lying on a pallet, two ugly women of thirty or forty, three
+children entirely naked, a cow, and a cursed dog which barked
+continually. It was a picture of squalid misery; but the niggardly monk,
+instead of giving alms to the poor people, asked them to entertain us to
+supper in the name of Saint-Francis.
+
+"You must boil the hen," said the dying man to the females, "and bring
+out of the cellar the bottle of wine which I have kept now for twenty
+years." As he uttered those few words, he was seized with such a fit of
+coughing that I thought he would die. The friar went near him, and
+promised him that, by the grace of Saint-Francis, he would get young and
+well. Moved by the sight of so much misery, I wanted to continue my
+journey as far as Collefiorito, and to wait there for Stephano, but the
+women would not let me go, and I remained. After boiling for four hours
+the hen set the strongest teeth at defiance, and the bottle which I
+uncorked proved to be nothing but sour vinegar. Losing patience, I got
+hold of the monk's batticaslo, and took out of it enough for a plentiful
+supper, and I saw the two women opening their eyes very wide at the sight
+of our provisions.
+
+We all ate with good appetite, and, after our supper the women made for
+us two large beds of fresh straw, and we lay down in the dark, as the
+last bit of candle to be found in the miserable dwelling was burnt out.
+We had not been lying on the straw five minutes, when Stephano called out
+to me that one of the women had just placed herself near him, and at the
+same instant the other one takes me in her arms and kisses me. I push her
+away, and the monk defends himself against the other; but mine, nothing
+daunted, insists upon laying herself near me; I get up, the dog springs
+at my neck, and fear compels me to remain quiet on my straw bed; the monk
+screams, swears, struggles, the dog barks furiously, the old man coughs;
+all is noise and confusion. At last Stephano, protected by his heavy
+garments, shakes off the too loving shrew, and, braving the dog, manages
+to find his stick. Then he lays about to right and left, striking in
+every direction; one of the women exclaims, "Oh, God!" the friar answers,
+"She has her quietus." Calm reigns again in the house, the dog, most
+likely dead, is silent; the old man, who perhaps has received his
+death-blow, coughs no more; the children sleep, and the women, afraid of
+the singular caresses of the monk, sheer off into a corner; the remainder
+of the night passed off quietly.
+
+At day-break I rose; Stephano was likewise soon up. I looked all round,
+and my surprise was great when I found that the women had gone out, and
+seeing that the old man gave no sign of life, and had a bruise on his
+forehead, I shewed it to Stephano, remarking that very likely he had
+killed him.
+
+"It is possible," he answered, "but I have not done it intentionally."
+
+Then taking up his batticulo and finding it empty he flew into a violent
+passion; but I was much pleased, for I had been afraid that the women had
+gone out to get assistance and to have us arrested, and the robbery of
+our provisions reassured me, as I felt certain that the poor wretches had
+gone out of the way so as to secure impunity for their theft. But I laid
+great stress upon the danger we should run by remaining any longer, and I
+succeeded in frightening the friar out of the house. We soon met a
+waggoner going to Folligno; I persuaded Stephano to take the opportunity
+of putting a good distance between us and the scene of our last
+adventures; and, as we were eating our breakfast at Folligno, we saw
+another waggon, quite empty, got a lift in it for a trifle, and thus rode
+to Pisignano, where a devout person gave us a charitable welcome, and I
+slept soundly through the night without the dread of being arrested.
+
+Early the next day we reached Spoleti, where Brother Stephano had two
+benefactors, and, careful not to give either of them a cause of jealousy,
+he favoured both; we dined with the first, who entertained us like
+princes, and we had supper and lodging in the house of the second, a
+wealthy wine merchant, and the father of a large and delightful family.
+He gave us a delicious supper, and everything would have gone on
+pleasantly had not the friar, already excited by his good dinner, made
+himself quite drunk. In that state, thinking to please his new host, he
+began to abuse the other, greatly to my annoyance; he said the wine he
+had given us to drink was adulterated, and that the man was a thief. I
+gave him the lie to his face, and called him a scoundrel. The host and
+his wife pacified me, saying that they were well acquainted with their
+neighbour, and knew what to think of him; but the monk threw his napkin
+at my face, and the host took him very quietly by the arm and put him to
+bed in a room in which he locked him up. I slept in another room.
+
+In the morning I rose early, and was considering whether it would not be
+better to go alone, when the friar, who had slept himself sober, made his
+appearance and told me that we ought for the future to live together like
+good friends, and not give way to angry feelings; I followed my destiny
+once more. We resumed our journey, and at Soma, the inn-keeper, a woman
+of rare beauty, gave us a good dinner, and some excellent Cyprus wine
+which the Venetian couriers exchanged with her against delicious truffles
+found in the vicinity of Soma, which sold for a good price in Venice. I
+did not leave the handsome inn-keeper without losing a part of my heart.
+
+It would be difficult to draw a picture of the indignation which
+overpowered me when, as we were about two miles from Terni, the infamous
+friar shewed me a small bag full of truffles which the scoundrel had
+stolen from the amiable woman by way of thanks for her generous
+hospitality. The truffles were worth two sequins at least. In my
+indignation I snatched the bag from him, saying that I would certainly
+return it to its lawful owner. But, as he had not committed the robbery
+to give himself the pleasure of making restitution, he threw himself upon
+me, and we came to a regular fight. But victory did not remain long in
+abeyance; I forced his stick out of his hands, knocked him into a ditch,
+and went off. On reaching Terni, I wrote a letter of apology to our
+beautiful hostess of Soma, and sent back the truffles.
+
+From Terni I went on foot to Otricoli, where I only stayed long enough to
+examine the fine old bridge, and from there I paid four paoli to a
+waggoner who carried me to Castel-Nuovo, from which place I walked to
+Rome. I reached the celebrated city on the 1st of September, at nine in
+the morning.
+
+I must not forget to mention here a rather peculiar circumstance, which,
+however ridiculous it may be in reality, will please many of my readers.
+
+An hour after I had left Castel-Nuovo, the atmosphere being calm and the
+sky clear, I perceived on my right, and within ten paces of me, a
+pyramidal flame about two feet long and four or five feet above the
+ground. This apparition surprised me, because it seemed to accompany me.
+Anxious to examine it, I endeavoured to get nearer to it, but the more I
+advanced towards it the further it went from me. It would stop when I
+stood still, and when the road along which I was travelling happened to
+be lined with trees, I no longer saw it, but it was sure to reappear as
+soon as I reached a portion of the road without trees. I several times
+retraced my steps purposely, but, every time I did so, the flame
+disappeared, and would not shew itself again until I proceeded towards
+Rome. This extraordinary beacon left me when daylight chased darkness
+from the sky.
+
+What a splendid field for ignorant superstition, if there had been any
+witnesses to that phenomenon, and if I had chanced to make a great name
+in Rome! History is full of such trifles, and the world is full of people
+who attach great importance to them in spite of the so-called light of
+science. I must candidly confess that, although somewhat versed in
+physics, the sight of that small meteor gave me singular ideas. But I was
+prudent enough not to mention the circumstance to any one.
+
+When I reached the ancient capital of the world, I possessed only seven
+paoli, and consequently I did not loiter about. I paid no attention to
+the splendid entrance through the gate of the polar trees, which is by
+mistake pompously called of the people, or to the beautiful square of the
+same name, or to the portals of the magnificent churches, or to all the
+stately buildings which generally strike the traveller as he enters the
+city. I went straight towards Monte-Magnanopoli, where, according to the
+address given to me, I was to find the bishop. There I was informed that
+he had left Rome ten days before, leaving instructions to send me to
+Naples free of expense. A coach was to start for Naples the next day; not
+caring to see Rome, I went to bed until the time for the departure of the
+coach. I travelled with three low fellows to whom I did not address one
+word through the whole of the journey. I entered Naples on the 6th day of
+September.
+
+I went immediately to the address which had been given to me in Rome; the
+bishop was not there. I called at the Convent of the Minims, and I found
+that he had left Naples to proceed to Martorano. I enquired whether he
+had left any instructions for me, but all in vain, no one could give me
+any information. And there I was, alone in a large city, without a
+friend, with eight carlini in my pocket, and not knowing what to do! But
+never mind; fate calls me to Martorano, and to Martorano I must go. The
+distance, after all, is only two hundred miles.
+
+I found several drivers starting for Cosenza, but when they heard that I
+had no luggage, they refused to take me, unless I paid in advance. They
+were quite right, but their prudence placed me under the necessity of
+going on foot. Yet I felt I must reach Martorano, and I made up my mind
+to walk the distance, begging food and lodging like the very reverend
+Brother Stephano.
+
+First of all I made a light meal for one fourth of my money, and, having
+been informed that I had to follow the Salerno road, I went towards
+Portici where I arrived in an hour and a half. I already felt rather
+fatigued; my legs, if not my head, took me to an inn, where I ordered a
+room and some supper. I was served in good style, my appetite was
+excellent, and I passed a quiet night in a comfortable bed. In the
+morning I told the inn-keeper that I would return for my dinner, and I
+went out to visit the royal palace. As I passed through the gate, I was
+met by a man of prepossessing appearance, dressed in the eastern fashion,
+who offered to shew me all over the palace, saying that I would thus save
+my money. I was in a position to accept any offer; I thanked him for his
+kindness.
+
+Happening during the conversation to state that I was a Venetian, he told
+me that he was my subject, since he came from Zante. I acknowledged his
+polite compliment with a reverence.
+
+"I have," he said, "some very excellent muscatel wine 'grown in the East,
+which I could sell you cheap."
+
+"I might buy some, but I warn you I am a good judge."
+
+"So much the better. Which do you prefer?"
+
+"The Cerigo wine."
+
+"You are right. I have some rare Cerigo muscatel, and we can taste it if
+you have no objection to dine with me."
+
+"None whatever."
+
+"I can likewise give you the wines of Samos and Cephalonia. I have also a
+quantity of minerals, plenty of vitriol, cinnabar, antimony, and one
+hundred quintals of mercury."
+
+"Are all these goods here?"
+
+"No, they are in Naples. Here I have only the muscatel wine and the
+mercury."
+
+It is quite naturally and without any intention to deceive, that a young
+man accustomed to poverty, and ashamed of it when he speaks to a rich
+stranger, boasts of his means--of his fortune. As I was talking with my
+new acquaintance, I recollected an amalgam of mercury with lead and
+bismuth, by which the mercury increases one-fourth in weight. I said
+nothing, but I bethought myself that if the mystery should be unknown to
+the Greek I might profit by it. I felt that some cunning was necessary,
+and that he would not care for my secret if I proposed to sell it to him
+without preparing the way. The best plan was to astonish my man with the
+miracle of the augmentation of the mercury, treat it as a jest, and see
+what his intentions would be. Cheating is a crime, but honest cunning may
+be considered as a species of prudence. True, it is a quality which is
+near akin to roguery; but that cannot be helped, and the man who, in time
+of need, does not know how to exercise his cunning nobly is a fool. The
+Greeks call this sort of wisdom Cerdaleophyon from the word cerdo; fox,
+and it might be translated by foxdom if there were such a word in
+English.
+
+After we had visited the palace we returned to the inn, and the Greek
+took me to his room, in which he ordered the table to be laid for two. In
+the next room I saw several large vessels of muscatel wine and four
+flagons of mercury, each containing about ten pounds.
+
+My plans were laid, and I asked him to let me have one of the flagons of
+mercury at the current price, and took it to my room. The Greek went out
+to attend to his business, reminding me that he expected me to dinner. I
+went out likewise, and bought two pounds and a half of lead and an equal
+quantity of bismuth; the druggist had no more. I came back to the inn,
+asked for some large empty bottles, and made the amalgam.
+
+We dined very pleasantly, and the Greek was delighted because I
+pronounced his Cerigo excellent. In the course of conversation he
+inquired laughingly why I had bought one of his flagons of mercury.
+
+"You can find out if you come to my room," I said.
+
+After dinner we repaired to my room, and he found his mercury divided in
+two vessels. I asked for a piece of chamois, strained the liquid through
+it, filled his own flagon, and the Greek stood astonished at the sight of
+the fine mercury, about one-fourth of a flagon, which remained over, with
+an equal quantity of a powder unknown to him; it was the bismuth. My
+merry laugh kept company with his astonishment, and calling one of the
+servants of the inn I sent him to the druggist to sell the mercury that
+was left. He returned in a few minutes and handed me fifteen carlini.
+
+The Greek, whose surprise was complete, asked me to give him back his own
+flagon, which was there quite full, and worth sixty carlini. I handed it
+to him with a smile, thanking him for the opportunity he had afforded me
+of earning fifteen carlini, and took care to add that I should leave for
+Salerno early the next morning.
+
+"Then we must have supper together this evening," he said.
+
+During the afternoon we took a walk towards Mount Vesuvius. Our
+conversation went from one subject to another, but no allusion was made
+to the mercury, though I could see that the Greek had something on his
+mind. At supper he told me, jestingly, that I ought to stop in Portici
+the next day to make forty-five carlini out of the three other flagons of
+mercury. I answered gravely that I did not want the money, and that I had
+augmented the first flagon only for the sake of procuring him an
+agreeable surprise.
+
+"But," said he, "you must be very wealthy."
+
+"No, I am not, because I am in search of the secret of the augmentation
+of gold, and it is a very expensive study for us."
+
+"How many are there in your company?"
+
+"Only my uncle and myself."
+
+"What do you want to augment gold for? The augmentation of mercury ought
+to be enough for you. Pray, tell me whether the mercury augmented by you
+to-day is again susceptible of a similar increase."
+
+"No, if it were so, it would be an immense source of wealth for us."
+
+"I am much pleased with your sincerity."
+
+Supper over I paid my bill, and asked the landlord to get me a carriage
+and pair of horses to take me to Salerno early the next morning. I
+thanked the Greek for his delicious muscatel wine, and, requesting his
+address in Naples, I assured him that he would see me within a fortnight,
+as I was determined to secure a cask of his Cerigo.
+
+We embraced each other, and I retired to bed well pleased with my day's
+work, and in no way astonished at the Greek's not offering to purchase my
+secret, for I was certain that he would not sleep for anxiety, and that I
+should see him early in the morning. At all events, I had enough money to
+reach the Tour-du-Grec, and there Providence would take care of me. Yet
+it seemed to me very difficult to travel as far as Martorano, begging
+like a mendicant-friar, because my outward appearance did not excite
+pity; people would feel interested in me only from a conviction that I
+needed nothing--a very unfortunate conviction, when the object of it is
+truly poor.
+
+As I had forseen, the Greek was in my room at daybreak. I received him in
+a friendly way, saying that we could take coffee together.
+
+"Willingly; but tell me, reverend abbe, whether you would feel disposed
+to sell me your secret?"
+
+"Why not? When we meet in Naples--"
+
+"But why not now?"
+
+"I am expected in Salerno; besides, I would only sell the secret for a
+large sum of money, and I am not acquainted with you."
+
+"That does not matter, as I am sufficiently known here to pay you in
+cash. How much would you want?"
+
+"Two thousand ounces."
+
+"I agree to pay you that sum provided that I succeed in making the
+augmentation myself with such matter as you name to me, which I will
+purchase."
+
+"It is impossible, because the necessary ingredients cannot be got here;
+but they are common enough in Naples."
+
+"If it is any sort of metal, we can get it at the Tourdu-Grec. We could
+go there together. Can you tell me what is the expense of the
+augmentation?"
+
+"One and a half per cent. but are you likewise known at the Tour-du-Grec,
+for I should not like to lose my time?"
+
+"Your doubts grieve me."
+
+Saying which, he took a pen, wrote a few words, and handed to me this
+order:
+
+"At sight, pay to bearer the sum of fifty gold ounces, on account of
+Panagiotti."
+
+He told me that the banker resided within two hundred yards of the inn,
+and he pressed me to go there myself. I did not stand upon ceremony, but
+went to the banker who paid me the amount. I returned to my room in which
+he was waiting for me, and placed the gold on the table, saying that we
+could now proceed together to the Tour-du-Grec, where we would complete
+our arrangements after the signature of a deed of agreement. The Greek
+had his own carriage and horses; he gave orders for them to be got ready,
+and we left the inn; but he had nobly insisted upon my taking possession
+of the fifty ounces.
+
+When we arrived at the Tour-du-Grec, he signed a document by which he
+promised to pay me two thousand ounces as soon as I should have
+discovered to him the process of augmenting mercury by one-fourth without
+injuring its quality, the amalgam to be equal to the mercury which I had
+sold in his presence at Portici.
+
+He then gave me a bill of exchange payable at sight in eight days on M.
+Genaro de Carlo. I told him that the ingredients were lead and bismuth;
+the first, combining with mercury, and the second giving to the whole the
+perfect fluidity necessary to strain it through the chamois leather. The
+Greek went out to try the amalgam--I do not know where, and I dined
+alone, but toward evening he came back, looking very disconsolate, as I
+had expected.
+
+"I have made the amalgam," he said, "but the mercury is not perfect."
+
+"It is equal to that which I have sold in Portici, and that is the very
+letter of your engagement."
+
+"But my engagement says likewise without injury to the quality. You must
+agree that the quality is injured, because it is no longer susceptible of
+further augmentation."
+
+"You knew that to be the case; the point is its equality with the mercury
+I sold in Portici. But we shall have to go to law, and you will lose. I
+am sorry the secret should become public. Congratulate yourself, sir,
+for, if you should gain the lawsuit, you will have obtained my secret for
+nothing. I would never have believed you capable of deceiving me in such
+a manner."
+
+"Reverend sir, I can assure you that I would not willingly deceive any
+one."
+
+"Do you know the secret, or do you not? Do you suppose I would have given
+it to you without the agreement we entered into? Well, there will be some
+fun over this affair in Naples, and the lawyers will make money out of
+it. But I am much grieved at this turn of affairs, and I am very sorry
+that I allowed myself to be so easily deceived by your fine talk. In the
+mean time, here are your fifty ounces."
+
+As I was taking the money out of my pocket, frightened to death lest he
+should accept it, he left the room, saying that he would not have it. He
+soon returned; we had supper in the same room, but at separate tables;
+war had been openly declared, but I felt certain that a treaty of peace
+would soon be signed. We did not exchange one word during the evening,
+but in the morning he came to me as I was getting ready to go. I again
+offered to return the money I received, but he told me to keep it, and
+proposed to give me fifty ounces more if I would give him back his bill
+of exchange for two thousand. We began to argue the matter quietly, and
+after two hours of discussion I gave in. I received fifty ounces more, we
+dined together like old friends, and embraced each other cordially. As I
+was bidding him adieu, he gave me an order on his house at Naples for a
+barrel of muscatel wine, and he presented me with a splendid box
+containing twelve razors with silver handles, manufactured in the
+Tour-du-Grec. We parted the best friends in the world and well pleased
+with each other.
+
+I remained two days in Salerno to provide myself with linen and other
+necessaries. Possessing about one hundred sequins, and enjoying good
+health, I was very proud of my success, in which I could not see any
+cause of reproach to myself, for the cunning I had brought into play to
+insure the sale of my secret could not be found fault with except by the
+most intolerant of moralists, and such men have no authority to speak on
+matters of business. At all events, free, rich, and certain of presenting
+myself before the bishop with a respectable appearance, and not like a
+beggar, I soon recovered my natural spirits, and congratulated myself
+upon having bought sufficient experience to insure me against falling a
+second time an easy prey to a Father Corsini, to thieving gamblers, to
+mercenary women, and particularly to the impudent scoundrels who
+barefacedly praise so well those they intend to dupe--a species of knaves
+very common in the world, even amongst people who form what is called
+good society.
+
+I left Salerno with two priests who were going to Cosenza on business,
+and we traversed the distance of one hundred and forty-two miles in
+twenty-two hours. The day after my arrival in the capital of Calabria, I
+took a small carriage and drove to Martorano. During the journey, fixing
+my eyes upon the famous mare Ausonaum, I felt delighted at finding myself
+in the middle of Magna Grecia, rendered so celebrated for twenty-four
+centuries by its connection with Pythagoras. I looked with astonishment
+upon a country renowned for its fertility, and in which, in spite of
+nature's prodigality, my eyes met everywhere the aspect of terrible
+misery, the complete absence of that pleasant superfluity which helps man
+to enjoy life, and the degradation of the inhabitants sparsely scattered
+on a soil where they ought to be so numerous; I felt ashamed to
+acknowledge them as originating from the same stock as myself. Such is,
+however the Terra di Lavoro where labour seems to be execrated, where
+everything is cheap, where the miserable inhabitants consider that they
+have made a good bargain when they have found anyone disposed to take
+care of the fruit which the ground supplies almost spontaneously in too
+great abundance, and for which there is no market. I felt compelled to
+admit the justice of the Romans who had called them Brutes instead of
+Byutians. The good priests with whom I had been travelling laughed at my
+dread of the tarantula and of the crasydra, for the disease brought on by
+the bite of those insects appeared to me more fearful even than a certain
+disease with which I was already too well acquainted. They assured me
+that all the stories relating to those creatures were fables; they
+laughed at the lines which Virgil has devoted to them in the Georgics as
+well as at all those I quoted to justify my fears.
+
+I found Bishop Bernard de Bernardis occupying a hard chair near an old
+table on which he was writing. I fell on my knees, as it is customary to
+do before a prelate, but, instead of giving me his blessing, he raised me
+up from the floor, and, folding me in his arms, embraced me tenderly. He
+expressed his deep sorrow when I told him that in Naples I had not been
+able to find any instructions to enable me to join him, but his face
+lighted up again when I added that I was indebted to no one for money,
+and that I was in good health. He bade me take a seat, and with a heavy
+sigh he began to talk of his poverty, and ordered a servant to lay the
+cloth for three persons. Besides this servant, his lordship's suite
+consisted of a most devout-looking housekeeper, and of a priest whom I
+judged to be very ignorant from the few words he uttered during our meal.
+The house inhabited by his lordship was large, but badly built and poorly
+kept. The furniture was so miserable that, in order to make up a bed for
+me in the room adjoining his chamber, the poor bishop had to give up one
+of his two mattresses! His dinner, not to say any more about it,
+frightened me, for he was very strict in keeping the rules of his order,
+and this being a fast day, he did not eat any meat, and the oil was very
+bad. Nevertheless, monsignor was an intelligent man, and, what is still
+better, an honest man. He told me, much to my surprise, that his
+bishopric, although not one of little importance, brought him in only
+five hundred ducat-diregno yearly, and that, unfortunately, he had
+contracted debts to the amount of six hundred. He added, with a sigh,
+that his only happiness was to feel himself out of the clutches of the
+monks, who had persecuted him, and made his life a perfect purgatory for
+fifteen years. All these confidences caused me sorrow and mortification,
+because they proved to me, not only that I was not in the promised land
+where a mitre could be picked up, but also that I would be a heavy charge
+for him. I felt that he was grieved himself at the sorry present his
+patronage seemed likely to prove.
+
+I enquired whether he had a good library, whether there were any literary
+men, or any good society in which one could spend a few agreeable hours.
+He smiled and answered that throughout his diocese there was not one man
+who could boast of writing decently, and still less of any taste or
+knowledge in literature; that there was not a single bookseller, nor any
+person caring even for the newspapers. But he promised me that we would
+follow our literary tastes together, as soon as he received the books he
+had ordered from Naples.
+
+That was all very well, but was this the place for a young man of
+eighteen to live in, without a good library, without good society,
+without emulation and literacy intercourse? The good bishop, seeing me
+full of sad thoughts, and almost astounded at the prospect of the
+miserable life I should have to lead with him, tried to give me courage
+by promising to do everything in his power to secure my happiness.
+
+The next day, the bishop having to officiate in his pontifical robes, I
+had an opportunity of seeing all the clergy, and all the faithful of the
+diocese, men and women, of whom the cathedral was full; the sight made me
+resolve at once to leave Martorano. I thought I was gazing upon a troop
+of brutes for whom my external appearance was a cause of scandal. How
+ugly were the women! What a look of stupidity and coarseness in the men!
+When I returned to the bishop's house I told the prelate that I did not
+feel in me the vocation to die within a few months a martyr in this
+miserable city.
+
+"Give me your blessing," I added, "and let me go; or, rather, come with
+me. I promise you that we shall make a fortune somewhere else."
+
+The proposal made him laugh repeatedly during the day. Had he agreed to
+it he would not have died two years afterwards in the prime of manhood.
+The worthy man, feeling how natural was my repugnance, begged me to
+forgive him for having summoned me to him, and, considering it his duty
+to send me back to Venice, having no money himself and not being aware
+that I had any, he told me that he would give me an introduction to a
+worthy citizen of Naples who would lend me sixty ducati-di-regno to
+enable me to reach my native city. I accepted his offer with gratitude,
+and going to my room I took out of my trunk the case of fine razors which
+the Greek had given me, and I begged his acceptance of it as a souvenir
+of me. I had great difficulty in forcing it upon him, for it was worth
+the sixty ducats, and to conquer his resistance I had to threaten to
+remain with him if he refused my present. He gave me a very flattering
+letter of recommendation for the Archbishop of Cosenza, in which he
+requested him to forward me as far as Naples without any expense to
+myself. It was thus I left Martorano sixty hours after my arrival,
+pitying the bishop whom I was leaving behind, and who wept as he was
+pouring heartfelt blessings upon me.
+
+The Archbishop of Cosenza, a man of wealth and of intelligence, offered
+me a room in his palace. During the dinner I made, with an overflowing
+heart, the eulogy of the Bishop of Martorano; but I railed mercilessly at
+his diocese and at the whole of Calabria in so cutting a manner that I
+greatly amused the archbishop and all his guests, amongst whom were two
+ladies, his relatives, who did the honours of the dinner-table. The
+youngest, however, objected to the satirical style in which I had
+depicted her country, and declared war against me; but I contrived to
+obtain peace again by telling her that Calabria would be a delightful
+country if one-fourth only of its inhabitants were like her. Perhaps it
+was with the idea of proving to me that I had been wrong in my opinion
+that the archbishop gave on the following day a splendid supper.
+
+Cosenza is a city in which a gentleman can find plenty of amusement; the
+nobility are wealthy, the women are pretty, and men generally
+well-informed, because they have been educated in Naples or in Rome. I
+left Cosenza on the third day with a letter from the archbishop for the
+far-famed Genovesi.
+
+I had five travelling companions, whom I judged, from their appearance,
+to be either pirates or banditti, and I took very good care not to let
+them see or guess that I had a well-filled purse. I likewise thought it
+prudent to go to bed without undressing during the whole journey--an
+excellent measure of prudence for a young man travelling in that part of
+the country.
+
+I reached Naples on the 16th of September, 1743, and I lost no time in
+presenting the letter of the Bishop of Martorano. It was addressed to a
+M. Gennaro Polo at St. Anne's. This excellent man, whose duty was only to
+give me the sum of sixty ducats, insisted, after perusing the bishop's
+letter, upon receiving me in his house, because he wished me to make the
+acquaintance of his son, who was a poet like myself. The bishop had
+represented my poetry as sublime. After the usual ceremonies, I accepted
+his kind invitation, my trunk was sent for, and I was a guest in the
+house of M. Gennaro Polo.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+My Stay in Naples; It Is Short but Happy--Don Antonio Casanova--Don Lelio
+Caraffa--I Go to Rome in Very Agreeable Company, and Enter the Service of
+Cardinal Acquaviva--Barbara--Testaccio--Frascati
+
+I had no difficulty in answering the various questions which Doctor
+Gennaro addressed to me, but I was surprised, and even displeased, at the
+constant peals of laughter with which he received my answers. The piteous
+description of miserable Calabria, and the picture of the sad situation
+of the Bishop of Martorano, appeared to me more likely to call forth
+tears than to excite hilarity, and, suspecting that some mystification
+was being played upon me, I was very near getting angry when, becoming
+more composed, he told me with feeling that I must kindly excuse him;
+that his laughter was a disease which seemed to be endemic in his family,
+for one of his uncles died of it.
+
+"What!" I exclaimed, "died of laughing!"
+
+"Yes. This disease, which was not known to Hippocrates, is called li
+flati."
+
+"What do you mean? Does an hypochondriac affection, which causes sadness
+and lowness in all those who suffer from it, render you cheerful?"
+
+"Yes, because, most likely, my flati, instead of influencing the
+hypochondrium, affects my spleen, which my physician asserts to be the
+organ of laughter. It is quite a discovery."
+
+"You are mistaken; it is a very ancient notion, and it is the only
+function which is ascribed to the spleen in our animal organization."
+
+"Well, we must discuss the matter at length, for I hope you will remain
+with us a few weeks."
+
+"I wish I could, but I must leave Naples to-morrow or the day after."
+
+"Have you got any money?"
+
+"I rely upon the sixty ducats you have to give me."
+
+At these words, his peals of laughter began again, and as he could see
+that I was annoyed, he said, "I am amused at the idea that I can keep you
+here as long as I like. But be good enough to see my son; he writes
+pretty verses enough."
+
+And truly his son, although only fourteen, was already a great poet.
+
+A servant took me to the apartment of the young man whom I found
+possessed of a pleasing countenance and engaging manners. He gave me a
+polite welcome, and begged to be excused if he could not attend to me
+altogether for the present, as he had to finish a song which he was
+composing for a relative of the Duchess de Rovino, who was taking the
+veil at the Convent of St. Claire, and the printer was waiting for the
+manuscript. I told him that his excuse was a very good one, and I offered
+to assist him. He then read his song, and I found it so full of
+enthusiasm, and so truly in the style of Guidi, that I advised him to
+call it an ode; but as I had praised all the truly beautiful passages, I
+thought I could venture to point out the weak ones, and I replaced them
+by verses of my own composition. He was delighted, and thanked me warmly,
+inquiring whether I was Apollo. As he was writing his ode, I composed a
+sonnet on the same subject, and, expressing his admiration for it he
+begged me to sign it, and to allow him to send it with his poetry.
+
+While I was correcting and recopying my manuscript, he went to his father
+to find out who I was, which made the old man laugh until supper-time. In
+the evening, I had the pleasure of seeing that my bed had been prepared
+in the young man's chamber.
+
+Doctor Gennaro's family was composed of this son and of a daughter
+unfortunately very plain, of his wife and of two elderly, devout sisters.
+Amongst the guests at the supper-table I met several literary men, and
+the Marquis Galiani, who was at that time annotating Vitruvius. He had a
+brother, an abbe whose acquaintance I made twenty years after, in Paris,
+when he was secretary of embassy to Count Cantillana. The next day, at
+supper, I was presented to the celebrated Genovesi; I had already sent
+him the letter of the Archbishop of Cosenza. He spoke to me of Apostolo
+Zeno and of the Abbe Conti. He remarked that it was considered a very
+venial sin for a regular priest to say two masses in one day for the sake
+of earning two carlini more, but that for the same sin a secular priest
+would deserve to be burnt at the stake.
+
+The nun took the veil on the following day, and Gennaro's ode and my
+sonnet had the greatest success. A Neapolitan gentleman, whose name was
+the same as mine, expressed a wish to know me, and, hearing that I
+resided at the doctor's, he called to congratulate him on the occasion of
+his feast-day, which happened to fall on the day following the ceremony
+at Sainte-Claire.
+
+Don Antonio Casanova, informing me of his name, enquired whether my
+family was originally from Venice.
+
+"I am, sir," I answered modestly, "the great-grandson of the unfortunate
+Marco Antonio Casanova, secretary to Cardinal Pompeo Colonna, who died of
+the plague in Rome, in the year 1528, under the pontificate of Clement
+VII." The words were scarcely out of my lips when he embraced me, calling
+me his cousin, but we all thought that Doctor Gennaro would actually die
+with laughter, for it seemed impossible to laugh so immoderately without
+risk of life. Madame Gennaro was very angry and told my newly-found
+cousin that he might have avoided enacting such a scene before her
+husband, knowing his disease, but he answered that he never thought the
+circumstance likely to provoke mirth. I said nothing, for, in reality, I
+felt that the recognition was very comic. Our poor laugher having
+recovered his composure, Casanova, who had remained very serious, invited
+me to dinner for the next day with my young friend Paul Gennaro, who had
+already become my alter ego.
+
+When we called at his house, my worthy cousin showed me his family tree,
+beginning with a Don Francisco, brother of Don Juan. In my pedigree,
+which I knew by heart, Don Juan, my direct ancestor, was a posthumous
+child. It was possible that there might have been a brother of Marco
+Antonio's; but when he heard that my genealogy began with Don Francisco,
+from Aragon, who had lived in the fourteenth century, and that
+consequently all the pedigree of the illustrious house of the Casanovas
+of Saragossa belonged to him, his joy knew no bounds; he did not know
+what to do to convince me that the same blood was flowing in his veins
+and in mine.
+
+He expressed some curiosity to know what lucky accident had brought me to
+Naples; I told him that, having embraced the ecclesiastical profession, I
+was going to Rome to seek my fortune. He then presented me to his family,
+and I thought that I could read on the countenance of my cousin, his
+dearly beloved wife, that she was not much pleased with the newly-found
+relationship, but his pretty daughter, and a still prettier niece of his,
+might very easily have given me faith in the doctrine that blood is
+thicker than water, however fabulous it may be.
+
+After dinner, Don Antonio informed me that the Duchess de Bovino had
+expressed a wish to know the Abbe Casanova who had written the sonnet in
+honour of her relative, and that he would be very happy to introduce me
+to her as his own cousin. As we were alone at that moment, I begged he
+would not insist on presenting me, as I was only provided with travelling
+suits, and had to be careful of my purse so as not to arrive in Rome
+without money. Delighted at my confidence, and approving my economy, he
+said, "I am rich, and you must not scruple to come with me to my tailor;"
+and he accompanied his offer with an assurance that the circumstance
+would not be known to anyone, and that he would feel deeply mortified if
+I denied him the pleasure of serving me. I shook him warmly by the hand,
+and answered that I was ready to do anything he pleased. We went to a
+tailor who took my measure, and who brought me on the following day
+everything necessary to the toilet of the most elegant abbe. Don Antonio
+called on me, and remained to dine with Don Gennaro, after which he took
+me and my friend Paul to the duchess. This lady, according to the
+Neapolitan fashion, called me thou in her very first compliment of
+welcome. Her daughter, then only ten or twelve years old, was very
+handsome, and a few years later became Duchess de Matalona. The duchess
+presented me with a snuff-box in pale tortoise-shell with arabesque
+incrustations in gold, and she invited us to dine with her on the morrow,
+promising to take us after dinner to the Convent of St. Claire to pay a
+visit to the new nun.
+
+As we came out of the palace of the duchess, I left my friends and went
+alone to Panagiotti's to claim the barrel of muscatel wine. The manager
+was kind enough to have the barrel divided into two smaller casks of
+equal capacity, and I sent one to Don Antonio, and the other to Don
+Gennaro. As I was leaving the shop I met the worthy Panagiotti, who was
+glad to see me. Was I to blush at the sight of the good man I had at
+first deceived? No, for in his opinion I had acted very nobly towards
+him.
+
+Don Gennaro, as I returned home, managed to thank me for my handsome
+present without laughing, and the next day Don Antonio, to make up for
+the muscatel wine I had sent him, offered me a gold-headed cane, worth at
+least fifteen ounces, and his tailor brought me a travelling suit and a
+blue great coat, with the buttonholes in gold lace. I therefore found
+myself splendidly equipped.
+
+At the Duchess de Bovino's dinner I made the acquaintance of the wisest
+and most learned man in Naples, the illustrious Don Lelio Caraffa, who
+belonged to the ducal family of Matalona, and whom King Carlos honoured
+with the title of friend.
+
+I spent two delightful hours in the convent parlour, coping successfully
+with the curiosity of all the nuns who were pressing against the grating.
+Had destiny allowed me to remain in Naples my fortune would have been
+made; but, although I had no fixed plan, the voice of fate summoned me to
+Rome, and therefore I resisted all the entreaties of my cousin Antonio to
+accept the honourable position of tutor in several houses of the highest
+order.
+
+Don Antonio gave a splendid dinner in my honour, but he was annoyed and
+angry because he saw that his wife looked daggers at her new cousin. I
+thought that, more than once, she cast a glance at my new costume, and
+then whispered to the guest next to her. Very likely she knew what had
+taken place. There are some positions in life to which I could never be
+reconciled. If, in the most brilliant circle, there is one person who
+affects to stare at me I lose all presence of mind. Self-dignity feels
+outraged, my wit dies away, and I play the part of a dolt. It is a
+weakness on my part, but a weakness I cannot overcome.
+
+Don Lelio Caraffa offered me a very liberal salary if I would undertake
+the education of his nephew, the Duke de Matalona, then ten years of age.
+I expressed my gratitude, and begged him to be my true benefactor in a
+different manner--namely, by giving me a few good letters of introduction
+for Rome, a favour which he granted at once. He gave me one for Cardinal
+Acquaviva, and another for Father Georgi.
+
+I found out that the interest felt towards me by my friends had induced
+them to obtain for me the honour of kissing the hand of Her Majesty the
+Queen, and I hastened my preparations to leave Naples, for the queen
+would certainly have asked me some questions, and I could not have
+avoided telling her that I had just left Martorano and the poor bishop
+whom she had sent there. The queen likewise knew my mother; she would
+very likely have alluded to my mother's profession in Dresden; it would
+have mortified Don Antonio, and my pedigree would have been covered with
+ridicule. I knew the force of prejudice! I should have been ruined, and I
+felt I should do well to withdraw in good time. As I took leave of him,
+Don Antonio presented me with a fine gold watch and gave me a letter for
+Don Gaspar Vidaldi, whom he called his best friend. Don Gennaro paid me
+the sixty ducats, and his son, swearing eternal friendship, asked me to
+write to him. They all accompanied me to the coach, blending their tears
+with mine, and loading me with good wishes and blessings.
+
+From my landing in Chiozza up to my arrival in Naples, fortune had seemed
+bent upon frowning on me; in Naples it began to shew itself less adverse,
+and on my return to that city it entirely smiled upon me. Naples has
+always been a fortunate place for me, as the reader of my memoirs will
+discover. My readers must not forget that in Portici I was on the point
+of disgracing myself, and there is no remedy against the degradation of
+the mind, for nothing can restore it to its former standard. It is a case
+of disheartening atony for which there is no possible cure.
+
+I was not ungrateful to the good Bishop of Martorano, for, if he had
+unwittingly injured me by summoning me to his diocese, I felt that to his
+letter for M. Gennaro I was indebted for all the good fortune which had
+just befallen me. I wrote to him from Rome.
+
+I was wholly engaged in drying my tears as we were driving through the
+beautiful street of Toledo, and it was only after we had left Naples that
+I could find time to examine the countenance of my travelling companions.
+Next to me, I saw a man of from forty to fifty, with a pleasing face and
+a lively air, but, opposite to me, two charming faces delighted my eyes.
+They belonged to two ladies, young and pretty, very well dressed, with a
+look of candour and modesty. This discovery was most agreeable, but I
+felt sad and I wanted calm and silence. We reached Avessa without one
+word being exchanged, and as the vetturino stopped there only to water
+his mules, we did not get out of the coach. From Avessa to Capua my
+companions conversed almost without interruption, and, wonderful to
+relate! I did not open my lips once. I was amused by the Neapolitan
+jargon of the gentleman, and by the pretty accent of the ladies, who were
+evidently Romans. It was a most wonderful feat for me to remain five
+hours before two charming women without addressing one word to them,
+without paying them one compliment.
+
+At Capua, where we were to spend the night, we put up at an inn, and were
+shown into a room with two beds--a very usual thing in Italy. The
+Neapolitan, addressing himself to me, said,
+
+"Am I to have the honour of sleeping with the reverend gentleman?"
+
+I answered in a very serious tone that it was for him to choose or to
+arrange it otherwise, if he liked. The answer made the two ladies smile,
+particularly the one whom I preferred, and it seemed to me a good omen.
+
+We were five at supper, for it is usual for the vetturino to supply his
+travellers with their meals, unless some private agreement is made
+otherwise, and to sit down at table with them. In the desultory talk
+which went on during the supper, I found in my travelling companions
+decorum, propriety, wit, and the manners of persons accustomed to good
+society. I became curious to know who they were, and going down with the
+driver after supper, I asked him.
+
+"The gentleman," he told me, "is an advocate, and one of the ladies is
+his wife, but I do not know which of the two."
+
+I went back to our room, and I was polite enough to go to bed first, in
+order to make it easier for the ladies to undress themselves with
+freedom; I likewise got up first in the morning, left the room, and only
+returned when I was called for breakfast. The coffee was delicious. I
+praised it highly, and the lady, the one who was my favourite, promised
+that I should have the same every morning during our journey. The barber
+came in after breakfast; the advocate was shaved, and the barber offered
+me his services, which I declined, but the rogue declared that it was
+slovenly to wear one's beard.
+
+When we had resumed our seats in the coach, the advocate made some remark
+upon the impudence of barbers in general.
+
+"But we ought to decide first," said the lady, "whether or not it is
+slovenly to go bearded."
+
+"Of course it is," said the advocate. "Beard is nothing but a dirty
+excrescence."
+
+"You may think so," I answered, "but everybody does not share your
+opinion. Do we consider as a dirty excrescence the hair of which we take
+so much care, and which is of the same nature as the beard? Far from it;
+we admire the length and the beauty of the hair."
+
+"Then," remarked the lady, "the barber is a fool."
+
+"But after all," I asked, "have I any beard?"
+
+"I thought you had," she answered.
+
+"In that case, I will begin to shave as soon as I reach Rome, for this is
+the first time that I have been convicted of having a beard."
+
+"My dear wife," exclaimed the advocate, "you should have held your
+tongue; perhaps the reverend abbe is going to Rome with the intention of
+becoming a Capuchin friar."
+
+The pleasantry made me laugh, but, unwilling that he should have the last
+word, I answered that he had guessed rightly, that such had been my
+intention, but that I had entirely altered my mind since I had seen his
+wife.
+
+"Oh! you are wrong," said the joyous Neapolitan, "for my wife is very
+fond of Capuchins, and if you wish to please her, you had better follow
+your original vocation." Our conversation continued in the same tone of
+pleasantry, and the day passed off in an agreeable manner; in the evening
+we had a very poor supper at Garillan, but we made up for it by
+cheerfulness and witty conversation. My dawning inclination for the
+advocate's wife borrowed strength from the affectionate manner she
+displayed towards me.
+
+The next day she asked me, after we had resumed our journey, whether I
+intended to make a long stay in Rome before returning to Venice. I
+answered that, having no acquaintances in Rome, I was afraid my life
+there would be very dull.
+
+"Strangers are liked in Rome," she said, "I feel certain that you will be
+pleased with your residence in that city."
+
+"May I hope, madam, that you will allow me to pay you my respects?"
+
+"We shall be honoured by your calling on us," said the advocate.
+
+My eyes were fixed upon his charming wife. She blushed, but I did not
+appear to notice it. I kept up the conversation, and the day passed as
+pleasantly as the previous one. We stopped at Terracina, where they gave
+us a room with three beds, two single beds and a large one between the
+two others. It was natural that the two sisters should take the large
+bed; they did so, and undressed themselves while the advocate and I went
+on talking at the table, with our backs turned to them. As soon as they
+had gone to rest, the advocate took the bed on which he found his
+nightcap, and I the other, which was only about one foot distant from the
+large bed. I remarked that the lady by whom I was captivated was on the
+side nearest my couch, and, without much vanity, I could suppose that it
+was not owing only to chance.
+
+I put the light out and laid down, revolving in my mind a project which I
+could not abandon, and yet durst not execute. In vain did I court sleep.
+A very faint light enabled me to perceive the bed in which the pretty
+woman was lying, and my eyes would, in spite of myself, remain open. It
+would be difficult to guess what I might have done at last (I had already
+fought a hard battle with myself for more than an hour), when I saw her
+rise, get out of her bed, and go and lay herself down near her husband,
+who, most likely, did not wake up, and continued to sleep in peace, for I
+did not hear any noise.
+
+Vexed, disgusted.... I tried to compose myself to sleep, and I woke only
+at day-break. Seeing the beautiful wandering star in her own bed, I got
+up, dressed myself in haste, and went out, leaving all my companions fast
+asleep. I returned to the inn only at the time fixed for our departure,
+and I found the advocate and the two ladies already in the coach, waiting
+for me.
+
+The lady complained, in a very obliging manner, of my not having cared
+for her coffee; I pleaded as an excuse a desire for an early walk, and I
+took care not to honour her even with a look; I feigned to be suffering
+from the toothache, and remained in my corner dull and silent. At Piperno
+she managed to whisper to me that my toothache was all sham; I was
+pleased with the reproach, because it heralded an explanation which I
+craved for, in spite of my vexation.
+
+During the afternoon I continued my policy of the morning. I was morose
+and silent until we reached Serinonetta, where we were to pass the night.
+We arrived early, and the weather being fine, the lady said that she
+could enjoy a walk, and asked me politely to offer her my arm. I did so,
+for it would have been rude to refuse; besides I had had enough of my
+sulking fit. An explanation could alone bring matters back to their
+original standing, but I did not know how to force it upon the lady. Her
+husband followed us at some distance with the sister.
+
+When we were far enough in advance, I ventured to ask her why she had
+supposed my toothache to have been feigned.
+
+"I am very candid," she said; "it is because the difference in your
+manner was so marked, and because you were so careful to avoid looking at
+me through the whole day. A toothache would not have prevented you from
+being polite, and therefore I thought it had been feigned for some
+purpose. But I am certain that not one of us can possibly have given you
+any grounds for such a rapid change in your manner."
+
+"Yet something must have caused the change, and you, madam, are only half
+sincere."
+
+"You are mistaken, sir, I am entirely sincere; and if I have given you
+any motive for anger, I am, and must remain, ignorant of it. Be good
+enough to tell me what I have done."
+
+"Nothing, for I have no right to complain."
+
+"Yes, you have; you have a right, the same that I have myself; the right
+which good society grants to every one of its members. Speak, and shew
+yourself as sincere as I am."
+
+"You are certainly bound not to know, or to pretend not to know the real
+cause, but you must acknowledge that my duty is to remain silent."
+
+"Very well; now it is all over; but if your duty bids you to conceal the
+cause of your bad humour, it also bids you not to shew it. Delicacy
+sometimes enforces upon a polite gentleman the necessity of concealing
+certain feelings which might implicate either himself or others; it is a
+restraint for the mind, I confess, but it has some advantage when its
+effect is to render more amiable the man who forces himself to accept
+that restraint." Her close argument made me blush for shame, and carrying
+her beautiful hand to my lips, I confessed my self in the wrong.
+
+"You would see me at your feet," I exclaimed, "in token of my repentance,
+were I not afraid of injuring you---"
+
+"Do not let us allude to the matter any more," she answered.
+
+And, pleased with my repentance, she gave me a look so expressive of
+forgiveness that, without being afraid of augmenting my guilt, I took my
+lips off her hand and I raised them to her half-open, smiling mouth.
+Intoxicated with rapture, I passed so rapidly from a state of sadness to
+one of overwhelming cheerfulness that during our supper the advocate
+enjoyed a thousand jokes upon my toothache, so quickly cured by the
+simple remedy of a walk. On the following day we dined at Velletri and
+slept in Marino, where, although the town was full of troops, we had two
+small rooms and a good supper. I could not have been on better terms with
+my charming Roman; for, although I had received but a rapid proof of her
+regard, it had been such a true one--such a tender one! In the coach our
+eyes could not say much; but I was opposite to her, and our feet spoke a
+very eloquent language.
+
+The advocate had told me that he was going to Rome on some ecclesiastical
+business, and that he intended to reside in the house of his
+mother-in-law, whom his wife had not seen since her marriage, two years
+ago, and her sister hoped to remain in Rome, where she expected to marry
+a clerk at the Spirito Santo Bank. He gave me their address, with a
+pressing invitation to call upon them, and I promised to devote all my
+spare time to them.
+
+We were enjoying our dessert, when my beautiful lady-love, admiring my
+snuff-box, told her husband that she wished she had one like it.
+
+"I will buy you one, dear."
+
+"Then buy mine," I said; "I will let you have it for twenty ounces, and
+you can give me a note of hand payable to bearer in payment. I owe that
+amount to an Englishman, and I will give it him to redeem my debt."
+
+"Your snuff-box, my dear abbe, is worth twenty ounces, but I cannot buy
+it unless you agree to receive payment in cash; I should be delighted to
+see it in my wife's possession, and she would keep it as a remembrance of
+you."
+
+His wife, thinking that I would not accept his offer, said that she had
+no objection to give me the note of hand.
+
+"But," exclaimed the advocate, "can you not guess the Englishman exists
+only in our friend's imagination? He would never enter an appearance, and
+we would have the snuff-box for nothing. Do not trust the abbe, my dear,
+he is a great cheat."
+
+"I had no idea," answered his wife, looking at me, "that the world
+contained rogues of this species."
+
+I affected a melancholy air, and said that I only wished myself rich
+enough to be often guilty of such cheating.
+
+When a man is in love very little is enough to throw him into despair,
+and as little to enhance his joy to the utmost. There was but one bed in
+the room where supper had been served, and another in a small closet
+leading out of the room, but without a door. The ladies chose the closet,
+and the advocate retired to rest before me. I bid the ladies good night
+as soon as they had gone to bed; I looked at my dear mistress, and after
+undressing myself I went to bed, intending not to sleep through the
+night. But the reader may imagine my rage when I found, as I got into the
+bed, that it creaked loud enough to wake the dead. I waited, however,
+quite motionless, until my companion should be fast asleep, and as soon
+as his snoring told me that he was entirely under the influence of
+Morpheus, I tried to slip out of the bed; but the infernal creaking which
+took place whenever I moved, woke my companion, who felt about with his
+hand, and, finding me near him, went to sleep again. Half an hour after,
+I tried a second time, but with the same result. I had to give it up in
+despair.
+
+Love is the most cunning of gods; in the midst of obstacles he seems to
+be in his own element, but as his very existence depends upon the
+enjoyment of those who ardently worship him, the shrewd, all-seeing,
+little blind god contrives to bring success out of the most desperate
+case.
+
+I had given up all hope for the night, and had nearly gone to sleep, when
+suddenly we hear a dreadful noise. Guns are fired in the street, people,
+screaming and howling, are running up and down the stairs; at last there
+is a loud knocking at our door. The advocate, frightened out of his
+slumbers, asks me what it can all mean; I pretend to be very indifferent,
+and beg to be allowed to sleep. But the ladies are trembling with fear,
+and loudly calling for a light. I remain very quiet, the advocate jumps
+out of bed, and runs out of the room to obtain a candle; I rise at once,
+I follow him to shut the door, but I slam it rather too hard, the double
+spring of the lock gives way, and the door cannot be reopened without the
+key.
+
+I approach the ladies in order to calm their anxiety, telling them that
+the advocate would soon return with a light, and that we should then know
+the cause of the tumult, but I am not losing my time, and am at work
+while I am speaking. I meet with very little opposition, but, leaning
+rather too heavily upon my fair lady, I break through the bottom of the
+bedstead, and we suddenly find ourselves, the two ladies and myself, all
+together in a heap on the floor. The advocate comes back and knocks at
+the door; the sister gets up, I obey the prayers of my charming friend,
+and, feeling my way, reach the door, and tell the advocate that I cannot
+open it, and that he must get the key. The two sisters are behind me. I
+extend my hand; but I am abruptly repulsed, and judge that I have
+addressed myself to the wrong quarter; I go to the other side, and there
+I am better received. But the husband returns, the noise of the key in
+the lock announces that the door is going to be opened, and we return to
+our respective beds.
+
+The advocate hurries to the bed of the two frightened ladies, thinking of
+relieving their anxiety, but, when he sees them buried in their
+broken-down bedstead, he bursts into a loud laugh. He tells me to come
+and have a look at them, but I am very modest, and decline the
+invitation. He then tells us that the alarm has been caused by a German
+detachment attacking suddenly the Spanish troops in the city, and that
+the Spaniards are running away. In a quarter of an hour the noise has
+ceased, and quiet is entirely re-established.
+
+The advocate complimented me upon my coolness, got into bed again, and
+was soon asleep. As for me, I was careful not to close my eyes, and as
+soon as I saw daylight I got up in order to perform certain ablutions and
+to change my shirt; it was an absolute necessity.
+
+I returned for breakfast, and while we were drinking the delicious coffee
+which Donna Lucrezia had made, as I thought, better than ever, I remarked
+that her sister frowned on me. But how little I cared for her anger when
+I saw the cheerful, happy countenance, and the approving looks of my
+adored Lucrezia! I felt a delightful sensation run through the whole of
+my body.
+
+We reached Rome very early. We had taken breakfast at the Tour, and the
+advocate being in a very gay mood I assumed the same tone, loading him
+with compliments, and predicting that a son would be born to him, I
+compelled his wife to promise it should be so. I did not forget the
+sister of my charming Lucrezia, and to make her change her hostile
+attitude towards me I addressed to her so many pretty compliments, and
+behaved in such a friendly manner, that she was compelled to forgive the
+fall of the bed. As I took leave of them, I promised to give them a call
+on the following day.
+
+I was in Rome! with a good wardrobe, pretty well supplied with money and
+jewellery, not wanting in experience, and with excellent letters of
+introduction. I was free, my own master, and just reaching the age in
+which a man can have faith in his own fortune, provided he is not
+deficient in courage, and is blessed with a face likely to attract the
+sympathy of those he mixes with. I was not handsome, but I had something
+better than beauty--a striking expression which almost compelled a kind
+interest in my favour, and I felt myself ready for anything. I knew that
+Rome is the one city in which a man can begin from the lowest rung, and
+reach the very top of the social ladder. This knowledge increased my
+courage, and I must confess that a most inveterate feeling of self-esteem
+which, on account of my inexperience, I could not distrust, enhanced
+wonderfully my confidence in myself.
+
+The man who intends to make his fortune in this ancient capital of the
+world must be a chameleon susceptible of reflecting all the colours of
+the atmosphere that surrounds him--a Proteus apt to assume every form,
+every shape. He must be supple, flexible, insinuating; close,
+inscrutable, often base, sometimes sincere, some times perfidious, always
+concealing a part of his knowledge, indulging in one tone of voice,
+patient, a perfect master of his own countenance as cold as ice when any
+other man would be all fire; and if unfortunately he is not religious at
+heart--a very common occurrence for a soul possessing the above
+requisites--he must have religion in his mind, that is to say, on his
+face, on his lips, in his manners; he must suffer quietly, if he be an
+honest man the necessity of knowing himself an arrant hypocrite. The man
+whose soul would loathe such a life should leave Rome and seek his
+fortune elsewhere. I do not know whether I am praising or excusing
+myself, but of all those qualities I possessed but one--namely,
+flexibility; for the rest, I was only an interesting, heedless young
+fellow, a pretty good blood horse, but not broken, or rather badly
+broken; and that is much worse.
+
+I began by delivering the letter I had received from Don Lelio for Father
+Georgi. The learned monk enjoyed the esteem of everyone in Rome, and the
+Pope himself had a great consideration for him, because he disliked the
+Jesuits, and did not put a mask on to tear the mask from their faces,
+although they deemed themselves powerful enough to despise him.
+
+He read the letter with great attention, and expressed himself disposed
+to be my adviser; and that consequently I might make him responsible for
+any evil which might befall me, as misfortune is not to be feared by a
+man who acts rightly. He asked me what I intended to do in Rome, and I
+answered that I wished him to tell me what to do.
+
+"Perhaps I may; but in that case you must come and see me often, and
+never conceal from me anything, you understand, not anything, of what
+interests you, or of what happens to you."
+
+"Don Lelio has likewise given me a letter for the Cardinal Acquaviva."
+
+"I congratulate you; the cardinal's influence in Rome is greater even
+than that of the Pope."
+
+"Must I deliver the letter at once?"
+
+"No; I will see him this evening, and prepare him for your visit. Call on
+me to-morrow morning, and I will then tell you where and when you are to
+deliver your letter to the cardinal. Have you any money?"
+
+"Enough for all my wants during one year."
+
+"That is well. Have you any acquaintances?"
+
+"Not one."
+
+"Do not make any without first consulting me, and, above all, avoid
+coffee-houses and ordinaries, but if you should happen to frequent such
+places, listen and never speak. Be careful to form your judgment upon
+those who ask any questions from you, and if common civility obliges you
+to give an answer, give only an evasive one, if any other is likely to
+commit you. Do you speak French?"
+
+"Not one word."
+
+"I am sorry for that; you must learn French. Have you been a student?"
+
+"A poor one, but I have a sufficient smattering to converse with ordinary
+company."
+
+"That is enough; but be very prudent, for Rome is the city in which
+smatterers unmask each other, and are always at war amongst themselves. I
+hope you will take your letter to the cardinal, dressed like a modest
+abbe, and not in this elegant costume which is not likely to conjure
+fortune. Adieu, let me see you to-morrow."
+
+Highly pleased with the welcome I had received at his hands, and with all
+he had said to me, I left his house and proceeded towards Campo-di-Fiore
+to deliver the letter of my cousin Antonio to Don Gaspar Vivaldi, who
+received me in his library, where I met two respectable-looking priests.
+He gave me the most friendly welcome, asked for my address, and invited
+me to dinner for the next day. He praised Father Georgi most highly, and,
+accompanying me as far as the stairs, he told me that he would give me on
+the morrow the amount his friend Don Antonio requested him to hand me.
+
+More money which my generous cousin was bestowing on me! It is easy
+enough to give away when one possesses sufficient means to do it, but it
+is not every man who knows how to give. I found the proceeding of Don
+Antonio more delicate even than generous; I could not refuse his present;
+it was my duty to prove my gratitude by accepting it.
+
+Just after I had left M. Vivaldi's house I found myself face to face with
+Stephano, and this extraordinary original loaded me with friendly
+caresses. I inwardly despised him, yet I could not feel hatred for him; I
+looked upon him as the instrument which Providence had been pleased to
+employ in order to save me from ruin. After telling me that he had
+obtained from the Pope all he wished, he advised me to avoid meeting the
+fatal constable who had advanced me two sequins in Seraval, because he
+had found out that I had deceived him, and had sworn revenge against me.
+I asked Stephano to induce the man to leave my acknowledgement of the
+debt in the hands of a certain merchant whom we both knew, and that I
+would call there to discharge the amount. This was done, and it ended the
+affair.
+
+That evening I dined at the ordinary, which was frequented by Romans and
+foreigners; but I carefully followed the advice of Father Georgi. I heard
+a great deal of harsh language used against the Pope and against the
+Cardinal Minister, who had caused the Papal States to be inundated by
+eighty thousand men, Germans as well as Spaniards. But I was much
+surprised when I saw that everybody was eating meat, although it was
+Saturday. But a stranger during the first few days after his arrival in
+Rome is surrounded with many things which at first cause surprise, and to
+which he soon gets accustomed. There is not a Catholic city in the world
+in which a man is half so free on religious matters as in Rome. The
+inhabitants of Rome are like the men employed at the Government tobacco
+works, who are allowed to take gratis as much tobacco as they want for
+their own use. One can live in Rome with the most complete freedom,
+except that the 'ordini santissimi' are as much to be dreaded as the
+famous Lettres-de-cachet before the Revolution came and destroyed them,
+and shewed the whole world the general character of the French nation.
+
+The next day, the 1st of October, 1743, I made up my mind to be shaved.
+The down on my chin had become a beard, and I judged that it was time to
+renounce some of the privileges enjoyed by adolescence. I dressed myself
+completely in the Roman fashion, and Father Georgi was highly pleased
+when he saw me in that costume, which had been made by the tailor of my
+dear cousin, Don Antonio.
+
+Father Georgi invited me to take a cup of chocolate with him, and
+informed me that the cardinal had been apprised of my arrival by a letter
+from Don Lelio, and that his eminence would receive me at noon at the
+Villa Negroni, where he would be taking a walk. I told Father Georgi that
+I had been invited to dinner by M. Vivaldi, and he advised me to
+cultivate his acquaintance.
+
+I proceeded to the Villa Negroni; the moment he saw me the cardinal
+stopped to receive my letter, allowing two persons who accompanied him to
+walk forward. He put the letter in his pocket without reading it,
+examined me for one or two minutes, and enquired whether I felt any taste
+for politics. I answered that, until now, I had not felt in me any but
+frivolous tastes, but that I would make bold to answer for my readiness
+to execute all the orders which his eminence might be pleased to lay upon
+me, if he should judge me worthy of entering his service.
+
+"Come to my office to-morrow morning," said the cardinal, "and ask for
+the Abbe Gama, to whom I will give my instructions. You must apply
+yourself diligently to the study of the French language; it is
+indispensable." He then enquired after Don Leilo's health, and after
+kissing his hand I took my leave.
+
+I hastened to the house of M. Gaspar Vivaldi, where I dined amongst a
+well-chosen party of guests. M. Vivaldi was not married; literature was
+his only passion. He loved Latin poetry even better than Italian, and
+Horace, whom I knew by heart, was his favourite poet. After dinner, we
+repaired to his study, and he handed me one hundred Roman crowns, and Don
+Antonio's present, and assured me that I would be most welcome whenever I
+would call to take a cup of chocolate with him.
+
+After I had taken leave of Don Gaspar, I proceeded towards the Minerva,
+for I longed to enjoy the surprise of my dear Lucrezia and of her sister;
+I inquired for Donna Cecilia Monti, their mother, and I saw, to my great
+astonishment, a young widow who looked like the sister of her two
+charming daughters. There was no need for me to give her my name; I had
+been announced, and she expected me. Her daughters soon came in, and
+their greeting caused me some amusement, for I did not appear to them to
+be the same individual. Donna Lucrezia presented me to her youngest
+sister, only eleven years of age, and to her brother, an abbe of fifteen,
+of charming appearance. I took care to behave so as to please the mother;
+I was modest, respectful, and shewed a deep interest in everything I saw.
+The good advocate arrived, and was surprised at the change in my
+appearance. He launched out in his usual jokes, and I followed him on
+that ground, yet I was careful not to give to my conversation the tone of
+levity which used to cause so much mirth in our travelling coach; so
+that, to, pay me a compliment, he told nee that, if I had had the sign of
+manhood shaved from my face, I had certainly transferred it to my mind.
+Donna Lucrezia did not know what to think of the change in my manners.
+
+Towards evening I saw, coming in rapid succession, five or six
+ordinary-looking ladies, and as many abbes, who appeared to me some of
+the volumes with which I was to begin my Roman education. They all
+listened attentively to the most insignificant word I uttered, and I was
+very careful to let them enjoy their conjectures about me. Donna Cecilia
+told the advocate that he was but a poor painter, and that his portraits
+were not like the originals; he answered that she could not judge,
+because the original was shewing under a mask, and I pretended to be
+mortified by his answer. Donna Lucrezia said that she found me exactly
+the same, and her sister was of opinion that the air of Rome gave
+strangers a peculiar appearance. Everybody applauded, and Angelique
+turned red with satisfaction. After a visit of four hours I bowed myself
+out, and the advocate, following me, told me that his mother-in-law
+begged me to consider myself as a friend of the family, and to be certain
+of a welcome at any hour I liked to call. I thanked him gratefully and
+took my leave, trusting that I had pleased this amiable society as much
+as it had pleased me.
+
+The next day I presented myself to the Abbe Gama. He was a Portuguese,
+about forty years old, handsome, and with a countenance full of candour,
+wit, and good temper. His affability claimed and obtained confidence. His
+manners and accent were quite Roman. He informed me, in the blandest
+manner, that his eminence had himself given his instructions about me to
+his majordomo, that I would have a lodging in the cardinal's palace, that
+I would have my meals at the secretaries' table, and that, until I
+learned French, I would have nothing to do but make extracts from letters
+that he would supply me with. He then gave me the address of the French
+teacher to whom he had already spoken in my behalf. He was a Roman
+advocate, Dalacqua by name, residing precisely opposite the palace.
+
+After this short explanation, and an assurance that I could at all times
+rely upon his friendship, he had me taken to the major-domo, who made me
+sign my name at the bottom of a page in a large book, already filled with
+other names, and counted out sixty Roman crowns which he paid me for
+three months salary in advance. After this he accompanied me, followed by
+a 'staffiere' to my apartment on the third floor, which I found very
+comfortably furnished. The servant handed me the key, saying that he
+would come every morning to attend upon me, and the major-domo
+accompanied me to the gate to make me known to the gate-keeper. I
+immediately repaired to my inn, sent my luggage to the palace, and found
+myself established in a place in which a great fortune awaited me, if I
+had only been able to lead a wise and prudent life, but unfortunately it
+was not in my nature. 'Volentem ducit, nolentem trahit.'
+
+I naturally felt it my duty to call upon my mentor, Father Georgi, to
+whom I gave all my good news. He said I was on the right road, and that
+my fortune was in my hands.
+
+"Recollect," added the good father, "that to lead a blameless life you
+must curb your passions, and that whatever misfortune may befall you it
+cannot be ascribed by any one to a want of good luck, or attributed to
+fate; those words are devoid of sense, and all the fault will rightly
+fall on your own head."
+
+"I foresee, reverend father, that my youth and my want of experience will
+often make it necessary for me to disturb you. I am afraid of proving
+myself too heavy a charge for you, but you will find me docile and
+obedient."
+
+"I suppose you will often think me rather too severe; but you are not
+likely to confide everything to me."
+
+"Everything, without any exception."
+
+"Allow me to feel somewhat doubtful; you have not told me where you spent
+four hours yesterday."
+
+"Because I did not think it was worth mentioning. I made the acquaintance
+of those persons during my journey; I believe them to be worthy and
+respectable, and the right sort of people for me to visit, unless you
+should be of a different opinion."
+
+"God forbid! It is a very respectable house, frequented by honest people.
+They are delighted at having made your acquaintance; you are much liked
+by everybody, and they hope to retain you as a friend; I have heard all
+about it this morning; but you must not go there too often and as a
+regular guest."
+
+"Must I cease my visits at once, and without cause?"
+
+"No, it would be a want of politeness on your part. You may go there once
+or twice every week, but do not be a constant visitor. You are sighing,
+my son?"
+
+"No, I assure you not. I will obey you."
+
+"I hope it may not be only a matter of obedience, and I trust your heart
+will not feel it a hardship, but, if necessary, your heart must be
+conquered. Recollect that the heart is the greatest enemy of reason."
+
+"Yet they can be made to agree."
+
+"We often imagine so; but distrust the animism of your dear Horace. You
+know that there is no middle course with it: 'nisi paret, imperat'."
+
+"I know it, but in the family of which we were speaking there is no
+danger for my heart."
+
+"I am glad of it, because in that case it will be all the easier for you
+to abstain from frequent visits. Remember that I shall trust you."
+
+"And I, reverend father; will listen to and follow your good advice. I
+will visit Donna Cecilia only now and then." Feeling most unhappy, I took
+his hand to press it against my lips, but he folded me in his arms as a
+father might have done, and turned himself round so as not to let me see
+that he was weeping.
+
+I dined at the cardinal's palace and sat near the Abbe Gama; the table
+was laid for twelve persons, who all wore the costume of priests, for in
+Rome everyone is a priest or wishes to be thought a priest and as there
+is no law to forbid anyone to dress like an ecclesiastic that dress is
+adopted by all those who wish to be respected (noblemen excepted) even if
+they are not in the ecclesiastical profession.
+
+I felt very miserable, and did not utter a word during the dinner; my
+silence was construed into a proof of my sagacity. As we rose from the
+table, the Abbe Gama invited me to spend the day with him, but I declined
+under pretence of letters to be written, and I truly did so for seven
+hours. I wrote to Don Lelio, to Don Antonio, to my young friend Paul, and
+to the worthy Bishop of Martorano, who answered that he heartily wished
+himself in my place.
+
+Deeply enamoured of Lucrezia and happy in my love, to give her up
+appeared to me a shameful action. In order to insure the happiness of my
+future life, I was beginning to be the executioner of my present
+felicity, and the tormentor of my heart. I revolted against such a
+necessity which I judged fictitious, and which I could not admit unless I
+stood guilty of vileness before the tribunal of my own reason. I thought
+that Father Georgi, if he wished to forbid my visiting that family, ought
+not to have said that it was worthy of respect; my sorrow would not have
+been so intense. The day and the whole of the night were spent in painful
+thoughts.
+
+In the morning the Abbe Gama brought me a great book filled with
+ministerial letters from which I was to compile for my amusement. After a
+short time devoted to that occupation, I went out to take my first French
+lesson, after which I walked towards the Strada-Condotta. I intended to
+take a long walk, when I heard myself called by my name. I saw the Abbe
+Gama in front of a coffee-house. I whispered to him that Minerva had
+forbidden me the coffee-rooms of Rome. "Minerva," he answered, "desires
+you to form some idea of such places. Sit down by me."
+
+I heard a young abbe telling aloud, but without bitterness, a story,
+which attacked in a most direct manner the justice of His Holiness.
+Everybody was laughing and echoing the story. Another, being asked why he
+had left the services of Cardinal B., answered that it was because his
+eminence did not think himself called upon to pay him apart for certain
+private services, and everybody laughed outright. Another came to the
+Abbe Gama, and told him that, if he felt any inclination to spend the
+afternoon at the Villa Medicis, he would find him there with two young
+Roman girls who were satisfied with a 'quartino', a gold coin worth
+one-fourth of a sequin. Another abbe read an incendiary sonnet against
+the government, and several took a copy of it. Another read a satire of
+his own composition, in which he tore to pieces the honour of a family.
+In the middle of all that confusion, I saw a priest with a very
+attractive countenance come in. The size of his hips made me take him for
+a woman dressed in men's clothes, and I said so to Gama, who told me that
+he was the celebrated castrato, Bepino delta Mamana. The abbe called him
+to us, and told him with a laugh that I had taken him for a girl. The
+impudent fellow looked me full in the face, and said that, if I liked, he
+would shew me whether I had been right or wrong.
+
+At the dinner-table everyone spoke to me, and I fancied I had given
+proper answers to all, but, when the repast was over, the Abbe Gama
+invited me to take coffee in his own apartment. The moment we were alone,
+he told me that all the guests I had met were worthy and honest men, and
+he asked me whether I believed that I had succeeded in pleasing the
+company.
+
+"I flatter myself I have," I answered.
+
+"You are wrong," said the abbe, "you are flattering yourself. You have so
+conspicuously avoided the questions put to you that everybody in the room
+noticed your extreme reserve. In the future no one will ask you any
+questions."
+
+"I should be sorry if it should turn out so, but was I to expose my own
+concerns?"
+
+"No, but there is a medium in all things."
+
+"Yes, the medium of Horace, but it is often a matter of great difficulty
+to hit it exactly."
+
+"A man ought to know how to obtain affection and esteem at the same
+time."
+
+"That is the very wish nearest to my heart."
+
+"To-day you have tried for the esteem much more than for the affection of
+your fellow-creatures. It may be a noble aspiration, but you must prepare
+yourself to fight jealousy and her daughter, calumny; if those two
+monsters do not succeed in destroying you, the victory must be yours.
+Now, for instance, you thoroughly refuted Salicetti to-day. Well, he is a
+physician, and what is more a Corsican; he must feel badly towards you."
+
+"Could I grant that the longings of women during their pregnancy have no
+influence whatever on the skin of the foetus, when I know the reverse to
+be the case? Are you not of my opinion?"
+
+"I am for neither party; I have seen many children with some such marks,
+but I have no means of knowing with certainty whether those marks have
+their origin in some longing experienced by the mother while she was
+pregnant."
+
+"But I can swear it is so."
+
+"All the better for you if your conviction is based upon such evidence,
+and all the worse for Salicetti if he denies the possibility of the thing
+without certain authority. But let him remain in error; it is better thus
+than to prove him in the wrong and to make a bitter enemy of him."
+
+In the evening I called upon Lucrezia. The family knew my success, and
+warmly congratulated me. Lucrezia told me that I looked sad, and I
+answered that I was assisting at the funeral of my liberty, for I was no
+longer my own master. Her husband, always fond of a joke, told her that I
+was in love with her, and his mother-in-law advised him not to show so
+much intrepidity. I only remained an hour with those charming persons,
+and then took leave of them, but the very air around me was heated by the
+flame within my breast. When I reached my room I began to write, and
+spent the night in composing an ode which I sent the next day to the
+advocate. I was certain that he would shew it to his wife, who loved
+poetry, and who did not yet know that I was a poet. I abstained from
+seeing her again for three or four days. I was learning French, and
+making extracts from ministerial letters.
+
+His eminence was in the habit of receiving every evening, and his rooms
+were thronged with the highest nobility of Rome; I had never attended
+these receptions. The Abbe Gama told me that I ought to do so as well as
+he did, without any pretension. I followed his advice and went; nobody
+spoke to me, but as I was unknown everyone looked at me and enquired who
+I was. The Abbe Gama asked me which was the lady who appeared to me the
+most amiable, and I shewed one to him; but I regretted having done so,
+for the courtier went to her, and of course informed her of what I had
+said. Soon afterwards I saw her look at me through her eye-glass and
+smile kindly upon me. She was the Marchioness G----, whose 'cicisbeo' was
+Cardinal S---- C----.
+
+On the very day I had fixed to spend the evening with Donna Lucrezia the
+worthy advocate called upon me. He told me that if I thought I was going
+to prove I was not in love with his wife by staying away I was very much
+mistaken, and he invited me to accompany all the family to Testaccio,
+where they intended to have luncheon on the following Thursday. He added
+that his wife knew my ode by heart, and that she had read it to the
+intended husband of Angelique, who had a great wish to make my
+acquaintance. That gentleman was likewise a poet, and would be one of the
+party to Testaccio. I promised the advocate I would come to his house on
+the Thursday with a carriage for two.
+
+At that time every Thursday in the month of October was a festival day in
+Rome. I went to see Donna Cecilia in the evening, and we talked about the
+excursion the whole time. I felt certain that Donna Lucrezia looked
+forward to it with as much pleasure as I did myself. We had no fixed
+plan, we could not have any, but we trusted to the god of love, and
+tacitly placed our confidence in his protection.
+
+I took care that Father Georgi should not hear of that excursion before I
+mentioned it to him myself, and I hastened to him in order to obtain his
+permission to go. I confess that, to obtain his leave, I professed the
+most complete indifference about it, and the consequence was that the
+good man insisted upon my going, saying that it was a family party, and
+that it was quite right for me to visit the environs of Rome and to enjoy
+myself in a respectable way.
+
+I went to Donna Cecilia's in a carriage which I hired from a certain
+Roland, a native of Avignon, and if I insist here upon his name it is
+because my readers will meet him again in eighteen years, his
+acquaintance with me having had very important results. The charming
+widow introduced me to Don Francisco, her intended son-in-law, whom she
+represented as a great friend of literary men, and very deeply learned
+himself. I accepted it as gospel, and behaved accordingly; yet I thought
+he looked rather heavy and not sufficiently elated for a young man on the
+point of marrying such a pretty girl as Angelique. But he had plenty of
+good-nature and plenty of money, and these are better than learning and
+gallantry.
+
+As we were ready to get into the carriages, the advocate told me that he
+would ride with me in my carriage, and that the three ladies would go
+with Don Francisco in the other. I answered at once that he ought to keep
+Don Francisco company, and that I claimed the privilege of taking care of
+Donna Cecilia, adding that I should feel dishonoured if things were
+arranged differently. Thereupon I offered my arm to the handsome widow,
+who thought the arrangement according to the rules of etiquette and good
+breeding, and an approving look of my Lucrezia gave me the most agreeable
+sensation. Yet the proposal of the advocate struck me somewhat
+unpleasantly, because it was in contradiction with his former behaviour,
+and especially with what he had said to me in my room a few days before.
+"Has he become jealous?" I said to myself; that would have made me almost
+angry, but the hope of bringing him round during our stay at Testaccio
+cleared away the dark cloud on my mind, and I was very amiable to Donna
+Cecilia. What with lunching and walking we contrived to pass the
+afternoon very pleasantly; I was very gay, and my love for Lucrezia was
+not once mentioned; I was all attention to her mother. I occasionally
+addressed myself to Lucrezia, but not once to the advocate, feeling this
+the best way to shew him that he had insulted me.
+
+As we prepared to return, the advocate carried off Donna Cecilia and went
+with her to the carriage in which were already seated Angelique and Don
+Francisco. Scarcely able to control my delight, I offered my arm to Donna
+Lucrezia, paying her some absurd compliment, while the advocate laughed
+outright, and seemed to enjoy the trick he imagined he had played me.
+
+How many things we might have said to each other before giving ourselves
+up to the material enjoyment of our love, had not the instants been so
+precious! But, aware that we had only half an hour before us, we were
+sparing of the minutes. We were absorbed in voluptuous pleasure when
+suddenly Lucrezia exclaims,---
+
+"Oh! dear, how unhappy we are!"
+
+She pushes me back, composes herself, the carriage stops, and the servant
+opens the door. "What is the matter?" I enquire. "We are at home."
+Whenever I recollect the circumstance, it seems to me fabulous, for it is
+not possible to annihilate time, and the horses were regular old screws.
+But we were lucky all through. The night was dark, and my beloved angel
+happened to be on the right side to get out of the carriage first, so
+that, although the advocate was at the door of the brougham as soon as
+the footman, everything went right, owing to the slow manner in which
+Lucrezia alighted. I remained at Donna Cecilia's until midnight.
+
+When I got home again, I went to bed; but how could I sleep? I felt
+burning in me the flame which I had not been able to restore to its
+original source in the too short distance from Testaccio to Rome. It was
+consuming me. Oh! unhappy are those who believe that the pleasures of
+Cythera are worth having, unless they are enjoyed in the most perfect
+accord by two hearts overflowing with love!
+
+I only rose in time for my French lesson. My teacher had a pretty
+daughter, named Barbara, who was always present during my lessons, and
+who sometimes taught me herself with even more exactitude than her
+father. A good-looking young man, who likewise took lessons, was courting
+her, and I soon perceived that she loved him. This young man called often
+upon me, and I liked him, especially on account of his reserve, for,
+although I made him confess his love for Barbara, he always changed the
+subject, if I mentioned it in our conversation.
+
+I had made up my mind to respect his reserve, and had not alluded to his
+affection for several days. But all at once I remarked that he had ceased
+his visits both to me and to his teacher, and at the same time I observed
+that the young girl was no longer present at my lessons; I felt some
+curiosity to know what had happened, although it was not, after all, any
+concern of mine.
+
+A few days after, as I was returning from church, I met the young man,
+and reproached him for keeping away from us all. He told me that great
+sorrow had befallen him, which had fairly turned his brain, and that he
+was a prey to the most intense despair. His eyes were wet with tears. As
+I was leaving him, he held me back, and I told him that I would no longer
+be his friend unless he opened his heart to me. He took me to one of the
+cloisters, and he spoke thus:
+
+"I have loved Barbara for the last six months, and for three months she
+has given me indisputable proofs of her affection. Five days ago, we were
+betrayed by the servant, and the father caught us in a rather delicate
+position. He left the room without saying one word, and I followed him,
+thinking of throwing myself at his feet; but, as I appeared before him,
+he took hold of me by the arm, pushed me roughly to the door, and forbade
+me ever to present myself again at his house. I cannot claim her hand in
+marriage, because one of my brothers is married, and my father is not
+rich; I have no profession, and my mistress has nothing. Alas, now that I
+have confessed all to you, tell me, I entreat you, how she is. I am
+certain that she is as miserable as I am myself. I cannot manage to get a
+letter delivered to her, for she does not leave the house, even to attend
+church. Unhappy wretch! What shall I do?"
+
+I could but pity him, for, as a man of honour, it was impossible for me
+to interfere in such a business. I told him that I had not seen Barbara
+for five days, and, not knowing what to say, I gave him the advice which
+is tendered by all fools under similar circumstances; I advised him to
+forget his mistress.
+
+We had then reached the quay of Ripetta, and, observing that he was
+casting dark looks towards the Tiber, I feared his despair might lead him
+to commit some foolish attempt against his own life, and, in order to
+calm his excited feelings, I promised to make some enquiries from the
+father about his mistress, and to inform him of all I heard. He felt
+quieted by my promise, and entreated me not to forget him.
+
+In spite of the fire which had been raging through my veins ever since
+the excursion to Testaccio, I had not seen my Lucrezia for four days. I
+dreaded Father Georgi's suave manner, and I was still more afraid of
+finding he had made up his mind to give me no more advice. But, unable to
+resist my desires, I called upon Lucrezia after my French lesson, and
+found her alone, sad and dispirited.
+
+"Ah!" she exclaimed, as soon as I was by her side, "I think you might
+find time to come and see me!"
+
+"My beloved one, it is not that I cannot find time, but I am so jealous
+of my love that I would rather die than let it be known publicly. I have
+been thinking of inviting you all to dine with me at Frascati. I will
+send you a phaeton, and I trust that some lucky accident will smile upon
+our love."
+
+"Oh! yes, do, dearest! I am sure your invitation will be accepted:"
+
+In a quarter of an hour the rest of the family came in, and I proffered
+my invitation for the following Sunday, which happened to be the Festival
+of St. Ursula, patroness of Lucrezia's youngest sister. I begged Donna
+Cecilia to bring her as well as her son. My proposal being readily
+accepted, I gave notice that the phaeton would be at Donna Cecilia's door
+at seven o'clock, and that I would come myself with a carriage for two
+persons.
+
+The next day I went to M. Dalacqua, and, after my lesson, I saw Barbara
+who, passing from one room to another, dropped a paper and earnestly
+looked at me. I felt bound to pick it up, because a servant, who was at
+hand, might have seen it and taken it. It was a letter, enclosing another
+addressed to her lover. The note for me ran thus: "If you think it to be
+a sin to deliver the enclosed to your friend, burn it. Have pity on an
+unfortunate girl, and be discreet."
+
+The enclosed letter which was unsealed, ran as follows: "If you love me
+as deeply as 'I love you, you cannot hope to be happy without me; we
+cannot correspond in any other way than the one I am bold enough to
+adopt. I am ready to do anything to unite our lives until death. Consider
+and decide."
+
+The cruel situation of the poor girl moved me almost to tears; yet I
+determined to return her letter the next day, and I enclosed it in a note
+in which I begged her to excuse me if I could not render her the service
+she required at my hands. I put it in my pocket ready for delivery. The
+next day I went for my lesson as usual, but, not seeing Barbara, I had no
+opportunity of returning her letter, and postponed its delivery to the
+following day. Unfortunately, just after I had returned to my room, the
+unhappy lover made his appearance. His eyes were red from weeping, his
+voice hoarse; he drew such a vivid picture of his misery, that, dreading
+some mad action counselled by despair, I could not withhold from him the
+consolation which I knew it was in my power to give. This was my first
+error in this fatal business; I was the victim of my own kindness.
+
+The poor fellow read the letter over and over; he kissed it with
+transports of joy; he wept, hugged me, and thanked me for saving his
+life, and finally entreated me to take charge of his answer, as his
+beloved mistress must be longing for consolation as much as he had been
+himself, assuring me that his letter could not in any way implicate me,
+and that I was at liberty to read it.
+
+And truly, although very long, his letter contained nothing but the
+assurance of everlasting love, and hopes which could not be realized. Yet
+I was wrong to accept the character of Mercury to the two young lovers.
+To refuse, I had only to recollect that Father Georgi would certainly
+have disapproved of my easy compliance.
+
+The next day I found M. Dalacqua ill in bed; his daughter gave me my
+lesson in his room, and I thought that perhaps she had obtained her
+pardon. I contrived to give her her lover's letter, which she dextrously
+conveyed to her pocket, but her blushes would have easily betrayed her if
+her father had been looking that way. After the lesson I gave M. Dalacqua
+notice that I would not come on the morrow, as it was the Festival of St.
+Ursula, one of the eleven thousand princesses and martyr-virgins.
+
+In the evening, at the reception of his eminence, which I attended
+regularly, although persons of distinction seldom spoke to me, the
+cardinal beckoned to me. He was speaking to the beautiful Marchioness
+G----, to whom Gama had indiscreetly confided that I thought her the
+handsomest woman amongst his eminence's guests.
+
+"Her grace," said the Cardinal, "wishes to know whether you are making
+rapid progress in the French language, which she speaks admirably."
+
+I answered in Italian that I had learned a great deal, but that I was not
+yet bold enough to speak.
+
+"You should be bold," said the marchioness, "but without showing any
+pretension. It is the best way to disarm criticism."
+
+My mind having almost unwittingly lent to the words "You should be bold"
+a meaning which had very likely been far from the idea of the
+marchioness, I turned very red, and the handsome speaker, observing it,
+changed the conversation and dismissed me.
+
+The next morning, at seven o'clock, I was at Donna Cecilia's door. The
+phaeton was there as well as the carriage for two persons, which this
+time was an elegant vis-a-vis, so light and well-hung that Donna Cecilia
+praised it highly when she took her seat.
+
+"I shall have my turn as we return to Rome," said Lucrezia; and I bowed
+to her as if in acceptance of her promise.
+
+Lucrezia thus set suspicion at defiance in order to prevent suspicion
+arising. My happiness was assured, and I gave way to my natural flow of
+spirits. I ordered a splendid dinner, and we all set out towards the
+Villa Ludovisi. As we might have missed each other during our ramblings,
+we agreed to meet again at the inn at one o'clock. The discreet widow
+took the arm of her son-in-law, Angelique remained with her sister, and
+Lucrezia was my delightful share; Ursula and her brother were running
+about together, and in less than a quarter of an hour I had Lucrezia
+entirely to myself.
+
+"Did you remark," she said, "with what candour I secured for us two hours
+of delightful 'tete-a-tete', and a 'tete-a-tete' in a 'vis-a-vis', too!
+How clever Love is!"
+
+"Yes, darling, Love has made but one of our two souls. I adore you, and
+if I have the courage to pass so many days without seeing you it is in
+order to be rewarded by the freedom of one single day like this."
+
+"I did not think it possible. But you have managed it all very well. You
+know too much for your age, dearest."
+
+"A month ago, my beloved, I was but an ignorant child, and you are the
+first woman who has initiated me into the mysteries of love. Your
+departure will kill me, for I could not find another woman like you in
+all Italy."
+
+"What! am I your first love? Alas! you will never be cured of it. Oh! why
+am I not entirely your own? You are also the first true love of my heart,
+and you will be the last. How great will be the happiness of my
+successor! I should not be jealous of her, but what suffering would be
+mine if I thought that her heart was not like mine!"
+
+Lucrezia, seeing my eyes wet with tears, began to give way to her own,
+and, seating ourselves on the grass, our lips drank our tears amidst the
+sweetest kisses. How sweet is the nectar of the tears shed by love, when
+that nectar is relished amidst the raptures of mutual ardour! I have
+often tasted them--those delicious tears, and I can say knowingly that
+the ancient physicians were right, and that the modern are wrong.
+
+In a moment of calm, seeing the disorder in which we both were, I told
+her that we might be surprised.
+
+"Do not fear, my best beloved," she said, "we are under the guardianship
+of our good angels."
+
+We were resting and reviving our strength by gazing into one another's
+eyes, when suddenly Lucrezia, casting a glance to the right, exclaimed,
+
+"Look there! idol of my heart, have I not told you so? Yes, the angels
+are watching over us! Ah! how he stares at us! He seems to try to give us
+confidence. Look at that little demon; admire him! He must certainly be
+your guardian spirit or mine."
+
+I thought she was delirious.
+
+"What are you saying, dearest? I do not understand you. What am I to
+admire?"
+
+"Do you not see that beautiful serpent with the blazing skin, which lifts
+its head and seems to worship us?"
+
+I looked in the direction she indicated, and saw a serpent with
+changeable colours about three feet in length, which did seem to be
+looking at us. I was not particularly pleased at the sight, but I could
+not show myself less courageous than she was.
+
+"What!" said I, "are you not afraid?"
+
+"I tell you, again, that the sight is delightful to me, and I feel
+certain that it is a spirit with nothing but the shape, or rather the
+appearance, of a serpent."
+
+"And if the spirit came gliding along the grass and hissed at you?"
+
+"I would hold you tighter against my bosom, and set him at defiance. In
+your arms Lucrezia is safe. Look! the spirit is going away. Quick, quick!
+He is warning us of the approach of some profane person, and tells us to
+seek some other retreat to renew our pleasures. Let us go."
+
+We rose and slowly advanced towards Donna Cecilia and the advocate, who
+were just emerging from a neighbouring alley. Without avoiding them, and
+without hurrying, just as if to meet one another was a very natural
+occurrence, I enquired of Donna Cecilia whether her daughter had any fear
+of serpents.
+
+"In spite of all her strength of mind," she answered, "she is dreadfully
+afraid of thunder, and she will scream with terror at the sight of the
+smallest snake. There are some here, but she need not be frightened, for
+they are not venomous."
+
+I was speechless with astonishment, for I discovered that I had just
+witnessed a wonderful love miracle. At that moment the children came up,
+and, without ceremony, we again parted company.
+
+"Tell me, wonderful being, bewitching woman, what would you have done if,
+instead of your pretty serpent, you had seen your husband and your
+mother?"
+
+"Nothing. Do you not know that, in moments of such rapture, lovers see
+and feel nothing but love? Do you doubt having possessed me wholly,
+entirely?"
+
+Lucrezia, in speaking thus, was not composing a poetical ode; she was not
+feigning fictitious sentiments; her looks, the sound of her voice, were
+truth itself!
+
+"Are you certain," I enquired, "that we are not suspected?"
+
+"My husband does not believe us to be in love with each other, or else he
+does not mind such trifling pleasures as youth is generally wont to
+indulge in. My mother is a clever woman, and perhaps she suspects the
+truth, but she is aware that it is no longer any concern of hers. As to
+my sister, she must know everything, for she cannot have forgotten the
+broken-down bed; but she is prudent, and besides, she has taken it into
+her head to pity me. She has no conception of the nature of my feelings
+towards you. If I had not met you, my beloved, I should probably have
+gone through life without realizing such feelings myself; for what I feel
+for my husband.... well, I have for him the obedience which my position
+as a wife imposes upon me."
+
+"And yet he is most happy, and I envy him! He can clasp in his arms all
+your lovely person whenever he likes! There is no hateful veil to hide
+any of your charms from his gaze."
+
+"Oh! where art thou, my dear serpent? Come to us, come and protect us
+against the surprise of the uninitiated, and this very instant I fulfil
+all the wishes of him I adore!"
+
+We passed the morning in repeating that we loved each other, and in
+exchanging over and over again substantial proofs of our mutual passion.
+
+We had a delicious dinner, during which I was all attention for the
+amiable Donna Cecilia. My pretty tortoise-shell box, filled with
+excellent snuff, went more than once round the table. As it happened to
+be in the hands of Lucrezia who was sitting on my left, her husband told
+her that, if I had no objection, she might give me her ring and keep the
+snuff-box in exchange. Thinking that the ring was not of as much value as
+my box, I immediately accepted, but I found the ring of greater value.
+Lucrezia would not, however, listen to anything on that subject. She put
+the box in her pocket, and thus compelled me to keep her ring.
+
+Dessert was nearly over, the conversation was very animated, when
+suddenly the intended husband of Angelique claimed our attention for the
+reading of a sonnet which he had composed and dedicated to me. I thanked
+him, and placing the sonnet in my pocket promised to write one for him.
+This was not, however, what he wished; he expected that, stimulated by
+emulation, I would call for paper and pen, and sacrifice to Apollo hours
+which it was much more to my taste to employ in worshipping another god
+whom his cold nature knew only by name. We drank coffee, I paid the bill,
+and we went about rambling through the labyrinthine alleys of the Villa
+Aldobrandini.
+
+What sweet recollections that villa has left in my memory! It seemed as
+if I saw my divine Lucrezia for the first time. Our looks were full of
+ardent love, our hearts were beating in concert with the most tender
+impatience, and a natural instinct was leading us towards a solitary
+asylum which the hand of Love seemed to have prepared on purpose for the
+mysteries of its secret worship. There, in the middle of a long avenue,
+and under a canopy of thick foliage, we found a wide sofa made of grass,
+and sheltered by a deep thicket; from that place our eyes could range
+over an immense plain, and view the avenue to such a distance right and
+left that we were perfectly secure against any surprise. We did not
+require to exchange one word at the sight of this beautiful temple so
+favourable to our love; our hearts spoke the same language.
+
+Without a word being spoken, our ready hands soon managed to get rid of
+all obstacles, and to expose in a state of nature all the beauties which
+are generally veiled by troublesome wearing apparel. Two whole hours were
+devoted to the most delightful, loving ecstasies. At last we exclaimed
+together in mutual ecstasy, "O Love, we thank thee!"
+
+We slowly retraced our steps towards the carriages, revelling in our
+intense happiness. Lucrezia informed me that Angelique's suitor was
+wealthy, that he owned a splendid villa at Tivoli, and that most likely
+he would invite us all to dine and pass the night there. "I pray the god
+of love," she added, "to grant us a night as beautiful as this day has
+been." Then, looking sad, she said, "But alas! the ecclesiastical lawsuit
+which has brought my husband to Rome is progressing so favourably that I
+am mortally afraid he will obtain judgment all too soon."
+
+The journey back to the city lasted two hours; we were alone in my
+vis-a-vis and we overtaxed nature, exacting more than it can possibly
+give. As we were getting near Rome we were compelled to let the curtain
+fall before the denouement of the drama which we had performed to the
+complete satisfaction of the actors.
+
+I returned home rather fatigued, but the sound sleep which was so natural
+at my age restored my full vigour, and in the morning I took my French
+lesson at the usual hour.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+Benedict XIV--Excursion to Tivoli--Departure of Lucrezia--The Marchioness
+G.--Barbara Dalacqua--My Misfortunes--I Leave Rome
+
+M. Dalacqua being very ill, his daughter Barbara gave me my lesson. When
+it was over, she seized an opportunity of slipping a letter into my
+pocket, and immediately disappeared, so that I had no chance of refusing.
+The letter was addressed to me, and expressed feelings of the warmest
+gratitude. She only desired me to inform her lover that her father had
+spoken to her again, and that most likely he would engage a new servant
+as soon as he had recovered from his illness, and she concluded her
+letter by assuring me that she never would implicate me in this business.
+
+Her father was compelled to keep his bed for a fortnight, and Barbara
+continued to give me my lesson every day. I felt for her an interest
+which, from me towards a young and pretty girl, was, indeed, quite a new
+sentiment. It was a feeling of pity, and I was proud of being able to
+help and comfort her. Her eyes never rested upon mine, her hand never met
+mine, I never saw in her toilet the slightest wish to please me. She was
+very pretty, and I knew she had a tender, loving nature; but nothing
+interfered with the respect and the regard which I was bound in honour
+and in good faith to feel towards her, and I was proud to remark that she
+never thought me capable of taking advantage of her weakness or of her
+position.
+
+When the father had recovered he dismissed his servant and engaged
+another. Barbara entreated me to inform her friend of the circumstance,
+and likewise of her hope to gain the new servant to their interests, at
+least sufficiently to secure the possibility of carrying on some
+correspondence. I promised to do so, and as a mark of her gratitude she
+took my hand to carry it to her lips, but quickly withdrawing it I tried
+to kiss her; she turned her face away, blushing deeply. I was much
+pleased with her modesty.
+
+Barbara having succeeded in gaining the new servant over, I had nothing
+more to do with the intrigue, and I was very glad of it, for I knew my
+interference might have brought evil on my own head. Unfortunately, it
+was already too late.
+
+I seldom visited Don Gaspar; the study of the French language took up all
+my mornings, and it was only in the morning that I could see him; but I
+called every evening upon Father Georgi, and, although I went to him only
+as one of his 'proteges', it gave me some reputation. I seldom spoke
+before his guests, yet I never felt weary, for in his circle his friends
+would criticise without slandering, discuss politics without
+stubbornness, literature without passion, and I profited by all. After my
+visit to the sagacious monk, I used to attend the assembly of the
+cardinal, my master, as a matter of duty. Almost every evening, when she
+happened to see me at her card-table, the beautiful marchioness would
+address to me a few gracious words in French, and I always answered in
+Italian, not caring to make her laugh before so many persons. My feelings
+for her were of a singular kind. I must leave them to the analysis of the
+reader. I thought that woman charming, yet I avoided her; it was not
+because I was afraid of falling in love with her; I loved Lucrezia, and I
+firmly believed that such an affection was a shield against any other
+attachment, but it was because I feared that she might love me or have a
+passing fancy for me. Was it self-conceit or modesty, vice or virtue?
+Perhaps neither one nor the other.
+
+One evening she desired the Abbe Gama to call me to her; she was standing
+near the cardinal, my patron, and the moment I approached her she caused
+me a strange feeling of surprise by asking me in Italian a question which
+I was far from anticipating:
+
+"How did you like Frascati?"
+
+"Very much, madam; I have never seen such a beautiful place."
+
+"But your company was still more beautiful, and your vis-a-vis was very
+smart."
+
+I only bowed low to the marchioness, and a moment after Cardinal
+Acquaviva said to me, kindly,
+
+"You are astonished at your adventure being known?"
+
+"No, my lord; but I am surprised that people should talk of it. I could
+not have believed Rome to be so much like a small village."
+
+"The longer you live in Rome," said his eminence, "the more you will find
+it so. You have not yet presented yourself to kiss the foot of our Holy
+Father?"
+
+"Not yet, my lord."
+
+"Then you must do so."
+
+I bowed in compliance to his wishes.
+
+The Abbe Gama told me to present myself to the Pope on the morrow, and he
+added,
+
+"Of course you have already shewn yourself in the Marchioness G.'s
+palace?"
+
+"No, I have never been there."
+
+"You astonish me; but she often speaks to you!"
+
+"I have no objection to go with you."
+
+"I never visit at her palace."
+
+"Yet she speaks to you likewise."
+
+"Yes, but.... You do not know Rome; go alone; believe me, you ought to
+go."
+
+"Will she receive me?"
+
+"You are joking, I suppose. Of course it is out of the question for you
+to be announced. You will call when the doors are wide open to everybody.
+You will meet there all those who pay homage to her."
+
+"Will she see me?"
+
+"No doubt of it."
+
+On the following day I proceeded to Monte-Cavallo, and I was at once led
+into the room where the Pope was alone. I threw myself on my knees and
+kissed the holy cross on his most holy slipper. The Pope enquiring who I
+was, I told him, and he answered that he knew me, congratulating me upon
+my being in the service of so eminent a cardinal. He asked me how I had
+succeeded in gaining the cardinal's favour; I answered with a faithful
+recital of my adventures from my arrival at Martorano. He laughed
+heartily at all I said respecting the poor and worthy bishop, and
+remarked that, instead of trying to address him in Tuscan, I could speak
+in the Venetian dialect, as he was himself speaking to me in the dialect
+of Bologna. I felt quite at my ease with him, and I told him so much news
+and amused him so well that the Holy Father kindly said that he would be
+glad to see me whenever I presented myself at Monte-Cavallo. I begged his
+permission to read all forbidden books, and he granted it with his
+blessing, saying that I should have the permission in writing, but he
+forgot it.
+
+Benedict XIV, was a learned man, very amiable, and fond of a joke. I saw
+him for the second time at the Villa Medicis. He called me to him, and
+continued his walk, speaking of trifling things. He was then accompanied
+by Cardinal Albani and the ambassador from Venice. A man of modest
+appearance approached His Holiness, who asked what he required; the man
+said a few words in a low voice, and, after listening to him, the Pope
+answered, "You are right, place your trust in God;" and he gave him his
+blessing. The poor fellow went away very dejected, and the Holy Father
+continued his walk.
+
+"This man," I said, "most Holy Father, has not been pleased with the
+answer of Your Holiness."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Because most likely he had already addressed himself to God before he
+ventured to apply to you; and when Your Holiness sends him to God again,
+he finds himself sent back, as the proverb says, from Herod to Pilate."
+
+The Pope, as well as his two companions, laughed heartily; but I kept a
+serious countenance.
+
+"I cannot," continued the Pope, "do any good without God's assistance."
+
+"Very true, Holy Father; but the man is aware that you are God's prime
+minister, and it is easy to imagine his trouble now that the minister
+sends him again to the master. His only resource is to give money to the
+beggars of Rome, who for one 'bajocco' will pray for him. They boast of
+their influence before the throne of the Almighty, but as I have faith
+only in your credit, I entreat Your Holiness to deliver me of the heat
+which inflames my eyes by granting me permission to eat meat."
+
+"Eat meat, my son."
+
+"Holy Father, give me your blessing."
+
+He blessed me, adding that I was not dispensed from fasting.
+
+That very evening, at the cardinal's assembly, I found that the news of
+my dialogue with the Pope was already known. Everybody was anxious to
+speak to me. I felt flattered, but I was much more delighted at the joy
+which Cardinal Acquaviva tried in vain to conceal.
+
+As I wished not to neglect Gama's advice, I presented myself at the
+mansion of the beautiful marchioness at the hour at which everyone had
+free access to her ladyship. I saw her, I saw the cardinal and a great
+many abbes; but I might have supposed myself invisible, for no one
+honoured me with a look, and no one spoke to me. I left after having
+performed for half an hour the character of a mute. Five or six days
+afterwards, the marchioness told me graciously that she had caught a
+sight of me in her reception-rooms.
+
+"I was there, it is true, madam; but I had no idea that I had had the
+honour to be seen by your ladyship."
+
+"Oh! I see everybody. They tell me that you have wit."
+
+"If it is not a mistake on the part of your informants, your ladyship
+gives me very good news."
+
+"Oh! they are excellent judges."
+
+"Then, madam, those persons must have honoured me with their
+conversation; otherwise, it is not likely that they would have been able
+to express such an opinion."
+
+"No doubt; but let me see you often at my receptions."
+
+Our conversation had been overheard by those who were around; his
+excellency the cardinal told me that, when the marchioness addressed
+herself particularly to me in French, my duty was to answer her in the
+same language, good or bad. The cunning politician Gama took me apart,
+and remarked that my repartees were too smart, too cutting, and that,
+after a time, I would be sure to displease. I had made considerable
+progress in French; I had given up my lessons, and practice was all I
+required. I was then in the habit of calling sometimes upon Lucrezia in
+the morning, and of visiting in the evening Father Georgi, who was
+acquainted with the excursion to Frascati, and had not expressed any
+dissatisfaction.
+
+Two days after the sort of command laid upon me by the marchioness, I
+presented myself at her reception. As soon as she saw me, she favoured me
+with a smile which I acknowledged by a deep reverence; that was all. In a
+quarter of an hour afterwards I left the mansion. The marchioness was
+beautiful, but she was powerful, and I could not make up my mind to crawl
+at the feet of power, and, on that head, I felt disgusted with the
+manners of the Romans.
+
+One morning towards the end of November the advocate, accompanied by
+Angelique's intended, called on me. The latter gave me a pressing
+invitation to spend twenty-four hours at Tivoli with the friends I had
+entertained at Frascati. I accepted with great pleasure, for I had found
+no opportunity of being alone with Lucrezia since the Festival of St.
+Ursula. I promised to be at Donna Cecilia's house at day-break with the
+same 'is-a-vis'. It was necessary to start very early, because Tivoli is
+sixteen miles from Rome, and has so many objects of interest that it
+requires many hours to see them all. As I had to sleep out that night, I
+craved permission to do so from the cardinal himself, who, hearing with
+whom I was going, told me that I was quite right not to lose such an
+opportunity of visiting that splendid place in such good society.
+
+The first dawn of day found me with my 'vis-a-vis' and four at the door
+of Donna Cecilia, who came with me as before. The charming widow,
+notwithstanding her strict morality, was delighted at my love for her
+daughter. The family rode in a large phaeton hired by Don Francisco,
+which gave room for six persons.
+
+At half-past seven in the morning we made a halt at a small place where
+had been prepared, by Don Franciso's orders, an excellent breakfast,
+which was intended to replace the dinner, and we all made a hearty meal,
+as we were not likely to find time for anything but supper at Tivoli. I
+wore on my finger the beautiful ring which Lucrezia had given me. At the
+back of the ring I had had a piece of enamel placed, on it was delineated
+a saduceus, with one serpent between the letters Alpha and Omega. This
+ring was the subject of conversation during breakfast, and Don Francisco,
+as well as the advocate, exerted himself in vain to guess the meaning of
+the hieroglyphs; much to the amusement of Lucrezia, who understood the
+mysterious secret so well. We continued our road, and reached Tivoli at
+ten o'clock.
+
+We began by visiting Don Francisco's villa. It was a beautiful little
+house, and we spent the following six hours in examining together the
+antiquities of Tivoli. Lucrezia having occasion to whisper a few words to
+Don Francisco, I seized the opportunity of telling Angelique that after
+her marriage I should be happy to spend a few days of the fine season
+with her.
+
+"Sir," she answered, "I give you fair notice that the moment I become
+mistress in this house you will be the very first person to be excluded."
+
+"I feel greatly obliged to you, signora, for your timely notice."
+
+But the most amusing part of the affair was that I construed Angelique's
+wanton insult into a declaration of love. I was astounded. Lucrezia,
+remarking the state I was in, touched my arm, enquiring what ailed me. I
+told her, and she said at once,
+
+"My darling, my happiness cannot last long; the cruel moment of our
+separation is drawing near. When I have gone, pray undertake the task of
+compelling her to acknowledge her error. Angelique pities me, be sure to
+avenge me."
+
+I have forgotten to mention that at Don Francisco's villa I happened to
+praise a very pretty room opening upon the orange-house, and the amiable
+host, having heard me, came obligingly to me, and said that it should be
+my room that night. Lucrezia feigned not to hear, but it was to her
+Ariadne's clue, for, as we were to remain altogether during our visit to
+the beauties of Tivoli, we had no chance of a tete-a-tete through the
+day.
+
+I have said that we devoted six hours to an examination of the
+antiquities of Tivoli, but I am bound to confess here that I saw, for my
+part, very little of them, and it was only twenty-eight years later that
+I made a thorough acquaintance with the beautiful spot.
+
+We returned to the villa towards evening, fatigued and very hungry, but
+an hour's rest before supper--a repast which lasted two hours, the most
+delicious dishes, the most exquisite wines, and particularly the
+excellent wine of Tivoli--restored us so well that everybody wanted
+nothing more than a good bed and the freedom to enjoy the bed according
+to his own taste.
+
+As everybody objected to sleep alone, Lucrezia said that she would sleep
+with Angelique in one of the rooms leading to the orange-house, and
+proposed that her husband should share a room with the young abbe, his
+brother-in-law, and that Donna Cecilia should take her youngest daughter
+with her.
+
+The arrangement met with general approbation, and Don Francisco, taking a
+candle, escorted me to my pretty little room adjoining the one in which
+the two sisters were to sleep, and, after shewing me how I could lock
+myself in, he wished me good night and left me alone.
+
+Angelique had no idea that I was her near neighbour, but Lucrezia and I,
+without exchanging a single word on the subject, had perfectly understood
+each other.
+
+I watched through the key-hole and saw the two sisters come into their
+room, preceded by the polite Don Francisco, who carried a taper, and,
+after lighting a night-lamp, bade them good night and retired. Then my
+two beauties, their door once locked, sat down on the sofa and completed
+their night toilet, which, in that fortunate climate, is similar to the
+costume of our first mother. Lucrezia, knowing that I was waiting to come
+in, told her sister to lie down on the side towards the window, and the
+virgin, having no idea that she was exposing her most secret beauties to
+my profane eyes, crossed the room in a state of complete nakedness.
+Lucrezia put out the lamp and lay down near her innocent sister.
+
+Happy moments which I can no longer enjoy, but the sweet remembrance of
+which death alone can make me lose! I believe I never undressed myself as
+quickly as I did that evening.
+
+I open the door and fall into the arms of my Lucrezia, who says to her
+sister, "It is my angel, my love; never mind him, and go to sleep."
+
+What a delightful picture I could offer to my readers if it were possible
+for me to paint voluptuousnes in its most enchanting colours! What
+ecstasies of love from the very onset! What delicious raptures succeed
+each other until the sweetest fatigue made us give way to the soothing
+influence of Morpheus!
+
+The first rays of the sun, piercing through the crevices of the shutters,
+wake us out of our refreshing slumbers, and like two valorous knights who
+have ceased fighting only to renew the contest with increased ardour, we
+lose no time in giving ourselves up to all the intensity of the flame
+which consumes us.
+
+"Oh, my beloved Lucrezia! how supremely happy I am! But, my darling, mind
+your sister; she might turn round and see us."
+
+"Fear nothing, my life; my sister is kind, she loves me, she pities me;
+do you not love me, my dear Angelique? Oh! turn round, see how happy your
+sister is, and know what felicity awaits you when you own the sway of
+love."
+
+Angelique, a young maiden of seventeen summers, who must have suffered
+the torments of Tantalus during the night, and who only wishes for a
+pretext to shew that she has forgiven her sister, turns round, and
+covering her sister with kisses, confesses that she has not closed her
+eyes through the night.
+
+"Then forgive likewise, darling Angelique, forgive him who loves me, and
+whom I adore," says Lucrezia.
+
+Unfathomable power of the god who conquers all human beings!
+
+"Angelique hates me," I say, "I dare not...."
+
+"No, I do not hate you!" answers the charming girl.
+
+"Kiss her, dearest," says Lucrezia, pushing me towards her sister, and
+pleased to see her in my arms motionless and languid.
+
+But sentiment, still more than love, forbids me to deprive Lucrezia of
+the proof of my gratitude, and I turn to her with all the rapture of a
+beginner, feeling that my ardour is increased by Angelique's ecstasy, as
+for the first time she witnesses the amorous contest. Lucrezia, dying of
+enjoyment, entreats me to stop, but, as I do not listen to her prayer,
+she tricks me, and the sweet Angelique makes her first sacrifice to the
+mother of love. It is thus, very likely, that when the gods inhabited
+this earth, the voluptuous Arcadia, in love with the soft and pleasing
+breath of Zephyrus, one day opened her arms, and was fecundated.
+
+Lucrezia was astonished and delighted, and covered us both with kisses.
+Angelique, as happy as her sister, expired deliciously in my arms for the
+third time, and she seconded me with so much loving ardour, that it
+seemed to me I was tasting happiness for the first time.
+
+Phoebus had left the nuptial couch, and his rays were already diffusing
+light over the universe; and that light, reaching us through the closed
+shutters, gave me warning to quit the place; we exchanged the most loving
+adieus, I left my two divinities and retired to my own room. A few
+minutes afterwards, the cheerful voice of the advocate was heard in the
+chamber of the sisters; he was reproaching them for sleeping too long!
+Then he knocked at my door, threatening to bring the ladies to me, and
+went away, saying that he would send me the hair-dresser.
+
+After many ablutions and a careful toilet, I thought I could skew my
+face, and I presented myself coolly in the drawing-room. The two sisters
+were there with the other members of our society, and I was delighted
+with their rosy cheeks. Lucrezia was frank and gay, and beamed with
+happiness; Angelique, as fresh as the morning dew, was more radiant than
+usual, but fidgety, and carefully avoided looking me in the face. I saw
+that my useless attempts to catch her eyes made her smile, and I remarked
+to her mother, rather mischievously, that it was a pity Angelique used
+paint for her face. She was duped by this stratagem, and compelled me to
+pass a handkerchief over her face, and was then obliged to look at me. I
+offered her my apologies, and Don Francisco appeared highly pleased that
+the complexion of his intended had met with such triumph.
+
+After breakfast we took a walk through the garden, and, finding myself
+alone with Lucrezia, I expostulated tenderly with her for having almost
+thrown her sister in my arms.
+
+"Do not reproach me," she said, "when I deserve praise. I have brought
+light into the darkness of my charming sister's soul; I have initiated
+her in the sweetest of mysteries, and now, instead of pitying me, she
+must envy me. Far from having hatred for you, she must love you dearly,
+and as I am so unhappy as to have to part from you very soon, my beloved,
+I leave her to you; she will replace me."
+
+"Ah, Lucrezia! how can I love her?"
+
+"Is she not a charming girl?"
+
+"No doubt of it; but my adoration for you is a shield against any other
+love. Besides Don Francisco must, of course, entirely monopolize her, and
+I do not wish to cause coolness between them, or to ruin the peace of
+their home. I am certain your sister is not like you, and I would bet
+that, even now, she upbraids herself for having given way to the ardour
+of her temperament:"
+
+"Most likely; but, dearest, I am sorry to say my husband expects to
+obtain judgment in the course of this week, and then the short instants
+of happiness will for ever be lost to me."
+
+This was sad news indeed, and to cause a diversion at the breakfast-table
+I took much notice of the generous Don Francisco, and promised to compose
+a nuptial song for his wedding-day, which had been fixed for the early
+part of January.
+
+We returned to Rome, and for the three hours that she was with me in my
+vis-a-vis, Lucrezia had no reason to think that my ardour was at all
+abated. But when we reached the city I was rather fatigued, and proceeded
+at once to the palace.
+
+Lucrezia had guessed rightly; her husband obtained his judgment three or
+four days afterwards, and called upon me to announce their departure for
+the day after the morrow; he expressed his warm friendship for me, and by
+his invitation I spent the two last evenings with Lucrezia, but we were
+always surrounded by the family. The day of her departure, wishing to
+cause her an agreeable surprise, I left Rome before them and waited for
+them at the place where I thought they would put up for the night, but
+the advocate, having been detained by several engagements, was detained
+in Rome, and they only reached the place next day for dinner. We dined
+together, we exchanged a sad, painful farewell, and they continued their
+journey while I returned to Rome.
+
+After the departure of this charming woman, I found myself in sort of
+solitude very natural to a young man whose heart is not full of hope.
+
+I passed whole days in my room, making extracts from the French letters
+written by the cardinal, and his eminence was kind enough to tell me that
+my extracts were judiciously made, but that he insisted upon my not
+working so hard. The beautiful marchioness was present when he paid me
+that compliment.
+
+Since my second visit to her, I had not presented myself at her house;
+she was consequently rather cool to me, and, glad of an opportunity of
+making me feel her displeasure, she remarked to his eminence that very
+likely work was a consolation to me in the great void caused by the
+departure of Donna Lucrezia.
+
+"I candidly confess, madam, that I have felt her loss deeply. She was
+kind and generous; above all, she was indulgent when I did not call often
+upon her. My friendship for her was innocent."
+
+"I have no doubt of it, although your ode was the work of a poet deeply
+in love."
+
+"Oh!" said the kindly cardinal, "a poet cannot possibly write without
+professing to be in love."
+
+"But," replied the marchioness, "if the poet is really in love, he has no
+need of professing a feeling which he possesses."
+
+As she was speaking, the marchioness drew out of her pocket a paper which
+she offered to his eminence.
+
+"This is the ode," she said, "it does great honour to the poet, for it is
+admitted to be a masterpiece by all the literati in Rome, and Donna
+Lucrezia knows it by heart."
+
+The cardinal read it over and returned it, smiling, and remarking that,
+as he had no taste for Italian poetry, she must give herself the pleasure
+of translating it into French rhyme if she wished him to admire it.
+
+"I only write French prose," answered the marchioness, "and a prose
+translation destroys half the beauty of poetry. I am satisfied with
+writing occasionally a little Italian poetry without any pretension to
+poetical fame."
+
+Those words were accompanied by a very significant glance in my
+direction.
+
+"I should consider myself fortunate, madam, if I could obtain the
+happiness of admiring some of your poetry."
+
+"Here is a sonnet of her ladyship's," said Cardinal S. C.
+
+I took it respectfully, and I prepared to read it, but the amiable
+marchioness told me to put it in my pocket and return it to the cardinal
+the next day, although she did not think the sonnet worth so much
+trouble. "If you should happen to go out in the morning," said Cardinal
+S. C., "you could bring it back, and dine with me." Cardinal Aquaviva
+immediately answered for me: "He will be sure to go out purposely."
+
+With a deep reverence, which expressed my thanks, I left the room quietly
+and returned to my apartment, very impatient to read the sonnet. Yet,
+before satisfying my wish, I could not help making some reflections on
+the situation. I began to think myself somebody since the gigantic stride
+I had made this evening at the cardinal's assembly. The Marchioness de G.
+had shewn in the most open way the interest she felt in me, and, under
+cover of her grandeur, had not hesitated to compromise herself publicly
+by the most flattering advances. But who would have thought of
+disapproving? A young abbe like me, without any importance whatever, who
+could scarcely pretend to her high protection! True, but she was
+precisely the woman to grant it to those who, feeling themselves unworthy
+of it, dared not shew any pretensions to her patronage. On that head, my
+modesty must be evident to everyone, and the marchioness would certainly
+have insulted me had she supposed me capable of sufficient vanity to
+fancy that she felt the slightest inclination for me. No, such a piece of
+self-conceit was not in accordance with my nature. Her cardinal himself
+had invited me to dinner. Would he have done so if he had admitted the
+possibility of the beautiful marchioness feeling anything for me? Of
+course not, and he gave me an invitation to dine with him only because he
+had understood, from the very words of the lady, that I was just the sort
+of person with whom they could converse for a few hours without any risk;
+to be sure, without any risk whatever. Oh, Master Casanova! do you really
+think so?
+
+Well, why should I put on a mask before my readers? They may think me
+conceited if they please, but the fact of the matter is that I felt sure
+of having made a conquest of the marchioness. I congratulated myself
+because she had taken the first, most difficult, and most important step.
+Had she not done so, I should never have dared-to lay siege to her even
+in the most approved fashion; I should never have even ventured to dream
+of winning her. It was only this evening that I thought she might replace
+Lucrezia. She was beautiful, young, full of wit and talent; she was fond
+of literary pursuits, and very powerful in Rome; what more was necessary?
+Yet I thought it would be good policy to appear ignorant of her
+inclination for me, and to let her suppose from the very next day that I
+was in love with her, but that my love appeared to me hopeless. I knew
+that such a plan was infallible, because it saved her dignity. It seemed
+to me that Father Georgi himself would be compelled to approve such an
+undertaking, and I had remarked with great satisfaction that Cardinal
+Acquaviva had expressed his delight at Cardinal S. C.'s invitation--an
+honour which he had never yet bestowed on me himself. This affair might
+have very important results for me.
+
+I read the marchioness's sonnet, and found it easy, flowing, and well
+written. It was composed in praise of the King of Prussia, who had just
+conquered Silesia by a masterly stroke. As I was copying it, the idea
+struck me to personify Silesia, and to make her, in answer to the sonnet,
+bewail that Love (supposed to be the author of the sonnet of the
+marchioness) could applaud the man who had conquered her, when that
+conqueror was the sworn enemy of Love.
+
+It is impossible for a man accustomed to write poetry to abstain when a
+happy subject smiles upon his delighted imagination. If he attempted to
+smother the poetical flame running through his veins it would consume
+him. I composed my sonnet, keeping the same rhymes as in the original,
+and, well pleased with my muse, I went to bed.
+
+The next morning the Abbe Gama came in just as I had finished recopying
+my sonnet, and said he would breakfast with me. He complimented me upon
+the honour conferred on me by the invitation of Cardinal S. C.
+
+"But be prudent," he added, "for his eminence has the reputation of being
+jealous:"
+
+I thanked him for his friendly advice, taking care to assure him that I
+had nothing to fear, because I did not feel the slightest inclination for
+the handsome marchioness.
+
+Cardinal S. C. received me with great kindness mingled with dignity, to
+make me realize the importance of the favour he was bestowing upon me.
+
+"What do you think," he enquired, "of the sonnet?"
+
+"Monsignor, it is perfectly written, and, what is more, it is a charming
+composition. Allow me to return it to you with my thanks."
+
+"She has much talent. I wish to shew you ten stanzas of her composition,
+my dear abbe, but you must promise to be very discreet about it."
+
+"Your eminence may rely on me."
+
+He opened his bureau and brought forth the stanzas of which he was the
+subject. I read them, found them well written, but devoid of enthusiasm;
+they were the work of a poet, and expressed love in the words of passion,
+but were not pervaded by that peculiar feeling by which true love is so
+easily discovered. The worthy cardinal was doubtless guilty of a very
+great indiscretion, but self-love is the cause of so many injudicious
+steps! I asked his eminence whether he had answered the stanzas.
+
+"No," he replied, "I have not; but would you feel disposed to lend me
+your poetical pen, always under the seal of secrecy?"
+
+"As to secrecy, monsignor, I promise it faithfully; but I am afraid the
+marchioness will remark the difference between your style and mine."
+
+"She has nothing of my composition," said the cardinal; "I do not think
+she supposes me a fine poet, and for that reason your stanzas must be
+written in such a manner that she will not esteem them above my
+abilities."
+
+"I will write them with pleasure, monsignor, and your eminence can form
+an opinion; if they do not seem good enough to be worthy of you, they
+need not be given to the marchioness."
+
+"That is well said. Will you write them at once?"
+
+"What! now, monsignor? It is not like prose."
+
+"Well, well! try to let me have them to-morrow."
+
+We dined alone, and his eminence complimented me upon my excellent
+appetite, which he remarked was as good as his own; but I was beginning
+to understand my eccentric host, and, to flatter him, I answered that he
+praised me more than I deserved, and that my appetite was inferior to
+his. The singular compliment delighted him, and I saw all the use I could
+make of his eminence.
+
+Towards the end of the dinner, as we were conversing, the marchioness
+made her appearance, and, as a matter of course, without being announced.
+Her looks threw me into raptures; I thought her a perfect beauty. She did
+not give the cardinal time to meet her, but sat down near him, while I
+remained standing, according to etiquette.
+
+Without appearing to notice me, the marchioness ran wittily over various
+topics until coffee was brought in. Then, addressing herself to me, she
+told me to sit down, just as if she was bestowing charity upon me.
+
+"By-the-by, abbe," she said, a minute after, "have you read my sonnet?"
+
+"Yes, madam, and I have had the honour to return it to his eminence. I
+have found it so perfect that I am certain it must have cost you a great
+deal of time."
+
+"Time?" exclaimed the cardinal; "Oh! you do not know the marchioness."
+
+"Monsignor," I replied, "nothing can be done well without time, and that
+is why I have not dared to chew to your eminence an answer to the sonnet
+which I have written in half an hour."
+
+"Let us see it, abbe," said the marchioness; "I want to read it."
+
+"Answer of Silesia to Love." This title brought the most fascinating
+blushes on her countenance. "But Love is not mentioned in the sonnet,"
+exclaimed the cardinal. "Wait," said the marchioness, "we must respect
+the idea of the poet:"
+
+She read the sonnet over and over, and thought that the reproaches
+addressed by Silesia to Love were very just. She explained my idea to the
+cardinal, making him understand why Silesia was offended at having been
+conquered by the King of Prussia.
+
+"Ah, I see, I see!" exclaimed the cardinal, full of joy; "Silesia is a
+woman.... and the King of Prussia.... Oh! oh! that is really a fine
+idea!" And the good cardinal laughed heartily for more than a quarter of
+an hour. "I must copy that sonnet," he added, "indeed I must have it."
+
+"The abbe," said the obliging marchioness, "will save you the trouble: I
+will dictate it to him."
+
+I prepared to write, but his eminence suddenly exclaimed, "My dear
+marchioness, this is wonderful; he has kept the same rhymes as in your
+own sonnet: did you observe it?"
+
+The beautiful marchioness gave me then a look of such expression that she
+completed her conquest. I understood that she wanted me to know the
+cardinal as well as she knew him; it was a kind of partnership in which I
+was quite ready to play my part.
+
+As soon as I had written the sonnet under the charming woman's dictation,
+I took my leave, but not before the cardinal had told me that he expected
+me to dinner the next day.
+
+I had plenty of work before me, for the ten stanzas I had to compose were
+of the most singular character, and I lost no time in shutting myself up
+in my room to think of them. I had to keep my balance between two points
+of equal difficulty, and I felt that great care was indispensable. I had
+to place the marchioness in such a position that she could pretend to
+believe the cardinal the author of the stanzas, and, at the same time,
+compel her to find out that I had written them, and that I was aware of
+her knowing it. It was necessary to speak so carefully that not one
+expression should breathe even the faintest hope on my part, and yet to
+make my stanzas blaze with the ardent fire of my love under the thin veil
+of poetry. As for the cardinal, I knew well enough that the better the
+stanzas were written, the more disposed he would be to sign them. All I
+wanted was clearness, so difficult to obtain in poetry, while a little
+doubtful darkness would have been accounted sublime by my new Midas. But,
+although I wanted to please him, the cardinal was only a secondary
+consideration, and the handsome marchioness the principal object.
+
+As the marchioness in her verses had made a pompous enumeration of every
+physical and moral quality of his eminence, it was of course natural that
+he should return the compliment, and here my task was easy. At last
+having mastered my subject well, I began my work, and giving full career
+to my imagination and to my feelings I composed the ten stanzas, and gave
+the finishing stroke with these two beautiful lines from Ariosto:
+
+     Le angelicche bellezze nate al cielo
+     Non si ponno celar sotto alcum velo.
+
+Rather pleased with my production, I presented it the next day to the
+cardinal, modestly saying that I doubted whether he would accept the
+authorship of so ordinary a composition. He read the stanzas twice over
+without taste or expression, and said at last that they were indeed not
+much, but exactly what he wanted. He thanked me particularly for the two
+lines from Ariosto, saying that they would assist in throwing the
+authorship upon himself, as they would prove to the lady for whom they
+were intended that he had not been able to write them without borrowing.
+And, as to offer me some consolation, he told me that, in recopying the
+lines, he would take care to make a few mistakes in the rhythm to
+complete the illusion.
+
+We dined earlier than the day before, and I withdrew immediately after
+dinner so as to give him leisure to make a copy of the stanzas before the
+arrival of the lady.
+
+The next evening I met the marchioness at the entrance of the palace, and
+offered her my arm to come out of her carriage. The instant she alighted,
+she said to me,
+
+"If ever your stanzas and mine become known in Rome, you may be sure of
+my enmity."
+
+"Madam, I do not understand what you mean."
+
+"I expected you to answer me in this manner," replied the marchioness,
+"but recollect what I have said."
+
+I left her at the door of the reception-room, and thinking that she was
+really angry with me, I went away in despair. "My stanzas," I said to
+myself, "are too fiery; they compromise her dignity, and her pride is
+offended at my knowing the secret of her intrigue with Cardinal S. C.
+Yet, I feel certain that the dread she expresses of my want of discretion
+is only feigned, it is but a pretext to turn me out of her favour. She
+has not understood my reserve! What would she have done, if I had painted
+her in the simple apparel of the golden age, without any of those veils
+which modesty imposes upon her sex!" I was sorry I had not done so. I
+undressed and went to bed. My head was scarcely on the pillow when the
+Abbe Gama knocked at my door. I pulled the door-string, and coming in, he
+said,
+
+"My dear sir, the cardinal wishes to see you, and I am sent by the
+beautiful marchioness and Cardinal S. C., who desire you to come down."
+
+"I am very sorry, but I cannot go; tell them the truth; I am ill in bed."
+
+As the abbe did not return, I judged that he had faithfully acquitted
+himself of the commission, and I spent a quiet night. I was not yet
+dressed in the morning, when I received a note from Cardinal S. C.
+inviting me to dinner, saying that he had just been bled, and that he
+wanted to speak to me: he concluded by entreating me to come to him
+early, even if I did not feel well.
+
+The invitation was pressing; I could not guess what had caused it, but
+the tone of the letter did not forebode anything unpleasant. I went to
+church, where I was sure that Cardinal Acquaviva would see me, and he
+did. After mass, his eminence beckoned to me.
+
+"Are you truly ill?" he enquired.
+
+"No, monsignor, I was only sleepy."
+
+"I am very glad to hear it; but you are wrong, for you are loved.
+Cardinal S. C. has been bled this morning."
+
+"I know it, monsignor. The cardinal tells me so in this note, in which he
+invites me to dine with him, with your excellency's permission."
+
+"Certainly. But this is amusing! I did not know that he wanted a third
+person."
+
+"Will there be a third person?"
+
+"I do not know, and I have no curiosity about it."
+
+The cardinal left me, and everybody imagined that his eminence had spoken
+to me of state affairs.
+
+I went to my new Maecenas, whom I found in bed.
+
+"I am compelled to observe strict diet," he said to me; "I shall have to
+let you dine alone, but you will not lose by it as my cook does not know
+it. What I wanted to tell you is that your stanzas are, I am afraid, too
+pretty, for the marchioness adores them. If you had read them to me in
+the same way that she does, I could never have made up my mind to offer
+them." "But she believes them to be written by your eminence?"
+
+"Of course."
+
+"That is the essential point, monsignor."
+
+"Yes; but what should I do if she took it into her head to compose some
+new stanzas for me?"
+
+"You would answer through the same pen, for you can dispose of me night
+and day, and rely upon the utmost secrecy."
+
+"I beg of you to accept this small present; it is some negrillo snuff
+from Habana, which Cardinal Acquaviva has given me."
+
+The snuff was excellent, but the object which contained it was still
+better. It was a splendid gold-enamelled box. I received it with respect,
+and with the expression of the deepest gratitude.
+
+If his eminence did not know how to write poetry, at least he knew how to
+be generous, and in a delicate manner, and that science is, at least in
+my estimation, superior to the other for a great nobleman.
+
+At noon, and much to my surprise, the beautiful marchioness made her
+appearance in the most elegant morning toilet.
+
+"If I had known you were in good company," she said to the cardinal, "I
+would not have come."
+
+"I am sure, dear marchioness, you will not find our dear abbe in the
+way."
+
+"No, for I believe him to be honest and true."
+
+I kept at a respectful distance, ready to go away with my splendid
+snuff-box at the first jest she might hurl at me.
+
+The cardinal asked her if she intended to remain to dinner.
+
+"Yes," she answered; "but I shall not enjoy my dinner, for I hate to eat
+alone."
+
+"If you would honour him so far, the abbe would keep you company."
+
+She gave me a gracious look, but without uttering one word.
+
+This was the first time I had anything to do with a woman of quality, and
+that air of patronage, whatever kindness might accompany it, always put
+me out of temper, for I thought it made love out of the question.
+However, as we were in the presence of the cardinal, I fancied that she
+might be right in treating me in that fashion.
+
+The table was laid out near the cardinal's bed, and the marchioness, who
+ate hardly anything, encouraged me in my good appetite.
+
+"I have told you that the abbe is equal to me in that respect," said S.
+C.
+
+"I truly believe," answered the marchioness, "that he does not remain far
+behind you; but," added she with flattery, "you are more dainty in your
+tastes."
+
+"Would her ladyship be so good as to tell me in what I have appeared to
+her to be a mere glutton? For in all things I like only dainty and
+exquisite morsels."
+
+"Explain what you mean by saying in all things," said the cardinal.
+Taking the liberty of laughing, I composed a few impromptu verses in
+which I named all I thought dainty and exquisite. The marchioness
+applauded, saying that she admired my courage.
+
+"My courage, madam, is due to you, for I am as timid as a hare when I am
+not encouraged; you are the author of my impromptu."
+
+"I admire you. As for myself, were I encouraged by Apollo himself, I
+could not compose four lines without paper and ink."
+
+"Only give way boldly to your genius, madam, and you will produce poetry
+worthy of heaven."
+
+"That--is my opinion, too," said the cardinal. "I entreat you to give me
+permission to skew your ten stanzas to the abbe."
+
+"They are not very good, but I have no objection provided it remains
+between us."
+
+The cardinal gave me, then, the stanzas composed by the marchioness, and
+I read them aloud with all the expression, all the feeling necessary to
+such reading.
+
+"How well you have read those stanzas!" said the marchioness; "I can
+hardly believe them to be my own composition; I thank you very much. But
+have the goodness to give the benefit of your reading to the stanzas
+which his eminence has written in answer to mine. They surpass them
+much."
+
+"Do not believe it, my dear abbe," said the cardinal, handing them to me.
+"Yet try not to let them lose anything through your reading."
+
+There was certainly no need of his eminence enforcing upon me such a
+recommendation; it was my own poetry. I could not have read it otherwise
+than in my best style, especially when I had before me the beautiful
+woman who had inspired them, and when, besides, Bacchus was in me giving
+courage to Apollo as much as the beautiful eyes of the marchioness were
+fanning into an ardent blaze the fire already burning through my whole
+being.
+
+I read the stanzas with so much expression that the cardinal was
+enraptured, but I brought a deep carnation tint upon the cheeks of the
+lovely marchioness when I came to the description of those beauties which
+the imagination of the poet is allowed to guess at, but which I could
+not, of course, have gazed upon. She snatched the paper from my hands
+with passion, saying that I was adding verses of my own; it was true, but
+I did not confess it. I was all aflame, and the fire was scorching her as
+well as me.
+
+The cardinal having fallen asleep, she rose and went to take a seat on
+the balcony; I followed her. She had a rather high seat; I stood opposite
+to her, so that her knee touched the fob-pocket in which was my watch.
+What a position! Taking hold gently of one of her hands, I told her that
+she had ignited in my soul a devouring flame, that I adored her, and
+that, unless some hope was left to me of finding her sensible to my
+sufferings, I was determined to fly away from her for ever.
+
+"Yes, beautiful marchioness, pronounce my sentence."
+
+"I fear you are a libertine and an unfaithful lover."
+
+"I am neither one nor the other."
+
+With these words I folded her in my arms, and I pressed upon her lovely
+lips, as pure as a rose, an ardent kiss which she received with the best
+possible grace. This kiss, the forerunner of the most delicious
+pleasures, had imparted to my hands the greatest boldness; I was on the
+point of.... but the marchioness, changing her position, entreated me so
+sweetly to respect her, that, enjoying new voluptuousness through my very
+obedience, I not only abandoned an easy victory, but I even begged her
+pardon, which I soon read in the most loving look.
+
+She spoke of Lucrezia, and was pleased with my discretion. She then
+alluded to the cardinal, doing her best to make me believe that there was
+nothing between them but a feeling of innocent friendship. Of course I
+had my opinion on that subject, but it was my interest to appear to
+believe every word she uttered. We recited together lines from our best
+poets, and all the time she was still sitting down and I standing before
+her, with my looks rapt in the contemplation of the most lovely charms,
+to which I remained insensible in appearance, for I had made up my mind
+not to press her that evening for greater favours than those I had
+already received.
+
+The cardinal, waking from his long and peaceful siesta, got up and joined
+us in his night-cap, and good-naturedly enquired whether we had not felt
+impatient at his protracted sleep. I remained until dark and went home
+highly pleased with my day's work, but determined to keep my ardent
+desires in check until the opportunity for complete victory offered
+itself.
+
+From that day, the charming marchioness never ceased to give me the marks
+of her particular esteem, without the slightest constraint; I was
+reckoning upon the carnival, which was close at hand, feeling certain
+that the more I should spare her delicacy, the more she would endeavour
+to find the opportunity of rewarding my loyalty, and of crowning with
+happiness my loving constancy. But fate ordained otherwise; Dame Fortune
+turned her back upon me at the very moment when the Pope and Cardinal
+Acquaviva were thinking of giving me a really good position.
+
+The Holy Father had congratulated me upon the beautiful snuff-box
+presented to me by Cardinal S. C., but he had been careful never to name
+the marchioness. Cardinal Acquaviva expressed openly his delight at his
+brother-cardinal having given me a taste of his negrillo snuff in so
+splendid an envelope; the Abbe Gama, finding me so forward on the road to
+success, did not venture to counsel me any more, and the virtuous Father
+Georgi gave me but one piece of advice-namely, to cling to the lovely
+marchioness and not to make any other acquaintances.
+
+Such was my position-truly a brilliant one, when, on Christmas Day, the
+lover of Barbara Dalacqua entered my room, locked the door, and threw
+himself on the sofa, exclaiming that I saw him for the last time.
+
+"I only come to beg of you some good advice."
+
+"On what subject can I advise you?"
+
+"Take this and read it; it will explain everything."
+
+It was a letter from his mistress; the contents were these:
+
+"I am pregnant of a child, the pledge of our mutual love; I can no longer
+have any doubt of it, my beloved, and I forewarn you that I have made up
+my mind to quit Rome alone, and to go away to die where it may please
+God, if you refuse to take care of me and save me. I would suffer
+anything, do anything, rather than let my father discover the truth."
+
+"If you are a man of honour," I said, "you cannot abandon the poor girl.
+Marry her in spite of your father, in spite of her own, and live together
+honestly. The eternal Providence of God will watch over you and help you
+in your difficulties:"
+
+My advice seemed to bring calm to his mind, and he left me more composed.
+
+At the beginning of January, 1744, he called again, looking very
+cheerful. "I have hired," he said, "the top floor of the house next to
+Barbara's dwelling; she knows it, and to-night I will gain her apartment
+through one of the windows of the garret, and we will make all our
+arrangements to enable me to carry her off. I have made up my mind; I
+have decided upon taking her to Naples, and I will take with us the
+servant who, sleeping in the garret, had to be made a confidante of."
+
+"God speed you, my friend!"
+
+A week afterwards, towards eleven o'clock at night, he entered my room
+accompanied by an abbe.
+
+"What do you want so late?"
+
+"I wish to introduce you to this handsome abbe."
+
+I looked up, and to my consternation I recognized Barbara.
+
+"Has anyone seen you enter the house?" I enquired.
+
+"No; and if we had been seen, what of it? It is only an abbe. We now pass
+every night together."
+
+"I congratulate you."
+
+"The servant is our friend; she has consented to follow us, and all our
+arrangements are completed."
+
+"I wish you every happiness. Adieu. I beg you to leave me."
+
+Three or four days after that visit, as I was walking with the Abbe Gama
+towards the Villa Medicis, he told me deliberately that there would be an
+execution during the night in the Piazza di Spagna.
+
+"What kind of execution?"
+
+"The bargello or his lieutenant will come to execute some 'ordine
+santissimo', or to visit some suspicious dwelling in order to arrest and
+carry off some person who does not expect anything of the sort."
+
+"How do you know it?"
+
+"His eminence has to know it, for the Pope would not venture to encroach
+upon his jurisdiction without asking his permission."
+
+"And his eminence has given it?"
+
+"Yes, one of the Holy Father's auditors came for that purpose this
+morning."
+
+"But the cardinal might have refused?"
+
+"Of course; but such a permission is never denied."
+
+"And if the person to be arrested happened to be under the protection of
+the cardinal--what then?"
+
+"His eminence would give timely warning to that person."
+
+We changed the conversation, but the news had disturbed me. I fancied
+that the execution threatened Barbara and her lover, for her father's
+house was under the Spanish jurisdiction. I tried to see the young man
+but I could not succeed in meeting him, and I was afraid lest a visit at
+his home or at M. Dalacqua's dwelling might implicate me. Yet it is
+certain that this last consideration would not have stopped me if I had
+been positively sure that they were threatened; had I felt satisfied of
+their danger, I would have braved everything.
+
+About midnight, as I was ready to go to bed, and just as I was opening my
+door to take the key from outside, an abbe rushed panting into my room
+and threw himself on a chair. It was Barbara; I guessed what had taken
+place, and, foreseeing all the evil consequences her visit might have for
+me, deeply annoyed and very anxious, I upbraided her for having taken
+refuge in my room, and entreated her to go away.
+
+Fool that I was! Knowing that I was only ruining myself without any
+chance of saving her, I ought to have compelled her to leave my room, I
+ought to have called for the servants if she had refused to withdraw. But
+I had not courage enough, or rather I voluntarily obeyed the decrees of
+destiny.
+
+When she heard my order to go away, she threw herself on her knees, and
+melting into tears, she begged, she entreated my pity!
+
+Where is the heart of steel which is not softened by the tears, by the
+prayers of a pretty and unfortunate woman? I gave way, but I told her
+that it was ruin for both of us.
+
+"No one," she replied, "has seen me, I am certain, when I entered the
+mansion and came up to your room, and I consider my visit here a week ago
+as most fortunate; otherwise, I never could have known which was your
+room."
+
+"Alas! how much better if you had never come! But what has become of your
+lover?"
+
+"The 'sbirri' have carried him off, as well as the servant. I will tell
+you all about it. My lover had informed me that a carriage would wait
+to-night at the foot of the flight of steps before the Church of Trinita
+del Monte, and that he would be there himself. I entered his room through
+the garret window an hour ago. There I put on this disguise, and,
+accompanied by the servant, proceeded to meet him. The servant walked a
+few yards before me, and carried a parcel of my things. At the corner of
+the street, one of the buckles of my shoes being unfastened, I stopped an
+instant, and the servant went on, thinking that I was following her. She
+reached the carriage, got into it, and, as I was getting nearer, the
+light from a lantern disclosed to me some thirty sbirri; at the same
+instant, one of them got on the driver's box and drove off at full speed,
+carrying off the servant, whom they must have mistaken for me, and my
+lover who was in the coach awaiting me. What could I do at such a fearful
+moment? I could not go back to my father's house, and I followed my first
+impulse which brought me here. And here I am! You tell me that my
+presence will cause your ruin; if it is so, tell me what to do; I feel I
+am dying; but find some expedient and I am ready to do anything, even to
+lay my life down, rather than be the cause of your ruin."
+
+But she wept more bitterly than ever.
+
+Her position was so sad that I thought it worse even than mine, although
+I could almost fancy I saw ruin before me despite my innocence.
+
+"Let me," I said, "conduct you to your father; I feel sure of obtaining
+your pardon."
+
+But my proposal only enhanced her fears.
+
+"I am lost," she exclaimed; "I know my father. Ah! reverend sir, turn me
+out into the street, and abandon me to my miserable fate."
+
+No doubt I ought to have done so, and I would have done it if the
+consciousness of what was due to my own interest had been stronger than
+my feeling of pity. But her tears! I have often said it, and those
+amongst my readers who have experienced it, must be of the same opinion;
+there is nothing on earth more irresistible than two beautiful eyes
+shedding tears, when the owner of those eyes is handsome, honest, and
+unhappy. I found myself physically unable to send her away.
+
+"My poor girl," I said at last, "when daylight comes, and that will not
+be long, for it is past midnight, what do you intend to do?"
+
+"I must leave the palace," she replied, sobbing. "In this disguise no one
+can recognize me; I will leave Rome, and I will walk straight before me
+until I fall on the ground, dying with grief and fatigue."
+
+With these words she fell on the floor. She was choking; I could see her
+face turn blue; I was in the greatest distress.
+
+I took off her neck-band, unlaced her stays under the abbe's dress, I
+threw cold water in her face, and I finally succeeded in bringing her
+back to consciousness.
+
+The night was extremely cold, and there was no fire in my room. I advised
+her to get into my bed, promising to respect her.
+
+"Alas! reverend sir, pity is the only feeling with which I can now
+inspire anyone."
+
+And, to speak the truth I was too deeply moved, and, at the same time,
+too full of anxiety, to leave room in me for any desire. Having induced
+her to go to bed, and her extreme weakness preventing her from doing
+anything for herself, I undressed her and put her to bed, thus proving
+once more that compassion will silence the most imperious requirements of
+nature, in spite of all the charms which would, under other
+circumstances, excite to the highest degree the senses of a man. I lay
+down near her in my clothes, and woke her at day-break. Her strength was
+somewhat restored, she dressed herself alone, and I left my room, telling
+her to keep quiet until my return. I intended to proceed to her father's
+house, and to solicit her pardon, but, having perceived some
+suspicious-looking men loitering about the palace, I thought it wise to
+alter my mind, and went to a coffeehouse.
+
+I soon ascertained that a spy was watching my movements at a distance;
+but I did not appear to notice him, and having taken some chocolate and
+stored a few biscuits in my pocket, I returned towards the palace,
+apparently without any anxiety or hurry, always followed by the same
+individual. I judged that the bargello, having failed in his project, was
+now reduced to guesswork, and I was strengthened in that view of the case
+when the gate-keeper of the palace told me, without my asking any
+question, as I came in, that an arrest had been attempted during the
+night, and had not succeeded. While he was speaking, one of the auditors
+of the Vicar-General called to enquire when he could see the Abby Gama. I
+saw that no time was to be lost, and went up to my room to decide upon
+what was to be done.
+
+I began by making the poor girl eat a couple of biscuits soaked in some
+Canary wine, and I took her afterwards to the top story of the palace,
+where, leaving her in a not very decent closet which was not used by
+anyone, I told her to wait for me.
+
+My servant came soon after, and I ordered him to lock the door of my room
+as soon as he finished cleaning it, and to bring me the key at the Abbe
+Gama's apartment, where I was going. I found Gama in conversation with
+the auditor sent by the Vicar-General. As soon as he had dismissed him,
+he came to me, and ordered his servant to serve the chocolate. When we
+were left alone he gave me an account of his interview with the auditor,
+who had come to entreat his eminence to give orders to turn out of his
+palace a person who was supposed to have taken refuge in it about
+midnight. "We must wait," said the abbe, "until the cardinal is visible,
+but I am quite certain that, if anyone has taken refuge here unknown to
+him, his eminence will compel that person to leave the palace." We then
+spoke of the weather and other trifles until my servant brought my key.
+Judging that I had at least an hour to spare, I bethought myself of a
+plan which alone could save Barbara from shame and misery.
+
+Feeling certain that I was unobserved, I went up to my poor prisoner and
+made her write the following words in French:
+
+"I am an honest girl, monsignor, though I am disguised in the dress of an
+abbe. I entreat your eminence to allow me to give my name only to you and
+in person. I hope that, prompted by the great goodness of your soul, your
+eminence will save me from dishonour." I gave her the necessary
+instructions, as to sending the note to the cardinal, assuring her that
+he would have her brought to him as soon as he read it.
+
+"When you are in his presence," I added, "throw yourself on your knees,
+tell him everything without any concealment, except as regards your
+having passed the night in my room. You must be sure not to mention that
+circumstance, for the cardinal must remain in complete ignorance of my
+knowing anything whatever of this intrigue. Tell him that, seeing your
+lover carried off, you rushed to his palace and ran upstairs as far as
+you could go, and that after a most painful night Heaven inspired you
+with the idea of writing to him to entreat his pity. I feel certain that,
+one way or the other, his eminence will save you from dishonour, and it
+certainly is the only chance you have of being united to the man you love
+so dearly."
+
+She promised to follow 'my instructions faithfully, and, coming down, I
+had my hair dressed and went to church, where the cardinal saw me. I then
+went out and returned only for dinner, during which the only subject of
+conversation was the adventure of the night. Gama alone said nothing, and
+I followed his example, but I understood from all the talk going on round
+the table that the cardinal had taken my poor Barbara under his
+protection. That was all I wanted, and thinking that I had nothing more
+to fear I congratulated myself, in petto, upon my stratagem, which had, I
+thought, proved a master-stroke. After dinner, finding myself alone with
+Gama, I asked him what was the meaning of it all, and this is what he
+told me:
+
+"A father, whose name I do not know yet, had requested the assistance of
+the Vicar-General to prevent his son from carrying off a young girl, with
+whom he intended to leave the States of the Church; the pair had arranged
+to meet at midnight in this very square, and the Vicar, having previously
+obtained the consent of our cardinal, as I told you yesterday, gave
+orders to the bargello to dispose his men in such a way as to catch the
+young people in the very act of running away, and to arrest them. The
+orders were executed, but the 'sbirri' found out, when they returned to
+the bargello, that they had met with only a half success, the woman who
+got out of the carriage with the young man not belonging to that species
+likely to be carried off. Soon afterwards a spy informed the bargello
+that, at the very moment the arrest was executed, he had seen a young
+abbe run away very rapidly and take refuge in this palace, and the
+suspicion immediately arose that it might be the missing young lady in
+the disguise of an ecclesiastic. The bargello reported to the
+Vicar-General the failure of his men, as well as the account given by the
+spy, and the Prelate, sharing the suspicion of the police, sent to his
+eminence, our master, requesting him to have the person in question, man
+or woman, turned out of the palace, unless such persons should happen to
+be known to his excellency, and therefore above suspicion. Cardinal
+Acquaviva was made acquainted with these circumstances at nine this
+morning through the auditor you met in my room, and he promised to have
+the person sent away unless she belonged to his household.
+
+"According to his promise, the cardinal ordered the palace to be
+searched, but, in less than a quarter of an hour, the major-domo received
+orders to stop, and the only reason for these new instructions must be
+this:
+
+"I am told by the major-domo that at nine o'clock exactly a very
+handsome, young abbe, whom he immediately judged to be a girl in
+disguise, asked him to deliver a note to his eminence, and that the
+cardinal, after reading it, had desired the said abbe be brought to his
+apartment, which he has not left since. As the order to stop searching
+the palace was given immediately after the introduction of the abbe to
+the cardinal, it is easy enough to suppose that this ecclesiastic is no
+other than the young girl missed by the police, who took refuge in the
+palace in which she must have passed the whole night."
+
+"I suppose," said I, "that his eminence will give her up to-day, if not
+to the bargello, at least to the Vicar-General."
+
+"No, not even to the Pope himself," answered Gama. "You have not yet a
+right idea of the protection of our cardinal, and that protection is
+evidently granted to her, since the young person is not only in the
+palace of his eminence, but also in his own apartment and under his own
+guardianship."
+
+The whole affair being in itself very interesting, my attention could not
+appear extraordinary to Gama, however suspicious he might be naturally,
+and I was certain that he would not have told me anything if he had
+guessed the share I had taken in the adventure, and the interest I must
+have felt in it.
+
+The next day, Gama came to my room with a radiant countenance, and
+informed me that the Cardinal-Vicar was aware of the ravisher being my
+friend, and supposed that I was likewise the friend of the girl, as she
+was the daughter of my French teacher. "Everybody," he added, "is
+satisfied that you knew the whole affair, and it is natural to suspect
+that the poor girl spent the night in your room. I admire your prudent
+reserve during our conversation of yesterday. You kept so well on your
+guard that I would have sworn you knew nothing whatever of the affair."
+
+"And it is the truth," I answered, very seriously; "I have only learned
+all the circumstances from you this moment. I know the girl, but I have
+not seen her for six weeks, since I gave up my French lessons; I am much
+better acquainted with the young man, but he never confided his project
+to me. However, people may believe whatever they please. You say that it
+is natural for the girl to have passed the night in my room, but you will
+not mind my laughing in the face of those who accept their own
+suppositions as realities."
+
+"That, my dear friend," said the abbe, "is one of the vices of the
+Romans; happy those who can afford to laugh at it; but this slander may
+do you harm, even in the mind of our cardinal."
+
+As there was no performance at the Opera that night, I went to the
+cardinal's reception; I found no difference towards me either in the
+cardinal's manners, or in those of any other person, and the marchioness
+was even more gracious than usual.
+
+After dinner, on the following day, Gama informed me that the cardinal
+had sent the young girl to a convent in which she would be well treated
+at his eminence's expense, and that he was certain that she would leave
+it only to become the wife of the young doctor.
+
+"I should be very happy if it should turn out so," I replied; "for they
+are both most estimable people."
+
+Two days afterwards, I called upon Father Georgi, and he told me, with an
+air of sorrow, that the great news of the day in Rome was the failure of
+the attempt to carry off Dalacqua's daughter, and that all the honour of
+the intrigue was given to me, which displeased him much. I told him what
+I had already told Gama, and he appeared to believe me, but he added that
+in Rome people did not want to know things as they truly were, but only
+as they wished them to be.
+
+"It is known, that you have been in the habit of going every morning to
+Dalacqua's house; it is known that the young man often called on you;
+that is quite enough. People do not care, to know the circumstances which
+might counteract the slander, but only those, likely to give it new force
+for slander is vastly relished in the Holy City. Your innocence will not
+prevent the whole adventure being booked to your account, if, in forty
+years time you were proposed as pope in the conclave."
+
+During the following days the fatal adventure began to cause me more
+annoyance than I could express, for everyone mentioned it to me, and I
+could see clearly that people pretended to believe what I said only
+because they did not dare to do otherwise. The marchioness told me
+jeeringly that the Signora Dalacqua had contracted peculiar obligations
+towards me, but my sorrow was very great when, during the last days of
+the carnival, I remarked that Cardinal Acquaviva's manner had become
+constrained, although I was the only person who observed the change.
+
+The noise made by the affair was, however, beginning to subside, when, in
+the first days of Lent, the cardinal desired me to come to his private
+room, and spoke as follows:
+
+"The affair of the girl Dalacqua is now over; it is no longer spoken of,
+but the verdict of the public is that you and I have profited by the
+clumsiness of the young man who intended to carry her off. In reality I
+care little for such a verdict, for, under similar circumstances, I
+should always act in a similar manner, and I do not wish to know that
+which no one can compel you to confess, and which, as a man of honour,
+you must not admit. If you had no previous knowledge of the intrigue, and
+had actually turned the girl out of your room (supposing she did come to
+you), you would have been guilty of a wrong and cowardly action, because
+you would have sealed her misery for the remainder of her days, and it
+would not have caused you to escape the suspicion of being an accomplice,
+while at the same time it would have attached to you the odium of
+dastardly treachery. Notwithstanding all I have just said, you can easily
+imagine that, in spite of my utter contempt for all gossiping fools, I
+cannot openly defy them. I therefore feel myself compelled to ask you not
+only to quit my service, but even to leave Rome. I undertake to supply
+you with an honourable pretext for your departure, so as to insure you
+the continuation of the respect which you may have secured through the
+marks of esteem I have bestowed upon you. I promise you to whisper in the
+ear of any person you may choose, and even to inform everybody, that you
+are going on an important mission which I have entrusted to you. You have
+only to name the country where you want to go; I have friends everywhere,
+and can recommend you to such purpose that you will be sure to find
+employment. My letters of recommendation will be in my own handwriting,
+and nobody need know where you are going. Meet me to-morrow at the Villa
+Negroni, and let me know where my letters are to be addressed. You must
+be ready to start within a week. Believe me, I am sorry to lose you; but
+the sacrifice is forced upon me by the most absurd prejudice. Go now, and
+do not let me witness your grief."
+
+He spoke the last words because he saw my eyes filling with tears, and he
+did not give me time to answer. Before leaving his room, I had the
+strength of mind to compose myself, and I put on such an air of
+cheerfulness that the Abbe Gama, who took me to his room to drink some
+coffee, complimented me upon my happy looks.
+
+"I am sure," he said, "that they are caused by the conversation you have
+had with his eminence."
+
+"You are right; but you do not know the sorrow at my heart which I try
+not to shew outwardly."
+
+"What sorrow?"
+
+"I am afraid of failing in a difficult mission which the cardinal has
+entrusted me with this morning. I am compelled to conceal how little
+confidence I feel in myself in order not to lessen the good opinion his
+eminence is pleased to entertain of me."
+
+"If my advice can be of any service to you, pray dispose of me; but you
+are quite right to chew yourself calm and cheerful. Is it any business to
+transact in Rome?"
+
+"No; it is a journey I shall have to undertake in a week or ten days."
+
+"Which way?"
+
+"Towards the west."
+
+"Oh! I am not curious to know."
+
+I went out alone and took a walk in the Villa Borghese, where I spent two
+hours wrapped in dark despair. I liked Rome, I was on the high road to
+fortune, and suddenly I found myself in the abyss, without knowing where
+to go, and with all my hopes scattered to the winds. I examined my
+conduct, I judged myself severely, I could not find myself guilty of any
+crime save of too much kindness, but I perceived how right the good
+Father Georgi had been. My duty was not only to take no part in the
+intrigue of the two love, but also to change my French teacher the moment
+I beard of it; but this was like calling in a doctor after death has
+struck the patient. Besides, young as I was, having no experience yet of
+misfortune, and still less of the wickedness of society, it was very
+difficult for me to have that prudence which a man gains only by long
+intercourse with the world.
+
+"Where shall I go?" This was the question which seemed to me impossible
+of solution. I thought of it all through the night, and through the
+morning, but I thought in vain; after Rome, I was indifferent where I
+went to!
+
+In the evening, not caring for any supper, I had gone to my room; the
+Abbe Gama came to me with a request from the cardinal not to accept any
+invitation to dinner for the next day, as he wanted to speak to me. I
+therefore waited upon his eminence the next day at the Villa Negroni; he
+was walking with his secretary, whom he dismissed the moment he saw me.
+As soon as we were alone, I gave him all the particulars of the intrigue
+of the two lovers, and I expressed in the most vivid manner the sorrow I
+felt at leaving his service.
+
+"I have no hope of success," I added, "for I am certain that Fortune will
+smile upon me only as long as I am near your eminence."
+
+For nearly an hour I told him all the grief with which my heart was
+bursting, weeping bitterly; yet I could not move him from his decision.
+Kindly, but firmly he pressed me to tell him to what part of Europe I
+wanted to go, and despair as much as vexation made me name
+Constantinople.
+
+"Constantinople!" he exclaimed, moving back a step or two.
+
+"Yes, monsignor, Constantinople," I repeated, wiping away my tears.
+
+The prelate, a man of great wit, but a Spaniard to the very back-bone,
+after remaining silent a few minutes, said, with a smile,
+
+"I am glad you have not chosen Ispahan, as I should have felt rather
+embarrassed. When do you wish to go?"
+
+"This day week, as your eminence has ordered me."
+
+"Do you intend to sail from Naples or from Venice?"
+
+"From Venice."
+
+"I will give you such a passport as will be needed, for you will find two
+armies in winter-quarters in the Romagna. It strikes me that you may tell
+everybody that I sent you to Constantinople, for nobody will believe
+you."
+
+This diplomatic suggestion nearly made me smile. The cardinal told me
+that I should dine with him, and he left me to join his secretary.
+
+When I returned to the palace, thinking of the choice I had made, I said
+to myself, "Either I am mad, or I am obeying the impulse of a mysterious
+genius which sends me to Constantinople to work out my fate." I was only
+astonished that the cardinal had so readily accepted my choice. "Without
+any doubt," I thought, "he did not wish me to believe that he had boasted
+of more than he could achieve, in telling me that he had friends
+everywhere. But to whom can he recommend me in Constantinople? I have not
+the slightest idea, but to Constantinople I must go."
+
+I dined alone with his eminence; he made a great show of peculiar
+kindness and I of great satisfaction, for my self-pride, stronger even
+than my sorrow, forbade me to let anyone guess that I was in disgrace. My
+deepest grief was, however, to leave the marchioness, with whom I was in
+love, and from whom I had not obtained any important favour.
+
+Two days afterwards, the cardinal gave me a passport for Venice, and a
+sealed letter addressed to Osman Bonneval, Pacha of Caramania, in
+Constantinople. There was no need of my saying anything to anyone, but,
+as the cardinal had not forbidden me to do it, I shewed the address on
+the letter to all my acquaintances.
+
+The Chevalier de Lezze, the Venetian Ambassador, gave me a letter for a
+wealthy Turk, a very worthy man who had been his friend; Don Gaspar and
+Father Georgi asked me to write to them, but the Abbe Gams, laughed, and
+said he was quite sure I was not going to Constantinople.
+
+I went to take my farewell of Donna Cecilia, who had just received a
+letter from Lucrezia, imparting the news that she would soon be a mother.
+I also called upon Angelique and Don Francisco, who had lately been
+married and had not invited me to the wedding.
+
+When I called to take Cardinal Acquaviva's final instructions he gave me
+a purse containing one hundred ounces, worth seven hundred sequins. I had
+three hundred more, so that my fortune amounted to one thousand sequins;
+I kept two hundred, and for the rest I took a letter of exchange upon a
+Ragusan who was established in Ancona. I left Rome in the coach with a
+lady going to Our Lady of Loretto, to fulfil a vow made during a severe
+illness of her daughter, who accompanied her. The young lady was ugly; my
+journey was a rather tedious one.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+My Short But Rather Too Gay Visit To Ancona--Cecilia, Marina,
+Bellino--the Greek Slave of the Lazzaretto--Bellino Discovers Himself
+
+I arrived in Ancona on the 25th of February, 1744, and put up at the best
+inn. Pleased with my room, I told mine host to prepare for me a good meat
+dinner; but he answered that during Lent all good Catholics eat nothing
+but fish.
+
+"The Holy Father has granted me permission to eat meat."
+
+"Let me see your permission."
+
+"He gave it to me by word of mouth."
+
+"Reverend sir, I am not obliged to believe you."
+
+"You are a fool."
+
+"I am master in my own house, and I beg you will go to some other inn."
+
+Such an answer, coupled to a most unexpected notice to quit, threw me
+into a violent passion. I was swearing, raving, screaming, when suddenly
+a grave-looking individual made his appearance in my room, and said to
+me:
+
+"Sir, you are wrong in calling for meat, when in Ancona fish is much
+better; you are wrong in expecting the landlord to believe you on your
+bare word; and if you have obtained the permission from the Pope, you
+have been wrong in soliciting it at your age; you have been wrong in not
+asking for such permission in writing; you are wrong in calling the host
+a fool, because it is a compliment that no man is likely to accept in his
+own house; and, finally, you are wrong in making such an uproar."
+
+Far from increasing my bad temper, this individual, who had entered my
+room only to treat me to a sermon, made me laugh.
+
+"I willingly plead guilty, sir," I answered, "to all the counts which you
+allege against me; but it is raining, it is getting late, I am tired and
+hungry, and therefore you will easily understand that I do not feel
+disposed to change my quarters. Will you give me some supper, as the
+landlord refuses to do so?"
+
+"No," he replied, with great composure, "because I am a good Catholic and
+fast. But I will undertake to make it all right for you with the
+landlord, who will give you a good supper."
+
+Thereupon he went downstairs, and I, comparing my hastiness to his calm,
+acknowledged the man worthy of teaching me some lessons. He soon came up
+again, informed me that peace was signed, and that I would be served
+immediately.
+
+"Will you not take supper with me?"
+
+"No, but I will keep you company."
+
+I accepted his offer, and to learn who he was, I told him my name, giving
+myself the title of secretary to Cardinal Acquaviva.
+
+"My name is Sancio Pico," he said; "I am a Castilian, and the
+'proveditore' of the army of H. C. M., which is commanded by Count de
+Gages under the orders of the generalissimo, the Duke of Modem."
+
+My excellent appetite astonished him, and he enquired whether I had
+dined. "No," said I; and I saw his countenance assume an air of
+satisfaction.
+
+"Are you not afraid such a supper will hurt you?" he said.
+
+"On the contrary, I hope it will do me a great deal of good."
+
+"Then you have deceived the Pope?"
+
+"No, for I did not tell him that I had no appetite, but only that I liked
+meat better than fish."
+
+"If you feel disposed to hear some good music," he said a moment after,
+"follow me to the next room; the prima donna of Ancona lives there."
+
+The words prima donna interested me at once, and I followed him. I saw,
+sitting before a table, a woman already somewhat advanced in age, with
+two young girls and two boys, but I looked in vain for the actress, whom
+Don Sancio Pico at last presented to me in the shape of one of the two
+boys, who was remarkably handsome and might have been seventeen. I
+thought he was a 'castrato' who, as is the custom in Rome, performed all
+the parts of a prima donna. The mother presented to, me her other son,
+likewise very good-looking, but more manly than the 'castrato', although
+younger. His name was Petronio, and, keeping up the transformations of
+the family, he was the first female dancer at the opera. The eldest girl,
+who was also introduced to me, was named Cecilia, and studied music; she
+was twelve years old; the youngest, called Marina, was only eleven, and
+like her brother Petronio was consecrated to the worship of Terpsichore.
+Both the girls were very pretty.
+
+The family came from Bologna and lived upon the talent of its members;
+cheerfulness and amiability replaced wealth with them. Bellino, such was
+the name of the castrato, yielding to the entreaties of Don Sancio, rose
+from the table, went to the harpiscord, and sang with the voice of an
+angel and with delightful grace. The Castilian listened with his eyes
+closed in an ecstasy of enjoyment, but I, far from closing my eyes, gazed
+into Bellino's, which seemed to dart amorous lightnings upon me. I could
+discover in him some of the features of Lucrezia and the graceful manner
+of the marchioness, and everything betrayed a beautiful woman, for his
+dress concealed but imperfectly the most splendid bosom. The consequence
+was that, in spite of his having been introduced as a man, I fancied that
+the so-called Bellino was a disguised beauty, and, my imagination taking
+at once the highest flight, I became thoroughly enamoured.
+
+We spent two very pleasant hours, and I returned to my room accompanied
+by the Castilian. "I intend to leave very early to-morrow morning," he
+said, "for Sinigaglia, with the Abbe Vilmarcati, but I expect to return
+for supper the day after to-morrow." I wished him a happy journey, saying
+that we would most 'likely meet on the road, as I should probably leave
+Ancona myself on the same day, after paying a visit to my banker.
+
+I went to bed thinking of Bellino and of the impression he had made upon
+me; I was sorry to go away without having proved to him that I was not
+the dupe of his disguise. Accordingly, I was well pleased to see him
+enter my room in the morning as soon as I had opened my door. He came to
+offer me the services of his young brother Petronio during my stay in
+Ancona, instead of my engaging a valet de place. I willingly agreed to
+the proposal, and sent Petronio to get coffee for all the family.
+
+I asked Bellino to sit on my bed with the intention of making love to
+him, and of treating him like a girl, but the two young sisters ran into
+my room and disturbed my plans. Yet the trio formed before me a very
+pleasing sight; they represented natural beauty and artless cheerfulness
+of three different kinds; unobtrusive familiarity, theatrical wit,
+pleasing playfulness, and pretty Bolognese manners which I witnessed for
+the first time; all this would have sufficed to cheer me if I had been
+downcast. Cecilia and Marina were two sweet rosebuds, which, to bloom in
+all their beauty, required only the inspiration of love, and they would
+certainly have had the preference over Bellino if I had seen in him only
+the miserable outcast of mankind, or rather the pitiful victim of
+sacerdotal cruelty, for, in spite of their youth, the two amiable girls
+offered on their dawning bosom the precious image of womanhood.
+
+Petronio came with the coffee which he poured out, and I sent some to the
+mother, who never left her room. Petronio was a true male harlot by taste
+and by profession. The species is not scare in Italy, where the offence
+is not regarded with the wild and ferocious intolerance of England and
+Spain. I had given him one sequin to pay for the coffee, and told him to
+keep the change, and, to chew me his gratitude, he gave me a voluptuous
+kiss with half-open lips, supposing in me a taste which I was very far
+from entertaining. I disabused him, but he did not seem the least
+ashamed. I told him to order dinner for six persons, but he remarked that
+he would order it only for four, as he had to keep his dear mother
+company; she always took her dinner in bed. Everyone to his taste, I
+thought, and I let him do as he pleased.
+
+Two minutes after he had gone, the landlord came to my room and said,
+"Reverend sir, the persons you have invited here have each the appetite
+of two men at least; I give you notice of it, because I must charge
+accordingly." "All right," I replied, "but let us have a good dinner."
+
+When I was dressed, I thought I ought to pay my compliments to the
+compliant mother. I went to her room, and congratulated her upon her
+children. She thanked me for the present I had given to Petronio, and
+began to make me the confidant of her distress. "The manager of the
+theatre," she said, "is a miser who has given us only fifty Roman crowns
+for the whole carnival. We have spent them for our living, and, to return
+to Bologna, we shall have to walk and beg our way." Her confidence moved
+my pity, so I took a gold quadruple from my purse and offered it to her;
+she wept for joy and gratitude.
+
+"I promise you another gold quadruple, madam," I said, "if you will
+confide in me entirely. Confess that Bellino is a pretty woman in
+disguise."
+
+"I can assure you it is not so, although he has the appearance of a
+woman."
+
+"Not only the appearance, madam, but the tone, the manners; I am a good
+judge."
+
+"Nevertheless, he is a boy, for he has had to be examined before he could
+sing on the stage here."
+
+"And who examined him?"
+
+"My lord bishop's chaplain."
+
+"A chaplain?"
+
+"Yes, and you may satisfy yourself by enquiring from him."
+
+"The only way to clear my doubts would be to examine him myself."
+
+"You may, if he has no objection, but truly I cannot interfere, as I do
+not know what your intentions are."
+
+"They are quite natural."
+
+I returned to my room and sent Petronio for a bottle of Cyprus wine. He
+brought the wine and seven sequins, the change for the doubloon I had
+given him. I divided them between Bellino, Cecilia and Marina, and begged
+the two young girls to leave me alone with their brother.
+
+"Bellino, I am certain that your natural conformation is different from
+mine; my dear, you are a girl."
+
+"I am a man, but a castrato; I have been examined."
+
+"Allow me to examine you likewise, and I will give you a doubloon."
+
+"I cannot, for it is evident that you love me, and such love is condemned
+by religion."
+
+"You did not raise these objections with the bishop's chaplain."
+
+"He was an elderly priest, and besides, he only just glanced at me."
+
+"I will know the truth," said I, extending my hand boldly.
+
+But he repulsed me and rose from his chair. His obstinacy vexed me, for I
+had already spent fifteen or sixteen sequins to satisfy my curiosity.
+
+I began my dinner with a very bad humour, but the excellent appetite of
+my pretty guests brought me round, and I soon thought that, after all,
+cheerfulness was better than sulking, and I resolved to make up for my
+disappointment with the two charming sisters, who seemed well disposed to
+enjoy a frolic.
+
+I began by distributing a few innocent kisses right and left, as I sat
+between them near a good fire, eating chestnuts which we wetted with
+Cyprus wine. But very soon my greedy hands touched every part which my
+lips could not kiss, and Cecilia, as well as Marina, delighted in the
+game. Seeing that Bellino was smiling, I kissed him likewise, and his
+half-open ruffle attracting my hand, I ventured and went in without
+resistance. The chisel of Praxiteles had never carved a finer bosom!
+
+"Oh! this is enough," I exclaimed; "I can no longer doubt that you are a
+beautifully-formed woman!"
+
+"It is," he replied, "the defect of all castrati."
+
+"No, it is the perfection of all handsome women. Bellino, believe me, I
+am enough of a good judge to distinguish between the deformed breast of a
+castrato, and that of a beautiful woman; and your alabaster bosom belongs
+to a young beauty of seventeen summers."
+
+Who does not know that love, inflamed by all that can excite it, never
+stops in young people until it is satisfied, and that one favour granted
+kindles the wish for a greater one? I had begun well, I tried to go
+further and to smother with burning kisses that which my hand was
+pressing so ardently, but the false Bellino, as if he had only just been
+aware of the illicit pleasure I was enjoying, rose and ran away. Anger
+increased in me the ardour of love, and feeling the necessity of calming
+myself either by satisfying my ardent desires or by evaporating them, I
+begged Cecilia, Bellino's pupil, to sing a few Neapolitan airs.
+
+I then went out to call upon the banker, from whom I took a letter of
+exchange at sight upon Bologna, for the amount I had to receive from him,
+and on my return, after a light supper with the two young sisters, I
+prepared to go to bed, having previously instructed Petronio to order a
+carriage for the morning.
+
+I was just locking my door when Cecilia, half undressed, came in to say
+that Bellino begged me to take him to Rimini, where he was engaged to
+sing in an opera to be performed after Easter.
+
+"Go and tell him, my dear little seraph, that I am ready to do what he
+wishes, if he will only grant me in your presence what I desire; I want
+to know for a certainty whether he is a man or a woman."
+
+She left me and returned soon, saying that Bellino had gone to bed, but
+that if I would postpone my departure for one day only he promised to
+satisfy me on the morrow.
+
+"Tell me the truth, Cecilia, and I will give you six sequins."
+
+"I cannot earn them, for I have never seen him naked, and I cannot swear
+to his being a girl. But he must be a man, otherwise he would not have
+been allowed to perform here."
+
+"Well, I will remain until the day after to-morrow, provided you keep me
+company tonight."
+
+"Do you love me very much?"
+
+"Very much indeed, if you shew yourself very kind."
+
+"I will be very kind, for I love you dearly likewise. I will go and tell
+my mother."
+
+"Of course you have a lover?"
+
+"I never had one."
+
+She left my room, and in a short time came back full of joy, saying that
+her mother believed me an honest man; she of course meant a generous one.
+Cecilia locked the door, and throwing herself in my arms covered me with
+kisses. She was pretty, charming, but I was not in love with her, and I
+was not able to say to her as to Lucrezia: "You have made me so happy!"
+But she said it herself, and I did not feel much flattered, although I
+pretended to believe her. When I woke up in the morning I gave her a
+tender salutation, and presenting her with three doubloons, which must
+have particularly delighted the mother, I sent her away without losing my
+time in promising everlasting constancy--a promise as absurd as it is
+trifling, and which the most virtuous man ought never to make even to the
+most beautiful of women.
+
+After breakfast I sent for mine host and ordered an excellent supper for
+five persons, feeling certain that Don Sancio, whom I expected in the
+evening, would not refuse to honour me by accepting my invitation, and
+with that idea I made up my mind to go without my dinner. The Bolognese
+family did not require to imitate my diet to insure a good appetite for
+the evening.
+
+I then summoned Bellino to my room, and claimed the performance of his
+promise but he laughed, remarked that the day was not passed yet, and
+said that he was certain of traveling with me.
+
+"I fairly warn you that you cannot accompany me unless I am fully
+satisfied."
+
+"Well, I will satisfy you."
+
+"Shall we go and take a walk together?"
+
+"Willingly; I will dress myself."
+
+While I was waiting for him, Marina came in with a dejected countenance,
+enquiring how she had deserved my contempt.
+
+"Cecilia has passed the night with you, Bellino will go with you
+to-morrow, I am the most unfortunate of us all."
+
+"Do you want money?"
+
+"No, for I love you."
+
+"But, Marinetta, you are too young."
+
+"I am much stronger than my sister."
+
+"Perhaps you have a lover."
+
+"Oh! no."
+
+"Very well, we can try this evening."
+
+"Good! Then I will tell mother to prepare clean sheets for to-morrow
+morning; otherwise everybody here would know that I slept with you."
+
+I could not help admiring the fruits of a theatrical education, and was
+much amused.
+
+Bellino came back, we went out together, and we took our walk towards the
+harbour. There were several vessels at anchor, and amongst them a
+Venetian ship and a Turkish tartan. We went on board the first which we
+visited with interest, but not seeing anyone of my acquaintance, we rowed
+towards the Turkish tartan, where the most romantic surprise awaited me.
+The first person I met on board was the beautiful Greek woman I had left
+in Ancona, seven months before, when I went away from the lazzaretto. She
+was seated near the old captain, of whom I enquired, without appearing to
+notice his handsome slave, whether he had any fine goods to sell. He took
+us to his cabin, but as I cast a glance towards the charming Greek, she
+expressed by her looks all her delight at such an unexpected meeting.
+
+I pretended not to be pleased with the goods shewn by the Turk, and under
+the impulse of inspiration I told him that I would willingly buy
+something pretty which would take the fancy of his better-half. He
+smiled, and the Greek slave-having whispered a few words to him, he left
+the cabin. The moment he was out of sight, this new Aspasia threw herself
+in my arms, saying, "Now is your time!" I would not be found wanting in
+courage, and taking the most convenient position in such a place, I did
+to her in one instant that which her old master had not done in five
+years. I had not yet reached the goal of my wishes, when the unfortunate
+girl, hearing her master, tore herself from my arms with a deep sigh, and
+placing herself cunningly in front of me, gave me time to repair the
+disorder of my dress, which might have cost me my life, or at least all I
+possessed to compromise the affair. In that curious situation, I was
+highly amused at the surprise of Bellino, who stood there trembling like
+an aspen leaf.
+
+The trifles chosen by the handsome slave cost me only thirty sequins.
+'Spolaitis', she said to me in her own language, and the Turk telling her
+that she ought to kiss me, she covered her face with her hands, and ran
+away. I left the ship more sad than pleased, for I regretted that, in
+spite of her courage, she should have enjoyed only an incomplete
+pleasure. As soon as we were in our row boat, Bellino, who had recovered
+from his fright, told me that I had just made him acquainted with a
+phenomenon, the reality of which he could not admit, and which gave him a
+very strange idea of my nature; that, as far as the Greek girl was
+concerned, he could not make her out, unless I should assure him that
+every woman in her country was like her. "How unhappy they must be!" he
+added.
+
+"Do you think," I asked, "that coquettes are happier?"
+
+"No, but I think that when a woman yields to love, she should not be
+conquered before she has fought with her own desires; she should not give
+way to the first impulse of a lustful desire and abandon herself to the
+first man who takes her fancy, like an animal--the slave of sense. You
+must confess that the Greek woman has given you an evident proof that you
+had taken her fancy, but that she has at the same time given you a proof
+not less certain of her beastly lust, and of an effrontery which exposed
+her to the shame of being repulsed, for she could not possibly know
+whether you would feel as well disposed for her as she felt for you. She
+is very handsome, and it all turned out well, but the adventure has
+thrown me into a whirlpool of agitation which I cannot yet control."
+
+I might easily have put a stop to Bellino's perplexity, and rectified the
+mistake he was labouring under; but such a confession would not have
+ministered to my self-love, and I held my peace, for, if Bellino happened
+to be a girl, as I suspected, I wanted her to be convinced that I
+attached, after all, but very little importance to the great affair, and
+that it was not worth while employing cunning expedients to obtain it.
+
+We returned to the inn, and, towards evening, hearing Don Sancio's
+travelling carriage roll into the yard, I hastened to meet him, and told
+him that I hoped he would excuse me if I had felt certain that he would
+not refuse me the honour of his company to supper with Bellino. He
+thanked me politely for the pleasure I was so delicately offering him,
+and accepted my invitation.
+
+The most exquisite dishes, the most delicious wines of Spain, and, more
+than everything else, the cheerfulness and the charming voices of Bellino
+and of Cecilia, gave the Castilian five delightful hours. He left me at
+midnight, saying that he could not declare himself thoroughly pleased
+unless I promised to sup with him the next evening with the same guests.
+It would compel me to postpone my departure for another day, but I
+accepted.
+
+As soon as Don Sancio had gone, I called upon Bellino to fulfil his
+promise, but he answered that Marinetta was waiting for me, and that, as
+I was not going away the next day, he would find an opportunity of
+satisfying my doubts; and wishing me a good night, he left the room.
+
+Marinetta, as cheerful as a lark, ran to lock the door and came back to
+me, her eyes beaming with ardour. She was more formed than Cecilia,
+although one year younger, and seemed anxious to convince me of her
+superiority, but, thinking that the fatigue of the preceding night might
+have exhausted my strength, she unfolded all the amorous ideas of her
+mind, explained at length all she knew of the great mystery she was going
+to enact with me, and of all the contrivances she had had recourse to in
+order to acquire her imperfect knowledge, the whole interlarded with the
+foolish talk natural to her age. I made out that she was afraid of my not
+finding her a maiden, and of my reproaching her about it. Her anxiety
+pleased me, and I gave her a new confidence by telling her that nature
+had refused to many young girls what is called maidenhood, and that only
+a fool could be angry with a girl for such a reason.
+
+My science gave her courage and confidence, and I was compelled to
+acknowledge that she was very superior to her sister.
+
+"I am delighted you find me so," she said; "we must not sleep at all
+throughout the night."
+
+"Sleep, my darling, will prove our friend, and our strength renewed by
+repose will reward you in the morning for what you may suppose lost
+time."
+
+And truly, after a quiet sleep, the morning was for her a succession of
+fresh triumphs, and I crowned her happiness by sending her away with
+three doubloons, which she took to her mother, and which gave the good
+woman an insatiable desire to contract new obligations towards
+Providence.
+
+I went out to get some money from the banker, as I did not know what
+might happen during my journey. I had enjoyed myself, but I had spent too
+much: yet there was Bellino who, if a girl, was not to find me less
+generous than I had been with the two young sisters. It was to be decided
+during the day, and I fancied that I was sure of the result.
+
+There are some persons who pretend that life is only a succession of
+misfortunes, which is as much as to say that life itself is a misfortune;
+but if life is a misfortune, death must be exactly the reverse and
+therefore death must be happiness, since death is the very reverse of
+life. That deduction may appear too finely drawn. But those who say that
+life is a succession of misfortunes are certainly either ill or poor;
+for, if they enjoyed good health, if they had cheerfulness in their heart
+and money in their purse, if they had for their enjoyment a Cecilia, a
+Marinetta, and even a more lovely beauty in perspective, they would soon
+entertain a very different opinion of life! I hold them to be a race of
+pessimists, recruited amongst beggarly philosophers and knavish,
+atrabilious theologians. If pleasure does exist, and if life is necessary
+to enjoy pleasure, then life is happiness. There are misfortunes, as I
+know by experience; but the very existence of such misfortunes proves
+that the sum-total of happiness is greater. Because a few thorns are to
+be found in a basket full of roses, is the existence of those beautiful
+flowers to be denied? No; it is a slander to deny that life is happiness.
+When I am in a dark room, it pleases me greatly to see through a window
+an immense horizon before me.
+
+As supper-time was drawing near, I went to Don Sancio, whom I found in
+magnificently-furnished apartments. The table was loaded with silver
+plate, and his servants were in livery. He was alone, but all his guests
+arrived soon after me--Cecilia, Marina, and Bellino, who, either by
+caprice or from taste, was dressed as a woman. The two young sisters,
+prettily arranged, looked charming, but Bellino, in his female costume,
+so completely threw them into the shade, that my last doubt vanished.
+
+"Are you satisfied," I said to Don Sancio, "that Bellino is a woman?"
+
+"Woman or man, what do I care! I think he is a very pretty 'castrato',
+and 'I have seen many as good-looking as he is."
+
+"But are you sure he is a 'castrato'?"
+
+"'Valgame Dios'!" answered the grave Castilian, "I have not the slightest
+wish to ascertain the truth."
+
+Oh, how widely different our thoughts were! I admired in him the wisdom
+of which I was so much in need, and did not venture upon any more
+indiscreet questions. During the supper, however, my greedy eyes could
+not leave that charming being; my vicious nature caused me to feel
+intense voluptuousness in believing him to be of that sex to which I
+wanted him to belong.
+
+Don Sancio's supper was excellent, and, as a matter of course, superior
+to mine; otherwise the pride of the Castilian would have felt humbled. As
+a general rule, men are not satisfied with what is good; they want the
+best, or, to speak more to the point, the most. He gave us white
+truffles, several sorts of shell-fish, the best fish of the Adriatic, dry
+champagne, peralta, sherry and pedroximenes wines.
+
+After that supper worthy of Lucullus, Bellino sang with a voice of such
+beauty that it deprived us of the small amount of reason left in us by
+the excellent wine. His movements, the expression of his looks, his gait,
+his walk, his countenance, his voice, and, above all, my own instinct,
+which told me that I could not possibly feel for a castrato what I felt
+for Bellino, confirmed me in my hopes; yet it was necessary that my eyes
+should ascertain the truth.
+
+After many compliments and a thousand thanks, we took leave of the grand
+Spaniard, and went to my room, where the mystery was at last to be
+unravelled. I called upon Bellino to keep his word, or I threatened to
+leave him alone the next morning at day-break.
+
+I took him by the hand, and we seated ourselves near the fire. I
+dismissed Cecilia and Marina, and I said to him,
+
+"Bellino, everything must have an end; you have promised: it will soon be
+over. If you are what you represent yourself to be, I will let you go
+back to your own room; if you are what I believe you to be, and if you
+consent to remain with me to-night, I will give you one hundred sequins,
+and we will start together tomorrow morning."
+
+"You must go alone, and forgive me if I cannot fulfil my promise. I am
+what I told you, and I can neither reconcile myself to the idea of
+exposing my shame before you, nor lay myself open to the terrible
+consequences that might follow the solution of your doubts."
+
+"There can be no consequences, since there will be an end to it at the
+moment I have assured myself that you are unfortunate enough to be what
+you say, and without ever mentioning the circumstances again, I promise
+to take you with me to-morrow and to leave you at Rimini."
+
+"No, my mind is made up; I cannot satisfy your curiosity."
+
+Driven to madness by his words, I was very near using violence, but
+subduing my angry feelings, I endeavored to succeed by gentle means and
+by going straight to the spot where the mystery could be solved. I was
+very near it, when his hand opposed a very strong resistance. I repeated
+my efforts, but Bellino, rising suddenly, repulsed me, and I found myself
+undone. After a few moments of calm, thinking I should take him by
+surprise, I extended my hand, but I drew back terrified, for I fancied
+that I had recognized in him a man, and a degraded man, contemptible less
+on account of his degradation than for the want of feeling I thought I
+could read on his countenance. Disgusted, confused, and almost blushing
+for myself, I sent him away.
+
+His sisters came to my room, but I dismissed them, sending word to their
+brother that he might go with me, without any fear of further
+indiscretion on my part. Yet, in spite of the conviction I thought I had
+acquired, Bellino, even such as I believe him to be, filled my thoughts;
+I could not make it out.
+
+Early the next morning I left Ancona with him, distracted by the tears of
+the two charming sisters and loaded with the blessings of the mother who,
+with beads in hand, mumbled her 'paternoster', and repeated her constant
+theme: 'Dio provedera'.
+
+The trust placed in Providence by most of those persons who earn their
+living by some profession forbidden by religion is neither absurd, nor
+false, nor deceitful; it is real and even godly, for it flows from an
+excellent source. Whatever may be the ways of Providence, human beings
+must always acknowledge it in its action, and those who call upon
+Providence independently of all external consideration must, at the
+bottom, be worthy, although guilty of transgressing its laws.
+
+          'Pulchra Laverna,
+   Da mihi fallere; da justo sanctoque videri;
+   Noctem peccatis, et fraudibus objice nubem.'
+
+Such was the way in which, in the days of Horace, robbers addressed their
+goddess, and I recollect a Jesuit who told me once that Horace would not
+have known his own language, if he had said justo sanctoque: but there
+were ignorant men even amongst the Jesuits, and robbers most likely have
+but little respect for the rules of grammar.
+
+The next morning I started with Bellino, who, believing me to be
+undeceived, could suppose that I would not shew any more curiosity about
+him, but we had not been a quarter of an hour together when he found out
+his mistake, for I could not let my looks fall upon his splendid eyes
+without feeling in me a fire which the sight of a man could not have
+ignited. I told him that all his features were those of a woman, and that
+I wanted the testimony of my eyes before I could feel perfectly
+satisfied, because the protuberance I had felt in a certain place might
+be only a freak of nature. "Should it be the case," I added, "I should
+have no difficulty in passing over a deformity which, in reality, is only
+laughable. Bellino, the impression you produce upon me, this sort of
+magnetism, your bosom worthy of Venus herself, which you have once
+abandoned to my eager hand, the sound of your voice, every movement of
+yours, assure me that you do not belong to my sex. Let me see for myself,
+and, if my conjectures are right, depend upon my faithful love; if, on
+the contrary, I find that I have been mistaken, you can rely upon my
+friendship. If you refuse me, I shall be compelled to believe that you
+are cruelly enjoying my misery, and that you have learned in the most
+accursed school that the best way of preventing a young man from curing
+himself of an amorous passion is to excite it constantly; but you must
+agree with me that, to put such tyranny in practice, it is necessary to
+hate the person it is practised upon, and, if that be so, I ought to call
+upon my reason to give me the strength necessary to hate you likewise."
+
+I went on speaking for a long time; Bellino did not answer, but he seemed
+deeply moved. At last I told him that, in the fearful state to which I
+was reduced by his resistance, I should be compelled to treat him without
+any regard for his feelings, and find out the truth by force. He answered
+with much warmth and dignity: "Recollect that you are not my master, that
+I am in your hands, because I had faith in your promise, and that, if you
+use violence, you will be guilty of murder. Order the postillion to stop,
+I will get out of the carriage, and you may rely upon my not complaining
+of your treatment."
+
+Those few words were followed by a torrent of tears, a sight which I
+never could resist. I felt myself moved in the inmost recesses of my
+soul, and I almost thought that I had been wrong. I say almost, because,
+had I been convinced of it, I would have thrown myself at his feet
+entreating pardon; but, not feeling myself competent to stand in judgment
+in my own cause, I satisfied myself by remaining dull and silent, and I
+never uttered one word until we were only half a mile from Sinigaglia,
+where I intended to take supper and to remain for the night. Having
+fought long enough with my own feelings, I said to him;
+
+"We might have spent a little time in Rimini like good friends, if you
+had felt any friendship for me, for, with a little kind compliance, you
+could have easily cured me of my passion."
+
+"It would not cure you," answered Bellino, courageously, but with a
+sweetness of tone which surprised me; "no, you would not be cured,
+whether you found me to be man or woman, for you are in love with me
+independently of my sex, and the certainty you would acquire would make
+you furious. In such a state, should you find me inexorable, you would
+very likely give way to excesses which would afterwards cause you deep
+sorrow."
+
+"You expect to make me admit that you are right, but you are completely
+mistaken, for I feel that I should remain perfectly calm, and that by
+complying with my wishes you would gain my friendship."
+
+"I tell you again that you would become furious."
+
+"Bellino, that which has made me furious is the sight of your charms,
+either too real or too completely deceiving, the power of which you
+cannot affect to ignore. You have not been afraid to ignite my amorous
+fury, how can you expect me to believe you now, when you pretend to fear
+it, and when I am only asking you to let me touch a thing, which, if it
+be as you say, will only disgust me?"
+
+"Ah! disgust you; I am quite certain of the contrary. Listen to me. Were
+I a girl, I feel I could not resist loving you, but, being a man, it is
+my duty not to grant what you desire, for your passion, now very natural,
+would then become monstrous. Your ardent nature would be stronger than
+your reason, and your reason itself would easily come to the assistance
+of your senses and of your nature. That violent clearing-up of the
+mystery, were you to obtain it, would leave you deprived of all control
+over yourself. Disappointed in not finding what you had expected, you
+would satisfy your passion upon that which you would find, and the result
+would, of course, be an abomination. How can you, intelligent as you are,
+flatter yourself that, finding me to be a man, you could all at once
+cease to love me? Would the charms which you now see in me cease to exist
+then? Perhaps their power would, on the contrary, be enhanced, and your
+passion, becoming brutal, would lead you to take any means your
+imagination suggested to gratify it. You would persuade yourself that you
+might change me into a woman, or, what is worse, that you might change
+yourself into one. Your passion would invent a thousand sophisms to
+justify your love, decorated with the fine appellation of friendship, and
+you would not fail to allege hundreds of similarly disgusting cases in
+order to excuse your conduct. You would certainly never find me
+compliant; and how am I to know that you would not threaten me with
+death?"
+
+"Nothing of the sort would happen, Bellino," I answered, rather tired of
+the length of his argument, "positively nothing, and I am sure you are
+exaggerating your fears. Yet I am bound to tell you that, even if all you
+say should happen, it seems to me that to allow what can strictly be
+considered only as a temporary fit of insanity, would prove a less evil
+than to render incurable a disease of the mind which reason would soon
+cut short."
+
+Thus does a poor philosopher reason when he takes it into his head to
+argue at those periods during which a passion raging in his soul makes
+all its faculties wander. To reason well, we must be under the sway
+neither of love nor of anger, for those two passions have one thing in
+common which is that, in their excess, they lower us to the condition of
+brutes acting only under the influence of their predominating instinct,
+and, unfortunately, we are never more disposed to argue than when we feel
+ourselves under the influence of either of those two powerful human
+passions.
+
+We arrived at Sinigaglia late at night, and I went to the best inn, and,
+after choosing a comfortable room, ordered supper. As there was but one
+bed in the room, I asked Bellino, in as calm a tone as I could assume,
+whether he would have a fire lighted in another chamber, and my surprise
+may be imagined when he answered quietly that he had no objection to
+sleep in the same bed with me. Such an answer, however, unexpected, was
+necessary to dispel the angry feelings under which I was labouring. I
+guessed that I was near the denouement of the romance, but I was very far
+from congratulating myself, for I did not know whether the denouement
+would prove agreeable or not. I felt, however, a real satisfaction at
+having conquered, and was sure of my self-control, in case the senses, my
+natural instinct, led me astray. But if I found myself in the right, I
+thought I could expect the most precious favours.
+
+We sat down to supper opposite each other, and during the meal, his
+words, his countenance, the expression of his beautiful eyes, his sweet
+and voluptuous smile, everything seemed to announce that he had had
+enough of playing a part which must have proved as painful to him as to
+me.
+
+A weight was lifted off my mind, and I managed to shorten the supper as
+much as possible. As soon as we had left the table, my amiable companion
+called for a night-lamp, undressed himself, and went to bed. I was not
+long in following him, and the reader will soon know the nature of a
+denouement so long and so ardently desired; in the mean time I beg to
+wish him as happy a night as the one which was then awaiting me.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+Bellino's History--I Am Put Under Arrest--I Run Away Against My Will--My
+Return To Rimini, and My Arrival In Bologna
+
+Dear reader, I said enough at the end of the last chapter to make you
+guess what happened, but no language would be powerful enough to make you
+realize all the voluptuousness which that charming being had in store for
+me. She came close to me the moment I was in bed. Without uttering one
+word our lips met, and I found myself in the ecstasy of enjoyment before
+I had had time to seek for it. After so complete a victory, what would my
+eyes and my fingers have gained from investigations which could not give
+me more certainty than I had already obtained? I could not take my gaze
+off that beautiful face, which was all aflame with the ardour of love.
+
+After a moment of quiet rapture, a spark lighted up in our veins a fresh
+conflagration which we drowned in a sea of new delights. Bellino felt
+bound to make me forget my sufferings, and to reward me by an ardour
+equal to the fire kindled by her charms.
+
+The happiness I gave her increased mine twofold, for it has always been
+my weakness to compose the four-fifths of my enjoyment from the sum-total
+of the happiness which I gave the charming being from whom I derived it.
+But such a feeling must necessarily cause hatred for old age which can
+still receive pleasure, but can no longer give enjoyment to another. And
+youth runs away from old age, because it is its most cruel enemy.
+
+An interval of repose became necessary, in consequence of the activity of
+our enjoyment. Our senses were not tired out, but they required the rest
+which renews their sensitiveness and restores the buoyancy necessary to
+active service.
+
+Bellino was the first to break our silence.
+
+"Dearest," she said, "are you satisfied now? Have you found me truly
+loving?"
+
+"Truly loving? Ah! traitress that you are! Do you, then, confess that I
+was not mistaken when I guessed that you were a charming woman? And if
+you truly loved me, tell me how you could contrive to defer your
+happiness and mine so long? But is it quite certain that I did not make a
+mistake?"
+
+"I am yours all over; see for yourself."
+
+Oh, what delightful survey! what charming beauties! what an ocean of
+enjoyment! But I could not find any trace of the protuberance which had
+so much terrified and disgusted me.
+
+"What has become," I said, "of that dreadful monstrosity?"
+
+"Listen to me," she replied, "and I will tell you everything.
+
+"My name is Therese. My father, a poor clerk in the Institute of Bologna,
+had let an apartment in his house to the celebrated Salimberi, a
+castrato, and a delightful musician. He was young and handsome, he became
+attached to me, and I felt flattered by his affection and by the praise
+he lavished upon me. I was only twelve years of age; he proposed to teach
+me music, and finding that I had a fine voice, he cultivated it
+carefully, and in less than a year I could accompany myself on the
+harpsichord. His reward was that which his love for me induced him to
+ask, and I granted the reward without feeling any humiliation, for I
+worshipped him. Of course, men like yourself are much above men of his
+species, but Salimberi was an exception. His beauty, his manners, his
+talent, and the rare qualities of his soul, made him superior in my eyes
+to all the men I had seen until then. He was modest and reserved, rich
+and generous, and I doubt whether he could have found a woman able to
+resist him; yet I never heard him boast of having seduced any. The
+mutilation practised upon his body had made him a monster, but he was an
+angel by his rare qualities and endowments.
+
+"Salimberi was at that time educating a boy of the same age as myself,
+who was in Rimini with a music teacher. The father of the boy, who was
+poor and had a large family, seeing himself near death, had thought of
+having his unfortunate son maimed so that he should become the support of
+his brothers with his voice. The name of the boy was Bellino; the good
+woman whom you have just seen in Ancona was his mother, and everybody
+believes that she is mine.
+
+"I had belonged to Salimberi for about a year, when he announced to me
+one day, weeping bitterly, that he was compelled to leave me to go to
+Rome, but he promised to see me again. The news threw me into despair. He
+had arranged everything for the continuation of my musical education,
+but, as he was preparing himself for his departure, my father died very
+suddenly, after a short illness, and I was left an orphan.
+
+"Salimberi had not courage enough to resist my tears and my entreaties;
+he made up his mind to take me to Rimini, and to place me in the same
+house where his young 'protege' was educated. We reached Rimini, and put
+up at an inn; after a short rest, Salimberi left me to call upon the
+teacher of music, and to make all necessary arrangements respecting me
+with him; but he soon returned, looking sad and unhappy; Bellino had died
+the day before.
+
+"As he was thinking of the grief which the loss of the young man would
+cause his mother, he was struck with the idea of bringing me back to
+Bologna under the name of Bellino, where he could arrange for my board
+with the mother of the deceased Bellino, who, being very poor, would find
+it to her advantage to keep the secret. 'I will give her,' he said,
+'everything necessary for the completion of your musical education, and
+in four years, I will take you to Dresden (he was in the service of the
+Elector of Saxony, King of Poland), not as a girl, but as a castrato.
+There we will live together without giving anyone cause for scandal, and
+you will remain with me and minister to my happiness until I die. All we
+have to do is to represent you as Bellino, and it is very easy, as nobody
+knows you in Bologna. Bellino's mother will alone know the secret; her
+other children have seen their brother only when he was very young, and
+can have no suspicion. But if you love me you must renounce your sex,
+lose even the remembrance of it, and leave immediately for Bologna,
+dressed as a boy, and under the name of Bellino. You must be very careful
+lest anyone should find out that you are a girl; you must sleep alone,
+dress yourself in private, and when your bosom is formed, as it will be
+in a year or two, it will only be thought a deformity not uncommon
+amongst 'castrati'. Besides, before leaving you, I will give you a small
+instrument, and teach how to fix it in such manner that, if you had at
+any time to submit to an examination, you would easily be mistaken for a
+man. If you accept my plan, I feel certain that we can live together in
+Dresden without losing the good graces of the queen, who is very
+religious. Tell me, now, whether you will accept my proposal?
+
+"He could not entertain any doubt of my consent, for I adored him. As
+soon as he had made a boy of me we left Rimini for Bologna, where we
+arrived late in the evening. A little gold made everything right with
+Bellino's mother; I gave her the name of mother, and she kissed me,
+calling me her dear son. Salimberi left us, and returned a short time
+afterwards with the instrument which would complete my transformation. He
+taught me, in the presence of my new mother, how to fix it with some
+tragacanth gum, and I found myself exactly like my friend. I would have
+laughed at it, had not my heart been deeply grieved at the departure of
+my beloved Salimberi, for he bade me farewell as soon as the curious
+operation was completed. People laugh at forebodings; I do not believe in
+them myself, but the foreboding of evil, which almost broke my heart as
+he gave me his farewell kiss, did not deceive me. I felt the cold
+shivering of death run through me; I felt I was looking at him for the
+last time, and I fainted away. Alas! my fears proved only too prophetic.
+Salimberi died a year ago in the Tyrol in the prime of life, with the
+calmness of a true philosopher. His death compelled me to earn my living
+with the assistance of my musical talent. My mother advised me to
+continue to give myself out as a castrato, in the hope of being able to
+take me to Rome. I agreed to do so, for I did not feel sufficient energy
+to decide upon any other plan. In the meantime she accepted an offer for
+the Ancona Theatre, and Petronio took the part of first female dancer; in
+this way we played the comedy of 'The World Turned Upside Down.'
+
+"After Salimberi, you are the only man I have known, and, if you like,
+you can restore me to my original state, and make me give up the name of
+Bellino, which I hate since the death of my protector, and which begins
+to inconvenience me. I have only appeared at two theatres, and each time
+I have been compelled to submit to the scandalous, degrading examination,
+because everywhere I am thought to have too much the appearance of a
+girl, and I am admitted only after the shameful test has brought
+conviction. Until now, fortunately, I have had to deal only with old
+priests who, in their good faith, have been satisfied with a very slight
+examination, and have made a favourable report to the bishop; but I might
+fall into the hands of some young abbe, and the test would then become a
+more severe one. Besides, I find myself exposed to the daily persecutions
+of two sorts of beings: those who, like you, cannot and will not believe
+me to be a man, and those who, for the satisfaction of their disgusting
+propensities, are delighted at my being so, or find it advantageous to
+suppose me so. The last particularly annoy me! Their tastes are so
+infamous, their habits so low, that I fear I shall murder one of them
+some day, when I can no longer control the rage in which their obscene
+language throws me. Out of pity, my beloved angel, be generous; and, if
+you love me, oh! free me from this state of shame and degradation! Take
+me with you. I do not ask to become your wife, that would be too much
+happiness; I will only be your friend, your mistress, as I would have
+been Salimberi's; my heart is pure and innocent, I feel that I can remain
+faithful to my lover through my whole life. Do not abandon me. The love I
+have for you is sincere; my affection for Salimberi was innocent; it was
+born of my inexperience and of my gratitude, and it is only with you that
+I have felt myself truly a woman."
+
+Her emotion, an inexpressible charm which seemed to flow from her lips
+and to enforce conviction, made me shed tears of love and sympathy. I
+blended my tears with those falling from her beautiful eyes, and deeply
+moved, I promised not to abandon her and to make her the sharer of my
+fate. Interested in the history, as singular as extraordinary, that she
+had just narrated, and having seen nothing in it that did not bear the
+stamp of truth, I felt really disposed to make her happy but I could not
+believe that I had inspired her with a very deep passion during my short
+stay in Ancona, many circumstances of which might, on the contrary, have
+had an opposite effect upon her heart.
+
+"If you loved me truly," I said, "how could you let me sleep with your
+sisters, out of spite at your resistance?"
+
+"Alas, dearest! think of our great poverty, and how difficult it was for
+me to discover myself. I loved you; but was it not natural that I should
+suppose your inclination for me only a passing caprice? When I saw you go
+so easily from Cecilia to Marinetta, I thought that you would treat me in
+the same manner as soon as your desires were satisfied, I was likewise
+confirmed in my opinion of your want of constancy and of the little
+importance you attached to the delicacy of the sentiment of love, when I
+witnessed what you did on board the Turkish vessel without being hindered
+by my presence; had you loved me, I thought my being present would have
+made you uncomfortable. I feared to be soon despised, and God knows how
+much I suffered! You have insulted me, darling, in many different ways,
+but my heart pleaded in your favour, because I knew you were excited,
+angry, and thirsting for revenge. Did you not threaten me this very day
+in your carriage? I confess you greatly frightened me, but do not fancy
+that I gave myself to you out of fear. No, I had made up my mind to be
+yours from the moment you sent me word by Cecilia that you would take me
+to Rimini, and your control over your own feelings during a part of our
+journey confirmed me in my resolution, for I thought I could trust myself
+to your honour, to your delicacy."
+
+"Throw up," I said, "the engagement you have in Rimini; let us proceed on
+our journey, and, after remaining a couple of days in Bologna, you will
+go with me to Venice; dressed as a woman, and with another name, I would
+challenge the manager here to find you out."
+
+"I accept. Your will shall always be my law. I am my own mistress, and I
+give myself to you without any reserve or restriction; my heart belongs
+to you, and I trust to keep yours."
+
+Man has in himself a moral force of action which always makes him
+overstep the line on which he is standing. I had obtained everything, I
+wanted more. "Shew me," I said, "how you were when I mistook you for a
+man." She got out of bed, opened her trunk, took out the instrument and
+fixed it with the gum: I was compelled to admire the ingenuity of the
+contrivance. My curiosity was satisfied, and I passed a most delightful
+night in her arms.
+
+When I woke up in the morning, I admired her lovely face while she was
+sleeping: all I knew of her came back to my mind; the words which had
+been spoken by her bewitching mouth, her rare talent, her candour, her
+feelings so full of delicacy, and her misfortunes, the heaviest of which
+must have been the false character she had been compelled to assume, and
+which exposed her to humiliation and shame, everything strengthened my
+resolution to make her the companion of my destiny, whatever it might be,
+or to follow her fate, for our positions were very nearly the same; and
+wishing truly to attach myself seriously to that interesting being, I
+determined to give to our union the sanction of religion and of law, and
+to take her legally for my wife. Such a step, as I then thought, could
+but strengthen our love, increase our mutual esteem, and insure the
+approbation of society which could not accept our union unless it was
+sanctioned in the usual manner.
+
+The talents of Therese precluded the fear of our being ever in want of
+the necessaries of life, and, although I did not know in what way my own
+talents might be made available, I had faith in myself. Our love might
+have been lessened, she would have enjoyed too great advantages over me,
+and my self-dignity would have too deeply suffered if I had allowed
+myself to be supported by her earnings only. It might, after a time, have
+altered the nature of our feelings; my wife, no longer thinking herself
+under any obligation to me, might have fancied herself the protecting,
+instead of the protected party, and I felt that my love would soon have
+turned into utter contempt, if it had been my misfortune to find her
+harbouring such thoughts. Although I trusted it would not be so, I
+wanted, before taking the important step of marriage, to probe her heart,
+and I resolved to try an experiment which would at once enable me to
+judge the real feelings of her inmost soul. As soon as she was awake, I
+spoke to her thus:
+
+"Dearest Therese, all you have told me leaves me no doubt of your love
+for me, and the consciousness you feel of being the mistress of my heart
+enhances my love for you to such a degree, that I am ready to do
+everything to convince you that you were not mistaken in thinking that
+you had entirely conquered me. I wish to prove to you that I am worthy of
+the noble confidence you have reposed in me by trusting you with equal
+sincerity.
+
+"Our hearts must be on a footing of perfect equality. I know you, my
+dearest Therese, but you do not know me yet. I can read in your eyes that
+you do not mind it, and it proves our great love, but that feeling places
+me too much below you, and I do not wish you to have so great an
+advantage over me. I feel certain that my confidence is not necessary to
+your love; that you only care to be mine, that your only wish is to
+possess my heart, and I admire you, my Therese; but I should feel
+humiliated if I found myself either too much above or too much below you.
+You have entrusted your secrets to me, now listen to mine; but before I
+begin, promise me that, when you know everything that concerns me, you
+will tell me candidly if any change has taken place either in your
+feelings or in your hopes."
+
+"I promise it faithfully; I promise not to conceal anything from you; but
+be upright enough not to tell me anything that is not perfectly true, for
+I warn you that it would be useless. If you tried any artifice in order
+to find me less worthy of you than I am in reality, you would only
+succeed in lowering yourself in my estimation. I should be very sorry to
+see you guilty of any cunning towards me. Have no more suspicion of me
+than I have of you; tell me the whole truth."
+
+"Here it is. You suppose me wealthy, and I am not so; as soon as what
+there is now in my purse is spent I shall have nothing left. You may
+fancy that I was born a patrician, but my social condition is really
+inferior to your own. I have no lucrative talents, no profession, nothing
+to give me the assurance that I am able to earn my living. I have neither
+relatives nor friends, nor claims upon anyone, and I have no serious plan
+or purpose before me. All I possess is youth, health, courage, some
+intelligence, honour, honesty, and some tincture of letters. My greatest
+treasure consists in being my own master, perfectly independent, and not
+afraid of misfortune. With all that, I am naturally inclined to
+extravagance. Lovely Therese, you have my portrait. What is your answer?"
+
+"In the first place, dearest, let me assure you that I believe every word
+you have just uttered, as I would believe in the Gospel; in the second,
+allow me to tell you that several times in Ancona I have judged you such
+as you have just described yourself, but far from being displeased at
+such a knowledge of your nature, I was only afraid of some illusion on my
+part, for I could hope to win you if you were what I thought you to be.
+In one word, dear one, if it is true that you are poor and a very bad
+hand at economy, allow me to tell you that I feel delighted, because, if
+you love me, you will not refuse a present from me, or despise me for
+offering it. The present consists of myself, such as I am, and with all
+my faculties. I give myself to you without any condition, with no
+restriction; I am yours, I will take care of you. For the future think
+only of your love for me, but love me exclusively. From this moment I am
+no longer Bellino. Let us go to Venice, where my talent will keep us both
+comfortably; if you wish to go anywhere else, let us go where you
+please."
+
+"I must go to Constantinople."
+
+"Then let us proceed to Constantinople. If you are afraid to lose me
+through want of constancy, marry me, and your right over me will be
+strengthened by law. I should not love you better than I do now, but I
+should be happy to be your wife."
+
+"It is my intention to marry you, and I am delighted that we agree in
+that respect. The day after to-morrow, in Bologna, you shall be made my
+legal-wife before the altar of God; I swear it to you here in the
+presence of Love. I want you to be mine, I want to be yours, I want us to
+be united by the most holy ties."
+
+"I am the happiest of women! We have nothing to do in Rimini; suppose we
+do not get up; we can have our dinner in bed, and go away to-morrow well
+rested after our fatigues."
+
+We left Rimini the next day, and stayed for breakfast at Pesaro. As we
+were getting into the carriage to leave that place, an officer,
+accompanied by two soldiers, presented himself, enquired for our names,
+and demanded our passports. Bellino had one and gave it, but I looked in
+vain for mine; I could not find it.
+
+The officer, a corporal, orders the postillion to wait and goes to make
+his report. Half an hour afterwards, he returns, gives Bellino his
+passport, saying that he can continue his journey, but tells me that his
+orders are to escort me to the commanding officer, and I follow him.
+
+"What have you done with your passport?" enquires that officer.
+
+"I have lost it."
+
+"A passport is not so easily lost."
+
+"Well, I have lost mine."
+
+"You cannot proceed any further."
+
+"I come from Rome, and I am going to Constantinople, bearing a letter
+from Cardinal Acquaviva. Here is the letter stamped with his seal."
+
+"All I can do for you is to send you to M. de Gages."
+
+I found the famous general standing, surrounded by his staff. I told him
+all I had already explained to the officer, and begged him to let me
+continue my journey.
+
+"The only favour I can grant you is to put you under arrest till you
+receive another passport from Rome delivered under the same name as the
+one you have given here. To lose a passport is a misfortune which befalls
+only a thoughtless, giddy man, and the cardinal will for the future know
+better than to put his confidence in a giddy fellow like you."
+
+With these words, he gave orders to take me to the guard-house at St.
+Mary's Gate, outside the city, as soon as I should have written to the
+cardinal for a new passport. His orders were executed. I was brought back
+to the inn, where I wrote my letter, and I sent it by express to his
+eminence, entreating him to forward the document, without loss of time,
+direct to the war office. Then I embraced Therese who was weeping, and,
+telling her to go to Rimini and to wait there for my return, I made her
+take one hundred sequins. She wished to remain in Pesaro, but I would not
+hear of it; I had my trunk brought out, I saw Therese go away from the
+inn, and was taken to the place appointed by the general.
+
+It is undoubtedly under such circumstances that the most determined
+optimist finds himself at a loss; but an easy stoicism can blunt the too
+sharp edge of misfortune.
+
+My greatest sorrow was the heart-grief of Therese who, seeing me torn
+from her arms at the very moment of our union, was suffocated by the
+tears which she tried to repress. She would not have left me if I had not
+made her understand that she could not remain in Pesaro, and if I had not
+promised to join her within ten days, never to be parted again. But fate
+had decided otherwise.
+
+When we reached the gate, the officer confined me immediately in the
+guard-house, and I sat down on my trunk. The officer was a taciturn
+Spaniard who did not even condescend to honour me with an answer, when I
+told him that I had money and would like to have someone to wait on me. I
+had to pass the night on a little straw, and without food, in the midst
+of the Spanish soldiers. It was the second night of the sort that my
+destiny had condemned me to, immediately after two delightful nights. My
+good angel doubtless found some pleasure in bringing such conjunctions
+before my mind for the benefit of my instruction. At all events,
+teachings of that description have an infallible effect upon natures of a
+peculiar stamp.
+
+If you should wish to close the lips of a logician calling himself a
+philosopher, who dares to argue that in this life grief overbalances
+pleasure, ask him whether he would accept a life entirely without sorrow
+and happiness. Be certain that he will not answer you, or he will
+shuffle, because, if he says no, he proves that he likes life such as it
+is, and if he likes it, he must find it agreeable, which is an utter
+impossibility, if life is painful; should he, on the contrary, answer in
+the affirmative, he would declare himself a fool, for it would be as much
+as to say that he can conceive pleasure arising from indifference, which
+is absurd nonsense.
+
+Suffering is inherent in human nature; but we never suffer without
+entertaining the hope of recovery, or, at least, very seldom without such
+hope, and hope itself is a pleasure. If it happens sometimes that man
+suffers without any expectation of a cure, he necessarily finds pleasure
+in the complete certainty of the end of his life; for the worst, in all
+cases, must be either a sleep arising from extreme dejection, during
+which we have the consolation of happy dreams or the loss of all
+sensitiveness. But when we are happy, our happiness is never disturbed by
+the thought that it will be followed by grief. Therefore pleasure, during
+its active period, is always complete, without alloy; grief is always
+soothed by hope.
+
+I suppose you, dear reader, at the age of twenty, and devoting yourself
+to the task of making a man of yourself by furnishing your mind with all
+the knowledge necessary to render you a useful being through the activity
+of your brain. Someone comes in and tells you, "I bring you thirty years
+of existence; it is the immutable decree of fate; fifteen consecutive
+years must be happy, and fifteen years unhappy. You are at liberty to
+choose the half by which you wish to begin."
+
+Confess it candidly, dear reader, you will not require much more
+consideration to decide, and you will certainly begin by the unhappy
+series of years, because you will feel that the expectation of fifteen
+delightful years cannot fail to brace you up with the courage necessary
+to bear the unfortunate years you have to go through, and we can even
+surmise, with every probability of being right, that the certainty of
+future happiness will soothe to a considerable extent the misery of the
+first period.
+
+You have already guessed, I have no doubt, the purpose of this lengthy
+argument. The sagacious man, believe me, can never be utterly miserable,
+and I most willingly agree with my friend Horace, who says that, on the
+contrary, such a man is always happy.
+
+   'Nisi quum pituita molesta est.'
+
+But, pray where is the man who is always suffering from a rheum?
+
+The fact is that the fearful night I passed in the guardhouse of St. Mary
+resulted for me in a slight loss and in a great gain. The small loss was
+to be away from my dear Therese, but, being certain of seeing her within
+ten days, the misfortune was not very great: as to the gain, it was in
+experience the true school for a man. I gained a complete system against
+thoughtlessness, a system of foresight. You may safely bet a hundred to
+one that a young man who has once lost his purse or his passport, will
+not lose either a second time. Each of those misfortunes has befallen me
+once only, and I might have been very often the victim of them, if
+experience had not taught me how much they were to be dreaded. A
+thoughtless fellow is a man who has not yet found the word dread in the
+dictionary of his life.
+
+The officer who relieved my cross-grained Castilian on the following day
+seemed of a different nature altogether; his prepossessing countenance
+pleased me much. He was a Frenchman, and I must say that I have always
+liked the French, and never the Spaniards; there is in the manners of the
+first something so engaging, so obliging, that you feel attracted towards
+them as towards a friend, whilst an air of unbecoming haughtiness gives
+to the second a dark, forbidding countenance which certainly does not
+prepossess in their favour. Yet I have often been duped by Frenchmen, and
+never by Spaniards--a proof that we ought to mistrust our tastes.
+
+The new officer, approaching me very politely, said to me,--
+
+"To what chance, reverend sir, am I indebted for the honour of having you
+in my custody?"
+
+Ah! here was a way of speaking which restored to my lungs all their
+elasticity! I gave him all the particulars of my misfortune, and he found
+the mishap very amusing. But a man disposed to laugh at my disappointment
+could not be disagreeable to me, for it proved that the turn of his mind
+had more than one point of resemblance with mine. He gave me at once a
+soldier to serve me, and I had very quickly a bed, a table, and a few
+chairs. He was kind enough to have my bed placed in his own room, and I
+felt very grateful to him for that delicate attention.
+
+He gave me an invitation to share his dinner, and proposed a game of
+piquet afterwards, but from the very beginning he saw that I was no match
+for him; he told me so, and he warned me that the officer who would
+relieve him the next day was a better player even than he was himself; I
+lost three or four ducats. He advised me to abstain from playing on the
+following day, and I followed his advice. He told me also that he would
+have company to supper, that there would be a game of faro, but that the
+banker being a Greek and a crafty player, I ought not to play. I thought
+his advice very considerate, particularly when I saw that all the punters
+lost, and that the Greek, very calm in the midst of the insulting
+treatment of those he had duped, was pocketing his money, after handing a
+share to the officer who had taken an interest in the bank. The name of
+the banker was Don Pepe il Cadetto, and by his accent I knew he was a
+Neapolitan. I communicated my discovery to the officer, asking him why he
+had told me that the man was a Greek. He explained to me the meaning of
+the word greek applied to a gambler, and the lesson which followed his
+explanation proved very useful to me in after years.
+
+During the five following days, my life was uniform and rather dull, but
+on the sixth day the same French officer was on guard, and I was very
+glad to see him. He told me, with a hearty laugh, that he was delighted
+to find me still in the guard-house, and I accepted the compliment for
+what it was worth. In the evening, we had the same bank at faro, with the
+same result as the first time, except a violent blow from the stick of
+one of the punters upon the back of the banker, of which the Greek
+stoically feigned to take no notice. I saw the same man again nine years
+afterwards in Vienna, captain in the service of Maria Theresa; he then
+called himself d'Afflisso. Ten years later, I found him a colonel, and
+some time after worth a million; but the last time I saw him, some
+thirteen or fourteen years ago, he was a galley slave. He was handsome,
+but (rather a singular thing) in spite of his beauty, he had a gallows
+look. I have seen others with the same stamp--Cagliostro, for instance,
+and another who has not yet been sent to the galleys, but who cannot fail
+to pay them a visit. Should the reader feel any curiosity about it, I can
+whisper the name in his ear.
+
+Towards the ninth or tenth day everyone in the army knew and liked me,
+and I was expecting the passport, which could not be delayed much longer.
+I was almost free, and I would often walk about even out of sight of the
+sentinel. They were quite right not to fear my running away, and I should
+have been wrong if I had thought of escaping, but the most singular
+adventure of my life happened to me then, and most unexpectedly.
+
+It was about six in the morning. I was taking a walk within one hundred
+yards of the sentinel, when an officer arrived and alighted from his
+horse, threw the bridle on the neck of his steed, and walked off.
+Admiring the docility of the horse, standing there like a faithful
+servant to whom his master has given orders to wait for him I got up to
+him, and without any purpose I get hold of the bridle, put my foot in the
+stirrup, and find myself in the saddle. I was on horseback for the first
+time in my life. I do not know whether I touched the horse with my cane
+or with my heels, but suddenly the animal starts at full speed. My right
+foot having slipped out of the stirrup, I press against the horse with my
+heels, and, feeling the pressure, it gallops faster and faster, for I did
+not know how to check it. At the last advanced post the sentinels call
+out to me to stop; but I cannot obey the order, and the horse carrying me
+away faster than ever, I hear the whizzing of a few musket balls, the
+natural consequence of my involuntary disobedience. At last, when I
+reach the first advanced picket of the Austrians, the horse is stopped,
+and I get off his back thanking God.
+
+An officer of Hussars asks where I am running so fast, and my tongue,
+quicker than my thought, answers without any privity on my part, that I
+can render no account but to Prince Lobkowitz, commander-in-chief of the
+army, whose headquarters were at Rimini. Hearing my answer, the officer
+gave orders for two Hussars to get on horseback, a fresh one is given me,
+and I am taken at full gallop to Rimini, where the officer on guard has
+me escorted at once to the prince.
+
+I find his highness alone, and I tell him candidly what has just happened
+to me. My story makes him laugh, although he observes that it is hardly
+credible.
+
+"I ought," he says, "to put you under arrest, but I am willing to save
+you that unpleasantness." With that he called one of his officers and
+ordered him to escort me through the Cesena Gate. "Then you can go
+wherever you please," he added, turning round to me; "but take care not
+to again enter the lines of my army without a passport, or you might fare
+badly."
+
+I asked him to let me have the horse again, but he answered that the
+animal did not belong to me. I forgot to ask him to send me back to the
+place I had come from, and I regretted it; but after all perhaps I did
+for the best.
+
+The officer who accompanied me asked me, as we were passing a
+coffee-house, whether I would like to take some chocolate, and we went
+in. At that moment I saw Petronio going by, and availing myself of a
+moment when the officer was talking to someone, I told him not to appear
+to be acquainted with me, but to tell me where he lived. When we had
+taken our chocolate the officer paid and we went out. Along the road we
+kept up the conversation; he told me his name, I gave him mine, and I
+explained how I found myself in Rimini. He asked me whether I had not
+remained some time in Ancona; I answered in the affirmative, and he
+smiled and said I could get a passport in Bologna, return to Rimini and
+to Pesaro without any fear, and recover my trunk by paying the officer
+for the horse he had lost. We reached the gate, he wished me a pleasant
+journey, and we parted company.
+
+I found myself free, with gold and jewels, but without my trunk. Therese
+was in Rimini, and I could not enter that city. I made up my mind to go
+to Bologna as quickly as possible in order to get a passport, and to
+return to Pesaro, where I should find my passport from Rome, for I could
+not make up my mind to lose my trunk, and I did not want to be separated
+from Therese until the end of her engagement with the manager of the
+Rimini Theatre.
+
+It was raining; I had silk stockings on, and I longed for a carriage. I
+took shelter under the portal of a church, and turned my fine overcoat
+inside out, so as not to look like an abbe. At that moment a peasant
+happened to come along, and I asked him if a carriage could be had to
+drive me to Cesena. "I have one, sir," he said, "but I live half a league
+from here."
+
+"Go and get it, I will wait for you here."
+
+While I was waiting for the return of the peasant with his vehicle, some
+forty mules laden with provisions came along the road towards Rimini. It
+was still raining fast, and the mules passing close by me, I placed my
+hand mechanically upon the neck of one of them, and following the slow
+pace of the animals I re-entered Rimini without the slightest notice
+being taken of me, even by the drivers of the mules. I gave some money to
+the first street urchin I met, and he took me to Therese's house.
+
+With my hair fastened under a night-cap, my hat pulled down over my face,
+and my fine cane concealed under my coat, I did not look a very elegant
+figure. I enquired for Bellino's mother, and the mistress of the house
+took me to a room where I found all the family, and Therese in a woman's
+dress. I had reckoned upon surmising them, but Petronio had told them of
+our meeting, and they were expecting me. I gave a full account of my
+adventures, but Therese, frightened at the danger that threatened me, and
+in spite of her love, told me that it was absolutely necessary for me to
+go to Bologna, as I had been advised by M. Vais, the officer.
+
+"I know him," she said, "and he is a worthy man, but he comes here every
+evening, and you must conceal yourself."
+
+It was only eight o'clock in the morning; we had the whole day before us,
+and everyone promised to be discreet. I allayed Therese's anxiety by
+telling her that I could easily contrive to leave the city without being
+observed.
+
+Therese took me to her own room, where she told me that she had met the
+manager of the theatre on her arrival in Rimini, and that he had taken
+her at once to the apartments engaged for the family. She had informed
+him that she was a woman, and that she had made up her mind not to appear
+as a castrato any more; he had expressed himself delighted at such news,
+because women could appear on the stage at Rimini, which was not under
+the same legate as Ancona. She added that her engagement would be at an
+end by the 1st of May, and that she would meet me wherever it would be
+agreeable to me to wait for her.
+
+"As soon as I can get a passport," I said, "there is nothing to hinder me
+from remaining near you until the end of your engagement. But as M. Vais
+calls upon you, tell me whether you have informed him of my having spent
+a few days in Ancona?"
+
+"I did, and I even told him that you had been arrested because you had
+lost your passport."
+
+I understood why the officer had smiled as he was talking with me. After
+my conversation with Therese, I received the compliments of the mother
+and of the young sisters who appeared to me less cheerful and less free
+than they had been in Ancona. They felt that Bellino, transformed into
+Therese, was too formidable a rival. I listened patiently to all the
+complaints of the mother who maintained that, in giving up the character
+of castrato, Therese had bidden adieu to fortune, because she might have
+earned a thousand sequins a year in Rome.
+
+"In Rome, my good woman," I said, "the false Bellino would have been
+found out, and Therese would have been consigned to a miserable convent
+for which she was never made."
+
+Notwithstanding the danger of my position, I spent the whole of the day
+alone with my beloved mistress, and it seemed that every moment gave her
+fresh beauties and increased my love. At eight o'clock in the evening,
+hearing someone coming in, she left me, and I remained in the dark, but
+in such a position that I could see everything and hear every word. The
+Baron Vais came in, and Therese gave him her hand with the grace of a
+pretty woman and the dignity of a princess. The first thing he told her
+was the news about me; she appeared to be pleased, and listened with
+well-feigned indifference, when he said that he had advised me to return
+with a passport. He spent an hour with her, and I was thoroughly well
+pleased with her manners and behaviour, which had been such as to leave
+me no room for the slightest feeling of jealousy. Marina lighted him out
+and Therese returned to me. We had a joyous supper together, and, as we
+were getting ready to go to bed, Petronio came to inform me that ten
+muleteers would start for Cesena two hours before day-break, and that he
+was sure I could leave the city with them if I would go and meet them a
+quarter of an hour before their departure, and treat them to something to
+drink. I was of the same opinion, and made up my mind to make the
+attempt. I asked Petronio to sit up and to wake me in good time. It
+proved an unnecessary precaution, for I was ready before the time, and
+left Therese satisfied with my love, without any doubt of my constancy,
+but rather anxious as to my success in attempting to leave Rimini. She
+had sixty sequins which she wanted to force back upon me, but I asked her
+what opinion she would have of me if I accepted them, and we said no more
+about it.
+
+I went to the stable, and having treated one of the muleteers to some
+drink I told him that I would willingly ride one of his mules as far as
+Sarignan.
+
+"You are welcome to the ride," said the good fellow, "but I would advise
+you not to get on the mule till we are outside the city, and to pass
+through the gate on foot as if you were one of the drivers."
+
+It was exactly what I wanted. Petronio accompanied me as far as the gate,
+where I gave him a substantial proof of my gratitude. I got out of the
+city without the slightest difficulty, and left the muleteers at
+Sarignan, whence I posted to Bologna.
+
+I found out that I could not obtain a passport, for the simple reason
+that the authorities of the city persisted that it was not necessary; but
+I knew better, and it was not for me to tell them why. I resolved to
+write to the French officer who had treated me so well at the guardhouse.
+I begged him to enquire at the war office whether my passport had arrived
+from Rome, and, if so, to forward it to me. I also asked him to find out
+the owner of the horse who had run away with me, offering to pay for it.
+I made up my mind to wait for Therese in Bologna, and I informed her of
+my decision, entreating her to write very often. The reader will soon
+know the new resolution I took on the very same day.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Venetian Years: A Cleric in Naples
+by Jacques Casanova de Seingalt
+
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+Project Gutenberg Etext A Cleric in Naples, by Jacques Casanova
+#2 in our series by Jacques Casanova
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+Title:  A Cleric in Naples
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+Author: Jacques Casanova
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+
+MEMOIRS OF JACQUES CASANOVA de SEINGALT 1725-1798
+VENETIAN YEARS, Volume 1b--A CLERIC IN NAPLES
+
+
+THE RARE UNABRIDGED LONDON EDITION OF 1894 TRANSLATED BY ARTHUR
+MACHEN TO WHICH HAS BEEN ADDED THE CHAPTERS DISCOVERED
+BY ARTHUR SYMONS.
+
+
+
+
+A CLERIC IN NAPLES
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+My Misfortunes in Chiozza--Father Stephano--The Lazzaretto at Ancona
+--The Greek Slave--My Pilgrimage to Our Lady of Loretto--I Go to Rome
+on Foot, and From Rome to Naples to Meet the Bishop--I Cannot Join
+Him--Good Luck Offers Me the Means of Reaching Martorano, Which Place
+I Very Quickly Leave to Return to Naples
+
+
+The retinue of the ambassador, which was styled "grand," appeared to
+me very small.  It was composed of a Milanese steward, named
+Carcinelli, of a priest who fulfilled the duties of secretary because
+he could not write, of an old woman acting as housekeeper, of a man
+cook with his ugly wife, and eight or ten servants.
+
+We reached Chiozza about noon.  Immediately after landing, I politely
+asked the steward where I should put up, and his answer was:
+
+"Wherever you please, provided you let this man know where it is, so
+that he can give you notice when the peotta is ready to sail.  My
+duty," he added, "is to leave you at the lazzaretto of Ancona free of
+expense from the moment we leave this place.  Until then enjoy
+yourself as well as you can."
+
+The man to whom I was to give my address was the captain of the
+peotta.  I asked him to recommend me a lodging.
+
+"You can come to my house," he said, "if you have no objection to
+share a large bed with the cook, whose wife remains on board."
+
+Unable to devise any better plan, I accepted the offer, and a sailor,
+carrying my trunk, accompanied me to the dwelling of the honest
+captain.  My trunk had to be placed under the bed which filled up the
+room.  I was amused at this, for I was not in a position to be over-
+fastidious, and, after partaking of some dinner at the inn, I went
+about the town.  Chiozza is a peninsula, a sea-port belonging to
+Venice, with a population of ten thousand inhabitants, seamen,
+fishermen, merchants, lawyers, and government clerks.
+
+I entered a coffee-room, and I had scarcely taken a seat when a young
+doctor-at-law, with whom I had studied in Padua, came up to me, and
+introduced me to a druggist whose shop was near by, saying that his
+house was the rendezvous of all the literary men of the place.  A few
+minutes afterwards, a tall Jacobin friar, blind of one eye, called
+Corsini, whom I had known in Venice, came in and paid me many
+compliments.  He told me that I had arrived just in time to go to a
+picnic got up by the Macaronic academicians for the next day, after a
+sitting of the academy in which every member was to recite something
+of his composition.  He invited me to join them, and to gratify the
+meeting with the delivery of one of my productions.  I accepted the
+invitation, and, after the reading of ten stanzas which I had written
+for the occasion, I was unanimously elected a member.  My success at
+the picnic was still greater, for I disposed of such a quantity of
+macaroni that I was found worthy of the title of prince of the
+academy.
+
+The young doctor, himself one of the academicians, introduced me to
+his family.  His parents, who were in easy circumstances, received me
+very kindly.  One of his sisters was very amiable, but the other, a
+professed nun, appeared to me a prodigy of beauty.  I might have
+enjoyed myself in a very agreeable way in the midst of that charming
+family during my stay in Chiozza, but I suppose that it was my
+destiny to meet in that place with nothing but sorrows.  The young
+doctor forewarned me that the monk Corsini was a very worthless
+fellow, despised by everybody, and advised me to avoid him.  I
+thanked him for the information, but my thoughtlessness prevented me
+from profiting by it.  Of a very easy disposition, and too giddy to
+fear any snares, I was foolish enough to believe that the monk would,
+on the contrary, be the very man to throw plenty of amusement in my
+way.
+
+On the third day the worthless dog took me to a house of ill-fame,
+where I might have gone without his introduction, and, in order to
+shew my mettle, I obliged a low creature whose ugliness ought to have
+been a sufficient antidote against any fleshly desire.  On leaving
+the place, he brought me for supper to an inn where we met four
+scoundrels of his own stamp.  After supper one of them began a bank
+of faro, and I was invited to join in the game.  I gave way to that
+feeling of false pride which so often causes the ruin of young men,
+and after losing four sequins I expressed a wish to retire, but my
+honest friend, the Jacobin contrived to make me risk four more
+sequins in partnership with him.  He held the bank, and it was
+broken.  I did not wish to play any more, but Corsini, feigning to
+pity me and to feel great sorrow at being the cause of my loss,
+induced me to try myself a bank of twenty-five sequins; my bank was
+likewise broken.  The hope of winning back my money made me keep up
+the game, and I lost everything I had.
+
+Deeply grieved, I went away and laid myself down near the cook, who
+woke up and said I was a libertine.
+
+"You are right," was all I could answer.
+
+I was worn out with fatigue and sorrow, and I slept soundly.  My vile
+tormentor, the monk, woke me at noon, and informed me with a
+triumphant joy that a very rich young man had been invited by his
+friends to supper, that he would be sure to play and to lose, and
+that it would be a good opportunity for me to retrieve my losses.
+
+"I have lost all my money.  Lend me twenty sequins."
+
+"When I lend money I am sure to lose; you may call it superstition,
+but I have tried it too often.  Try to find money somewhere else, and
+come.  Farewell."
+
+I felt ashamed to confess my position to my friend, and sending for,
+a money-lender I emptied my trunk before him.  We made an inventory
+of my clothes, and the honest broker gave me thirty sequins, with the
+understanding that if I did not redeem them within three days all my
+things would become his property.  I am bound to call him an honest
+man, for he advised me to keep three shirts, a few pairs of
+stockings, and a few handkerchiefs; I was disposed to let him take
+everything, having a presentiment that I would win back all I had
+lost; a very common error.  A few years later I took my revenge by
+writing a diatribe against presentiments.  I am of opinion that the
+only foreboding in which man can have any sort of faith is the one
+which forbodes evil, because it comes from the mind, while a
+presentiment of happiness has its origin in the heart, and the heart
+is a fool worthy of reckoning foolishly upon fickle fortune.
+
+I did not lose any time in joining the honest company, which was
+alarmed at the thought of not seeing me.  Supper went off without any
+allusion to gambling, but my admirable qualities were highly praised,
+and it was decided that a brilliant fortune awaited me in Rome.
+After supper there was no talk of play, but giving way to my evil
+genius I loudly asked for my revenge.  I was told that if I would
+take the bank everyone would punt.  I took the bank, lost every
+sequin I had, and retired, begging the monk to pay what I owed to the
+landlord, which he promised to do.
+
+I was in despair, and to crown my misery I found out as I was going
+home that I had met the day before with another living specimen of
+the Greek woman, less beautiful but as perfidious.  I went to bed
+stunned by my grief, and I believe that I must have fainted into a
+heavy sleep, which lasted eleven hours; my awaking was that of a
+miserable being, hating the light of heaven, of which he felt himself
+unworthy, and I closed my eyes again, trying to sleep for a little
+while longer.  I dreaded to rouse myself up entirely, knowing that I
+would then have to take some decision; but I never once thought of
+returning to Venice, which would have been the very best thing to do,
+and I would have destroyed myself rather than confide my sad position
+to the young doctor.  I was weary of my existence, and I entertained
+vaguely some hope of starving where I was, without leaving my bed.
+It is certain that I should not have got up if M. Alban, the master
+of the peotta, had not roused me by calling upon me and informing me
+that the boat was ready to sail.
+
+The man who is delivered from great perplexity, no matter by what
+means, feels himself relieved.  It seemed to me that Captain Alban
+had come to point out the only thing I could possibly do; I dressed
+myself in haste, and tying all my worldly possessions in a
+handkerchief I went on board.  Soon afterwards we left the shore, and
+in the morning we cast anchor in Orsara, a seaport of Istria.  We all
+landed to visit the city, which would more properly be called a
+village.  It belongs to the Pope, the Republic of Venice having
+abandoned it to the Holy See.
+
+A young monk of the order of the Recollects who called himself Friar
+Stephano of Belun, and had obtained a free passage from the devout
+Captain Alban, joined me as we landed and enquired whether I felt
+sick.
+
+"Reverend father, I am unhappy."
+
+"You will forget all your sorrow, if you will come and dine with me
+at the house of one of our devout friends."
+
+I had not broken my fast for thirty-six hours, and having suffered
+much from sea-sickness during the night, my stomach was quite empty.
+My erotic inconvenience made me very uncomfortable, my mind felt
+deeply the consciousness of my degradation, and I did not possess a
+groat!  I was in such a miserable state that I had no strength to
+accept or to refuse anything.  I was thoroughly torpid, and I
+followed the monk mechanically.
+
+He presented me to a lady, saying that he was accompanying me to
+Rome, where I intend to become a Franciscan.  This untruth disgusted
+me, and under any other circumstances I would not have let it pass
+without protest, but in my actual position it struck me as rather
+comical.  The good lady gave us a good dinner of fish cooked in oil,
+which in Orsara is delicious, and we drank some exquisite refosco.
+During our meal, a priest happened to drop in, and, after a short
+conversation, he told me that I ought not to pass the night on board
+the tartan, and pressed me to accept a bed in his house and a good
+dinner for the next day in case the wind should not allow us to sail;
+I accepted without hesitation.  I offered my most sincere thanks to
+the good old lady, and the priest took me all over the town.  In the
+evening, he brought me to his house where we partook of an excellent
+supper prepared by his housekeeper, who sat down to the table with
+us, and with whom I was much pleased.  The refosco, still better than
+that which I had drunk at dinner, scattered all my misery to the
+wind, and I conversed gaily with the priest.  He offered to read to
+me a poem of his own composition, but, feeling that my eyes would not
+keep open, I begged he would excuse me and postpone the reading until
+the following day.
+
+I went to bed, and in the morning, after ten hours of the most
+profound sleep, the housekeeper, who had been watching for my
+awakening, brought me some coffee.  I thought her a charming woman,
+but, alas!  I was not in a fit state to prove to her the high
+estimation in which I held her beauty.
+
+Entertaining feelings of gratitude for my kind host, and disposed to
+listen attentively to his poem, I dismissed all sadness, and I paid
+his poetry such compliments that he was delighted, and, finding me
+much more talented than he had judged me to be at first, he insisted
+upon treating me to a reading of his idylls, and I had to swallow
+them, bearing the infliction cheerfully. The day passed off very
+agreeably; the housekeeper surrounded me with the kindest attentions
+--a proof that she was smitten with me; and, giving way to that
+pleasing idea, I felt that, by a very natural system of reciprocity,
+she had made my conquest.  The good priest thought that the day had
+passed like lightning, thanks to all the beauties I had discovered in
+his poetry, which, to speak the truth, was below mediocrity, but time
+seemed to me to drag along very slowly, because the friendly glances
+of the housekeeper made me long for bedtime, in spite of the
+miserable condition in which I felt myself morally and physically.
+But such was my nature; I abandoned myself to joy and happiness,
+when, had I been more reasonable, I ought to have sunk under my grief
+and sadness.
+
+But the golden time came at last.  I found the pretty housekeeper
+full of compliance, but only up to a certain point, and as she
+offered some resistance when I shewed myself disposed to pay a full
+homage to her charms, I quietly gave up the undertaking, very well
+pleased for both of us that it had not been carried any further, and
+I sought my couch in peace.  But I had not seen the end of the
+adventure, for the next morning, when she brought my coffee, her
+pretty, enticing manners allured me to bestow a few loving caresses
+upon her, and if she did not abandon herself entirely, it was only,
+as she said, because she was afraid of some surprise.  The day passed
+off very pleasantly with the good priest, and at night, the house-
+keeper no longer fearing detection, and I having on my side taken
+every precaution necessary in the state in which I was, we passed two
+most delicious hours.  I left Orsara the next morning.
+
+Friar Stephano amused me all day with his talk, which plainly showed
+me his ignorance combined with knavery under the veil of simplicity.
+He made me look at the alms he had received in Orsara--bread, wine,
+cheese, sausages, preserves, and chocolate; every nook and cranny of
+his holy garment was full of provisions.
+
+"Have you received money likewise?" I enquired.
+
+"God forbid!  In the first place, our glorious order does not permit
+me to touch money, and, in the second place, were I to be foolish
+enough to receive any when I am begging, people would think
+themselves quit of me with one or two sous, whilst they dive me ten
+times as much in eatables.  Believe me Saint-Francis, was a very
+judicious man."
+
+I bethought myself that what this monk called wealth would be poverty
+to me.  He offered to share with me, and seemed very proud at my
+consenting to honour him so far.
+
+The tartan touched at the harbour of Pola, called Veruda, and we
+landed.  After a walk up hill of nearly a quarter of an hour, we
+entered the city, and I devoted a couple of hours to visiting the
+Roman antiquities, which are numerous, the town having been the
+metropolis of the empire.  Yet I saw no other trace of grand
+buildings except the ruins of the arena.  We returned to Veruda, and
+went again to sea.  On the following day we sighted Ancona, but the
+wind being against us we were compelled to tack about, and we did not
+reach the port till the second day.  The harbour of Ancona, although
+considered one of the great works of Trajan, would be very unsafe if
+it were not for a causeway which has cost a great deal of money, and
+which makes it some what better.  I observed a fact worthy of notice,
+namely, that, in the Adriatic, the northern coast has many harbours,
+while the opposite coast can only boast of one or two.  It is evident
+that the sea is retiring by degrees towards the east, and that in
+three or four more centuries Venice must be joined to the land.  We
+landed at the old lazzaretto, where we received the pleasant
+information that we would go through a quarantine of twenty-eight
+days, because Venice had admitted, after a quarantine of three
+months, the crew of two ships from Messina, where the plague had
+recently been raging.  I requested a room for myself and for Brother
+Stephano, who thanked me very heartily.  I hired from a Jew a bed, a
+table and a few chairs, promising to pay for the hire at the
+expiration of our quarantine.  The monk would have nothing but straw.
+If he had guessed that without him I might have starved, he would
+most likely not have felt so much vanity at sharing my room.  A
+sailor, expecting to find in me a generous customer, came to enquire
+where my trunk was, and, hearing from me that I did not know, he, as
+well as Captain Alban, went to a great deal of trouble to find it,
+and I could hardly keep down my merriment when the captain called,
+begging to be excused for having left it behind, and assuring me that
+he would take care to forward it to me in less than three weeks.
+
+The friar, who had to remain with me four weeks, expected to live at
+my expense, while, on the contrary, he had been sent by Providence to
+keep me.  He had provisions enough for one week, but it was necessary
+to think of the future.
+
+After supper, I drew a most affecting picture of my position, shewing
+that I should be in need of everything until my arrival at Rome,
+where I was going, I said, to fill the post of secretary of
+memorials, and my astonishment may be imagined when I saw the
+blockhead delighted at the recital of my misfortunes.
+
+"I undertake to take care of you until we reach Rome; only tell me
+whether you can write."
+
+"What a question!  Are you joking?"
+
+"Why should I?  Look at me; I cannot write anything but my name.
+True, I can write it with either hand; and what else do I want to
+know?"
+
+"You astonish me greatly, for I thought you were a priest."
+
+"I am a monk; I say the mass, and, as a matter of course, I must know
+how to read.  Saint-Francis, whose unworthy son I am, could not read,
+an that is the reason why he never said a mass.  But as you can
+write, you will to-morrow pen a letter in my name to the persons
+whose names I will give you, and I warrant you we shall have enough
+sent here to live like fighting cocks all through our quarantine."
+
+The next day he made me write eight letters, because, in the oral
+tradition of his order, it is said that, when a monk has knocked at
+seven doors and has met with a refusal at every one of them, he must
+apply to the eighth with perfect confidence, because there he is
+certain of receiving alms.  As he had already performed the
+pilgrimage to Rome, he knew every person in Ancona devoted to the
+cult of Saint-Francis, and was acquainted with the superiors of all
+the rich convents.  I had to write to every person he named, and to
+set down all the lies he dictated to me.  He likewise made me sign
+the letters for him, saying, that, if he signed himself, his
+correspondents would see that the letters had not been written by
+him, which would injure him, for, he added, in this age of
+corruption, people will esteem only learned men.  He compelled me to
+fill the letters with Latin passages and quotations, even those
+addressed to ladies, and I remonstrated in vain, for, when I raised
+any objection, he threatened to leave me without anything to eat.  I
+made up my mind to do exactly as he wished.  He desired me to write
+to the superior of the Jesuits that he would not apply to the
+Capuchins, because they were no better than atheists, and that that
+was the reason of the great dislike of Saint-Francis for them.  It
+was in vain that I reminded him of the fact that, in the time of
+Saint-Francis, there were neither Capuchins nor Recollets.  His
+answer was that I had proved myself an ignoramus.  I firmly believed
+that he would be thought a madman, and that we should not receive
+anything, but I was mistaken, for such a quantity of provisions came
+pouring in that I was amazed.  Wine was sent from three or four
+different quarters, more than enough for us during all our stay, and
+yet I drank nothing but water, so great was my wish to recover my
+health.  As for eatables, enough was sent in every day for six
+persons; we gave all our surplus to our keeper, who had a large
+family.  But the monk felt no gratitude for the kind souls who
+bestowed their charity upon him; all his thanks were reserved for
+Saint-Francis.
+
+He undertook to have my men washed by the keeper; I would not have
+dared to give it myself, and he said that he had nothing to fear, as
+everybody was well aware that the monks of his order never wear any
+kind of linen.
+
+I kept myself in bed nearly all day, and thus avoided shewing myself
+to visitors.  The persons who did not come wrote letters full of
+incongruities cleverly worded, which I took good care not to point
+out to him.  It was with great difficulty that I tried to persuade
+him that those letters did not require any answer.
+
+A fortnight of repose and severe diet brought me round towards
+complete recovery, and I began to walk in the yard of the lazzaretto
+from morning till night; but the arrival of a Turk from Thessalonia
+with his family compelled me to suspend my walks, the ground-floor
+having been given to him.  The only pleasure left me was to spend my
+time on the balcony overlooking the yard.  I soon saw a Greek slave,
+a girl of dazzling beauty, for whom I felt the deepest interest.  She
+was in the habit of spending the whole day sitting near the door with
+a book or some embroidery in her hand.  If she happened to raise her
+eyes and to meet mine, she modestly bent her head down, and sometimes
+she rose and went in slowly, as if she meant to say, "I did not know
+that somebody was looking at me."  Her figure was tall and slender,
+her features proclaimed her to be very young; she had a very fair
+complexion, with beautiful black hair and eyes.  She wore the Greek
+costume, which gave her person a certain air of very exciting
+voluptuousness.
+
+I was perfectly idle, and with the temperament which nature and habit
+had given me, was it likely that I could feast my eyes constantly
+upon such a charming object without falling desperately in love?  I
+had heard her conversing in Lingua Franca with her master, a fine old
+man, who, like her, felt very weary of the quarantine, and used to
+come out but seldom, smoking his pipe, and remaining in the yard only
+a short time.  I felt a great temptation to address a few words to
+the beautiful girl, but I was afraid she might run away and never
+come out again; however, unable to control myself any longer, I
+determined to write to her; I had no difficulty in conveying the
+letter, as I had only to let it fall from my balcony.  But she might
+have refused to pick it up, and this is the plan I adopted in order
+not to risk any unpleasant result.
+
+Availing myself of a moment during which she was alone in the yard, I
+dropped from my balcony a small piece of paper folded like a letter,
+but I had taken care not to write anything on it, and held the true
+letter in my hand.  As soon as I saw her stooping down to pick up the
+first, I quickly let the second drop at her feet, and she put both
+into her pocket.  A few minutes afterwards she left the yard.  My
+letter was somewhat to this effect:
+
+"Beautiful angel from the East, I worship you.  I will remain all
+night on this balcony in the hope that you will come to me for a
+quarter of an hour, and listen to my voice through the hole under my
+feet.  We can speak softly, and in order to hear me you can climb up
+to the top of the bale of goods which lies beneath the same hole."
+
+I begged from my keeper not to lock me in as he did every night, and
+he consented on condition that he would watch me, for if I had jumped
+down in the yard his life might have been the penalty, and he
+promised not to disturb me on the balcony.
+
+At midnight, as I was beginning to give her up, she carne forward.  I
+then laid myself flat on the floor of the balcony, and I placed my
+head against the hole, about six inches square.  I saw her jump on
+the bale, and her head reached within a foot from the balcony.  She
+was compelled to steady herself with one hand against the wall for
+fear of falling, and in that position we talked of love, of ardent
+desires, of obstacles, of impossibilities, and of cunning artifices.
+I told her the reason for which I dared not jump down in the yard,
+and she observed that, even without that reason, it would bring ruin
+upon us, as it would be impossible to come up again, and that,
+besides, God alone knew what her master would do if he were to find
+us together.  Then, promising to visit me in this way every night,
+she passed her hand through the hole.  Alas! I could not leave off
+kissing it, for I thought that I had never in my life touched so
+soft, so delicate a hand.  But what bliss when she begged for mine!
+I quickly thrust my arm through the hole, so that she could fasten
+her lips to the bend of the elbow.  How many sweet liberties my hand
+ventured to take!  But we were at last compelled by prudence to
+separate, and when I returned to my room I saw with great pleasure
+that the keeper was fast asleep.
+
+Although I was delighted at having obtained every favour I could
+possibly wish for in the uncomfortable position we had been in, I
+racked my brain to contrive the means of securing more complete
+enjoyment for the following night, but I found during the afternoon
+that the feminine cunning of my beautiful Greek was more fertile than
+mine.
+
+Being alone in the yard with her master, she said a few words to him
+in Turkish, to which he seemed to give his approval, and soon after a
+servant, assisted by the keeper, brought under the balcony a large
+basket of goods.  She overlooked the arrangement, and in order to
+secure the basket better, she made the servant place a bale of cotton
+across two others.  Guessing at her purpose, I fairly leaped for joy,
+for she had found the way of raising herself two feet higher; but I
+thought that she would then find herself in the most inconvenient
+position, and that, forced to bend double, she would not be able to
+resist the fatigue.  The hole was not wide enough for her head to
+pass through, otherwise she might have stood erect and been
+comfortable.  It was necessary at all events to guard against that
+difficulty; the only way was to tear out one of the planks of the
+floor of the balcony, but it was not an easy undertaking.  Yet I
+decided upon attempting it, regardless of consequences; and I went to
+my room to provide myself with a large pair of pincers.  Luckily the
+keeper was absent, and availing myself of the opportunity, I
+succeeded in dragging out carefully the four large nails which
+fastened the plank.  Finding that I could lift it at my will, I
+replaced the pincers, and waited for the night with amorous
+impatience.
+
+The darling girl came exactly at midnight, noticing the difficulty
+she experienced in climbing up, and in getting a footing upon the
+third bale of cotton, I lifted the plank, and, extending my arm as
+far as I could, I offered her a steady point of support.  She stood
+straight, and found herself agreeably surprised, for she could pass
+her head and her arms through the hole.  We wasted no time in empty
+compliments; we only congratulated each other upon having both worked
+for the same purpose.
+
+If, the night before, I had found myself master of her person more
+than she was of mine, this time the position was entirely reversed.
+Her hand roamed freely over every part of my body, but I had to stop
+half-way down hers.  She cursed the man who had packed the bale for
+not having made it half a foot bigger, so as to get nearer to me.
+Very likely even that would not have satisfied us, but she would have
+felt happier.
+
+Our pleasures were barren, yet we kept up our enjoyment until the
+first streak of light.  I put back the plank carefully, and I lay
+down in my bed in great need of recruiting my strength.
+
+My dear mistress had informed me that the Turkish Bairam began that
+very morning, and would last three days during which it would be
+impossible for her to see me.
+
+The night after Bairam, she did not fail to make her appearance, and,
+saying that she could not be happy without me, she told me that, as
+she was a Christian woman, I could buy her, if I waited for her after
+leaving the lazzaretto.  I was compelled to tell her that I did not
+possess the means of doing so, and my confession made her sigh.  On
+the following night, she informed me that her master would sell her
+for two thousand piasters, that she would give me the amount, that
+she was yet a virgin, and that I would be pleased with my bargain.
+She added that she would give me a casket full of diamonds, one of
+which was alone worth two thousand piasters, and that the sale of the
+others would place us beyond the reach of poverty for the remainder
+of our life.  She assured me that her master would not notice the
+loss of the casket, and that, if he did, he would never think of
+accusing her.
+
+I was in love with this girl; and her proposal made me uncomfortable,
+but when I woke in the morning I did not hesitate any longer.  She
+brought the casket in the evening, but I told her that I never could
+make up my mind to be accessory to a robbery; she was very unhappy,
+and said that my love was not as deep as her own, but that she could
+not help admiring me for being so good a Christian.
+
+This was the last night; probably we should never meet again.  The
+flame of passion consumed us.  She proposed that I should lift her up
+to the balcony through the open space.  Where is the lover who would
+have objected to so attractive a proposal?  I rose, and without being
+a Milo, I placed my hands under her arms, I drew her up towards me,
+and my desires are on the point of being fulfilled.  Suddenly I feel
+two hands upon my shoulders, and the voice of the keeper exclaims,
+"What are you about?" I let my precious burden drop; she regains her
+chamber, and I, giving vent to my rage, throw myself flat on the
+floor of the balcony, and remain there without a movement, in spite
+of the shaking of the keeper whom I was sorely tempted to strangle.
+At last I rose from the floor and went to bed without uttering one
+word, and not even caring to replace the plank.
+
+In the morning, the governor informed us that we were free.  As I
+left the lazzaretto, with a breaking heart, I caught a glimpse of the
+Greek slave drowned in tears.
+
+I agreed to meet Friar Stephano at the exchange, and I took the Jew
+from whom I had hired the furniture, to the convent of the Minims,
+where I received from Father Lazari ten sequins and the address of
+the bishop, who, after performing quarantine on the frontiers of
+Tuscany, had proceeded to Rome, where he would expect me to meet him.
+
+I paid the Jew, and made a poor dinner at an inn.  As I was leaving
+it to join the monk, I was so unlucky as to meet Captain Alban, who
+reproached me bitterly for having led him to believe that my trunk
+had been left behind.  I contrived to appease his anger by telling
+him all my misfortunes, and I signed a paper in which I declared that
+I had no claim whatever upon him.  I then purchased a pair of shoes
+and an overcoat, and met Stephano, whom I informed of my decision to
+make a pilgrimage to Our Lady of Loretto.  I said I would await there
+for him, and that we would afterwards travel together as far as Rome.
+He answered that he did not wish to go through Loretto, and that I
+would repent of my contempt for the grace of Saint-Francis.  I did
+not alter my mind, and I left for Loretto the next day in the
+enjoyment of perfect health.
+
+I reached the Holy City, tired almost to death, for it was the first
+time in my life that I had walked fifteen miles, drinking nothing but
+water, although the weather was very warm, because the dry wine used
+in that part of the country parched me too much.  I must observe
+that, in spite of my poverty, I did not look like a beggar.
+
+As I was entering the city, I saw coming towards me an elderly priest
+of very respectable appearance, and, as he was evidently taking
+notice of me, as soon as he drew near, I saluted him, and enquired
+where I could find a comfortable inn.  "I cannot doubt," he said,
+"that a person like you, travelling on foot, must come here from
+devout motives; come with me."  He turned back, I followed him, and
+he took me to a fine-looking house.  After whispering a few words to
+a man who appeared to be a steward, he left me saying, very affably,
+"You shall be well attended to."
+
+My first impression was that I had been mistaken for some other
+person, but I said nothing.
+
+I was led to a suite of three rooms; the chamber was decorated with
+damask hangings, the bedstead had a canopy, and the table was
+supplied with all materials necessary for writing.  A servant brought
+me a light dressing-gown, and another came in with linen and a large
+tub full of water, which he placed before me; my shoes and stockings
+were taken off, and my feet washed.  A very decent-looking woman,
+followed by a servant girl, came in a few minutes after, and
+curtsying very low, she proceeded to make my bed.  At that moment the
+Angelus bell was heard; everyone knelt down, and I followed their
+example.  After the prayer, a small table was neatly laid out, I was
+asked what sort of wine I wished to drink, and I was provided with
+newspapers and two silver candlesticks.  An hour afterwards I had a
+delicious fish supper, and, before I retired to bed, a servant came
+to enquire whether I would take chocolate in the morning before or
+after mass.
+
+As soon as I was in bed, the servant brought me a night-lamp with a
+dial, and I remained alone.  Except in France I have never had such a
+good bed as I had that night.  It would have cured the most chronic
+insomnia, but I was not labouring under such a disease, and I slept
+for ten hours.
+
+This sort of treatment easily led me to believe that I was not in any
+kind of hostelry; but where was I?  How was I to suppose that I was
+in a hospital?
+
+When I had taken my chocolate, a hair-dresser--quite a fashionable,
+dapper fellow--made his appearance, dying to give vent to his
+chattering propensities.  Guessing that I did not wish to be shaved,
+he offered to clip my soft down with the scissors, saying that I
+would look younger.
+
+"Why do you suppose that I want to conceal my age?"
+
+"It is very natural, because, if your lordship did not wish to do so,
+your lordship would have shaved long ago.  Countess Marcolini is
+here; does your lordship know her?  I must go to her at noon to dress
+her hair."
+
+I did not feel interested in the Countess Marcolini, and, seeing it,
+the gossip changed the subject.
+
+"Is this your lordship's first visit to this house ?  It is the
+finest hospital throughout the papal states."
+
+"I quite agree with you, and I shall compliment His Holiness on the
+establishment."
+
+"Oh!  His Holiness knows all about it, he resided here before he
+became pope.  If Monsignor Caraffa had not been well acquainted with
+you, he would not have introduced you here."
+
+Such is the use of barbers throughout Europe; but you must not put
+any questions to them, for, if you do, they are sure to threat you to
+an impudent mixture of truth and falsehood, and instead of you
+pumping them, they will worm everything out of you.
+
+Thinking that it was my duty to present my respectful compliments to
+Monsignor Caraffa, I desired to be taken to his apartment.  He gave
+me a pleasant welcome, shewed me his library, and entrusted me to the
+care of one of his abbes, a man of parts, who acted as my cicerone
+every where.  Twenty years afterwards, this same abbe was of great
+service to me in Rome, and, if still alive, he is a canon of St. John
+Lateran.
+
+On the following day, I took the communion in the Santa-Casa.  The
+third day was entirely employed in examining the exterior of this
+truly wonderful sanctuary, and early the next day I resumed my
+journey, having spent nothing except three paoli for the barber.
+Halfway to Macerata, I overtook Brother Stephano walking on at a very
+slow rate.  He was delighted to see me again, and told me that he had
+left Ancona two hours after me, but that he never walked more than
+three miles a day, being quite satisfied to take two months for a
+journey which, even on foot, can easily be accomplished in a week.
+"I want," he said, "to reach Rome without fatigue and in good health.
+I am in no hurry, and if you feel disposed to travel with me and in
+the same quiet way, Saint-Francis will not find it difficult to keep
+us both during the journey."
+
+This lazy fellow was a man about thirty, red-haired, very strong and
+healthy; a true peasant who had turned himself into a monk only for
+the sake of living in idle comfort. I answered that, as I was in a
+hurry to reach Rome, I could not be his travelling companion.
+
+"I undertake to walk six miles, instead of three, today," he said,
+"if you will carry my cloak, which I find very heavy."
+
+The proposal struck me as a rather funny one; I put on his cloak, and
+he took my great-coat, but, after the exchange, we cut such a comical
+figure that every peasant we met laughed at us.  His cloak would
+truly have proved a load for a mule. There were twelve pockets quite
+full, without taken into account a pocket behind, which he called 'il
+batticulo', and which contained alone twice as much as all the
+others. Bread, wine, fresh and salt meat, fowls, eggs, cheese, ham,
+sausages--everything was to be found in those pockets, which
+contained provisions enough for a fortnight.
+
+I told him how well I had been treated in Loretto, and he assured me
+that I might have asked Monsignor Caraffa to give me letters for all
+the hospitals on my road to Rome, and that everywhere I would have
+met with the same reception. "The hospitals," he added, "are all
+under the curse of Saint-Francis, because the mendicant friars are
+not admitted in them; but we do not mind their gates being shut
+against us, because they are too far apart from each other. We prefer
+the homes of the persons attached to our order; these we find
+everywhere."
+
+"Why do you not ask hospitality in the convents of your order?"
+
+"I am not so foolish. In the first place, I should not be admitted,
+because, being a fugitive, I have not the written obedience which
+must be shown at every convent, and I should even run the risk of
+being thrown into prison; your monks are a cursed bad lot.  In the
+second place, I should not be half so comfortable in the convents as
+I am with our devout benefactors."
+
+"Why and how are you a fugitive?"
+
+He answered my question by the narrative of his imprisonment and
+flight, the whole story being a tissue of absurdities and lies.  The
+fugitive Recollet friar was a fool, with something of the wit of
+harlequin, and he thought that every man listening to him was a
+greater fool than himself.  Yet with all his folly he was not went in
+a certain species of cunning.  His religious principles were
+singular.  As he did not wish to be taken for a bigoted man he was
+scandalous, and for the sake of making people laugh he would often
+make use of the most disgusting expressions.  He had no taste
+whatever for women, and no inclination towards the pleasures of the
+flesh; but this was only owing to a deficiency in his natural
+temperament, and yet he claimed for himself the virtue of continence.
+On that score, everything appeared to him food for merriment, and
+when he had drunk rather too much, he would ask questions of such an
+indecent character that they would bring blushes on everybody's
+countenance.  Yet the brute would only laugh.
+
+As we were getting within one hundred yards from the house of the
+devout friend whom he intended to honour with his visit, he took back
+his heavy cloak.  On entering the house he gave his blessing to
+everybody, and everyone in the family came to kiss his hand.  The
+mistress of the house requested him to say mass for them, and the
+compliant monk asked to be taken to the vestry, but when I whispered
+in his ear,---
+
+"Have you forgotten that we have already broken our fast to-day?" he
+answered, dryly,---
+
+"Mind your own business."
+
+I dared not make any further remark, but during the mass I was indeed
+surprised, for I saw that he did not understand what he was doing.  I
+could not help being amused at his awkwardness, but I had not yet
+seen the best part of the comedy.  As soon as he had somehow or other
+finished his mass he went to the confessional, and after hearing in
+confession every member of the family he took it into his head to
+refuse absolution to the daughter of his hostess, a girl of twelve or
+thirteen, pretty and quite charming.  He gave his refusal publicly,
+scolding her and threatening her with the torments of hell.  The poor
+girl, overwhelmed with shame, left the church crying bitterly, and I,
+feeling real sympathy for her, could not help saying aloud to
+Stephano that he was a madman.  I ran after the girl to offer her my
+consolations, but she had disappeared, and could not be induced to
+join us at dinner.  This piece of extravagance on the part of the
+monk exasperated me to such an extent that I felt a very strong
+inclination to thrash him.  In the presence of all the family I told
+him that he was an impostor, and the infamous destroyer of the poor
+child's honour; I challenged him to explain his reasons for refusing
+to give her absolution, but he closed my lips by answering very
+coolly that he could not betray the secrets of the confessional.
+I could eat nothing, and was fully determined to leave the scoundrel.
+As we left the house I was compelled to accept one paolo as the price
+of the mock mass he had said.  I had to fulfil the sorry duty of his
+treasurer.
+
+The moment we were on the road, I told him that I was going to part
+company, because I was afraid of being sent as a felon to the galleys
+if I continued my journey with him.  We exchanged high words; I
+called him an ignorant scoundrel, he styled me beggar.  I struck him
+a violent slap on the face, which he returned with a blow from his
+stick, but I quickly snatched it from him, and, leaving him, I
+hastened towards Macerata.  A carrier who was going to Tolentino took
+me with him for two paoli, and for six more I might have reached
+Foligno in a waggon, but unfortunately a wish for economy made me
+refuse the offer.  I felt well, and I thought I could easily walk as
+far as Valcimare, but I arrived there only after five hours of hard
+walking, and thoroughly beaten with fatigue.  I was strong and
+healthy, but a walk of five hours was more than I could bear, because
+in my infancy I had never gone a league on foot.  Young people cannot
+practise too much the art of walking.
+
+The next day, refreshed by a good night's rest, and ready to resume
+my journey, I wanted to pay the innkeeper, but, alas! a new
+misfortune was in store for me!  Let the reader imagine my sad
+position!  I recollected that I had forgotten my purse, containing
+seven sequins, on the table of the inn at Tolentino.  What a
+thunderbolt!  I was in despair, but I gave up the idea of going back,
+as it was very doubtful whether I would find my money.  Yet it
+contained all I possessed, save a few copper coins I had in my
+pocket.  I paid my small bill, and, deeply grieved at my loss,
+continued my journey towards Seraval.  I was within three miles of
+that place when, in jumping over a ditch, I sprained my ankle, and
+was compelled to sit down on one side of the road, and to wait until
+someone should come to my assistance.
+
+In the course of an hour a peasant happened to pass with his donkey,
+and he agreed to carry me to Seraval for one paolo.  As I wanted to
+spend as little as possible, the peasant took me to an ill-looking
+fellow who, for two paoli paid in advance, consented to give me a
+lodging.  I asked him to send for a surgeon, but I did not obtain one
+until the following morning.  I had a wretched supper, after which I
+lay down in a filthy bed.  I was in hope that sleep would bring me
+some relief, but my evil genius was preparing for me a night of
+torments.
+
+Three men, armed with guns and looking like banditti, came in shortly
+after I had gone to bed, speaking a kind of slang which I could not
+make out, swearing, raging, and paying no attention to me.  They
+drank and sang until midnight, after which they threw themselves down
+on bundles of straw brought for them, and my host, who was drunk,
+came, greatly to my dismay, to lie down near me.  Disgusted at the
+idea of having such a fellow for my bed companion, I refused to let
+him come, but he answered, with fearful blasphemies, that all the
+devils in hell could not prevent him from taking possession of his
+own bed.  I was forced to make room for him, and exclaimed "Heavens,
+where am I?"  He told me that I was in the house of the most honest
+constable in all the papal states.
+
+Could I possibly have supposed that the peasant would have brought me
+amongst those accursed enemies of humankind!
+
+He laid himself down near me, but the filthy scoundrel soon compelled
+me to give him, for certain reasons, such a blow in his chest that he
+rolled out of bed.  He picked himself up, and renewed his beastly
+attempt.  Being well aware that I could not master him without great
+danger, I got out of bed, thinking myself lucky that he did not
+oppose my wish, and crawling along as well as I could, I found a
+chair on which I passed the night.  At day-break, my tormentor,
+called up by his honest comrades, joined them in drinking and
+shouting, and the three strangers, taking their guns, departed.  Left
+alone by the departure of the vile rabble, I passed another
+unpleasant hour, calling in vain for someone.  At last a young boy
+came in, I gave him some money and he went for a surgeon.  The doctor
+examined my foot, and assured me that three or four days would set me
+to rights.  He advised me to be removed to an inn, and I most
+willingly followed his counsel.  As soon as I was brought to the inn,
+I went to bed, and was well cared for, but my position was such that
+I dreaded the moment of my recovery.  I feared that I should be
+compelled to sell my coat to pay the inn-keeper, and the very thought
+made me feel ashamed.  I began to consider that if I had controlled
+my sympathy for the young girl so ill-treated by Stephano, I should
+not have fallen into this sad predicament, and I felt conscious that
+my sympathy had been a mistake.  If I had put up with the faults of
+the friar, if this and if that, and every other if was conjured up to
+torment my restless and wretched brain.  Yet I must confess that the
+thoughts which have their origin in misfortune are not without
+advantage to a young man, for they give him the habit of thinking,
+and the man who does not think never does anything right.
+
+The morning of the fourth day came, and I was able to walk, as the
+surgeon had predicted; I made up my mind, although reluctantly, to
+beg the worthy man to sell my great coat for me--a most unpleasant
+necessity, for rain had begun to fall.  I owed fifteen paoli to the
+inn-keeper and four to the surgeon.  Just as I was going to proffer
+my painful request, Brother Stephano made his appearance in my room,
+and burst into loud laughter enquiring whether I had forgotten the
+blow from his stick!
+
+I was struck with amazement!  I begged the surgeon to leave me with
+the monk, and he immediately complied.
+
+I must ask my readers whether it is possible, in the face of such
+extraordinary circumstances, not to feel superstitious!  What is
+truly miraculous in this case is the precise minute at which the
+event took place, for the friar entered the room as the word was
+hanging on my lips.  What surprised me most was the force of
+Providence, of fortune, of chance, whatever name is given to it, of
+that very necessary combination which compelled me to find no hope
+but in that fatal monk, who had begun to be my protective genius in
+Chiozza at the moment my distress had likewise commenced.  And yet, a
+singular guardian angel, this Stephano!  I felt that the mysterious
+force which threw me in his hands was a punishment rather than a
+favour.
+
+Nevertheless he was welcome, because I had no doubt of his relieving
+me from my difficulties,--and whatever might be the power that sent
+him to me, I felt that I could not do better than to submit to its
+influence; the destiny of that monk was to escort me to Rome.
+
+"Chi va piano va sano," said the friar as soon as we were alone.  He
+had taken five days to traverse the road over which I had travelled
+in one day, but he was in good health, and he had met with no
+misfortune.  He told me that, as he was passing, he heard that an
+abbe, secretary to the Venetian ambassador at Rome, was lying ill at
+the inn, after having been robbed in Valcimara.  "I came to see you,"
+he added, "and as I find you recovered from your illness, we can
+start again together; I agree to walk six miles every day to please
+you.  Come, let us forget the past, and let us be at once on our
+way."
+
+"I cannot go; I have lost my purse, and I owe twenty paoli."
+
+"I will go and find the amount in the name of Saint-Francis."
+
+He returned within an hour, but he was accompanied by the infamous
+constable who told me that, if I had let him know who I was, he would
+have been happy to keep me in his house.  "I will give you," he
+continued, "forty paoli, if you will promise me the protection of
+your ambassador; but if you do not succeed in obtaining it for me in
+Rome, you will undertake to repay me.  Therefore you must give me an
+acknowledgement of the debt."
+
+"I have no objection."  Every arrangement was speedily completed; I
+received the money, paid my debts, and left Seraval with Stephano.
+
+About one o'clock in the afternoon, we saw a wretched-looking house
+at a short distance from the road, and the friar said, "It is a good
+distance from here to Collefiorito; we had better put up there for
+the night."  It was in vain that I objected, remonstrating that we
+were certain of having very poor accommodation!  I had to submit to
+his will.  We found a decrepit old man lying on a pallet, two ugly
+women of thirty or forty, three children entirely naked, a cow, and a
+cursed dog which barked continually.  It was a picture of squalid
+misery; but the niggardly monk, instead of giving alms to the poor
+people, asked them to entertain us to supper in the name of Saint-
+Francis.
+
+"You must boil the hen," said the dying man to the females, "and
+bring out of the cellar the bottle of wine which I have kept now for
+twenty years."  As he uttered those few words, he was seized with
+such a fit of coughing that I thought he would die.  The friar went
+near him, and promised him that, by the grace of Saint-Francis, he
+would get young and well.  Moved by the sight of so much misery, I
+wanted to continue my journey as far as Collefiorito, and to wait
+there for Stephano, but the women would not let me go, and I
+remained.  After boiling for four hours the hen set the strongest
+teeth at defiance, and the bottle which I uncorked proved to be
+nothing but sour vinegar.  Losing patience, I got hold of the monk's
+batticaslo, and took out of it enough for a plentiful supper, and I
+saw the two women opening their eyes very wide at the sight of our
+provisions.
+
+We all ate with good appetite, and, after our supper the women made
+for us two large beds of fresh straw, and we lay down in the dark, as
+the last bit of candle to be found in the miserable dwelling was
+burnt out.  We had not been lying on the straw five minutes, when
+Stephano called out to me that one of the women had just placed
+herself near him, and at the same instant the other one takes me in
+her arms and kisses me.  I push her away, and the monk defends
+himself against the other; but mine, nothing daunted, insists upon
+laying herself near me; I get up, the dog springs at my neck, and
+fear compels me to remain quiet on my straw bed; the monk screams,
+swears, struggles, the dog barks furiously, the old man coughs; all
+is noise and confusion.  At last Stephano, protected by his heavy
+garments, shakes off the too loving shrew, and, braving the dog,
+manages to find his stick.  Then he lays about to right and left,
+striking in every direction; one of the women exclaims, "Oh, God!  "
+the friar answers, "She has her quietus."  Calm reigns again in the
+house, the dog, most likely dead, is silent; the old man, who perhaps
+has received his death-blow, coughs no more; the children sleep, and
+the women, afraid of the singular caresses of the monk, sheer off
+into a corner; the remainder of the night passed off quietly.
+
+At day-break I rose; Stephano was likewise soon up.  I looked all
+round, and my surprise was great when I found that the women had gone
+out, and seeing that the old man gave no sign of life, and had a
+bruise on his forehead, I shewed it to Stephano, remarking that very
+likely he had killed him.
+
+"It is possible," he answered, "but I have not done it
+intentionally."
+
+Then taking up his batticulo and finding it empty he flew into a
+violent passion; but I was much pleased, for I had been afraid that
+the women had gone out to get assistance and to have us arrested, and
+the robbery of our provisions reassured me, as I felt certain that
+the poor wretches had gone out of the way so as to secure impunity
+for their theft.  But I laid great stress upon the danger we should
+run by remaining any longer, and I succeeded in frightening the friar
+out of the house.  We soon met a waggoner going to Folligno; I
+persuaded Stephano to take the opportunity of putting a good distance
+between us and the scene of our last adventures; and, as we were
+eating our breakfast at Folligno, we saw another waggon, quite empty,
+got a lift in it for a trifle, and thus rode to Pisignano, where a
+devout person gave us a charitable welcome, and I slept soundly
+through the night without the dread of being arrested.
+
+Early the next day we reached Spoleti, where Brother Stephano had two
+benefactors, and, careful not to give either of them a cause of
+jealousy, he favoured both; we dined with the first, who entertained
+us like princes, and we had supper and lodging in the house of the
+second, a wealthy wine merchant, and the father of a large and
+delightful family.  He gave us a delicious supper, and everything
+would have gone on pleasantly had not the friar, already excited by
+his good dinner, made himself quite drunk.  In that state, thinking
+to please his new host, he began to abuse the other, greatly to my
+annoyance; he said the wine he had given us to drink was adulterated,
+and that the man was a thief.  I gave him the lie to his face, and
+called him a scoundrel.  The host and his wife pacified me, saying
+that they were well acquainted with their neighbour, and knew what to
+think of him; but the monk threw his napkin at my face, and the host
+took him very quietly by the arm and put him to bed in a room in
+which he locked him up.  I slept in another room.
+
+In the morning I rose early, and was considering whether it would not
+be better to go alone, when the friar, who had slept himself sober,
+made his appearance and told me that we ought for the future to live
+together like good friends, and not give way to angry feelings; I
+followed my destiny once more.  We resumed our journey, and at Soma,
+the inn-keeper, a woman of rare beauty, gave us a good dinner, and
+some excellent Cyprus wine which the Venetian couriers exchanged with
+her against delicious truffles found in the vicinity of Soma, which
+sold for a good price in Venice.  I did not leave the handsome inn-
+keeper without losing a part of my heart.
+
+It would be difficult to draw a picture of the indignation which
+overpowered me when, as we were about two miles from Terni, the
+infamous friar shewed me a small bag full of truffles which the
+scoundrel had stolen from the amiable woman by way of thanks for her
+generous hospitality.  The truffles were worth two sequins at least.
+In my indignation I snatched the bag from him, saying that I would
+certainly return it to its lawful owner.  But, as he had not
+committed the robbery to give himself the pleasure of making
+restitution, he threw himself upon me, and we came to a regular
+fight.  But victory did not remain long in abeyance; I forced his
+stick out of his hands, knocked him into a ditch, and went off.  On
+reaching Terni, I wrote a letter of apology to our beautiful hostess
+of Soma, and sent back the truffles.
+
+>From Terni I went on foot to Otricoli, where I only stayed long
+enough to examine the fine old bridge, and from there I paid four
+paoli to a waggoner who carried me to Castel-Nuovo, from which place
+I walked to Rome.  I reached the celebrated city on the 1st of
+September, at nine in the morning.
+
+I must not forget to mention here a rather peculiar circumstance,
+which, however ridiculous it may be in reality, will please many of
+my readers.
+
+An hour after I had left Castel-Nuovo, the atmosphere being calm and
+the sky clear, I perceived on my right, and within ten paces of me, a
+pyramidal flame about two feet long and four or five feet above the
+ground.  This apparition surprised me, because it seemed to accompany
+me.  Anxious to examine it, I endeavoured to get nearer to it, but
+the more I advanced towards it the further it went from me.  It would
+stop when I stood still, and when the road along which I was
+travelling happened to be lined with trees, I no longer saw it, but
+it was sure to reappear as soon as I reached a portion of the road
+without trees.  I several times retraced my steps purposely, but,
+every time I did so, the flame disappeared, and would not shew itself
+again until I proceeded towards Rome.  This extraordinary beacon left
+me when daylight chased darkness from the sky.
+
+What a splendid field for ignorant superstition, if there had been
+any witnesses to that phenomenon, and if I had chanced to make a
+great name in Rome!  History is full of such trifles, and the world
+is full of people who attach great importance to them in spite of the
+so-called light of science. I must candidly confess that, although
+somewhat versed in physics, the sight of that small meteor gave me
+singular ideas. But I was prudent enough not to mention the
+circumstance to any one.
+
+When I reached the ancient capital of the world, I possessed only
+seven paoli, and consequently I did not loiter about.  I paid no
+attention to the splendid entrance through the gate of the polar
+trees, which is by mistake pompously called of the people, or to the
+beautiful square of the same name, or to the portals of the
+magnificent churches, or to all the stately buildings which generally
+strike the traveller as he enters the city.  I went straight towards
+Monte-Magnanopoli, where, according to the address given to me, I was
+to find the bishop.  There I was informed that he had left Rome ten
+days before, leaving instructions to send me to Naples free of
+expense.  A coach was to start for Naples the next day; not caring to
+see Rome, I went to bed until the time for the departure of the
+coach.  I travelled with three low fellows to whom I did not address
+one word through the whole of the journey.  I entered Naples on the
+6th day of September.
+
+I went immediately to the address which had been given to me in Rome;
+the bishop was not there.  I called at the Convent of the Minims, and
+I found that he had left Naples to proceed to Martorano.  I enquired
+whether he had left any instructions for me, but all in vain, no one
+could give me any information.  And there I was, alone in a large
+city, without a friend, with eight carlini in my pocket, and not
+knowing what to do!  But never mind; fate calls me to Martorano, and
+to Martorano I must go.  The distance, after all, is only two hundred
+miles.
+
+I found several drivers starting for Cosenza, but when they heard
+that I had no luggage, they refused to take me, unless I paid in
+advance.  They were quite right, but their prudence placed me under
+the necessity of going on foot.  Yet I felt I must reach Martorano,
+and I made up my mind to walk the distance, begging food and lodging
+like the very reverend Brother Stephano.
+
+First of all I made a light meal for one fourth of my money, and,
+having been informed that I had to follow the Salerno road, I went
+towards Portici where I arrived in an hour and a half.  I already
+felt rather fatigued; my legs, if not my head, took me to an inn,
+where I ordered a room and some supper.  I was served in good style,
+my appetite was excellent, and I passed a quiet night in a
+comfortable bed.  In the morning I told the inn-keeper that I would
+return for my dinner, and I went out to visit the royal palace.  As I
+passed through the gate, I was met by a man of prepossessing
+appearance, dressed in the eastern fashion, who offered to shew me
+all over the palace, saying that I would thus save my money.  I was
+in a position to accept any offer; I thanked him for his kindness.
+
+Happening during the conversation to state that I was a Venetian, he
+told me that he was my subject, since he came from Zante.  I
+acknowledged his polite compliment with a reverence.
+
+"I have," he said, "some very excellent muscatel wine 'grown in the
+East, which I could sell you cheap."
+
+"I might buy some, but I warn you I am a good judge."
+
+"So much the better.  Which do you prefer?"
+
+"The Cerigo wine."
+
+"You are right.  I have some rare Cerigo muscatel, and we can taste
+it if you have no objection to dine with me."
+
+"None whatever."
+
+"I can likewise give you the wines of Samos and Cephalonia.  I have
+also a quantity of minerals, plenty of vitriol, cinnabar, antimony,
+and one hundred quintals of mercury."
+
+"Are all these goods here?"
+
+"No, they are in Naples.  Here I have only the muscatel wine and the
+mercury."
+
+It is quite naturally and without any intention to deceive, that a
+young man accustomed to poverty, and ashamed of it when he speaks to
+a rich stranger, boasts of his means--of his fortune.  As I was
+talking with my new acquaintance, I recollected an amalgam of mercury
+with lead and bismuth, by which the mercury increases one-fourth in
+weight.  I said nothing, but I bethought myself that if the mystery
+should be unknown to the Greek I might profit by it.  I felt that
+some cunning was necessary, and that he would not care for my secret
+if I proposed to sell it to him without preparing the way.  The best
+plan was to astonish my man with the miracle of the augmentation of
+the mercury, treat it as a jest, and see what his intentions would
+be.  Cheating is a crime, but honest cunning may be considered as a
+species of prudence.  True, it is a quality which is near akin to
+roguery; but that cannot be helped, and the man who, in time of need,
+does not know how to exercise his cunning nobly is a fool.  The
+Greeks call this sort of wisdom Cerdaleophyon from the word cerdo;
+fox, and it might be translated by foxdom if there were such a word
+in English.
+
+After we had visited the palace we returned to the inn, and the Greek
+took me to his room, in which he ordered the table to be laid for
+two.  In the next room I saw several large vessels of muscatel wine
+and four flagons of mercury, each containing about ten pounds.
+
+My plans were laid, and I asked him to let me have one of the flagons
+of mercury at the current price, and took it to my room.  The Greek
+went out to attend to his business, reminding me that he expected me
+to dinner.  I went out likewise, and bought two pounds and a half of
+lead and an equal quantity of bismuth; the druggist had no more.  I
+came back to the inn, asked for some large empty bottles, and made
+the amalgam.
+
+We dined very pleasantly, and the Greek was delighted because I
+pronounced his Cerigo excellent.  In the course of conversation he
+inquired laughingly why I had bought one of his flagons of mercury.
+
+"You can find out if you come to my room," I said.
+
+After dinner we repaired to my room, and he found his mercury divided
+in two vessels.  I asked for a piece of chamois, strained the liquid
+through it, filled his own flagon, and the Greek stood astonished at
+the sight of the fine mercury, about one-fourth of a flagon, which
+remained over, with an equal quantity of a powder unknown to him; it
+was the bismuth.  My merry laugh kept company with his astonishment,
+and calling one of the servants of the inn I sent him to the druggist
+to sell the mercury that was left.  He returned in a few minutes and
+handed me fifteen carlini.
+
+The Greek, whose surprise was complete, asked me to give him back his
+own flagon, which was there quite full, and worth sixty carlini.  I
+handed it to him with a smile, thanking him for the opportunity he
+had afforded me of earning fifteen carlini, and took care to add that
+I should leave for Salerno early the next morning.
+
+"Then we must have supper together this evening," he said.
+
+During the afternoon we took a walk towards Mount Vesuvius.  Our
+conversation went from one subject to another, but no allusion was
+made to the mercury, though I could see that the Greek had something
+on his mind.  At supper he told me, jestingly, that I ought to stop
+in Portici the next day to make forty-five carlini out of the three
+other flagons of mercury.  I answered gravely that I did not want the
+money, and that I had augmented the first flagon only for the sake of
+procuring him an agreeable surprise.
+
+"But," said he, "you must be very wealthy."
+
+"No, I am not, because I am in search of the secret of the
+augmentation of gold, and it is a very expensive study for us."
+
+"How many are there in your company?"
+
+"Only my uncle and myself."
+
+"What do you want to augment gold for?  The augmentation of mercury
+ought to be enough for you.  Pray, tell me whether the mercury
+augmented by you to-day is again susceptible of a similar increase."
+
+"No, if it were so, it would be an immense source of wealth for us."
+
+"I am much pleased with your sincerity."
+
+Supper over I paid my bill, and asked the landlord to get me a
+carriage and pair of horses to take me to Salerno early the next
+morning.  I thanked the Greek for his delicious muscatel wine, and,
+requesting his address in Naples, I assured him that he would see me
+within a fortnight, as I was determined to secure a cask of his
+Cerigo.
+
+We embraced each other, and I retired to bed well pleased with my
+day's work, and in no way astonished at the Greek's not offering to
+purchase my secret, for I was certain that he would not sleep for
+anxiety, and that I should see him early in the morning.  At all
+events, I had enough money to reach the Tour-du-Grec, and there
+Providence would take care of me.  Yet it seemed to me very difficult
+to travel as far as Martorano, begging like a mendicant-friar,
+because my outward appearance did not excite pity; people would feel
+interested in me only from a conviction that I needed nothing--a very
+unfortunate conviction, when the object of it is truly poor.
+
+As I had forseen, the Greek was in my room at daybreak.  I received
+him in a friendly way, saying that we could take coffee together.
+
+"Willingly; but tell me, reverend abbe, whether you would feel
+disposed to sell me your secret?"
+
+"Why not?  When we meet in Naples--"
+
+"But why not now?"
+
+"I am expected in Salerno; besides, I would only sell the secret for
+a large sum of money, and I am not acquainted with you."
+
+"That does not matter, as I am sufficiently known here to pay you in
+cash.  How much would you want?"
+
+"Two thousand ounces."
+
+"I agree to pay you that sum provided that I succeed in making the
+augmentation myself with such matter as you name to me, which I will
+purchase."
+
+"It is impossible, because the necessary ingredients cannot be got
+here; but they are common enough in Naples."
+
+"If it is any sort of metal, we can get it at the Tourdu-Grec.  We
+could go there together.  Can you tell me what is the expense of the
+augmentation?"
+
+"One and a half per cent. but are you likewise known at the Tour-du-
+Grec, for I should not like to lose my time?"
+
+"Your doubts grieve me."
+
+Saying which, he took a pen, wrote a few words, and handed to me this
+order:
+
+"At sight, pay to bearer the sum of fifty gold ounces, on account of
+Panagiotti."
+
+He told me that the banker resided within two hundred yards of the
+inn, and he pressed me to go there myself.  I did not stand upon
+ceremony, but went to the banker who paid me the amount.  I returned
+to my room in which he was waiting for me, and placed the gold on the
+table, saying that we could now proceed together to the Tour-du-Grec,
+where we would complete our arrangements after the signature of a
+deed of agreement.  The Greek had his own carriage and horses; he
+gave orders for them to be got ready, and we left the inn; but he had
+nobly insisted upon my taking possession of the fifty ounces.
+
+When we arrived at the Tour-du-Grec, he signed a document by which he
+promised to pay me two thousand ounces as soon as I should have
+discovered to him the process of augmenting mercury by one-fourth
+without injuring its quality, the amalgam to be equal to the mercury
+which I had sold in his presence at Portici.
+
+He then gave me a bill of exchange payable at sight in eight days on
+M. Genaro de Carlo.  I told him that the ingredients were lead and
+bismuth; the first, combining with mercury, and the second giving to
+the whole the perfect fluidity necessary to strain it through the
+chamois leather.  The Greek went out to try the amalgam--I do not
+know where, and I dined alone, but toward evening he came back,
+looking very disconsolate, as I had expected.
+
+"I have made the amalgam," he said, "but the mercury is not perfect."
+
+"It is equal to that which I have sold in Portici, and that is the
+very letter of your engagement."
+
+"But my engagement says likewise without injury to the quality.  You
+must agree that the quality is injured, because it is no longer
+susceptible of further augmentation."
+
+"You knew that to be the case; the point is its equality with the
+mercury I sold in Portici.  But we shall have to go to law, and you
+will lose.  I am sorry the secret should become public.  Congratulate
+yourself, sir, for, if you should gain the lawsuit, you will have
+obtained my secret for nothing.  I would never have believed you
+capable of deceiving me in such a manner."
+
+"Reverend sir, I can assure you that I would not willingly deceive
+any one."
+
+"Do you know the secret, or do you not?  Do you suppose I would have
+given it to you without the agreement we entered into?  Well, there
+will be some fun over this affair in Naples, and the lawyers will
+make money out of it.  But I am much grieved at this turn of affairs,
+and I am very sorry that I allowed myself to be so easily deceived by
+your fine talk.  In the mean time, here are your fifty ounces."
+
+As I was taking the money out of my pocket, frightened to death lest
+he should accept it, he left the room, saying that he would not have
+it.  He soon returned; we had supper in the same room, but at
+separate tables; war had been openly declared, but I felt certain
+that a treaty of peace would soon be signed.  We did not exchange one
+word during the evening, but in the morning he came to me as I was
+getting ready to go.  I again offered to return the money I received,
+but he told me to keep it, and proposed to give me fifty ounces more
+if I would give him back his bill of exchange for two thousand.  We
+began to argue the matter quietly, and after two hours of discussion
+I gave in.  I received fifty ounces more, we dined together like old
+friends, and embraced each other cordially.  As I was bidding him
+adieu, he gave me an order on his house at Naples for a barrel of
+muscatel wine, and he presented me with a splendid box containing
+twelve razors with silver handles, manufactured in the Tour-du-Grec.
+We parted the best friends in the world and well pleased with each
+other.
+
+I remained two days in Salerno to provide myself with linen and other
+necessaries.  Possessing about one hundred sequins, and enjoying good
+health, I was very proud of my success, in which I could not see any
+cause of reproach to myself, for the cunning I had brought into play
+to insure the sale of my secret could not be found fault with except
+by the most intolerant of moralists, and such men have no authority
+to speak on matters of business.  At all events, free, rich, and
+certain of presenting myself before the bishop with a respectable
+appearance, and not like a beggar, I soon recovered my natural
+spirits, and congratulated myself upon having bought sufficient
+experience to insure me against falling a second time an easy prey to
+a Father Corsini, to thieving gamblers, to mercenary women, and
+particularly to the impudent scoundrels who barefacedly praise so
+well those they intend to dupe--a species of knaves very common in
+the world, even amongst people who form what is called good society.
+
+I left Salerno with two priests who were going to Cosenza on
+business, and we traversed the distance of one hundred and forty-two
+miles in twenty-two hours.  The day after my arrival in the capital
+of Calabria, I took a small carriage and drove to Martorano.  During
+the journey, fixing my eyes upon the famous mare Ausonaum, I felt
+delighted at finding myself in the middle of Magna Grecia, rendered
+so celebrated for twenty-four centuries by its connection with
+Pythagoras.  I looked with astonishment upon a country renowned for
+its fertility, and in which, in spite of nature's prodigality, my
+eyes met everywhere the aspect of terrible misery, the complete
+absence of that pleasant superfluity which helps man to enjoy life,
+and the degradation of the inhabitants sparsely scattered on a soil
+where they ought to be so numerous; I felt ashamed to acknowledge
+them as originating from the same stock as myself.  Such is, however
+the Terra di Lavoro where labour seems to be execrated, where
+everything is cheap, where the miserable inhabitants consider that
+they have made a good bargain when they have found anyone disposed to
+take care of the fruit which the ground supplies almost spontaneously
+in too great abundance, and for which there is no market.  I felt
+compelled to admit the justice of the Romans who had called them
+Brutes instead of Byutians.  The good priests with whom I had been
+travelling laughed at my dread of the tarantula and of the crasydra,
+for the disease brought on by the bite of those insects appeared to
+me more fearful even than a certain disease with which I was already
+too well acquainted.  They assured me that all the stories relating
+to those creatures were fables; they laughed at the lines which
+Virgil has devoted to them in the Georgics as well as at all those I
+quoted to justify my fears.
+
+I found Bishop Bernard de Bernardis occupying a hard chair near an
+old table on which he was writing.  I fell on my knees, as it is
+customary to do before a prelate, but, instead of giving me his
+blessing, he raised me up from the floor, and, folding me in his
+arms, embraced me tenderly.  He expressed his deep sorrow when I told
+him that in Naples I had not been able to find any instructions to
+enable me to join him, but his face lighted up again when I added
+that I was indebted to no one for money, and that I was in good
+health.  He bade me take a seat, and with a heavy sigh he began to
+talk of his poverty, and ordered a servant to lay the cloth for three
+persons.  Besides this servant, his lordship's suite consisted of a
+most devout-looking housekeeper, and of a priest whom I judged to be
+very ignorant from the few words he uttered during our meal.  The
+house inhabited by his lordship was large, but badly built and poorly
+kept.  The furniture was so miserable that, in order to make up a bed
+for me in the room adjoining his chamber, the poor bishop had to give
+up one of his two mattresses!  His dinner, not to say any more about
+it, frightened me, for he was very strict in keeping the rules of his
+order, and this being a fast day, he did not eat any meat, and the
+oil was very bad.  Nevertheless, monsignor was an intelligent man,
+and, what is still better, an honest man.  He told me, much to my
+surprise, that his bishopric, although not one of little importance,
+brought him in only five hundred ducat-diregno yearly, and that,
+unfortunately, he had contracted debts to the amount of six hundred.
+He added, with a sigh, that his only happiness was to feel himself
+out of the clutches of the monks, who had persecuted him, and made
+his life a perfect purgatory for fifteen years.  All these
+confidences caused me sorrow and mortification, because they proved
+to me, not only that I was not in the promised land where a mitre
+could be picked up, but also that I would be a heavy charge for him.
+I felt that he was grieved himself at the sorry present his patronage
+seemed likely to prove.
+
+I enquired whether he had a good library, whether there were any
+literary men, or any good society in which one could spend a few
+agreeable hours.  He smiled and answered that throughout his diocese
+there was not one man who could boast of writing decently, and still
+less of any taste or knowledge in literature; that there was not a
+single bookseller, nor any person caring even for the newspapers.
+But he promised me that we would follow our literary tastes together,
+as soon as he received the books he had ordered from Naples.
+
+That was all very well, but was this the place for a young man of
+eighteen to live in, without a good library, without good society,
+without emulation and literacy intercourse?  The good bishop, seeing
+me full of sad thoughts, and almost astounded at the prospect of the
+miserable life I should have to lead with him, tried to give me
+courage by promising to do everything in his power to secure my
+happiness.
+
+The next day, the bishop having to officiate in his pontifical robes,
+I had an opportunity of seeing all the clergy, and all the faithful
+of the diocese, men and women, of whom the cathedral was full; the
+sight made me resolve at once to leave Martorano.  I thought I was
+gazing upon a troop of brutes for whom my external appearance was a
+cause of scandal.  How ugly were the women!  What a look of stupidity
+and coarseness in the men!  When I returned to the bishop's house I
+told the prelate that I did not feel in me the vocation to die within
+a few months a martyr in this miserable city.
+
+"Give me your blessing," I added, "and let me go; or, rather, come
+with me.  I promise you that we shall make a fortune somewhere else."
+
+The proposal made him laugh repeatedly during the day.  Had he agreed
+to it he would not have died two years afterwards in the prime of
+manhood.  The worthy man, feeling how natural was my repugnance,
+begged me to forgive him for having summoned me to him, and,
+considering it his duty to send me back to Venice, having no money
+himself and not being aware that I had any, he told me that he would
+give me an introduction to a worthy citizen of Naples who would lend
+me sixty ducati-di-regno to enable me to reach my native city.  I
+accepted his offer with gratitude, and going to my room I took out of
+my trunk the case of fine razors which the Greek had given me, and I
+begged his acceptance of it as a souvenir of me.  I had great
+difficulty in forcing it upon him, for it was worth the sixty ducats,
+and to conquer his resistance I had to threaten to remain with him if
+he refused my present.  He gave me a very flattering letter of
+recommendation for the Archbishop of Cosenza, in which he requested
+him to forward me as far as Naples without any expense to myself.  It
+was thus I left Martorano sixty hours after my arrival, pitying the
+bishop whom I was leaving behind, and who wept as he was pouring
+heartfelt blessings upon me.
+
+The Archbishop of Cosenza, a man of wealth and of intelligence,
+offered me a room in his palace.  During the dinner I made, with an
+overflowing heart, the eulogy of the Bishop of Martorano ; but I
+railed mercilessly at his diocese and at the whole of Calabria in so
+cutting a manner that I greatly amused the archbishop and all his
+guests, amongst whom were two ladies, his relatives, who did the
+honours of the dinner-table.  The youngest, however, objected to the
+satirical style in which I had depicted her country, and declared war
+against me; but I contrived to obtain peace again by telling her that
+Calabria would be a delightful country if one-fourth only of its
+inhabitants were like her.  Perhaps it was with the idea of proving
+to me that I had been wrong in my opinion that the archbishop gave on
+the following day a splendid supper.
+
+Cosenza is a city in which a gentleman can find plenty of amusement;
+the nobility are wealthy, the women are pretty, and men generally
+well-informed, because they have been educated in Naples or in Rome.
+I left Cosenza on the third day with a letter from the archbishop for
+the far-famed Genovesi.
+
+I had five travelling companions, whom I judged, from their
+appearance, to be either pirates or banditti, and I took very good
+care not to let them see or guess that I had a well-filled purse.  I
+likewise thought it prudent to go to bed without undressing during
+the whole journey--an excellent measure of prudence for a young man
+travelling in that part of the country.
+
+I reached Naples on the 16th of September, 1743, and I lost no time
+in presenting the letter of the Bishop of Martorano.  It was
+addressed to a M. Gennaro Polo at St. Anne's.  This excellent man,
+whose duty was only to give me the sum of sixty ducats, insisted,
+after perusing the bishop's letter, upon receiving me in his house,
+because he wished me to make the acquaintance of his son, who was a
+poet like myself.  The bishop had represented my poetry as sublime.
+After the usual ceremonies, I accepted his kind invitation, my trunk
+was sent for, and I was a guest in the house of M. Gennaro Polo.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+My Stay in Naples; It Is Short but Happy--Don Antonio Casanova--Don
+Lelio Caraffa--I Go to Rome in Very Agreeable Company, and Enter the
+Service of Cardinal Acquaviva--Barbara--Testaccio--Frascati
+
+
+I had no difficulty in answering the various questions which Doctor
+Gennaro addressed to me, but I was surprised, and even displeased, at
+the constant peals of laughter with which he received my answers.
+The piteous description of miserable Calabria, and the picture of the
+sad situation of the Bishop of Martorano, appeared to me more likely
+to call forth tears than to excite hilarity, and, suspecting that
+some mystification was being played upon me, I was very near getting
+angry when, becoming more composed, he told me with feeling that I
+must kindly excuse him; that his laughter was a disease which seemed
+to be endemic in his family, for one of his uncles died of it.
+
+"What!  "I exclaimed, "died of laughing!"
+
+"Yes.  This disease, which was not known to Hippocrates, is called li
+flati."
+
+"What do you mean?  Does an hypochondriac affection, which causes
+sadness and lowness in all those who suffer from it, render you
+cheerful?"
+
+"Yes, because, most likely, my flati, instead of influencing the
+hypochondrium, affects my spleen, which my physician asserts to be
+the organ of laughter.  It is quite a discovery."
+
+"You are mistaken; it is a very ancient notion, and it is the only
+function which is ascribed to the spleen in our animal organization."
+
+"Well, we must discuss the matter at length, for I hope you will
+remain with us a few weeks."
+
+"I wish I could, but I must leave Naples to-morrow or the day after."
+
+"Have you got any money?"
+
+"I rely upon the sixty ducats you have to give me."
+
+At these words, his peals of laughter began again, and as he could
+see that I was annoyed, he said, "I am amused at the idea that I can
+keep you here as long as I like.  But be good enough to see my son;
+he writes pretty verses enough."
+
+And truly his son, although only fourteen, was already a great poet.
+
+A servant took me to the apartment of the young man whom I found
+possessed of a pleasing countenance and engaging manners.  He gave me
+a polite welcome, and begged to be excused if he could not attend to
+me altogether for the present, as he had to finish a song which he
+was composing for a relative of the Duchess de Rovino, who was taking
+the veil at the Convent of St. Claire, and the printer was waiting
+for the manuscript.  I told him that his excuse was a very good one,
+and I offered to assist him.  He then read his song, and I found it
+so full of enthusiasm, and so truly in the style of Guidi, that I
+advised him to call it an ode; but as I had praised all the truly
+beautiful passages, I thought I could venture to point out the weak
+ones, and I replaced them by verses of my own composition.  He was
+delighted, and thanked me warmly, inquiring whether I was Apollo.  As
+he was writing his ode, I composed a sonnet on the same subject, and,
+expressing his admiration for it he begged me to sign it, and to
+allow him to send it with his poetry.
+
+While I was correcting and recopying my manuscript, he went to his
+father to find out who I was, which made the old man laugh until
+supper-time.  In the evening, I had the pleasure of seeing that my
+bed had been prepared in the young man's chamber.
+
+Doctor Gennaro's family was composed of this son and of a daughter
+unfortunately very plain, of his wife and of two elderly, devout
+sisters.  Amongst the guests at the supper-table I met several
+literary men, and the Marquis Galiani, who was at that time
+annotating Vitruvius.  He had a brother, an abbe whose acquaintance I
+made twenty years after, in Paris, when he was secretary of embassy
+to Count Cantillana.  The next day, at supper, I was presented to the
+celebrated Genovesi; I had already sent him the letter of the
+Archbishop of Cosenza.  He spoke to me of Apostolo Zeno and of the
+Abbe Conti.  He remarked that it was considered a very venial sin for
+a regular priest to say two masses in one day for the sake of earning
+two carlini more, but that for the same sin a secular priest would
+deserve to be burnt at the stake.
+
+The nun took the veil on the following day, and Gennaro's ode and my
+sonnet had the greatest success.  A Neapolitan gentleman, whose name
+was the same as mine, expressed a wish to know me, and, hearing that
+I resided at the doctor's, he called to congratulate him on the
+occasion of his feast-day, which happened to fall on the day
+following the ceremony at Sainte-Claire.
+
+Don Antonio Casanova, informing me of his name, enquired whether my
+family was originally from Venice.
+
+"I am, sir," I answered modestly, "the great-grandson of the
+unfortunate Marco Antonio Casanova, secretary to Cardinal Pompeo
+Colonna, who died of the plague in Rome, in the year 1528, under the
+pontificate of Clement VII."  The words were scarcely out of my lips
+when he embraced me, calling me his cousin, but we all thought that
+Doctor Gennaro would actually die with laughter, for it seemed
+impossible to laugh so immoderately without risk of life.  Madame
+Gennaro was very angry and told my newly-found cousin that he might
+have avoided enacting such a scene before her husband, knowing his
+disease, but he answered that he never thought the circumstance
+likely to provoke mirth.  I said nothing, for, in reality, I felt
+that the recognition was very comic.  Our poor laugher having
+recovered his composure, Casanova, who had remained very serious,
+invited me to dinner for the next day with my young friend Paul
+Gennaro, who had already become my alter ego.
+
+When we called at his house, my worthy cousin showed me his family
+tree, beginning with a Don Francisco, brother of Don Juan.  In my
+pedigree, which I knew by heart, Don Juan, my direct ancestor, was a
+posthumous child.  It was possible that there might have been a
+brother of Marco Antonio's; but when he heard that my genealogy began
+with Don Francisco, from Aragon, who had lived in the fourteenth
+century, and that consequently all the pedigree of the illustrious
+house of the Casanovas of Saragossa belonged to him, his joy knew no
+bounds; he did not know what to do to convince me that the same blood
+was flowing in his veins and in mine.
+
+He expressed some curiosity to know what lucky accident had brought
+me to Naples; I told him that, having embraced the ecclesiastical
+profession, I was going to Rome to seek my fortune.  He then
+presented me to his family, and I thought that I could read on the
+countenance of my cousin, his dearly beloved wife, that she was not
+much pleased with the newly-found relationship, but his pretty
+daughter, and a still prettier niece of his, might very easily have
+given me faith in the doctrine that blood is thicker than water,
+however fabulous it may be.
+
+After dinner, Don Antonio informed me that the Duchess de Bovino had
+expressed a wish to know the Abbe Casanova who had written the sonnet
+in honour of her relative, and that he would be very happy to
+introduce me to her as his own cousin.  As we were alone at that
+moment, I begged he would not insist on presenting me, as I was only
+provided with travelling suits, and had to be careful of my purse so
+as not to arrive in Rome without money.  Delighted at my confidence,
+and approving my economy, he said, "I am rich, and you must not
+scruple to come with me to my tailor;" and he accompanied his offer
+with an assurance that the circumstance would not be known to anyone,
+and that he would feel deeply mortified if I denied him the pleasure
+of serving me.  I shook him warmly by the hand, and answered that I
+was ready to do anything he pleased.  We went to a tailor who took my
+measure, and who brought me on the following day everything necessary
+to the toilet of the most elegant abbe.  Don Antonio called on me,
+and remained to dine with Don Gennaro, after which he took me and my
+friend Paul to the duchess.  This lady, according to the Neapolitan
+fashion, called me thou in her very first compliment of welcome.  Her
+daughter, then only ten or twelve years old, was very handsome, and a
+few years later became Duchess de Matalona.  The duchess presented me
+with a snuff-box in pale tortoise-shell with arabesque incrustations
+in gold, and she invited us to dine with her on the morrow, promising
+to take us after dinner to the Convent of St. Claire to pay a visit
+to the new nun.
+
+As we came out of the palace of the duchess, I left my friends and
+went alone to Panagiotti's to claim the barrel of muscatel wine.  The
+manager was kind enough to have the barrel divided into two smaller
+casks of equal capacity, and I sent one to Don Antonio, and the other
+to Don Gennaro.  As I was leaving the shop I met the worthy
+Panagiotti, who was glad to see me.  Was I to blush at the sight of
+the good man I had at first deceived?  No, for in his opinion I had
+acted very nobly towards him.
+
+Don Gennaro, as I returned home, managed to thank me for my handsome
+present without laughing, and the next day Don Antonio, to make up
+for the muscatel wine I had sent him, offered me a gold-headed cane,
+worth at least fifteen ounces, and his tailor brought me a travelling
+suit and a blue great coat, with the buttonholes in gold lace.  I
+therefore found myself splendidly equipped.
+
+At the Duchess de Bovino's dinner I made the acquaintance of the
+wisest and most learned man in Naples, the illustrious Don Lelio
+Caraffa, who belonged to the ducal family of Matalona, and whom King
+Carlos honoured with the title of friend.
+
+I spent two delightful hours in the convent parlour, coping
+successfully with the curiosity of all the nuns who were pressing
+against the grating.  Had destiny allowed me to remain in Naples my
+fortune would have been made; but, although I had no fixed plan, the
+voice of fate summoned me to Rome, and therefore I resisted all the
+entreaties of my cousin Antonio to accept the honourable position of
+tutor in several houses of the highest order.
+
+Don Antonio gave a splendid dinner in my honour, but he was annoyed
+and angry because he saw that his wife looked daggers at her new
+cousin.  I thought that, more than once, she cast a glance at my new
+costume, and then whispered to the guest next to her.  Very likely
+she knew what had taken place.  There are some positions in life to
+which I could never be reconciled.  If, in the most brilliant circle,
+there is one person who affects to stare at me I lose all presence of
+mind.  Self-dignity feels outraged, my wit dies away, and I play the
+part of a dolt.  It is a weakness on my part, but a weakness I cannot
+overcome.
+
+Don Lelio Caraffa offered me a very liberal salary if I would
+undertake the education of his nephew, the Duke de Matalona, then ten
+years of age.  I expressed my gratitude, and begged him to be my true
+benefactor in a different manner--namely, by giving me a few good
+letters of introduction for Rome, a favour which he granted at once.
+He gave me one for Cardinal Acquaviva, and another for Father Georgi.
+
+I found out that the interest felt towards me by my friends had
+induced them to obtain for me the honour of kissing the hand of Her
+Majesty the Queen, and I hastened my preparations to leave Naples,
+for the queen would certainly have asked me some questions, and I
+could not have avoided telling her that I had just left Martorano and
+the poor bishop whom she had sent there.  The queen likewise knew my
+mother; she would very likely have alluded to my mother's profession
+in Dresden; it would have mortified Don Antonio, and my pedigree
+would have been covered with ridicule.  I knew the force of
+prejudice!  I should have been ruined, and I felt I should do well to
+withdraw in good time.  As I took leave of him, Don Antonio presented
+me with a fine gold watch and gave me a letter for Don Gaspar
+Vidaldi, whom he called his best friend.  Don Gennaro paid me the
+sixty ducats, and his son, swearing eternal friendship, asked me to
+write to him.  They all accompanied me to the coach, blending their
+tears with mine, and loading me with good wishes and blessings.
+
+>From my landing in Chiozza up to my arrival in Naples, fortune had
+seemed bent upon frowning on me; in Naples it began to shew itself
+less adverse, and on my return to that city it entirely smiled upon
+me.  Naples has always been a fortunate place for me, as the reader
+of my memoirs will discover.  My readers must not forget that in
+Portici I was on the point of disgracing myself, and there is no
+remedy against the degradation of the mind, for nothing can restore
+it to its former standard.  It is a case of disheartening atony for
+which there is no possible cure.
+
+I was not ungrateful to the good Bishop of Martorano, for, if he had
+unwittingly injured me by summoning me to his diocese, I felt that to
+his letter for M.  Gennaro I was indebted for all the good fortune
+which had just befallen me.  I wrote to him from Rome.
+
+I was wholly engaged in drying my tears as we were driving through
+the beautiful street of Toledo, and it was only after we had left
+Naples that I could find time to examine the countenance of my
+travelling companions.  Next to me, I saw a man of from forty to
+fifty, with a pleasing face and a lively air, but, opposite to me,
+two charming faces delighted my eyes.  They belonged to two ladies,
+young and pretty, very well dressed, with a look of candour and
+modesty.  This discovery was most agreeable, but I felt sad and I
+wanted calm and silence.  We reached Avessa without one word being
+exchanged, and as the vetturino stopped there only to water his
+mules, we did not get out of the coach.  From Avessa to Capua my
+companions conversed almost without interruption, and, wonderful to
+relate!  I did not open my lips once.  I was amused by the Neapolitan
+jargon of the gentleman, and by the pretty accent of the ladies, who
+were evidently Romans.  It was a most wonderful feat for me to remain
+five hours before two charming women without addressing one word to
+them, without paying them one compliment.
+
+At Capua, where we were to spend the night, we put up at an inn, and
+were shown into a room with two beds--a very usual thing in Italy.
+The Neapolitan, addressing himself to me, said,
+
+"Am I to have the honour of sleeping with the reverend gentleman?"
+
+I answered in a very serious tone that it was for him to choose or to
+arrange it otherwise, if he liked.  The answer made the two ladies
+smile, particularly the one whom I preferred, and it seemed to me a
+good omen.
+
+We were five at supper, for it is usual for the vetturino to supply
+his travellers with their meals, unless some private agreement is
+made otherwise, and to sit down at table with them.  In the desultory
+talk which went on during the supper, I found in my travelling
+companions decorum, propriety, wit, and the manners of persons
+accustomed to good society.  I became curious to know who they were,
+and going down with the driver after supper, I asked him.
+
+"The gentleman," he told me, "is an advocate, and one of the ladies
+is his wife, but I do not know which of the two."
+
+I went back to our room, and I was polite enough to go to bed first,
+in order to make it easier for the ladies to undress themselves with
+freedom; I likewise got up first in the morning, left the room, and
+only returned when I was called for breakfast.  The coffee was
+delicious.  I praised it highly, and the lady, the one who was my
+favourite, promised that I should have the same every morning during
+our journey.  The barber came in after breakfast; the advocate was
+shaved, and the barber offered me his services, which I declined, but
+the rogue declared that it was slovenly to wear one's beard.
+
+When we had resumed our seats in the coach, the advocate made some
+remark upon the impudence of barbers in general.
+
+"But we ought to decide first," said the lady, "whether or not it is
+slovenly to go bearded."
+
+"Of course it is," said the advocate.  "Beard is nothing but a dirty
+excrescence."
+
+"You may think so," I answered, "but everybody does not share your
+opinion.  Do we consider as a dirty excrescence the hair of which we
+take so much care, and which is of the same nature as the beard?  Far
+from it; we admire the length and the beauty of the hair."
+
+"Then," remarked the lady, "the barber is a fool."
+
+"But after all," I asked, "have I any beard?"
+
+"I thought you had," she answered.
+
+"In that case, I will begin to shave as soon as I reach Rome, for
+this is the first time that I have been convicted of having a beard."
+
+"My dear wife," exclaimed the advocate, "you should have held your
+tongue; perhaps the reverend abbe is going to Rome with the intention
+of becoming a Capuchin friar."
+
+The pleasantry made me laugh, but, unwilling that he should have the
+last word, I answered that he had guessed rightly, that such had been
+my intention, but that I had entirely altered my mind since I had
+seen his wife.
+
+"Oh! you are wrong," said the joyous Neapolitan, "for my wife is very
+fond of Capuchins, and if you wish to please her, you had better
+follow your original vocation."  Our conversation continued in the
+same tone of pleasantry, and the day passed off in an agreeable
+manner; in the evening we had a very poor supper at Garillan, but we
+made up for it by cheerfulness and witty conversation.  My dawning
+inclination for the advocate's wife borrowed strength from the
+affectionate manner she displayed towards me.
+
+The next day she asked me, after we had resumed our journey, whether
+I intended to make a long stay in Rome before returning to Venice.  I
+answered that, having no acquaintances in Rome, I was afraid my life
+there would be very dull.
+
+"Strangers are liked in Rome," she said, "I feel certain that you
+will be pleased with your residence in that city."
+
+"May I hope, madam, that you will allow me to pay you my respects?"
+
+"We shall be honoured by your calling on us," said the advocate.
+
+My eyes were fixed upon his charming wife.  She blushed, but I did
+not appear to notice it.  I kept up the conversation, and the day
+passed as pleasantly as the previous one.  We stopped at Terracina,
+where they gave us a room with three beds, two single beds and a
+large one between the two others.  It was natural that the two
+sisters should take the large bed; they did so, and undressed
+themselves while the advocate and I went on talking at the table,
+with our backs turned to them.  As soon as they had gone to rest, the
+advocate took the bed on which he found his nightcap, and I the
+other, which was only about one foot distant from the large bed.  I
+remarked that the lady by whom I was captivated was on the side
+nearest my couch, and, without much vanity, I could suppose that it
+was not owing only to chance.
+
+I put the light out and laid down, revolving in my mind a project
+which I could not abandon, and yet durst not execute.  In vain did I
+court sleep.  A very faint light enabled me to perceive the bed in
+which the pretty woman was lying, and my eyes would, in spite of
+myself, remain open.  It would be difficult to guess what I might
+have done at last (I had already fought a hard battle with myself for
+more than an hour), when I saw her rise, get out of her bed, and go
+and lay herself down near her husband, who, most likely, did not wake
+up, and continued to sleep in peace, for I did not hear any noise.
+
+Vexed, disgusted....  I tried to compose myself to sleep, and I woke
+only at day-break.  Seeing the beautiful wandering star in her own
+bed, I got up, dressed myself in haste, and went out, leaving all my
+companions fast asleep.  I returned to the inn only at the time fixed
+for our departure, and I found the advocate and the two ladies
+already in the coach, waiting for me.
+
+The lady complained, in a very obliging manner, of my not having
+cared for her coffee; I pleaded as an excuse a desire for an early
+walk, and I took care not to honour her even with a look; I feigned
+to be suffering from the toothache, and remained in my corner dull
+and silent.  At Piperno she managed to whisper to me that my
+toothache was all sham; I was pleased with the reproach, because it
+heralded an explanation which I craved for, in spite of my vexation.
+
+During the afternoon I continued my policy of the morning.  I was
+morose and silent until we reached Serinonetta, where we were to pass
+the night.  We arrived early, and the weather being fine, the lady
+said that she could enjoy a walk, and asked me politely to offer her
+my arm.  I did so, for it would have been rude to refuse; besides I
+had had enough of my sulking fit.  An explanation could alone bring
+matters back to their original standing, but I did not know how to
+force it upon the lady.  Her husband followed us at some distance
+with the sister.
+
+When we were far enough in advance, I ventured to ask her why she had
+supposed my toothache to have been feigned.
+
+"I am very candid," she said; "it is because the difference in your
+manner was so marked, and because you were so careful to avoid
+looking at me through the whole day.  A toothache would not have
+prevented you from being polite, and therefore I thought it had been
+feigned for some purpose.  But I am certain that not one of us can
+possibly have given you any grounds for such a rapid change in your
+manner."
+
+"Yet something must have caused the change, and you, madam, are only
+half sincere."
+
+"You are mistaken, sir, I am entirely sincere; and if I have given
+you any motive for anger, I am, and must remain, ignorant of it.  Be
+good enough to tell me what I have done."
+
+"Nothing, for I have no right to complain."
+
+"Yes, you have; you have a right, the same that I have myself; the
+right which good society grants to every one of its members.  Speak,
+and shew yourself as sincere as I am."
+
+"You are certainly bound not to know, or to pretend not to know the
+real cause, but you must acknowledge that my duty is to remain
+silent."
+
+"Very well; now it is all over; but if your duty bids you to conceal
+the cause of your bad humour, it also bids you not to shew it.
+Delicacy sometimes enforces upon a polite gentleman the necessity of
+concealing certain feelings which might implicate either himself or
+others; it is a restraint for the mind, I confess, but it has some
+advantage when its effect is to render more amiable the man who
+forces himself to accept that restraint."  Her close argument made me
+blush for shame, and carrying her beautiful hand to my lips, I
+confessed my self in the wrong.
+
+"You would see me at your feet," I exclaimed, "in token of my
+repentance, were I not afraid of injuring you---"
+
+"Do not let us allude to the matter any more," she answered.
+
+And, pleased with my repentance, she gave me a look so expressive of
+forgiveness that, without being afraid of augmenting my guilt, I took
+my lips off her hand and I raised them to her half-open, smiling
+mouth.  Intoxicated with rapture, I passed so rapidly from a state of
+sadness to one of overwhelming cheerfulness that during our supper
+the advocate enjoyed a thousand jokes upon my toothache, so quickly
+cured by the simple remedy of a walk.  On the following day we dined
+at Velletri and slept in Marino, where, although the town was full of
+troops, we had two small rooms and a good supper.  I could not have
+been on better terms with my charming Roman; for, although I had
+received but a rapid proof of her regard, it had been such a true
+one--such a tender one!  In the coach our eyes could not say much;
+but I was opposite to her, and our feet spoke a very eloquent
+language.
+
+The advocate had told me that he was going to Rome on some
+ecclesiastical business, and that he intended to reside in the house
+of his mother-in-law, whom his wife had not seen since her marriage,
+two years ago, and her sister hoped to remain in Rome, where she
+expected to marry a clerk at the Spirito Santo Bank.  He gave me
+their address, with a pressing invitation to call upon them, and I
+promised to devote all my spare time to them.
+
+We were enjoying our dessert, when my beautiful lady-love, admiring
+my snuff-box, told her husband that she wished she had one like it.
+
+"I will buy you one, dear."
+
+"Then buy mine," I said; "I will let you have it for twenty ounces,
+and you can give me a note of hand payable to bearer in payment.  I
+owe that amount to an Englishman, and I will give it him to redeem my
+debt."
+
+"Your snuff-box, my dear abbe, is worth twenty ounces, but I cannot
+buy it unless you agree to receive payment in cash; I should be
+delighted to see it in my wife's possession, and she would keep it as
+a remembrance of you."
+
+His wife, thinking that I would not accept his offer, said that she
+had no objection to give me the note of hand.
+
+"But," exclaimed the advocate, "can you not guess the Englishman
+exists only in our friend's imagination?  He would never enter an
+appearance, and we would have the snuff-box for nothing.  Do not
+trust the abbe, my dear, he is a great cheat."
+
+"I had no idea," answered his wife, looking at me, "that the world
+contained rogues of this species."
+
+I affected a melancholy air, and said that I only wished myself rich
+enough to be often guilty of such cheating.
+
+When a man is in love very little is enough to throw him into
+despair, and as little to enhance his joy to the utmost.  There was
+but one bed in the room where supper had been served, and another in
+a small closet leading out of the room, but without a door.  The
+ladies chose the closet, and the advocate retired to rest before me.
+I bid the ladies good night as soon as they had gone to bed; I looked
+at my dear mistress, and after undressing myself I went to bed,
+intending not to sleep through the night.  But the reader may imagine
+my rage when I found, as I got into the bed, that it creaked loud
+enough to wake the dead.  I waited, however, quite motionless, until
+my companion should be fast asleep, and as soon as his snoring told
+me that he was entirely under the influence of Morpheus, I tried to
+slip out of the bed; but the infernal creaking which took place
+whenever I moved, woke my companion, who felt about with his hand,
+and, finding me near him, went to sleep again.  Half an hour after, I
+tried a second time, but with the same result.  I had to give it up
+in despair.
+
+Love is the most cunning of gods; in the midst of obstacles he seems
+to be in his own element, but as his very existence depends upon the
+enjoyment of those who ardently worship him, the shrewd, all-seeing,
+little blind god contrives to bring success out of the most desperate
+case.
+
+I had given up all hope for the night, and had nearly gone to sleep,
+when suddenly we hear a dreadful noise.  Guns are fired in the
+street, people, screaming and howling, are running up and down the
+stairs; at last there is a loud knocking at our door.  The advocate,
+frightened out of his slumbers, asks me what it can all mean; I
+pretend to be very indifferent, and beg to be allowed to sleep.  But
+the ladies are trembling with fear, and loudly calling for a light.
+I remain very quiet, the advocate jumps out of bed, and runs out of
+the room to obtain a candle; I rise at once, I follow him to shut the
+door, but I slam it rather too hard, the double spring of the lock
+gives way, and the door cannot be reopened without the key.
+
+I approach the ladies in order to calm their anxiety, telling them
+that the advocate would soon return with a light, and that we should
+then know the cause of the tumult, but I am not losing my time, and
+am at work while I am speaking.  I meet with very little opposition,
+but, leaning rather too heavily upon my fair lady, I break through
+the bottom of the bedstead, and we suddenly find ourselves, the two
+ladies and myself, all together in a heap on the floor.  The advocate
+comes back and knocks at the door; the sister gets up, I obey the
+prayers of my charming friend, and, feeling my way, reach the door,
+and tell the advocate that I cannot open it, and that he must get the
+key.  The two sisters are behind me.  I extend my hand; but I am
+abruptly repulsed, and judge that I have addressed myself to the
+wrong quarter; I go to the other side, and there I am better
+received.  But the husband returns, the noise of the key in the lock
+announces that the door is going to be opened, and we return to our
+respective beds.
+
+The advocate hurries to the bed of the two frightened ladies,
+thinking of relieving their anxiety, but, when he sees them buried in
+their broken-down bedstead, he bursts into a loud laugh.  He tells me
+to come and have a look at them, but I am very modest, and decline
+the invitation.  He then tells us that the alarm has been caused by a
+German detachment attacking suddenly the Spanish troops in the city,
+and that the Spaniards are running away.  In a quarter of an hour the
+noise has ceased, and quiet is entirely re-established.
+
+The advocate complimented me upon my coolness, got into bed again,
+and was soon asleep.  As for me, I was careful not to close my eyes,
+and as soon as I saw daylight I got up in order to perform certain
+ablutions and to change my shirt; it was an absolute necessity.
+
+I returned for breakfast, and while we were drinking the delicious
+coffee which Donna Lucrezia had made, as I thought, better than ever,
+I remarked that her sister frowned on me.  But how little I cared for
+her anger when I saw the cheerful, happy countenance, and the
+approving looks of my adored Lucrezia!  I felt a delightful sensation
+run through the whole of my body.
+
+We reached Rome very early.  We had taken breakfast at the Tour, and
+the advocate being in a very gay mood I assumed the same tone,
+loading him with compliments, and predicting that a son would be born
+to him, I compelled his wife to promise it should be so.  I did not
+forget the sister of my charming Lucrezia, and to make her change her
+hostile attitude towards me I addressed to her so many pretty
+compliments, and behaved in such a friendly manner, that she was
+compelled to forgive the fall of the bed.  As I took leave of them, I
+promised to give them a call on the following day.
+
+I was in Rome! with a good wardrobe, pretty well supplied with money
+and jewellery, not wanting in experience, and with excellent letters
+of introduction.  I was free, my own master, and just reaching the
+age in which a man can have faith in his own fortune, provided he is
+not deficient in courage, and is blessed with a face likely to
+attract the sympathy of those he mixes with.  I was not handsome, but
+I had something better than beauty--a striking expression which
+almost compelled a kind interest in my favour, and I felt myself
+ready for anything.  I knew that Rome is the one city in which a man
+can begin from the lowest rung, and reach the very top of the social
+ladder.  This knowledge increased my courage, and I must confess that
+a most inveterate feeling of self-esteem which, on account of my
+inexperience, I could not distrust, enhanced wonderfully my
+confidence in myself.
+
+The man who intends to make his fortune in this ancient capital of
+the world must be a chameleon susceptible of reflecting all the
+colours of the atmosphere that surrounds him--a Proteus apt to assume
+every form, every shape.  He must be supple, flexible, insinuating;
+close, inscrutable, often base, sometimes sincere, some times
+perfidious, always concealing a part of his knowledge, indulging in
+one tone of voice, patient, a perfect master of his own countenance.
+as cold as ice when any other man would be all fire; and if
+unfortunately he is not religious at heart--a very common occurrence
+for a soul possessing the above requisites--he must have religion in
+his mind, that is to say, on his face, on his lips, in his manners;
+he must suffer quietly, if he be an honest man the necessity of
+knowing himself an arrant hypocrite.  The man whose soul would loathe
+such a life should leave Rome and seek his fortune elsewhere.  I do
+not know whether I am praising or excusing myself, but of all those
+qualities I possessed but one--namely, flexibility; for the rest, I
+was only an interesting, heedless young fellow, a pretty good blood
+horse, but not broken, or rather badly broken; and that is much
+worse.
+
+I began by delivering the letter I had received from Don Lelio for
+Father Georgi.  The learned monk enjoyed the esteem of everyone in
+Rome, and the Pope himself had a great consideration for him, because
+he disliked the Jesuits, and did not put a mask on to tear the mask
+from their faces, although they deemed themselves powerful enough to
+despise him.
+
+He read the letter with great attention, and expressed himself
+disposed to be my adviser; and that consequently I might make him
+responsible for any evil which might befall me, as misfortune is not
+to be feared by a man who acts rightly.  He asked me what I intended
+to do in Rome, and I answered that I wished him to tell me what to
+do.
+
+"Perhaps I may; but in that case you must come and see me often, and
+never conceal from me anything, you understand, not anything, of what
+interests you, or of what happens to you."
+
+"Don Lelio has likewise given me a letter for the Cardinal
+Acquaviva."
+
+"I congratulate you; the cardinal's influence in Rome is greater even
+than that of the Pope."
+
+"Must I deliver the letter at once?"
+
+"No; I will see him this evening, and prepare him for your visit.
+Call on me to-morrow morning, and I will then tell you where and when
+you are to deliver your letter to the cardinal.  Have you any money?"
+
+"Enough for all my wants during one year."
+
+"That is well.  Have you any acquaintances?"
+
+"Not one."
+
+"Do not make any without first consulting me, and, above all, avoid
+coffee-houses and ordinaries, but if you should happen to frequent
+such places, listen and never speak.  Be careful to form your
+judgment upon those who ask any questions from you, and if common
+civility obliges you to give an answer, give only an evasive one, if
+any other is likely to commit you.  Do you speak French?"
+
+"Not one word."
+
+"I am sorry for that; you must learn French.  Have you been a
+student?"
+
+"A poor one, but I have a sufficient smattering to converse with
+ordinary company."
+
+"That is enough; but be very prudent, for Rome is the city in which
+smatterers unmask each other, and are always at war amongst
+themselves.  I hope you will take your letter to the cardinal,
+dressed like a modest abbe, and not in this elegant costume which is
+not likely to conjure fortune.  Adieu, let me see you to-morrow."
+
+Highly pleased with the welcome I had received at his hands, and with
+all he had said to me, I left his house and proceeded towards Campo-
+di-Fiore to deliver the letter of my cousin Antonio to Don Gaspar
+Vivaldi, who received me in his library, where I met two respectable-
+looking priests.  He gave me the most friendly welcome, asked for my
+address, and invited me to dinner for the next day.  He praised
+Father Georgi most highly, and, accompanying me as far as the stairs,
+he told me that he would give me on the morrow the amount his friend
+Don Antonio requested him to hand me.
+
+More money which my generous cousin was bestowing on me!  It is easy
+enough to give away when one possesses sufficient means to do it, but
+it is not every man who knows how to give.  I found the proceeding of
+Don Antonio more delicate even than generous; I could not refuse his
+present; it was my duty to prove my gratitude by accepting it.
+
+Just after I had left M.  Vivaldi's house I found myself face to face
+with Stephano, and this extraordinary original loaded me with
+friendly caresses.  I inwardly despised him, yet I could not feel
+hatred for him; I looked upon him as the instrument which Providence
+had been pleased to employ in order to save me from ruin.  After
+telling me that he had obtained from the Pope all he wished, he
+advised me to avoid meeting the fatal constable who had advanced me
+two sequins in Seraval, because he had found out that I had deceived
+him, and had sworn revenge against me.  I asked Stephano to induce
+the man to leave my acknowledgement of the debt in the hands of a
+certain merchant whom we both knew, and that I would call there to
+discharge the amount.  This was done, and it ended the affair.
+
+That evening I dined at the ordinary, which was frequented by Romans
+and foreigners; but I carefully followed the advice of Father Georgi.
+I heard a great deal of harsh language used against the Pope and
+against the Cardinal Minister, who had caused the Papal States to be
+inundated by eighty thousand men, Germans as well as Spaniards.  But
+I was much surprised when I saw that everybody was eating meat,
+although it was Saturday.  But a stranger during the first few days
+after his arrival in Rome is surrounded with many things which at
+first cause surprise, and to which he soon gets accustomed.  There is
+not a Catholic city in the world in which a man is half so free on
+religious matters as in  Rome.  The inhabitants of Rome are like the
+men employed at the Government tobacco works, who are allowed to take
+gratis as much tobacco as they want for their own use.  One can live
+in Rome with the most complete freedom, except that the 'ordini
+santissimi' are as much to be dreaded as the famous Lettres-de-cachet
+before the Revolution came and destroyed them, and shewed the whole
+world the general character of the French nation.
+
+The next day, the 1st of October, 1743, I made up my mind to be
+shaved.  The down on my chin had become a beard, and I judged that it
+was time to renounce some of the privileges enjoyed by adolescence.
+I dressed myself completely in the Roman fashion, and Father Georgi
+was highly pleased when he saw me in that costume, which had been
+made by the tailor of my dear cousin, Don Antonio.
+
+Father Georgi invited me to take a cup of chocolate with him, and
+informed me that the cardinal had been apprised of my arrival by a
+letter from Don Lelio, and that his eminence would receive me at noon
+at the Villa Negroni, where he would be taking a walk.  I told Father
+Georgi that I had been invited to dinner by M. Vivaldi, and he
+advised me to cultivate his acquaintance.
+
+I proceeded to the Villa Negroni; the moment he saw me the cardinal
+stopped to receive my letter, allowing two persons who accompanied
+him to walk forward.  He put the letter in his pocket without reading
+it, examined me for one or two minutes, and enquired whether I felt
+any taste for politics.  I answered that, until now, I had not felt
+in me any but frivolous tastes, but that I would make bold to answer
+for my readiness to execute all the orders which his eminence might
+be pleased to lay upon me, if he should judge me worthy of entering
+his service.
+
+"Come to my office to-morrow morning," said the cardinal, "and ask
+for the Abbe Gama, to whom I will give my instructions.  You must
+apply yourself diligently to the study of the French language; it is
+indispensable."  He then enquired after Don Leilo's health, and after
+kissing his hand I took my leave.
+
+I hastened to the house of M. Gaspar Vivaldi, where I dined amongst a
+well-chosen party of guests.  M. Vivaldi was not married; literature
+was his only passion.  He loved Latin poetry even better than
+Italian, and Horace, whom I knew by heart, was his favourite poet.
+After dinner, we repaired to his study, and he handed me one hundred
+Roman crowns, and Don Antonio's present, and assured me that I would
+be most welcome whenever I would call to take a cup of chocolate with
+him.
+
+After I had taken leave of Don Gaspar, I proceeded towards the
+Minerva, for I longed to enjoy the surprise of my dear Lucrezia and
+of her sister; I inquired for Donna Cecilia Monti, their mother, and
+I saw, to my great astonishment, a young widow who looked like the
+sister of her two charming daughters.  There was no need for me to
+give her my name; I had been announced, and she expected me.  Her
+daughters soon came in, and their greeting caused me some amusement,
+for I did not appear to them to be the same individual.  Donna
+Lucrezia presented me to her youngest sister, only eleven years of
+age, and to her brother, an abbe of fifteen, of charming appearance.
+I took care to behave so as to please the mother; I was modest,
+respectful, and shewed a deep interest in everything I saw.  The good
+advocate arrived, and was surprised at the change in my appearance.
+He launched out in his usual jokes, and I followed him on that
+ground, yet I was careful not to give to my conversation the tone of
+levity which used to cause so much mirth in our travelling coach; so
+that, to, pay me a compliment, he told nee that, if I had had the
+sign of manhood shaved from my face, I had certainly transferred it
+to my mind.  Donna Lucrezia did not know what to think of the change
+in my manners.
+
+Towards evening I saw, coming in rapid succession, five or six
+ordinary-looking ladies, and as many abbes, who appeared to me some
+of the volumes with which I was to begin my Roman education.  They
+all listened attentively to the most insignificant word I uttered,
+and I was very careful to let them enjoy their conjectures about me.
+Donna Cecilia told the advocate that he was but a poor painter, and
+that his portraits were not like the originals; he answered that she
+could not judge, because the original was shewing under a mask, and I
+pretended to be mortified by his answer.  Donna Lucrezia said that
+she found me exactly the same, and her sister was of opinion that the
+air of Rome gave strangers a peculiar appearance.  Everybody
+applauded, and Angelique turned red with satisfaction.  After a visit
+of four hours I bowed myself out, and the advocate, following me,
+told me that his mother-in-law begged me to consider myself as a
+friend of the family, and to be certain of a welcome at any hour I
+liked to call.  I thanked him gratefully and took my leave, trusting
+that I had pleased this amiable society as much as it had pleased me.
+
+The next day I presented myself to the Abbe Gama.  He was a
+Portuguese, about forty years old, handsome, and with a countenance
+full of candour, wit, and good temper.  His affability claimed and
+obtained confidence.  His manners and accent were quite Roman.  He
+informed me, in the blandest manner, that his eminence had himself
+given his instructions about me to his majordomo, that I would have a
+lodging in the cardinal's palace, that I would have my meals at the
+secretaries' table, and that, until I learned French, I would have
+nothing to do but make extracts from letters that he would supply me
+with.  He then gave me the address of the French teacher to whom he
+had already spoken in my behalf.  He was a Roman advocate, Dalacqua
+by name, residing precisely opposite the palace.
+
+After this short explanation, and an assurance that I could at all
+times rely upon his friendship, he had me taken to the major-domo,
+who made me sign my name at the bottom of a page in a large book,
+already filled with other names, and counted out sixty Roman crowns
+which he paid me for three months salary in advance.  After this he
+accompanied me, followed by a 'staffiere' to my apartment on the
+third floor, which I found very comfortably furnished.  The servant
+handed me the key, saying that he would come every morning to attend
+upon me, and the major-domo accompanied me to the gate to make me
+known to the gate-keeper.  I immediately repaired to my inn, sent my
+luggage to the palace, and found myself established in a place in
+which a great fortune awaited me, if I had only been able to lead a
+wise and prudent life, but unfortunately it was not in my nature.
+'Volentem ducit, nolentem trahit.'
+
+I naturally felt it my duty to call upon my mentor, Father Georgi, to
+whom I gave all my good news.  He said I was on the right road, and
+that my fortune was in my hands.
+
+"Recollect," added the good father, "that to lead a blameless life
+you must curb your passions, and that whatever misfortune may befall
+you it cannot be ascribed by any one to a want of good luck, or
+attributed to fate; those words are devoid of sense, and all the
+fault will rightly fall on your own head."
+
+"I foresee, reverend father, that my youth and my want of experience
+will often make it necessary for me to disturb you.  I am afraid of
+proving myself too heavy a charge for you, but you will find me
+docile and obedient."
+
+"I suppose you will often think me rather too severe; but you are not
+likely to confide everything to me."
+
+"Everything, without any exception."
+
+"Allow me to feel somewhat doubtful; you have not told me where you
+spent four hours yesterday."
+
+"Because I did not think it was worth mentioning.  I made the
+acquaintance of those persons during my journey; I believe them to be
+worthy and respectable, and the right sort of people for me to visit,
+unless you should be of a different opinion."
+
+"God forbid!  It is a very respectable house, frequented by honest
+people.  They are delighted at having made your acquaintance; you are
+much liked by everybody, and they hope to retain you as a friend; I
+have heard all about it this morning; but you must not go there too
+often and as a regular guest."
+
+"Must I cease my visits at once, and without cause?"
+
+"No, it would be a want of politeness on your part.  You may go there
+once or twice every week, but do not be a constant visitor.  You are
+sighing, my son?"
+
+"No, I assure you not.  I will obey you."
+
+"I hope it may not be only a matter of obedience, and I trust your
+heart will not feel it a hardship, but, if necessary, your heart must
+be conquered.  Recollect that the heart is the greatest enemy of
+reason."
+
+"Yet they can be made to agree."
+
+"We often imagine so; but distrust the animism of your dear Horace.
+You know that there is no middle course with it: 'nisi paret,
+imperat'."
+
+"I know it, but in the family of which we were speaking there is no
+danger for my heart."
+
+"I am glad of it, because in that case it will be all the easier for
+you to abstain from frequent visits.  Remember that I shall trust
+you."
+
+"And I, reverend father; will listen to and follow your good advice.
+I will visit Donna Cecilia only now and then."  Feeling most unhappy,
+I took his hand to press it against my lips, but he folded me in his
+arms as a father might have done, and turned himself round so as not
+to let me see that he was weeping.
+
+I dined at the cardinal's palace and sat near the Abbe Gama; the
+table was laid for twelve persons, who all wore the costume of
+priests, for in Rome everyone is a priest or wishes to be thought a
+priest and as there is no law to forbid anyone to dress like an
+ecclesiastic that dress is adopted by all those who wish to be
+respected (noblemen excepted) even if they are not in the
+ecclesiastical profession.
+
+I felt very miserable, and did not utter a word during the dinner; my
+silence was construed into a proof of my sagacity.  As we rose from
+the table, the Abbe Gama invited me to spend the day with him, but I
+declined under pretence of letters to be written, and I truly did so
+for seven hours.  I wrote to Don Lelio, to Don Antonio, to my young
+friend Paul, and to the worthy Bishop of Martorano, who answered that
+he heartily wished himself in my place.
+
+Deeply enamoured of Lucrezia and happy in my love, to give her up
+appeared to me a shameful action.  In order to insure the happiness
+of my future life, I was beginning to be the executioner of my
+present felicity, and the tormentor of my heart.  I revolted against
+such a necessity which I judged fictitious, and which I could not
+admit unless I stood guilty of vileness before the tribunal of my own
+reason.  I thought that Father Georgi, if he wished to forbid my
+visiting that family, ought not to have said that it was worthy of
+respect; my sorrow would not have been so intense.  The day and the
+whole of the night were spent in painful thoughts.
+
+In the morning the Abbe Gama brought me a great book filled with
+ministerial letters from which I was to compile for my amusement.
+After a short time devoted to that occupation, I went out to take my
+first French lesson, after which I walked towards the Strada-
+Condotta.  I intended to take a long walk, when I heard myself called
+by my name.  I saw the Abbe Gama in front of a coffee-house.
+I whispered to him that Minerva had forbidden me the coffee-rooms of
+Rome.  "Minerva," he answered, "desires you to form some idea of such
+places.  Sit down by me."
+
+I heard a young abbe telling aloud, but without bitterness, a story,
+which attacked in a most direct manner the justice of His Holiness.
+Everybody was laughing and echoing the story.  Another, being asked
+why he had left the services of Cardinal B., answered that it was
+because his eminence did not think himself called upon to pay him
+apart for certain private services, and everybody laughed outright.
+Another came to the Abbe Gama, and told him that, if he felt any
+inclination to spend the afternoon at the Villa Medicis, he would
+find him there with two young Roman girls who were satisfied with a
+'quartino', a gold coin worth one-fourth of a sequin.  Another abbe
+read an incendiary sonnet against the government, and several took a
+copy of it.  Another read a satire of his own composition, in which
+he tore to pieces the honour of a family.  In the middle of all that
+confusion, I saw a priest with a very attractive countenance come in.
+The size of his hips made me take him for a woman dressed in men's
+clothes, and I said so to Gama, who told me that he was the
+celebrated castrato, Bepino delta Mamana.  The abbe called him to us,
+and told him with a laugh that I had taken him for a girl.  The
+impudent fellow looked me full in the face, and said that, if I
+liked, he would shew me whether I had been right or wrong.
+
+At the dinner-table everyone spoke to me, and I fancied I had given
+proper answers to all, but, when the repast was over, the Abbe Gama
+invited me to take coffee in his own apartment.  The moment we were
+alone, he told me that all the guests I had met were worthy and
+honest men, and he asked me whether I believed that I had succeeded
+in pleasing the company.
+
+"I flatter myself I have," I answered.
+
+"You are wrong," said the abbe, "you are flattering yourself.  You
+have so conspicuously avoided the questions put to you that everybody
+in the room noticed your extreme reserve.  In the future no one will
+ask you any questions."
+
+"I should be sorry if it should turn out so, but was I to expose my
+own concerns?"
+
+"No, but there is a medium in all things."
+
+"Yes, the medium of Horace, but it is often a matter of great
+difficulty to hit it exactly."
+
+"A man ought to know how to obtain affection and esteem at the same
+time."
+
+"That is the very wish nearest to my heart."
+
+"To-day you have tried for the esteem much more than for the
+affection of your fellow-creatures.  It may be a noble aspiration,
+but you must prepare yourself to fight jealousy and her daughter,
+calumny; if those two monsters do not succeed in destroying you, the
+victory must be yours.  Now, for instance, you thoroughly refuted
+Salicetti to-day.  Well, he is a physician, and what is more a
+Corsican; he must feel badly towards you."
+
+"Could I grant that the longings of women during their pregnancy have
+no influence whatever on the skin of the foetus, when I know the
+reverse to be the case?  Are you not of my opinion?"
+
+"I am for neither party; I have seen many children with some such
+marks, but I have no means of knowing with certainty whether those
+marks have their origin in some longing experienced by the mother
+while she was pregnant."
+
+"But I can swear it is so."
+
+"All the better for you if your conviction is based upon such
+evidence, and all the worse for Salicetti if he denies the
+possibility of the thing without certain authority.  But let him
+remain in error; it is better thus than to prove him in the wrong and
+to make a bitter enemy of him."
+
+In the evening I called upon Lucrezia.  The family knew my success,
+and warmly congratulated me.  Lucrezia told me that I looked sad, and
+I answered that I was assisting at the funeral of my liberty, for I
+was no longer my own master.  Her husband, always fond of a joke,
+told her that I was in love with her, and his mother-in-law advised
+him not to show so much intrepidity.  I only remained an hour with
+those charming persons, and then took leave of them, but the very air
+around me was heated by the flame within my breast.  When I reached
+my room I began to write, and spent the night in composing an ode
+which I sent the next day to the advocate.  I was certain that he
+would shew it to his wife, who loved poetry, and who did not yet know
+that I was a poet.  I abstained from seeing her again for three or
+four days.  I was learning French, and making extracts from
+ministerial letters.
+
+His eminence was in the habit of receiving every evening, and his
+rooms were thronged with the highest nobility of Rome; I had never
+attended these receptions.  The Abbe Gama told me that I ought to do
+so as well as he did, without any pretension.  I followed his advice
+and went; nobody spoke to me, but as I was unknown everyone looked at
+me and enquired who I was.  The Abbe Gama asked me which was the lady
+who appeared to me the most amiable, and I shewed one to him; but I
+regretted having done so, for the courtier went to her, and of course
+informed her of what I had said.  Soon afterwards I saw her look at
+me through her eye-glass and smile kindly upon me.  She was the
+Marchioness G----, whose 'cicisbeo' was Cardinal S---- C----.
+
+On the very day I had fixed to spend the evening with Donna Lucrezia
+the worthy advocate called upon me.  He told me that if I thought I
+was going to prove I was not in love with his wife by staying away I
+was very much mistaken, and he invited me to accompany all the family
+to Testaccio, where they intended to have luncheon on the following
+Thursday.  He added that his wife knew my ode by heart, and that she
+had read it to the intended husband of Angelique, who had a great
+wish to make my acquaintance.  That gentleman was likewise a poet,
+and would be one of the party to Testaccio.  I promised the advocate
+I would come to his house on the Thursday with a carriage for two.
+
+At that time every Thursday in the month of October was a festival
+day in Rome.  I went to see Donna Cecilia in the evening, and we
+talked about the excursion the whole time.  I felt certain that Donna
+Lucrezia looked forward to it with as much pleasure as I did myself.
+We had no fixed plan, we could not have any, but we trusted to the
+god of love, and tacitly placed our confidence in his protection.
+
+I took care that Father Georgi should not hear of that excursion
+before I mentioned it to him myself, and I hastened to him in order
+to obtain his permission to go.  I confess that, to obtain his leave,
+I professed the most complete indifference about it, and the
+consequence was that the good man insisted upon my going, saying that
+it was a family party, and that it was quite right for me to visit
+the environs of Rome and to enjoy myself in a respectable way.
+
+I went to Donna Cecilia's in a carriage which I hired from a certain
+Roland, a native of Avignon, and if I insist here upon his name it is
+because my readers will meet him again in eighteen years, his
+acquaintance with me having had very important results.  The charming
+widow introduced me to Don Francisco, her intended son-in-law, whom
+she represented as a great friend of literary men, and very deeply
+learned himself.  I accepted it as gospel, and behaved accordingly;
+yet I thought he looked rather heavy and not sufficiently elated for
+a young man on the point of marrying such a pretty girl as Angelique.
+But he had plenty of good-nature and plenty of money, and these are
+better than learning and gallantry.
+
+As we were ready to get into the carriages, the advocate told me that
+he would ride with me in my carriage, and that the three ladies would
+go with Don Francisco in the other.  I answered at once that he ought
+to keep Don Francisco company, and that I claimed the privilege of
+taking care of Donna Cecilia, adding that I should feel dishonoured
+if things were arranged differently.  Thereupon I offered my arm to
+the handsome widow, who thought the arrangement according to the
+rules of etiquette and good breeding, and an approving look of my
+Lucrezia gave me the most agreeable sensation.  Yet the proposal of
+the advocate struck me somewhat unpleasantly, because it was in
+contradiction with his former behaviour, and especially with what he
+had said to me in my room a few days before.  "Has he become
+jealous?"  I said to myself; that would have made me almost angry,
+but the hope of bringing him round during our stay at Testaccio
+cleared away the dark cloud on my mind, and I was very amiable to
+Donna Cecilia.  What with lunching and walking we contrived to pass
+the afternoon very pleasantly; I was very gay, and my love for
+Lucrezia was not once mentioned; I was all attention to her mother.
+I occasionally addressed myself to Lucrezia, but not once to the
+advocate, feeling this the best way to shew him that he had insulted
+me.
+
+As we prepared to return, the advocate carried off Donna Cecilia and
+went with her to the carriage in which were already seated Angelique
+and Don Francisco.  Scarcely able to control my delight, I offered my
+arm to Donna Lucrezia, paying her some absurd compliment, while the
+advocate laughed outright, and seemed to enjoy the trick he imagined
+he had played me.
+
+How many things we might have said to each other before giving
+ourselves up to the material enjoyment of our love, had not the
+instants been so precious!  But, aware that we had only half an hour
+before us, we were sparing of the minutes.  We were absorbed in
+voluptuous pleasure when suddenly Lucrezia exclaims,---
+
+"Oh!  dear, how unhappy we are!"
+
+She pushes me back, composes herself, the carriage stops, and the
+servant opens the door.  "What is the matter?" I enquire.  "We are at
+home."  Whenever I recollect the circumstance, it seems to me
+fabulous, for it is not possible to annihilate time, and the horses
+were regular old screws.  But we were lucky all through.  The night
+was dark, and my beloved angel happened to be on the right side to
+get out of the carriage first, so that, although the advocate was at
+the door of the brougham as soon as the footman, everything went
+right, owing to the slow manner in which Lucrezia alighted.  I
+remained at Donna Cecilia's until midnight.
+
+When I got home again, I went to bed; but how could I sleep?  I felt
+burning in me the flame which I had not been able to restore to its
+original source in the too short distance from Testaccio to Rome.  It
+was consuming me.  Oh! unhappy are those who believe that the
+pleasures of Cythera are worth having, unless they are enjoyed in the
+most perfect accord by two hearts overflowing with love!
+
+I only rose in time for my French lesson.  My teacher had a pretty
+daughter, named Barbara, who was always present during my lessons,
+and who sometimes taught me herself with even more exactitude than
+her father.  A good-looking young man, who likewise took lessons, was
+courting her, and I soon perceived that she loved him.  This young
+man called often upon me, and I liked him, especially on account of
+his reserve, for, although I made him confess his love for Barbara,
+he always changed the subject, if I mentioned it in our conversation.
+
+I had made up my mind to respect his reserve, and had not alluded to
+his affection for several days.  But all at once I remarked that he
+had ceased his visits both to me and to his teacher, and at the same
+time I observed that the young girl was no longer present at my
+lessons; I felt some curiosity to know what had happened, although it
+was not, after all, any concern of mine.
+
+A few days after, as I was returning from church, I met the young
+man, and reproached him for keeping away from us all.  He told me
+that great sorrow had befallen him, which had fairly turned his
+brain, and that he was a prey to the most intense despair.  His eyes
+were wet with tears.  As I was leaving him, he held me back, and I
+told him that I would no longer be his friend unless he opened his
+heart to me.  He took me to one of the cloisters, and he spoke thus:
+
+"I have loved Barbara for the last six months, and for three months
+she has given me indisputable proofs of her affection.  Five days
+ago, we were betrayed by the servant, and the father caught us in a
+rather delicate position.  He left the room without saying one word,
+and I followed him, thinking of throwing myself at his feet; but, as
+I appeared before him, he took hold of me by the arm, pushed me
+roughly to the door, and forbade me ever to present myself again at
+his house.  I cannot claim her hand in marriage, because one of my
+brothers is married, and my father is not rich; I have no profession,
+and my mistress has nothing.  Alas, now that I have confessed all to
+you, tell me, I entreat you, how she is.  I am certain that she is as
+miserable as I am myself.  I cannot manage to get a letter delivered
+to her, for she does not leave the house, even to attend church.
+Unhappy wretch!  What shall I do?"
+
+I could but pity him, for, as a man of honour, it was impossible for
+me to interfere in such a business.  I told him that I had not seen
+Barbara for five days, and, not knowing what to say, I gave him the
+advice which is tendered by all fools under similar circumstances; I
+advised him to forget his mistress.
+
+We had then reached the quay of Ripetta, and, observing that he was
+casting dark looks towards the Tiber, I feared his despair might lead
+him to commit some foolish attempt against his own life, and, in
+order to calm his excited feelings, I promised to make some enquiries
+from the father about his mistress, and to inform him of all I heard.
+He felt quieted by my promise, and entreated me not to forget him.
+
+In spite of the fire which had been raging through my veins ever
+since the excursion to Testaccio, I had not seen my Lucrezia for four
+days.  I dreaded Father Georgi's suave manner, and I was still more
+afraid of finding he had made up his mind to give me no more advice.
+But, unable to resist my desires, I called upon Lucrezia after my
+French lesson, and found her alone, sad and dispirited.
+
+"Ah!" she exclaimed, as soon as I was by her side, "I think you might
+find time to come and see me!"
+
+"My beloved one, it is not that I cannot find time, but I am so
+jealous of my love that I would rather die than let it be known
+publicly.  I have been thinking of inviting you all to dine with me
+at Frascati.  I will send you a phaeton, and I trust that some lucky
+accident will smile upon our love."
+
+"Oh!  yes, do, dearest!  I am sure your invitation will be accepted:"
+
+In a quarter of an hour the rest of the family came in, and I
+proffered my invitation for the following Sunday, which happened to
+be the Festival of St. Ursula, patroness of Lucrezia's youngest
+sister.  I begged Donna Cecilia to bring her as well as her son.  My
+proposal being readily accepted, I gave notice that the phaeton would
+be at Donna Cecilia's door at seven o'clock, and that I would come
+myself with a carriage for two persons.
+
+The next day I went to M. Dalacqua, and, after my lesson, I saw
+Barbara who, passing from one room to another, dropped a paper and
+earnestly looked at me.  I felt bound to pick it up, because a
+servant, who was at hand, might have seen it and taken it.  It was a
+letter, enclosing another addressed to her lover.  The note for me
+ran thus: "If you think it to be a sin to deliver the enclosed to
+your friend, burn it.  Have pity on an unfortunate girl, and be
+discreet."
+
+The enclosed letter which was unsealed, ran as follows: "If you love
+me as deeply as 'I love you, you cannot hope to be happy without me;
+we cannot correspond in any other way than the one I am bold enough
+to adopt.  I am ready to do anything to unite our lives until death.
+Consider and decide."
+
+The cruel situation of the poor girl moved me almost to tears; yet I
+determined to return her letter the next day, and I enclosed it in a
+note in which I begged her to excuse me if I could not render her the
+service she required at my hands.  I put it in my pocket ready for
+delivery.  The next day I went for my lesson as usual, but, not
+seeing Barbara, I had no opportunity of returning her letter, and
+postponed its delivery to the following day.  Unfortunately, just
+after I had returned to my room, the unhappy lover made his
+appearance.  His eyes were red from weeping, his voice hoarse; he
+drew such a vivid picture of his misery, that, dreading some mad
+action counselled by despair, I could not withhold from him the
+consolation which I knew it was in my power to give.  This was my
+first error in this fatal business; I was the victim of my own
+kindness.
+
+The poor fellow read the letter over and over; he kissed it with
+transports of joy; he wept, hugged me, and thanked me for saving his
+life, and finally entreated me to take charge of his answer, as his
+beloved mistress must be longing for consolation as much as he had
+been himself, assuring me that his letter could not in any way
+implicate me, and that I was at liberty to read it.
+
+And truly, although very long, his letter contained nothing but the
+assurance of everlasting love, and hopes which could not be realized.
+Yet I was wrong to accept the character of Mercury to the two young
+lovers.  To refuse, I had only to recollect that Father Georgi would
+certainly have disapproved of my easy compliance.
+
+The next day I found M. Dalacqua ill in bed; his daughter gave me my
+lesson in his room, and I thought that perhaps she had obtained her
+pardon.  I contrived to give her her lover's letter, which she
+dextrously conveyed to her pocket, but her blushes would have easily
+betrayed her if her father had been looking that way.  After the
+lesson I gave M. Dalacqua notice that I would not come on the morrow,
+as it was the Festival of St. Ursula, one of the eleven thousand
+princesses and martyr-virgins.
+
+In the evening, at the reception of his eminence, which I attended
+regularly, although persons of distinction seldom spoke to me, the
+cardinal beckoned to me.  He was speaking to the beautiful
+Marchioness G----, to whom Gama had indiscreetly confided that I
+thought her the handsomest woman amongst his eminence's guests.
+
+"Her grace," said the Cardinal, "wishes to know whether you are
+making rapid progress in the French language, which she speaks
+admirably."
+
+I answered in Italian that I had learned a great deal, but that I was
+not yet bold enough to speak.
+
+"You should be bold," said the marchioness, "but without showing any
+pretension.  It is the best wav to disarm criticism."
+
+My mind having almost unwittingly lent to the words "You should be
+bold" a meaning which had very likely been far from the idea of the
+marchioness, I turned very red, and the handsome speaker, observing
+it, changed the conversation and dismissed me.
+
+The next morning, at seven o'clock, I was at Donna Cecilia's door.
+The phaeton was there as well as the carriage for two persons, which
+this time was an elegant vis-a-vis, so light and well-hung that Donna
+Cecilia praised it highly when she took her seat.
+
+"I shall have my turn as we return to Rome," said Lucrezia; and I
+bowed to her as if in acceptance of her promise.
+
+Lucrezia thus set suspicion at defiance in order to prevent suspicion
+arising.  My happiness was assured, and I gave way to my natural flow
+of spirits.  I ordered a splendid dinner, and we all set out towards
+the Villa Ludovisi.  As we might have missed each other during our
+ramblings, we agreed to meet again at the inn at one o'clock.  The
+discreet widow took the arm of her son-in-law, Angelique remained
+with her sister, and Lucrezia was my delightful share; Ursula and her
+brother were running about together, and in less than a quarter of an
+hour I had Lucrezia entirely to myself.
+
+"Did you remark," she said, "with what candour I secured for us two
+hours of delightful 'tete-a-tete', and a 'tete-a-tete' in a 'vis-a-
+vis', too!  How clever Love is!"
+
+"Yes, darling, Love has made but one of our two souls.  I adore you,
+and if I have the courage to pass so many days without seeing you it
+is in order to be rewarded by the freedom of one single day like
+this."
+
+"I did not think it possible.  But you have managed it all very well.
+You know too much for your age, dearest."
+
+"A month ago, my beloved, I was but an ignorant child, and you are
+the first woman who has initiated me into the mysteries of love.
+Your departure will kill me, for I could not find another woman like
+you in all Italy."
+
+"What! am I your first love?  Alas! you will never be cured of it.
+Oh! why am I not entirely your own?  You are also the first true love
+of my heart, and you will be the last.  How great will be the
+happiness of my successor!  I should not be jealous of her, but what
+suffering would be mine if I thought that her heart was not like
+mine!"
+
+Lucrezia, seeing my eyes wet with tears, began to give way to her
+own, and, seating ourselves on the grass, our lips drank our tears
+amidst the sweetest kisses.  How sweet is the nectar of the tears
+shed by love, when that nectar is relished amidst the raptures of
+mutual ardour!  I have often tasted them--those delicious tears, and
+I can say knowingly that the ancient physicians were right, and that
+the modern are wrong.
+
+In a moment of calm, seeing the disorder in which we both were, I
+told her that we might be surprised.
+
+"Do not fear, my best beloved," she said, "we are under the
+guardianship of our good angels."
+
+We were resting and reviving our strength by gazing into one
+another's eyes, when suddenly Lucrezia, casting a glance to the
+right, exclaimed,
+
+"Look there!  idol of my heart, have I not told you so?  Yes, the
+angels are watching over us!  Ah!  how he stares at us!  He seems to
+try to give us confidence.  Look at that little demon; admire him!
+He must certainly be your guardian spirit or mine."
+
+I thought she was delirious.
+
+"What are you saying, dearest?  I do not understand you.  What am I
+to admire?"
+
+"Do you not see that beautiful serpent with the blazing skin, which
+lifts its head and seems to worship us?"
+
+I looked in the direction she indicated, and saw a serpent with
+changeable colours about three feet in length, which did seem to be
+looking at us.  I was not particularly pleased at the sight, but I
+could not show myself less courageous than she was.
+
+"What!" said I, "are you not afraid?"
+
+"I tell you, again, that the sight is delightful to me, and I feel
+certain that it is a spirit with nothing but the shape, or rather the
+appearance, of a serpent."
+
+"And if the spirit came gliding along the grass and hissed at you?"
+
+"I would hold you tighter against my bosom, and set him at defiance.
+In your arms Lucrezia is safe.  Look!  the spirit is going away.
+Quick, quick!  He is warning us of the approach of some profane
+person, and tells us to seek some other retreat to renew our
+pleasures.  Let us go."
+
+We rose and slowly advanced towards Donna Cecilia and the advocate,
+who were just emerging from a neighbouring alley.  Without avoiding
+them, and without hurrying, just as if to meet one another was a very
+natural occurrence, I enquired of Donna Cecilia whether her daughter
+had any fear of serpents.
+
+"In spite of all her strength of mind," she answered, "she is
+dreadfully afraid of thunder, and she will scream with terror at the
+sight of the smallest snake.  There are some here, but she need not
+be frightened, for they are not venomous"
+
+I was speechless with astonishment, for I discovered that I had just
+witnessed a wonderful love miracle.  At that moment the children came
+up, and, without ceremony, we again parted company.
+
+"Tell me, wonderful being, bewitching woman, what would you have done
+if, instead of your pretty serpent, you had seen your husband and
+your mother?"
+
+"Nothing.  Do you not know that, in moments of such rapture, lovers
+see and feel nothing but love?  Do you doubt having possessed me
+wholly, entirely?"
+
+Lucrezia, in speaking thus, was not composing a poetical ode; she was
+not feigning fictitious sentiments; her looks, the sound of her
+voice, were truth itself!
+
+"Are you certain," I enquired, "that we are not suspected?"
+
+"My husband does not believe us to be in love with each other, or
+else he does not mind such trifling pleasures as youth is generally
+wont to indulge in.  My mother is a clever woman, and perhaps she
+suspects the truth, but she is aware that it is no longer any concern
+of hers.  As to my sister, she must know everything, for she cannot
+have forgotten the broken-down bed; but she is prudent, and besides,
+she has taken it into her head to pity me.  She has no conception of
+the nature of my feelings towards you.  If I had not met you, my
+beloved, I should probably have gone through life without realizing
+such feelings myself; for what I feel for my husband.... well, I have
+for him the obedience which my position as a wife imposes upon me."
+
+"And yet he is most happy, and I envy him!  He can clasp in his arms
+all your lovely person whenever he likes!  There is no hateful veil
+to hide any of your charms from his gaze."
+
+"Oh!  where art thou, my dear serpent?  Come to us, come and protect
+us against the surprise of the uninitiated, and this very instant I
+fulfil all the wishes of him I adore!"
+
+We passed the morning in repeating that we loved each other, and in
+exchanging over and over again substantial proofs of our mutual
+passion.
+
+We had a delicious dinner, during which I was all attention for the
+amiable Donna Cecilia.  My pretty tortoise-shell box, filled with
+excellent snuff, went more than once round the table.  As it happened
+to be in the hands of Lucrezia who was sitting on my left, her
+husband told her that, if I had no objection, she might give me her
+ring and keep the snuff-box in exchange.  Thinking that the ring was
+not of as much value as my box, I immediately accepted, but I found
+the ring of greater value.  Lucrezia would not, however, listen to
+anything on that subject.  She put the box in her pocket, and thus
+compelled me to keep her ring.
+
+Dessert was nearly over, the conversation was very animated, when
+suddenly the intended husband of Angelique claimed our attention for
+the reading of a sonnet which he had composed and dedicated to me.  I
+thanked him, and placing the sonnet in my pocket promised to write
+one for him.  This was not, however, what he wished; he expected
+that, stimulated by emulation, I would call for paper and pen, and
+sacrifice to Apollo hours which it was much more to my taste to
+employ in worshipping another god whom his cold nature knew only by
+name.  We drank coffee, I paid the bill, and we went about rambling
+through the labyrinthine alleys of the Villa Aldobrandini.
+
+What sweet recollections that villa has left in my memory!  It seemed
+as if I saw my divine Lucrezia for the first time.  Our looks were
+full of ardent love, our hearts were beating in concert with the most
+tender impatience, and a natural instinct was leading us towards a
+solitary asylum which the hand of Love seemed to have prepared on
+purpose for the mysteries of its secret worship.  There, in the
+middle of a long avenue, and under a canopy of thick foliage, we
+found a wide sofa made of grass, and sheltered by a deep thicket;
+from that place our eyes could range over an immense plain, and view
+the avenue to such a distance right and left that we were perfectly
+secure against any surprise.  We did not require to exchange one word
+at the sight of this beautiful temple so favourable to our love; our
+hearts spoke the same language.
+
+Without a word being spoken, our ready hands soon managed to get rid
+of all obstacles, and to expose in a state of nature all the beauties
+which are generally veiled by troublesome wearing apparel.  Two whole
+hours were devoted to the most delightful, loving ecstasies.  At last
+we exclaimed together in mutual ecstasy, "O Love, we thank thee!"
+
+We slowly retraced our steps towards the carriages, revelling in our
+intense happiness.  Lucrezia informed me that Angelique's suitor was
+wealthy, that he owned a splendid villa at Tivoli, and that most
+likely he would invite us all to dine and pass the night there.
+"I pray the god of love," she added, "to grant us a night as
+beautiful as this day has been."  Then, looking sad, she said, "But
+alas!  the ecclesiastical lawsuit which has brought my husband to
+Rome is progressing so favourably that I am mortally afraid he will
+obtain judgment all too soon."
+
+The journey back to the city lasted two hours; we were alone in my
+vis-a-vis and we overtaxed nature, exacting more than it can possibly
+give.  As we were getting near Rome we were compelled to let the
+curtain fall before the denouement of the drama which we had
+performed to the complete satisfaction of the actors.
+
+I returned home rather fatigued, but the sound sleep which was so
+natural at my age restored my full vigour, and in the morning I took
+my French lesson at the usual hour.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+Benedict XIV--Excursion to Tivoli--Departure of Lucrezia--The
+Marchioness G.--Barbara Dalacqua--My Misfortunes--I Leave Rome
+
+
+M. Dalacqua being very ill, his daughter Barbara gave me my lesson.
+When it was over, she seized an opportunity of slipping a letter into
+my pocket, and immediately disappeared, so that I had no chance of
+refusing.  The letter was addressed to me, and expressed feelings of
+the warmest gratitude.  She only desired me to inform her lover that
+her father had spoken to her again, and that most likely he would
+engage a new servant as soon as he had recovered from his illness,
+and she concluded her letter by assuring me that she never would
+implicate me in this business.
+
+Her father was compelled to keep his bed for a fortnight, and Barbara
+continued to give me my lesson every day.  I felt for her an interest
+which, from me towards a young and pretty girl, was, indeed, quite a
+new sentiment.  It was a feeling of pity, and I was proud of being
+able to help and comfort her.  Her eyes never rested upon mine, her
+hand never met mine, I never saw in her toilet the slightest wish to
+please me.  She was very pretty, and I knew she had a tender, loving
+nature; but nothing interfered with the respect and the regard which
+I was bound in honour and in good faith to feel towards her, and I
+was proud to remark that she never thought me capable of taking
+advantage of her weakness or of her position.
+
+When the father had recovered he dismissed his servant and engaged
+another.  Barbara entreated me to inform her friend of the
+circumstance, and likewise of her hope to gain the new servant to
+their interests, at least sufficiently to secure the possibility of
+carrying on some correspondence.  I promised to do so, and as a mark
+of her gratitude she took my hand to carry it to her lips, but
+quickly withdrawing it I tried to kiss her; she turned her face away,
+blushing deeply.  I was much pleased with her modesty.
+
+Barbara having succeeded in gaining the new servant over, I had
+nothing more to do with the intrigue, and I was very glad of it, for
+I knew my interference might have brought evil on my own head.
+Unfortunately, it was already too late.
+
+I seldom visited Don Gaspar; the study of the French language took up
+all my mornings, and it was only in the morning that I could see him;
+but I called every evening upon Father Georgi, and, although I went
+to him only as one of his 'proteges', it gave me some reputation.  I
+seldom spoke before his guests, yet I never felt weary, for in his
+circle his friends would criticise without slandering, discuss
+politics without stubbornness, literature without passion, and I
+profited by all.  After my visit to the sagacious monk, I used to
+attend the assembly of the cardinal, my master, as a matter of duty.
+Almost every evening, when she happened to see me at her card-table,
+the beautiful marchioness would address to me a few gracious words in
+French, and I always answered in Italian, not caring to make her
+laugh before so many persons.  My feelings for her were of a singular
+kind.  I must leave them to the analysis of the reader.  I thought
+that woman charming, yet I avoided her; it was not because I was
+afraid of falling in love with her; I loved Lucrezia, and I firmly
+believed that such an affection was a shield against any other
+attachment, but it was because I feared that she might love me or
+have a passing fancy for me.  Was it self-conceit or modesty, vice or
+virtue?  Perhaps neither one nor the other.
+
+One evening she desired the Abbe Gama to call me to her; she was
+standing near the cardinal, my patron, and the moment I approached
+her she caused me a strange feeling of surprise by asking me in
+Italian a question which I was far from anticipating:
+
+"How did you like Frascati?"
+
+"Very much, madam; I have never seen such a beautiful place."
+
+"But your company was still more beautiful, and your vis-a-vis was
+very smart."
+
+I only bowed low to the marchioness, and a moment after Cardinal
+Acquaviva said to me, kindly,
+
+"You are astonished at your adventure being known?"
+
+"No, my lord; but I am surprised that people should talk of it.  I
+could not have believed Rome to be so much like a small village."
+
+"The longer you live in Rome," said his eminence, "the more you will
+find it so.  You have not yet presented yourself to kiss the foot of
+our Holy Father?"
+
+"Not yet, my lord."
+
+"Then you must do so."
+
+I bowed in compliance to his wishes.
+
+The Abbe Gama told me to present myself to the Pope on the morrow,
+and he added,
+
+"Of course you have already shewn yourself in the Marchioness G.'s
+palace?"
+
+"No, I have never been there."
+
+"You astonish me; but she often speaks to you!"
+
+"I have no objection to go with you."
+
+"I never visit at her palace."
+
+"Yet she speaks to you likewise."
+
+"Yes, but....  You do not know Rome; go alone; believe me, you ought
+to go."
+
+"Will she receive me?"
+
+"You are joking, I suppose.  Of course it is out of the question for
+you to be announced.  You will call when the doors are wide open to
+everybody.  You will meet there all those who pay homage to her."
+
+"Will she see me?"
+
+"No doubt of it."
+
+On the following day I proceeded to Monte-Cavallo, and I was at once
+led into the room where the Pope was alone.  I threw myself on my
+knees and kissed the holy cross on his most holy slipper.  The Pope
+enquiring who I was, I told him, and he answered that he knew me,
+congratulating me upon my being in the service of so eminent a
+cardinal.  He asked me how I had succeeded in gaining the cardinal's
+favour; I answered with a faithful recital of my adventures from my
+arrival at Martorano.  He laughed heartily at all I said respecting
+the poor and worthy bishop, and remarked that, instead of trying to
+address him in Tuscan, I could speak in the Venetian dialect, as he
+was himself speaking to me in the dialect of Bologna.  I felt quite
+at my ease with him, and I told him so much news and amused him so
+well that the Holy Father kindly said that he would be glad to see me
+whenever I presented myself at Monte-Cavallo.  I begged his
+permission to read all forbidden books, and he granted it with his
+blessing, saying that I should have the permission in writing, but he
+forgot it.
+
+Benedict XIV, was a learned man, very amiable, and fond of a joke.
+I saw him for the second time at the Villa Medicis.  He called me to
+him, and continued his walk, speaking of trifling things.  He was
+then accompanied by Cardinal Albani and the ambassador from Venice.
+A man of modest appearance approached His Holiness, who asked what he
+required; the man said a few words in a low voice, and, after
+listening to him, the Pope answered, "You are right, place your trust
+in God;" and he gave him his blessing.  The poor fellow went away
+very dejected, and the Holy Father continued his walk.
+
+"This man," I said, "most Holy Father, has not been pleased with the
+answer of Your Holiness."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Because most likely he had already addressed himself to God before
+he ventured to apply to you; and when Your Holiness sends him to God
+again, he finds himself sent back, as the proverb says, from Herod to
+Pilate."
+
+The Pope, as well as his two companions, laughed heartily; but I kept
+a serious countenance.
+
+"I cannot," continued the Pope, "do any good without God's
+assistance."
+
+"Very true, Holy Father; but the man is aware that you are God's
+prime minister, and it is easy to imagine his trouble now that the
+minister sends him again to the master.  His only resource is to give
+money to the beggars of Rome, who for one 'bajocco' will pray for
+him.  They boast of their influence before the throne of the
+Almighty, but as I have faith only in your credit, I entreat Your
+Holiness to deliver me of the heat which inflames my eyes by granting
+me permission to eat meat."
+
+"Eat meat, my son."
+
+"Holy Father, give me your blessing."
+
+He blessed me, adding that I was not dispensed from fasting.
+
+That very evening, at the cardinal's assembly, I found that the news
+of my dialogue with the Pope was already known.  Everybody was
+anxious to speak to me.  I felt flattered, but I was much more
+delighted at the joy which Cardinal Acquaviva tried in vain to
+conceal.
+
+As I wished not to neglect Gama's advice, I presented myself at the
+mansion of the beautiful marchioness at the hour at which everyone
+had free access to her ladyship.  I saw her, I saw the cardinal and a
+great many abbes; but I might have supposed myself invisible, for no
+one honoured me with a look, and no one spoke to me.  I left after
+having performed for half an hour the character of a mute.  Five or
+six days afterwards, the marchioness told me graciously that she had
+caught a sight of me in her reception-rooms.
+
+"I was there, it is true, madam; but I had no idea that I had had the
+honour to be seen by your ladyship."
+
+"Oh!  I see everybody.  They tell me that you have wit."
+
+"If it is not a mistake on the part of your informants, your ladyship
+gives me very good news."
+
+"Oh! they are excellent judges."
+
+"Then, madam, those persons must have honoured me with their
+conversation; otherwise, it is not likely that they would have been
+able to express such an opinion."
+
+"No doubt; but let me see you often at my receptions."
+
+Our conversation had been overheard by those who were around; his
+excellency the cardinal told me that, when the marchioness addressed
+herself particularly to me in French, my duty was to answer her in
+the same language, good or bad.  The cunning politician Gama took me
+apart, and remarked that my repartees were too smart, too cutting,
+and that, after a time, I would be sure to displease.  I had made
+considerable progress in French; I had given up my lessons, and
+practice was all I required.  I was then in the habit of calling
+sometimes upon Lucrezia in the morning, and of visiting in the
+evening Father Georgi, who was acquainted with the excursion to
+Frascati, and had not expressed any dissatisfaction.
+
+Two days after the sort of command laid upon me by the marchioness, I
+presented myself at her reception.  As soon as she saw me, she
+favoured me with a smile which I acknowledged by a deep reverence;
+that was all.  In a quarter of an hour afterwards I left the mansion.
+The marchioness was beautiful, but she was powerful, and I could not
+make up my mind to crawl at the feet of power, and, on that head, I
+felt disgusted with the manners of the Romans.
+
+One morning towards the end of November the advocate, accompanied by
+Angelique's intended, called on me.  The latter gave me a pressing
+invitation to spend twenty-four hours at Tivoli with the friends I
+had entertained at Frascati.  I accepted with great pleasure, for I
+had found no opportunity of being alone with Lucrezia since the
+Festival of St. Ursula.  I promised to be at Donna Cecilia's house at
+day-break with the same 'is-a-vis'.  It was necessary to start very
+early, because Tivoli is sixteen miles from Rome, and has so many
+objects of interest that it requires many hours to see them all.  As
+I had to sleep out that night, I craved permission to do so from the
+cardinal himself, who, hearing with whom I was going, told me that I
+was quite right not to lose such an opportunity of visiting that
+splendid place in such good society.
+
+The first dawn of day found me with my 'vis-a-vis' and four at the
+door of Donna Cecilia, who came with me as before.  The charming
+widow, notwithstanding her strict morality, was delighted at my love
+for her daughter.  The family rode in a large phaeton hired by Don
+Francisco, which gave room for six persons.
+
+At half-past seven in the morning we made a halt at a small place
+where had been prepared, by Don Franciso's orders, an excellent
+breakfast, which was intended to replace the dinner, and we all made
+a hearty meal, as we were not likely to find time for anything but
+supper at Tivoli.  I wore on my finger the beautiful ring which
+Lucrezia had given me.  At the back of the ring I had had a piece of
+enamel placed, on it was delineated a saduceus, with one serpent
+between the letters Alpha and Omega.  This ring was the subject of
+conversation during breakfast, and Don Francisco, as well as the
+advocate, exerted himself in vain to guess the meaning of the
+hieroglyphs; much to the amusement of Lucrezia, who understood the
+mysterious secret so well.  We continued our road, and reached Tivoli
+at ten o'clock.
+
+We began by visiting Don Francisco's villa.  It was a beautiful
+little house, and we spent the following six hours in examining
+together the antiquities of Tivoli.  Lucrezia having occasion to
+whisper a few words to Don Francisco, I seized the opportunity of
+telling Angelique that after her marriage I should be happy to spend
+a few days of the fine season with her.
+
+"Sir," she answered, "I give you fair notice that the moment I become
+mistress in this house you will be the very first person to be
+excluded."
+
+"I feel greatly obliged to you, signora, for your timely notice."
+
+But the most amusing part of the affair was that I construed
+Angelique's wanton insult into a declaration of love.  I was
+astounded.  Lucrezia, remarking the state I was in, touched my arm,
+enquiring what ailed me.  I told her, and she said at once,
+
+"My darling, my happiness cannot last long; the cruel moment of our
+separation is drawing near.  When I have gone, pray undertake the
+task of compelling her to acknowledge her error.  Angelique pities
+me, be sure to avenge me."
+
+I have forgotten to mention that at Don Francisco's villa I happened
+to praise a very pretty room opening upon the orange-house, and the
+amiable host, having heard me, came obligingly to me, and said that
+it should be my room that night.  Lucrezia feigned not to hear, but
+it was to her Ariadne's clue, for, as we were to remain altogether
+during our visit to the beauties of Tivoli, we had no chance of a
+tete-a-tete through the day.
+
+I have said that we devoted six hours to an examination of the
+antiquities of Tivoli, but I am bound to confess here that I saw, for
+my part, very little of them, and it was only twenty-eight years
+later that I made a thorough acquaintance with the beautiful spot.
+
+We returned to the villa towards evening, fatigued and very hungry,
+but an hour's rest before supper--a repast which lasted two hours,
+the most delicious dishes, the most exquisite wines, and particularly
+the excellent wine of Tivoli--restored us so well that everybody
+wanted nothing more than a good bed and the freedom to enjoy the bed
+according to his own taste.
+
+As everybody objected to sleep alone, Lucrezia said that she would
+sleep with Angelique in one of the rooms leading to the orange-house,
+and proposed that her husband should share a room with the young
+abbe, his brother-in-law, and that Donna Cecilia should take her
+youngest daughter with her.
+
+The arrangement met with general approbation, and Don Francisco,
+taking a candle, escorted me to my pretty little room adjoining the
+one in which the two sisters were to sleep, and, after shewing me how
+I could lock myself in, he wished me good night and left me alone.
+
+Angelique had no idea that I was her near neighbour, but Lucrezia and
+I, without exchanging a single word on the subject, had perfectly
+understood each other.
+
+I watched through the key-hole and saw the two sisters come into
+their room, preceded by the polite Don Francisco, who carried a
+taper, and, after lighting a night-lamp, bade them good night and
+retired.  Then my two beauties, their door once locked, sat down on
+the sofa and completed their night toilet, which, in that fortunate
+climate, is similar to the costume of our first mother.  Lucrezia,
+knowing that I was waiting to come in, told her sister to lie down on
+the side towards the window, and the virgin, having no idea that she
+was exposing her most secret beauties to my profane eyes, crossed the
+room in a state of complete nakedness.  Lucrezia put out the lamp and
+lay down near her innocent sister.
+
+Happy moments which I can no longer enjoy, but the sweet remembrance
+of which death alone can make me lose!  I believe I never undressed
+myself as quickly as I did that evening.
+
+I open the door and fall into the arms of my Lucrezia, who says to
+her sister, "It is my angel, my love; never mind him, and go to
+sleep."
+
+What a delightful picture I could offer to my readers if it were
+possible for me to paint voluptuousnes in its most enchanting
+colours!  What ecstasies of love from the very onset!  What delicious
+raptures succeed each other until the sweetest fatigue made us give
+way to the soothing influence of Morpheus!
+
+The first rays of the sun, piercing through the crevices of the
+shutters, wake us out of our refreshing slumbers, and like two
+valorous knights who have ceased fighting only to renew the contest
+with increased ardour, we lose no time in giving ourselves up to all
+the intensity of the flame which consumes us.
+
+"Oh, my beloved Lucrezia! how supremely happy I am!  But, my darling,
+mind your sister; she might turn round and see us."
+
+"Fear nothing, my life; my sister is kind, she loves me, she pities
+me; do you not love me, my dear Angelique?  Oh! turn round, see how
+happy your sister is, and know what felicity awaits you when you own
+the sway of love."
+
+Angelique, a young maiden of seventeen summers, who must have
+suffered the torments of Tantalus during the night, and who only
+wishes for a pretext to shew that she has forgiven her sister, turns
+round, and covering her sister with kisses, confesses that she has
+not closed her eyes through the night.
+
+"Then forgive likewise, darling Angelique, forgive him who loves me,
+and whom I adore," says Lucrezia.
+
+Unfathomable power of the god who conquers all human beings!
+
+"Angelique hates me," I say, "I dare not...."
+
+"No, I do not hate you!" answers the charming girl.
+
+"Kiss her, dearest," says Lucrezia, pushing me towards her sister,
+and pleased to see her in my arms motionless and languid.
+
+But sentiment, still more than love, forbids me to deprive Lucrezia
+of the proof of my gratitude, and I turn to her with all the rapture
+of a beginner, feeling that my ardour is increased by Angelique's
+ecstasy, as for the first time she witnesses the amorous contest.
+Lucrezia, dying of enjoyment, entreats me to stop, but, as I do not
+listen to her prayer, she tricks me, and the sweet Angelique makes
+her first sacrifice to the mother of love.  It is thus, very likely,
+that when the gods inhabited this earth, the voluptuous Arcadia, in
+love with the soft and pleasing breath of Zephyrus, one day opened
+her arms, and was fecundated.
+
+Lucrezia was astonished and delighted, and covered us both with
+kisses.  Angelique, as happy as her sister, expired deliciously in my
+arms for the third time, and she seconded me with so much loving
+ardour, that it seemed to me I was tasting happiness for the first
+time.
+
+Phoebus had left the nuptial couch, and his rays were already
+diffusing light over the universe; and that light, reaching us
+through the closed shutters, gave me warning to quit the place; we
+exchanged the most loving adieus, I left my two divinities and
+retired to my own room.  A few minutes afterwards, the cheerful voice
+of the advocate was heard in the chamber of the sisters; he was
+reproaching them for sleeping too long!  Then he knocked at my door,
+threatening to bring the ladies to me, and went away, saying that he
+would send me the hair-dresser.
+
+After many ablutions and a careful toilet, I thought I could skew my
+face, and I presented myself coolly in the drawing-room.  The two
+sisters were there with the other members of our society, and I was
+delighted with their rosy cheeks.  Lucrezia was frank and gay, and
+beamed with happiness; Angelique, as fresh as the morning dew, was
+more radiant than usual, but fidgety, and carefully avoided looking
+me in the face.  I saw that my useless attempts to catch her eyes
+made her smile, and I remarked to her mother, rather mischievously,
+that it was a pity Angelique used paint for her face.  She was duped
+by this stratagem, and compelled me to pass a handkerchief over her
+face, and was then obliged to look at me.  I offered her my
+apologies, and Don Francisco appeared highly pleased that the
+complexion of his intended had met with such triumph.
+
+After breakfast we took a walk through the garden, and, finding
+myself alone with Lucrezia, I expostulated tenderly with her for
+having almost thrown her sister in my arms.
+
+"Do not reproach me," she said, "when I deserve praise.  I have
+brought light into the darkness of my charming sister's soul; I have
+initiated her in the sweetest of mysteries, and now, instead of
+pitying me, she must envy me.  Far from having hatred for you, she
+must love you dearly, and as I am so unhappy as to have to part from
+you very soon, my beloved, I leave her to you; she will replace me."
+
+"Ah, Lucrezia!  how can I love her?"
+
+"Is she not a charming girl?"
+
+"No doubt of it; but my adoration for you is a shield against any
+other love.  Besides Don Francisco must, of course, entirely
+monopolize her, and I do not wish to cause coolness between them, or
+to ruin the peace of their home.  I am certain your sister is not
+like you, and I would bet that, even now, she upbraids herself for
+having given way to the ardour of her temperament:"
+
+"Most likely; but, dearest, I am sorry to say my husband expects to
+obtain judgment in the course of this week, and then the short
+instants of happiness will for ever be lost to me."
+
+This was sad news indeed, and to cause a diversion at the breakfast-
+table I took much notice of the generous Don Francisco, and promised
+to compose a nuptial song for his wedding-day, which had been fixed
+for the early part of January.
+
+We returned to Rome, and for the three hours that she was with me in
+my vis-a-vis, Lucrezia had no reason to think that my ardour was at
+all abated.  But when we reached the city I was rather fatigued, and
+proceeded at once to the palace.
+
+Lucrezia had guessed rightly; her husband obtained his judgment three
+or four days afterwards, and called upon me to announce their
+departure for the day after the morrow; he expressed his warm
+friendship for me, and by his invitation I spent the two last
+evenings with Lucrezia, but we were always surrounded by the family.
+The day of her departure, wishing to cause her an agreeable surprise,
+I left Rome before them and waited for them at the place where I
+thought they would put up for the night, but the advocate, having
+been detained by several engagements, was detained in Rome, and they
+only reached the place next day for dinner.  We dined together, we
+exchanged a sad, painful farewell, and they continued their journey
+while I returned to Rome.
+
+After the departure of this charming woman, I found myself in sort of
+solitude very natural to a young man whose heart is not full of hope.
+
+I passed whole days in my room, making extracts from the French
+letters written by the cardinal, and his eminence was kind enough to
+tell me that my extracts were judiciously made, but that he insisted
+upon my not working so hard.  The beautiful marchioness was present
+when he paid me that compliment.
+
+Since my second visit to her, I had not presented myself at her
+house; she was consequently rather cool to me, and, glad of an
+opportunity of making me feel her displeasure, she remarked to his
+eminence that very likely work was a consolation to me in the great
+void caused by the departure of Donna Lucrezia.
+
+"I candidly confess, madam, that I have felt her loss deeply.  She
+was kind and generous; above all, she was indulgent when I did not
+call often upon her.  My friendship for her was innocent."
+
+"I have no doubt of it, although your ode was the work of a poet
+deeply in love."
+
+"Oh!" said the kindly cardinal, "a poet cannot possibly write without
+professing to be in love."
+
+"But," replied the marchioness, "if the poet is really in love, he
+has no need of professing a feeling which he possesses."
+
+As she was speaking, the marchioness drew out of her pocket a paper
+which she offered to his eminence.
+
+"This is the ode," she said, "it does great honour to the poet, for
+it is admitted to be a masterpiece by all the literati in Rome, and
+Donna Lucrezia knows it by heart."
+
+The cardinal read it over and returned it, smiling, and remarking
+that, as he had no taste for Italian poetry, she must give herself
+the pleasure of translating it into French rhyme if she wished him to
+admire it.
+
+"I only write French prose," answered the marchioness, "and a prose
+translation destroys half the beauty of poetry.  I am satisfied with
+writing occasionally a little Italian poetry without any pretension
+to poetical fame"
+
+Those words were accompanied by a very significant glance in my
+direction.
+
+"I should consider myself fortunate, madam, if I could obtain the
+happiness of admiring some of your poetry."
+
+"Here is a sonnet of her ladyship's," said Cardinal S. C.
+
+I took it respectfully, and I prepared to read it, but the amiable
+marchioness told me to put it in my pocket and return it to the
+cardinal the next day, although she did not think the sonnet worth so
+much trouble.  "If you should happen to go out in the morning," said
+Cardinal S. C., "you could bring it back, and dine with me." Cardinal
+Aquaviva immediately answered for me: "He will be sure to go out
+purposely."
+
+With a deep reverence, which expressed my thanks, I left the room
+quietly and returned to my apartment, very impatient to read the
+sonnet.  Yet, before satisfying my wish, I could not help making some
+reflections on the situation.  I began to think myself somebody since
+the gigantic stride I had made this evening at the cardinal's
+assembly.  The Marchioness de G. had shewn in the most open way the
+interest she felt in me, and, under cover of her grandeur, had not
+hesitated to compromise herself publicly by the most flattering
+advances.  But who would have thought of disapproving?  A young abbe
+like me, without any importance whatever, who could scarcely pretend
+to her high protection!  True, but she was precisely the woman to
+grant it to those who, feeling themselves unworthy of it, dared not
+shew any pretensions to her patronage.  On that head, my modesty must
+be evident to everyone, and the marchioness would certainly have
+insulted me had she supposed me capable of sufficient vanity to fancy
+that she felt the slightest inclination for me.  No, such a piece of
+self-conceit was not in accordance with my nature.  Her cardinal
+himself had invited me to dinner.  Would he have done so if he had
+admitted the possibility of the beautiful marchioness feeling
+anything for me?  Of course not, and he gave me an invitation to dine
+with him only because he had understood, from the very words of the
+lady, that I was just the sort of person with whom they could
+converse for a few hours without any risk; to be sure, without any
+risk whatever.  Oh, Master Casanova! do you really think so?
+
+Well, why should I put on a mask before my readers?  They may think
+me conceited if they please, but the fact of the matter is that I
+felt sure of having made a conquest of the marchioness.  I
+congratulated myself because she had taken the first, most difficult,
+and most important step.  Had she not done so, I should never have
+dared-to lay siege to her even in the most approved fashion; I should
+never have even ventured to dream of winning her.  It was only this
+evening that I thought she might replace Lucrezia.  She was
+beautiful, young, full of wit and talent; she was fond of literary
+pursuits, and very powerful in Rome; what more was necessary?  Yet I
+thought it would be good policy to appear ignorant of her inclination
+for me, and to let her suppose from the very next day that I was in
+love with her, but that my love appeared to me hopeless.  I knew that
+such a plan was infallible, because it saved her dignity.  It seemed
+to me that Father Georgi himself would be compelled to approve such
+an undertaking, and I had remarked with great satisfaction that
+Cardinal Acquaviva had expressed his delight at Cardinal S. C.'s
+invitation--an honour which he had never yet bestowed on me himself.
+This affair might have very important results for me.
+
+I read the marchioness's sonnet, and found it easy, flowing, and well
+written.  It was composed in praise of the King of Prussia, who had
+just conquered Silesia by a masterly stroke.  As I was copying it,
+the idea struck me to personify Silesia, and to make her, in answer
+to the sonnet, bewail that Love (supposed to be the author of the
+sonnet of the marchioness) could applaud the man who had conquered
+her, when that conqueror was the sworn enemy of Love.
+
+It is impossible for a man accustomed to write poetry to abstain when
+a happy subject smiles upon his delighted imagination.  If he
+attempted to smother the poetical flame running through his veins it
+would consume him.  I composed my sonnet, keeping the same rhymes as
+in the original, and, well pleased with my muse, I went to bed.
+
+The next morning the Abbe Gama came in just as I had finished
+recopying my sonnet, and said he would breakfast with me.  He
+complimented me upon the honour conferred on me by the invitation of
+Cardinal S. C.
+
+"But be prudent," he added, "for his eminence has the reputation of
+being jealous:"
+
+I thanked him for his friendly advice, taking care to assure him that
+I had nothing to fear, because I did not feel the slightest
+inclination for the handsome marchioness.
+
+Cardinal S. C.  received me with great kindness mingled with dignity,
+to make me realize the importance of the favour he was bestowing upon
+me.
+
+"What do you think," he enquired, "of the sonnet?"
+
+"Monsignor, it is perfectly written, and, what is more, it is a
+charming composition.  Allow me to return it to you with my thanks."
+
+"She has much talent.  I wish to shew you ten stanzas of her
+composition, my dear abbe, but you must promise to be very discreet
+about it."
+
+"Your eminence may rely on me."
+
+He opened his bureau and brought forth the stanzas of which he was
+the subject.  I read them, found them well written, but devoid of
+enthusiasm; they were the work of a poet, and expressed love in the
+words of passion, but were not pervaded by that peculiar feeling by
+which true love is so easily discovered.  The worthy cardinal was
+doubtless guilty of a very great indiscretion, but self-love is the
+cause of so many injudicious steps!  I asked his eminence whether he
+had answered the stanzas.
+
+"No," he replied, "I have not; but would you feel disposed to lend me
+your poetical pen, always under the seal of secrecy?"
+
+"As to secrecy, monsignor, I promise it faithfully; but I am afraid
+the marchioness will remark the difference between your style and
+mine."
+
+"She has nothing of my composition," said the cardinal; "I do not
+think she supposes me a fine poet, and for that reason your stanzas
+must be written in such a manner that she will not esteem them above
+my abilities."
+
+"I will write them with pleasure, monsignor, and your eminence can
+form an opinion; if they do not seem good enough to be worthy of you,
+they need not be given to the marchioness."
+
+"That is well said.  Will you write them at once?"
+
+"What! now, monsignor?  It is not like prose."
+
+"Well, well!  try to let me have them to-morrow."
+
+We dined alone, and his eminence complimented me upon my excellent
+appetite, which he remarked was as good as his own; but I was
+beginning to understand my eccentric host, and, to flatter him, I
+answered that he praised me more than I deserved, and that my
+appetite was inferior to his.  The singular compliment delighted him,
+and I saw all the use I could make of his eminence.
+
+Towards the end of the dinner, as we were conversing, the marchioness
+made her appearance, and, as a matter of course, without being
+announced.  Her looks threw me into raptures; I thought her a perfect
+beauty.  She did not give the cardinal time to meet her, but sat down
+near him, while I remained standing, according to etiquette.
+
+Without appearing to notice me, the marchioness ran wittily over
+various topics until coffee was brought in.  Then, addressing herself
+to me, she told me to sit down, just as if she was bestowing charity
+upon me.
+
+"By-the-by, abbe," she said, a minute after, "have you read my
+sonnet?"
+
+"Yes, madam, and I have had the honour to return it to his eminence.
+I have found it so perfect that I am certain it must have cost you a
+great deal of time."
+
+"Time?" exclaimed the cardinal; "Oh! you do not know the
+marchioness."
+
+"Monsignor," I replied, "nothing can be done well without time, and
+that is why I have not dared to chew to your eminence an answer to
+the sonnet which I have written in half an hour."
+
+"Let us see it, abbe," said the marchioness; "I want to read it."
+
+"Answer of Silesia to Love."  This title brought the most fascinating
+blushes on her countenance.  "But Love is not mentioned in the
+sonnet," exclaimed the cardinal.  "Wait," said the marchioness, "we
+must respect the idea of the poet:"
+
+She read the sonnet over and over, and thought that the reproaches
+addressed by Silesia to Love were very just.  She explained my idea
+to the cardinal, making him understand why Silesia was offended at
+having been conquered by the King of Prussia.
+
+"Ah, I see, I see!" exclaimed the cardinal, full of joy; "Silesia is
+a woman....  and the King of Prussia....  Oh!  oh!  that is really a
+fine idea!  " And the good cardinal laughed heartily for more than a
+quarter of an hour.  "I must copy that sonnet," he added, "indeed I
+must have it."
+
+"The abbe," said the obliging marchioness, "will save you the
+trouble: I will dictate it to him."
+
+I prepared to write, but his eminence suddenly exclaimed, "My dear
+marchioness, this is wonderful; he has kept the same rhymes as in
+your own sonnet: did you observe it?"
+
+The beautiful marchioness gave me then a look of such expression that
+she completed her conquest.  I understood that she wanted me to know
+the cardinal as well as she knew him; it was a kind of partnership in
+which I was quite ready to play my part.
+
+As soon as I had written the sonnet under the charming woman's
+dictation, I took my leave, but not before the cardinal had told me
+that he expected me to dinner the next day.
+
+I had plenty of work before me, for the ten stanzas I had to compose
+were of the most singular character, and I lost no time in shutting
+myself up in my room to think of them.  I had to keep my balance
+between two points of equal difficulty, and I felt that great care
+was indispensable.  I had to place the marchioness in such a position
+that she could pretend to believe the cardinal the author of the
+stanzas, and, at the same time, compel her to find out that I had
+written them, and that I was aware of her knowing it.  It was
+necessary to speak so carefully that not one expression should
+breathe even the faintest hope on my part, and yet to make my stanzas
+blaze with the ardent fire of my love under the thin veil of poetry.
+As for the cardinal, I knew well enough that the better the stanzas
+were written, the more disposed he would be to sign them.  All I
+wanted was clearness, so difficult to obtain in poetry, while a
+little doubtful darkness would have been accounted sublime by my new
+Midas.  But, although I wanted to please him, the cardinal was only a
+secondary consideration, and the handsome marchioness the principal
+object.
+
+As the marchioness in her verses had made a pompous enumeration of
+every physical and moral quality of his eminence, it was of course
+natural that he should return the compliment, and here my task was
+easy.  At last having mastered my subject well, I began my work, and
+giving full career to my imagination and to my feelings I composed
+the ten stanzas, and gave the finishing stroke with these two
+beautiful lines from Ariosto:
+
+          Le angelicche bellezze nate al cielo
+          Non si ponno celar sotto alcum velo.
+
+Rather pleased with my production, I presented it the next day to the
+cardinal, modestly saying that I doubted whether he would accept the
+authorship of so ordinary a composition.  He read the stanzas twice
+over without taste or expression, and said at last that they were
+indeed not much, but exactly what he wanted.  He thanked me
+particularly for the two lines from Ariosto, saying that they would
+assist in throwing the authorship upon himself, as they would prove
+to the lady for whom they were intended that he had not been able to
+write them without borrowing.  And, as to offer me some consolation,
+he told me that, in recopying the lines, he would take care to make a
+few mistakes in the rhythm to complete the illusion.
+
+We dined earlier than the day before, and I withdrew immediately
+after dinner so as to give him leisure to make a copy of the stanzas
+before the arrival of the lady.
+
+The next evening I met the marchioness at the entrance of the palace,
+and offered her my arm to come out of her carriage.  The instant she
+alighted, she said to me,
+
+"If ever your stanzas and mine become known in Rome, you may be sure
+of my enmity."
+
+"Madam, I do not understand what you mean."
+
+"I expected you to answer me in this manner," replied the
+marchioness, "but recollect what I have said."
+
+I left her at the door of the reception-room, and thinking that she
+was really angry with me, I went away in despair.  "My stanzas," I
+said to myself, "are too fiery; they compromise her dignity, and her
+pride is offended at my knowing the secret of her intrigue with
+Cardinal S. C.  Yet, I feel certain that the dread she expresses of
+my want of discretion is only feigned, it is but a pretext to turn me
+out of her favour.  She has not understood my reserve!  What would
+she have done, if I had painted her in the simple apparel of the
+golden age, without any of those veils which modesty imposes upon her
+sex!"  I was sorry I had not done so.  I undressed and went to bed.
+My head was scarcely on the pillow when the Abbe Gama knocked at my
+door.  I pulled the door-string, and coming in, he said,
+
+"My dear sir, the cardinal wishes to see you, and I am sent by the
+beautiful marchioness and Cardinal S. C., who desire you to come
+down."
+
+"I am very sorry, but I cannot go; tell them the truth; I am ill in
+bed."
+
+As the abbe did not return, I judged that he had faithfully acquitted
+himself of the commission, and I spent a quiet night.  I was not yet
+dressed in the morning, when I received a note from Cardinal S. C.
+inviting me to dinner, saying that he had just been bled, and that he
+wanted to speak to me: he concluded by entreating me to come to him
+early, even if I did not feel well.
+
+The invitation was pressing; I could not guess what had caused it,
+but the tone of the letter did not forebode anything unpleasant.  I
+went to church, where I was sure that Cardinal Acquaviva would see
+me, and he did.  After mass, his eminence beckoned to me.
+
+"Are you truly ill?" he enquired.
+
+"No, monsignor, I was only sleepy."
+
+"I am very glad to hear it; but you are wrong, for you are loved.
+Cardinal S. C.  has been bled this morning."
+
+"I know it, monsignor.  The cardinal tells me so in this note, in
+which he invites me to dine with him, with your excellency's
+permission."
+
+"Certainly.  But this is amusing!  I did not know that he wanted a
+third person."
+
+"Will there be a third person?"
+
+"I do not know, and I have no curiosity about it."
+
+The cardinal left me, and everybody imagined that his eminence had
+spoken to me of state affairs.
+
+I went to my new Maecenas, whom I found in bed.
+
+"I am compelled to observe strict diet," he said to me; "I shall have
+to let you dine alone, but you will not lose by it as my cook does
+not know it.  What I wanted to tell you is that your stanzas are, I
+am afraid, too pretty, for the marchioness adores them.  If you had
+read them to me in the same way that she does, I could never have
+made up my mind to offer them."  "But she believes them to be written
+by your eminence?"
+
+"Of course."
+
+"That is the essential point, monsignor."
+
+"Yes; but what should I do if she took it into her head to compose
+some new stanzas for me?"
+
+"You would answer through the same pen, for you can dispose of me
+night and day, and rely upon the utmost secrecy."
+
+"I beg of you to accept this small present; it is some negrillo snuff
+from Habana, which Cardinal Acquaviva has given me."
+
+The snuff was excellent, but the object which contained it was still
+better.  It was a splendid gold-enamelled box.  I received it with
+respect, and with the expression of the deepest gratitude.
+
+If his eminence did not know how to write poetry, at least he knew
+how to be generous, and in a delicate manner, and that science is, at
+least in my estimation, superior to the other for a great nobleman.
+
+At noon, and much to my surprise, the beautiful marchioness made her
+appearance in the most elegant morning toilet.
+
+"If I had known you were in good company," she said to the cardinal,
+"I would not have come."
+
+"I am sure, dear marchioness, you will not find our dear abbe in the
+way."
+
+"No, for I believe him to be honest and true."
+
+I kept at a respectful distance, ready to go away with my splendid
+snuff-box at the first jest she might hurl at me.
+
+The cardinal asked her if she intended to remain to dinner.
+
+"Yes," she answered; "but I shall not enjoy my dinner, for I hate to
+eat alone."
+
+"If you would honour him so far, the abbe would keep you company."
+
+She gave me a gracious look, but without uttering one word.
+
+This was the first time I had anything to do with a woman of quality,
+and that air of patronage, whatever kindness might accompany it,
+always put me out of temper, for I thought it made love out of the
+question.  However, as we were in the presence of the cardinal, I
+fancied that she might be right in treating me in that fashion.
+
+The table was laid out near the cardinal's bed, and the marchioness,
+who ate hardly anything, encouraged me in my good appetite.
+
+"I have told you that the abbe is equal to me in that respect," said
+S. C.
+
+"I truly believe," answered the marchioness, "that he does not remain
+far behind you; but," added she with flattery, "you are more dainty
+in your tastes."
+
+"Would her ladyship be so good as to tell me in what I have appeared
+to her to be a mere glutton?  For in all things I like only dainty
+and exquisite morsels."
+
+"Explain what you mean by saying in all things," said the cardinal.
+Taking the liberty of laughing, I composed a few impromptu verses in
+which I named all I thought dainty and exquisite.  The marchioness
+applauded, saying that she admired my courage.
+
+"My courage, madam, is due to you, for I am as timid as a hare when I
+am not encouraged; you are the author of my impromptu."
+
+"I admire you.  As for myself, were I encouraged by Apollo himself, I
+could not compose four lines without paper and ink."
+
+"Only give way boldly to your genius, madam, and you will produce
+poetry worthy of heaven."
+
+"That--is my opinion, too," said the cardinal.  "I entreat you to
+give me permission to skew your ten stanzas to the abbe."
+
+"They are not very good, but I have no objection provided it remains
+between us."
+
+The cardinal gave me, then, the stanzas composed by the marchioness,
+and I read them aloud with all the expression, all the feeling
+necessary to such reading.
+
+"How well you have read those stanzas!" said the marchioness; "I can
+hardly believe them to be my own composition; I thank you very much.
+But have the goodness to give the benefit of your reading to the
+stanzas which his eminence has written in answer to mine.  They
+surpass them much."
+
+"Do not believe it, my dear abbe," said the cardinal, handing them to
+me.  "Yet try not to let them lose anything through your reading."
+
+There was certainly no need of his eminence enforcing upon me such a
+recommendation; it was my own poetry.  I could not have read it
+otherwise than in my best style, especially when I had before me the
+beautiful woman who had inspired them, and when, besides, Bacchus was
+in me giving courage to Apollo as much as the beautiful eyes of the
+marchioness were fanning into an ardent blaze the fire already
+burning through my whole being.
+
+I read the stanzas with so much expression that the cardinal was
+enraptured, but I brought a deep carnation tint upon the cheeks of
+the lovely marchioness when I came to the description of those
+beauties which the imagination of the poet is allowed to guess at,
+but which I could not, of course, have gazed upon.  She snatched the
+paper from my hands with passion, saying that I was adding verses of
+my own; it was true, but I did not confess it.  I was all aflame, and
+the fire was scorching her as well as me.
+
+The cardinal having fallen asleep, she rose and went to take a seat
+on the balcony; I followed her.  She had a rather high seat; I stood
+opposite to her, so that her knee touched the fob-pocket in which was
+my watch.  What a position!  Taking hold gently of one of her hands,
+I told her that she had ignited in my soul a devouring flame, that I
+adored her, and that, unless some hope was left to me of finding her
+sensible to my sufferings, I was determined to fly away from her for
+ever.
+
+"Yes, beautiful marchioness, pronounce my sentence."
+
+"I fear you are a libertine and an unfaithful lover."
+
+"I am neither one nor the other."
+
+With these words I folded her in my arms, and I pressed upon her
+lovely lips, as pure as a rose, an ardent kiss which she received
+with the best possible grace.  This kiss, the forerunner of the most
+delicious pleasures, had imparted to my hands the greatest boldness;
+I was on the point of....  but the marchioness, changing her
+position, entreated me so sweetly to respect her, that, enjoying new
+voluptuousness through my very obedience, I not only abandoned an
+easy victory, but I even begged her pardon, which I soon read in the
+most loving look.
+
+She spoke of Lucrezia, and was pleased with my discretion.  She then
+alluded to the cardinal, doing her best to make me believe that there
+was nothing between them but a feeling of innocent friendship.  Of
+course I had my opinion on that subject, but it was my interest to
+appear to believe every word she uttered.  We recited together lines
+from our best poets, and all the time she was still sitting down and
+I standing before her, with my looks rapt in the contemplation of the
+most lovely charms, to which I remained insensible in appearance, for
+I had made up my mind not to press her that evening for greater
+favours than those I had already received.
+
+The cardinal, waking from his long and peaceful siesta, got up and
+joined us in his night-cap, and good-naturedly enquired whether we
+had not felt impatient at his protracted sleep.  I remained until
+dark and went home highly pleased with my day's work, but determined
+to keep my ardent desires in check until the opportunity for complete
+victory offered itself.
+
+>From that day, the charming marchioness never ceased to give me the
+marks of her particular esteem, without the slightest constraint; I
+was reckoning upon the carnival, which was close at hand, feeling
+certain that the more I should spare her delicacy, the more she would
+endeavour to find the opportunity of rewarding my loyalty, and of
+crowning with happiness my loving constancy.  But fate ordained
+otherwise; Dame Fortune turned her back upon me at the very moment
+when the Pope and Cardinal Acquaviva were thinking of giving me a
+really good position.
+
+The Holy Father had congratulated me upon the beautiful snuff-box
+presented to me by Cardinal S. C., but he had been careful never to
+name the marchioness.  Cardinal Acquaviva expressed openly his
+delight at his brother-cardinal having given me a taste of his
+negrillo snuff in so splendid an envelope; the Abbe Gama, finding me
+so forward on the road to success, did not venture to counsel me any
+more, and the virtuous Father Georgi gave me but one piece of advice-
+namely, to cling to the lovely marchioness and not to make any other
+acquaintances.
+
+Such was my position-truly a brilliant one, when, on Christmas Day,
+the lover of Barbara Dalacqua entered my room, locked the door, and
+threw himself on the sofa, exclaiming that I saw him for the last
+time.
+
+"I only come to beg of you some good advice."
+
+"On what subject can I advise you?"
+
+"Take this and read it; it will explain everything."
+
+It was a letter from his mistress; the contents were these:
+
+"I am pregnant of a child, the pledge of our mutual love; I can no
+longer have any doubt of it, my beloved, and I forewarn you that I
+have made up my mind to quit Rome alone, and to go away to die where
+it may please God, if you refuse to take care of me and save me.  I
+would suffer anything, do anything, rather than let my father
+discover the truth."
+
+"If you are a man of honour," I said, "you cannot abandon the poor
+girl.  Marry her in spite of your father, in spite of her own, and
+live together honestly.  The eternal Providence of God will watch
+over you and help you in your difficulties:"
+
+My advice seemed to bring calm to his mind, and he left me more
+composed.
+
+At the beginning of January, 1744, he called again, looking very
+cheerful.  "I have hired," he said, "the top floor of the house next
+to Barbara's dwelling; she knows it, and to-night I will gain her
+apartment through one of the windows of the garret, and we will make
+all our arrangements to enable me to carry her off.  I have made up
+my mind; I have decided upon taking her to Naples, and I will take
+with us the servant who, sleeping in the garret, had to be made a
+confidante of."
+
+"God speed you, my friend!"
+
+A week afterwards, towards eleven o'clock at night, he entered my
+room accompanied by an abbe.
+
+"What do you want so late?"
+
+"I wish to introduce you to this handsome abbe."
+
+I looked up, and to my consternation I recognized Barbara.
+
+"Has anyone seen you enter the house?" I enquired.
+
+"No; and if we had been seen, what of it?  It is only an abbe.  We
+now pass every night together."
+
+"I congratulate you."
+
+"The servant is our friend; she has consented to follow us, and all
+our arrangements are completed."
+
+"I wish you every happiness.  Adieu.  I beg you to leave me."
+
+Three or four days after that visit, as I was walking with the Abbe
+Gama towards the Villa Medicis, he told me deliberately that there
+would be an execution during the night in the Piazza di Spagna.
+
+"What kind of execution?"
+
+"The bargello or his lieutenant will come to execute some 'ordine
+santissimo', or to visit some suspicious dwelling in order to arrest
+and carry off some person who does not expect anything of the sort."
+
+"How do you know it?"
+
+"His eminence has to know it, for the Pope would not venture to
+encroach upon his jurisdiction without asking his permission."
+
+"And his eminence has given it?"
+
+"Yes, one of the Holy Father's auditors came for that purpose this
+morning."
+
+"But the cardinal might have refused?"
+
+"Of course; but such a permission is never denied."
+
+"And if the person to be arrested happened to be under the protection
+of the cardinal--what then?"
+
+"His eminence would give timely warning to that person."
+
+We changed the conversation, but the news had disturbed me.  I
+fancied that the execution threatened Barbara and her lover, for her
+father's house was under the Spanish jurisdiction.  I tried to see
+the young man but I could not succeed in meeting him, and I was
+afraid lest a visit at his home or at M. Dalacqua's dwelling might
+implicate me.  Yet it is certain that this last consideration would
+not have stopped me if I had been positively sure that they were
+threatened; had I felt satisfied of their danger, I would have braved
+everything.
+
+About midnight, as I was ready to go to bed, and just as I was
+opening my door to take the key from outside, an abbe rushed panting
+into my room and threw himself on a chair.  It was Barbara; I guessed
+what had taken place, and, foreseeing all the evil consequences her
+visit might have for me, deeply annoyed and very anxious, I upbraided
+her for having taken refuge in my room, and entreated her to go away.
+
+Fool that I was!  Knowing that I was only ruining myself without any
+chance of saving her, I ought to have compelled her to leave my room,
+I ought to have called for the servants if she had refused to
+withdraw.  But I had not courage enough, or rather I voluntarily
+obeyed the decrees of destiny.
+
+When she heard my order to go away, she threw herself on her knees,
+and melting into tears, she begged, she entreated my pity!
+
+Where is the heart of steel which is not softened by the tears, by
+the prayers of a pretty and unfortunate woman?  I gave way, but I
+told her that it was ruin for both of us.
+
+"No one," she replied, "has seen me, I am certain, when I entered the
+mansion and came up to your room, and I consider my visit here a week
+ago as most fortunate; otherwise, I never could have known which was
+your room."
+
+"Alas!  how much better if you had never come!  But what has become
+of your lover?"
+
+"The 'sbirri' have carried him off, as well as the servant.  I will
+tell you all about it.  My lover had informed me that a carriage
+would wait to-night at the foot of the flight of steps before the
+Church of Trinita del Monte, and that he would be there himself.  I
+entered his room through the garret window an hour ago.  There I put
+on this disguise, and, accompanied by the servant, proceeded to meet
+him.  The servant walked a few yards before me, and carried a parcel
+of my things.  At the corner of the street, one of the buckles of my
+shoes being unfastened, I stopped an instant, and the servant went
+on, thinking that I was following her.  She reached the carriage, got
+into it, and, as I was getting nearer, the light from a lantern
+disclosed to me some thirty sbirri; at the same instant, one of them
+got on the driver's box and drove off at full speed, carrying off the
+servant, whom they must have mistaken for me, and my lover who was in
+the coach awaiting me.  What could I do at such a fearful moment?  I
+could not go back to my father's house, and I followed my first
+impulse which brought me here.  And here I am!  You tell me that my
+presence will cause your ruin; if it is so, tell me what to do; I
+feel I am dying; but find some expedient and I am ready to do
+anything, even to lay my life down, rather than be the cause of your
+ruin."
+
+But she wept more bitterly than ever.
+
+Her position was so sad that I thought it worse even than mine,
+although I could almost fancy I saw ruin before me despite my
+innocence.
+
+"Let me," I said, "conduct you to your father; I feel sure of
+obtaining your pardon."
+
+But my proposal only enhanced her fears.
+
+"I am lost," she exclaimed; "I know my father.  Ah! reverend sir,
+turn me out into the street, and abandon me to my miserable fate."
+
+No doubt I ought to have done so, and I would have done it if the
+consciousness of what was due to my own interest had been stronger
+than my feeling of pity.  But her tears!  I have often said it, and
+those amongst my readers who have experienced it, must be of the same
+opinion; there is nothing on earth more irresistible than two
+beautiful eyes shedding tears, when the owner of those eyes is
+handsome, honest, and unhappy.  I found myself physically unable to
+send her away.
+
+"My poor girl," I said at last, "when daylight comes, and that will
+not be long, for it is past midnight, what do you intend to do?"
+
+"I must leave the palace," she replied, sobbing.  "In this disguise
+no one can recognize me; I will leave Rome, and I will walk straight
+before me until I fall on the ground, dying with grief and fatigue."
+
+With these words she fell on the floor.  She was choking; I could see
+her face turn blue; I was in the greatest distress.
+
+I took off her neck-band, unlaced her stays under the abbe's dress, I
+threw cold water in her face, and I finally succeeded in bringing her
+back to consciousness.
+
+The night was extremely cold, and there was no fire in my room.  I
+advised her to get into my bed, promising to respect her.
+
+"Alas!  reverend sir, pity is the only feeling with which I can now
+inspire anyone."
+
+And, to speak the truth I was too deeply moved, and, at the same
+time, too full of anxiety, to leave room in me for any desire.
+Having induced her to go to bed, and her extreme weakness preventing
+her from doing anything for herself, I undressed her and put her to
+bed, thus proving once more that compassion will silence the most
+imperious requirements of nature, in spite of all the charms which
+would, under other circumstances, excite to the highest degree the
+senses of a man.  I lay down near her in my clothes, and woke her at
+day-break.  Her strength was somewhat restored, she dressed herself
+alone, and I left my room, telling her to keep quiet until my return.
+I intended to proceed to her father's house, and to solicit her
+pardon, but, having perceived some suspicious-looking men loitering
+about the palace, I thought it wise to alter my mind, and went to a
+coffeehouse.
+
+I soon ascertanied that a spy was watching my movements at a
+distance; but I did not appear to notice him, and having taken some
+chocolate and stored a few biscuits in my pocket, I returned towards
+the palace, apparently without any anxiety or hurry, always followed
+by the same individual.  I judged that the bargello, having failed in
+his project, was now reduced to guesswork, and I was strengthened in
+that view of the case when the gate-keeper of the palace told me,
+without my asking any question, as I came in, that an arrest had been
+attempted during the night, and had not succeeded.  While he was
+speaking, one of the auditors of the Vicar-General called to enquire
+when he could see the Abby Gama.  I saw that no time was to be lost,
+and went up to my room to decide upon what was to be done.
+
+I began by making the poor girl eat a couple of biscuits soaked in
+some Canary wine, and I took her afterwards to the top story of the
+palace, where, leaving her in a not very decent closet which was not
+used by anyone, I told her to wait for me.
+
+My servant came soon after, and I ordered him to lock the door of my
+room as soon as he finished cleaning it, and to bring me the key at
+the Abbe Gama's apartment, where I was going.  I found Gama in
+conversation with the auditor sent by the Vicar-General.  As soon as
+he had dismissed him, he came to me, and ordered his servant to serve
+the chocolate.  When we were left alone he gave me an account of his
+interview with the auditor, who had come to entreat his eminence to
+give orders to turn out of his palace a person who was supposed to
+have taken refuge in it about midnight.  "We must wait," said the
+abbe, "until the cardinal is visible, but I am quite certain that, if
+anyone has taken refuge here unknown to him, his eminence will compel
+that person to leave the palace."  We then spoke of the weather and
+other trifles until my servant brought my key.  Judging that I had at
+least an hour to spare, I bethought myself of a plan which alone
+could save Barbara from shame and misery.
+
+Feeling certain that I was unobserved, I went up to my poor prisoner
+and made her write the following words in French:
+
+"I am an honest girl, monsignor, though I am disguised in the dress
+of an abbe.  I entreat your eminence to allow me to give my name only
+to you and in person.  I hope that, prompted by the great goodness of
+your soul, your eminence will save me from dishonour." I gave her the
+necessary instructions, as to sending the note to the cardinal,
+assuring her that he would have her brought to him as soon as he read
+it.
+
+"When you are in his presence," I added, "throw yourself on your
+knees, tell him everything without any concealment, except as regards
+your having passed the night in my room.  You must be sure not to
+mention that circumstance, for the cardinal must remain in complete
+ignorance of my knowing anything whatever of this intrigue.  Tell him
+that, seeing your lover carried off, you rushed to his palace and ran
+upstairs as far as you could go, and that after a most painful night
+Heaven inspired you with the idea of writing to him to entreat his
+pity.  I feel certain that, one way or the other, his eminence will
+save you from dishonour, and it certainly is the only chance you have
+of being united to the man you love so dearly."
+
+She promised to follow 'my instructions faithfully, and, coming down,
+I had my hair dressed and went to church, where the cardinal saw me.
+I then went out and returned only for dinner, during which the only
+subject of conversation was the adventure of the night.  Gama alone
+said nothing, and I followed his example, but I understood from all
+the talk going on round the table that the cardinal had taken my poor
+Barbara under his protection.  That was all I wanted, and thinking
+that I had nothing more to fear I congratulated myself, in petto,
+upon my stratagem, which had, I thought, proved a master-stroke.
+After dinner, finding myself alone with Gama, I asked him what was
+the meaning of it all, and this is what he told me:
+
+"A father, whose name I do not know yet, had requested the assistance
+of the Vicar-General to prevent his son from carrying off a young
+girl, with whom he intended to leave the States of the Church; the
+pair had arranged to meet at midnight in this very square, and the
+Vicar, having previously obtained the consent of our cardinal, as I
+told you yesterday, gave orders to the bargello to dispose his men in
+such a way as to catch the young people in the very act of running
+away, and to arrest them.  The orders were executed, but the 'sbirri'
+found out, when they returned to the bargello, that they had met with
+only a half success, the woman who got out of the carriage with the
+young man not belonging to that species likely to be carried off.
+Soon afterwards a spy informed the bargello that, at the very moment
+the arrest was executed, he had seen a young abbe run away very
+rapidly and take refuge in this palace, and the suspicion immediately
+arose that it might be the missing young lady in the disguise of an
+ecclesiastic.  The bargello reported to the Vicar-General the failure
+of his men, as well as the account given by the spy, and the Prelate,
+sharing the suspicion of the police, sent to his eminence, our
+master, requesting him to have the person in question, man or woman,
+turned out of the palace, unless such persons should happen to be
+known to his excellency, and therefore above suspicion.  Cardinal
+Acquaviva was made acquainted with these circumstances at nine this
+morning through the auditor you met in my room, and he promised to
+have the person sent away unless she belonged to his household.
+
+"According to his promise, the cardinal ordered the palace to be
+searched, but, in less than a quarter of an hour, the major-domo
+received orders to stop, and the only reason for these new
+instructions must be this:
+
+"I am told by the major-domo that at nine o'clock exactly a very
+handsome, young abbe, whom he immediately judged to be a girl in
+disguise, asked him to deliver a note to his eminence, and that the
+cardinal, after reading it, had desired the said abbe be brought to
+his apartment, which he has not left since.  As the order to stop
+searching the palace was given immediately after the introduction of
+the abbe to the cardinal, it is easy enough to suppose that this
+ecclesiastic is no other than the young girl missed by the police,
+who took refuge in the palace in which she must have passed the whole
+night."
+
+"I suppose," said I, "that his eminence will give her up to-day, if
+not to the bargello, at least to the Vicar-General."
+
+"No, not even to the Pope himself," answered Gama.  "You have not yet
+a right idea of the protection of our cardinal, and that protection
+is evidently granted to her, since the young person is not only in
+the palace of his eminence, but also in his own apartment and under
+his own guardianship."
+
+The whole affair being in itself very interesting, my attention could
+not appear extraordinary to Gama, however suspicious he might be
+naturally, and I was certain that he would not have told me anything
+if he had guessed the share I had taken in the adventure, and the
+interest I must have felt in it.
+
+The next day, Gama came to my room with a radiant countenance, and
+informed me that the Cardinal-Vicar was aware of the ravisher being
+my friend, and supposed that I was likewise the friend of the girl,
+as she was the daughter of my French teacher.  "Everybody," he added,
+"is satisfied that you knew the whole affair, and it is natural to
+suspect that the poor girl spent the night in your room.  I admire
+your prudent reserve during our conversation of yesterday.  You kept
+so well on your guard that I would have sworn you knew nothing
+whatever of the affair."
+
+"And it is the truth," I answered, very seriously; "I have only
+learned all the circumstances from you this moment.  I know the girl,
+but I have not seen her for six weeks, since I gave up my French
+lessons; I am much better acquainted with the young man, but he never
+confided his project to me.  However, people may believe whatever
+they please.  You say that it is natural for the girl to have passed
+the night in my room, but you will not mind my laughing in the face
+of those who accept their own suppositions as realities."
+
+"That, my dear friend," said the abbe, "is one of the vices of the
+Romans; happy those who can afford to laugh at it; but this slander
+may do you harm, even in the mind of our cardinal."
+
+As there was no performance at the Opera that night, I went to the
+cardinal's reception; I found no difference towards me either in the
+cardinal's manners, or in those of any other person, and the
+marchioness was even more gracious than usual.
+
+After dinner, on the following day, Gama informed me that the
+cardinal had sent the young girl to a convent in which she would be
+well treated at his eminence's expense, and that he was certain that
+she would leave it only to become the wife of the young doctor.
+
+"I should be very happy if it should turn out so," I replied; "for
+they are both most estimable people."
+
+Two days afterwards, I called upon Father Georgi, and he told me,
+with an air of sorrow, that the great news of the day in Rome was the
+failure of the attempt to carry off Dalacqua's daughter, and that all
+the honour of the intrigue was given to me, which displeased him
+much.  I told him what I had already told Gama, and he appeared to
+believe me, but he added that in Rome people did not want to know
+things as they truly were, but only as they wished them to be.
+
+It is known, that you have been in the habit of going every morning
+to Dalacqua's house; it is known that the young man often called on
+you; that is quite enough.  People do not care, to know the
+circumstances which might counteract the slander, but only those,
+likely to give it new force for slander is vastly relished in the
+Holy City.  Your innocence will not prevent the whole adventure being
+booked to your account, if, in forty years time you were proposed as
+pope in the conclave."
+
+During the following days the fatal adventure began to cause me more
+annoyance than I could express, for everyone mentioned it to me, and
+I could see clearly that people pretended to believe what I said only
+because they did not dare to do otherwise.  The marchioness told me
+jeeringly that the Signora Dalacqua had contracted peculiar
+obligations towards me, but my sorrow was very great when, during the
+last days of the carnival, I remarked that Cardinal Acquaviva's
+manner had become constrained, although I was the only person who
+observed the change.
+
+The noise made by the affair was, however, beginning to subside,
+when, in the first days of Lent, the cardinal desired me to come to
+his private room, and spoke as follows
+
+"The affair of the girl Dalacqua is now over; it is no longer spoken
+of, but the verdict of the public is that you and I have profited by
+the clumsiness of the young man who intended to carry her off.  In
+reality I care little for such a verdict, for, under similar
+circumstances, I should always act in a similar manner, and I do not
+wish to know that which no one can compel you to confess, and which,
+as a man of honour, you must not admit.  If you had no previous
+knowledge of the intrigue, and had actually turned the girl out of
+your room (supposing she did come to you), you would have been guilty
+of a wrong and cowardly action, because you would have sealed her
+misery for the remainder of her days, and it would not have caused
+you to escape the suspicion of being an accomplice, while at the same
+time it would have attached to you the odium of dastardly treachery.
+Notwithstanding all I have just said, you can easily imagine that, in
+spite of my utter contempt for all gossiping fools, I cannot openly
+defy them.  I therefore feel myself compelled to ask you not only to
+quit my service, but even to leave Rome.  I undertake to supply you
+with an honourable pretext for your departure, so as to insure you
+the continuation of the respect which you may have secured through
+the marks of esteem I have bestowed upon you.  I promise you to
+whisper in the ear of any person you may choose, and even to inform
+everybody, that you are going on an important mission which I have
+entrusted to you.  You have only to name the country where you want
+to go; I have friends everywhere, and can recommend you to such
+purpose that you will be sure to find employment.  My letters of
+recommendation will be in my own handwriting, and nobody need know
+where you are going.  Meet me to-morrow at the Villa Negroni, and let
+me know where my letters are to be addressed.  You must be ready to
+start within a week.  Believe me, I am sorry to lose you; but the
+sacrifice is forced upon me by the most absurd prejudice.  Go now,
+and do not let me witness your grief."
+
+He spoke the last words because he saw my eyes filling with tears,
+and he did not give me time to answer.  Before leaving his room, I
+had the strength of mind to compose myself, and I put on such an air
+of cheerfulness that the Abbe Gama, who took me to his room to drink
+some coffee, complimented me upon my happy looks.
+
+"I am sure," he said, "that they are caused by the conversation you
+have had with his eminence."
+
+"You are right; but you do not know the sorrow at my heart which I
+try not to shew outwardly."
+
+"What sorrow?"
+
+"I am afraid of failing in a difficult mission which the cardinal has
+entrusted me with this morning.  I am compelled to conceal how little
+confidence I feel in myself in order not to lessen the good opinion
+his eminence is pleased to entertain of me."
+
+"If my advice can be of any service to you, pray dispose of me; but
+you are quite right to chew yourself calm and cheerful.  Is it any
+business to transact in Rome?"
+
+"No; it is a journey I shall have to undertake in a week or ten
+days."
+
+"Which way?"
+
+"Towards the west."
+
+"Oh! I am not curious to know."
+
+I went out alone and took a walk in the Villa Borghese, where I spent
+two hours wrapped in dark despair.  I liked Rome, I was on the high
+road to fortune, and suddenly I found myself in the abyss, without
+knowing where to go, and with all my hopes scattered to the winds.  I
+examined my conduct, I judged myself severely, I could not find
+myself guilty of any crime save of too much kindness, but I perceived
+how right the good Father Georgi had been.  My duty was not only to
+take no part in the intrigue of the two love, but also to change my
+French teacher the moment I beard of it; but this was like calling in
+a doctor after death has struck the patient.  Besides, young as I
+was, having no experience yet of misfortune, and still less of the
+wickedness of society, it was very difficult for me to have that
+prudence which a man gains only by long intercourse with the world.
+
+"Where shall I go?"  This was the question which seemed to me
+impossible of solution.  I thought of it all through the night, and
+through the morning, but I thought in vain; after Rome, I was
+indifferent where I went to!
+
+In the evening, not caring for any supper, I had gone to my room; the
+Abbe Gama came to me with a request from the cardinal not to accept
+any invitation to dinner for the next day, as he wanted to speak to
+me.  I therefore waited upon his eminence the next day at the Villa
+Negroni; he was walking with his secretary, whom he dismissed the
+moment he saw me.  As soon as we were alone, I gave him all the
+particulars of the intrigue of the two lovers, and I expressed in the
+most vivid manner the sorrow I felt at leaving his service.
+
+"I have no hope of success," I added, "for I am certain that Fortune
+will smile upon me only as long as I am near your eminence."
+
+For nearly an hour I told him all the grief with which my heart was
+bursting, weeping bitterly; yet I could not move him from his
+decision.  Kindly, but firmly he pressed me to tell him to what part
+of Europe I wanted to go, and despair as much as vexation made me
+name Constantinople.
+
+"Constantinople!" he exclaimed, moving back a step or two.
+
+"Yes, monsignor, Constantinople," I repeated, wiping away my tears.
+
+The prelate, a man of great wit, but a Spaniard to the very back-
+bone, after remaining silent a few minutes, said, with a smile,
+
+"I am glad you have not chosen Ispahan, as I should have felt rather
+embarrassed.  When do you wish to go?"
+
+"This day week, as your eminence has ordered me."
+
+"Do you intend to sail from Naples or from Venice?"
+
+"From Venice."
+
+"I will give you such a passport as will be needed, for you will find
+two armies in winter-quarters in the Romagna.  It strikes me that you
+may tell everybody that I sent you to Constantinople, for nobody will
+believe you."
+
+This diplomatic suggestion nearly made me smile.  The cardinal told
+me that I should dine with him, and he left me to join his secretary.
+
+When I returned to the palace, thinking of the choice I had made, I
+said to myself, "Either I am mad, or I am obeying the impulse of a
+mysterious genius which sends me to Constantinople to work out my
+fate."  I was only astonished that the cardinal had so readily
+accepted my choice.  "Without any doubt," I thought, "he did not wish
+me to believe that he had boasted of more than he could achieve, in
+telling me that he had friends everywhere.  But to whom can he
+recommend me in Constantinople?  I have not the slightest idea, but
+to Constantinople I must go."
+
+I dined alone with his eminence; he made a great show of peculiar
+kindness and I of great satisfaction, for my self-pride, stronger
+even than my sorrow, forbade me to let anyone guess that I was in
+disgrace.  My deepest grief was, however, to leave the marchioness,
+with whom I was in love, and from whom I had not obtained any
+important favour.
+
+Two days afterwards, the cardinal gave me a passport for Venice, and
+a sealed letter addressed to Osman Bonneval, Pacha of Caramania, in
+Constantinople.  There was no need of my saying anything to anyone,
+but, as the cardinal had not forbidden me to do it, I shewed the
+address on the letter to all my acquaintances.
+
+The Chevalier de Lezze, the Venetian Ambassador, gave me a letter for
+a wealthy Turk, a very worthy man who had been his friend; Don Gaspar
+and Father Georgi asked me to write to them, but the Abbe Gams,
+laughed, and said he was quite sure I was not going to
+Constantinople.
+
+I went to take my farewell of Donna Cecilia, who had just received a
+letter from Lucrezia, imparting the news that she would soon be a
+mother.  I also called upon Angelique and Don Francisco, who had
+lately been married and had not invited me to the wedding.
+
+When I called to take Cardinal Acquaviva's final instructions he gave
+me a purse containing one hundred ounces, worth seven hundred
+sequins.  I had three hundred more, so that my fortune amounted to
+one thousand sequins; I kept two hundred, and for the rest I took a
+letter of exchange upon a Ragusan who was established in Ancona.  I
+left Rome in the coach with a lady going to Our Lady of Loretto, to
+fulfil a vow made during a severe illness of her daughter, who
+accompanied her.  The young lady was ugly; my journey was a rather
+tedious one.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+My Short But Rather Too Gay Visit To Ancona--Cecilia, Marina,
+Bellino--the Greek Slave of the Lazzaretto--Bellino Discovers Himself
+
+
+I arrived in Ancona on the 25th of February, 1744, and put up at the
+best inn.  Pleased with my room, I told mine host to prepare for me a
+good meat dinner; but he answered that during Lent all good Catholics
+eat nothing but fish.
+
+"The Holy Father has granted me permission to eat meat."
+
+"Let me see your permission."
+
+"He gave it to me by word of mouth."
+
+"Reverend sir, I am not obliged to believe you."
+
+"You are a fool."
+
+"I am master in my own house, and I beg you will go to some other
+inn."
+
+Such an answer, coupled to a most unexpected notice to quit, threw me
+into a violent passion.  I was swearing, raving, screaming, when
+suddenly a grave-looking individual made his appearance in my room,
+and said to me:
+
+"Sir, you are wrong in calling for meat, when in Ancona fish is much
+better; you are wrong in expecting the landlord to believe you on
+your bare word; and if you have obtained the permission from the
+Pope, you have been wrong in soliciting it at your age; you have been
+wrong in not asking for such permission in writing; you are wrong in
+calling the host a fool, because it is a compliment that no man is
+likely to accept in his own house; and, finally, you are wrong in
+making such an uproar."
+
+Far from increasing my bad temper, this individual, who had entered
+my room only to treat me to a sermon, made me laugh.
+
+"I willingly plead guilty, sir," I answered, "to all the counts which
+you allege against me; but it is raining, it is getting late, I am
+tired and hungry, and therefore you will easily understand that I do
+not feel disposed to change my quarters.  Will you give me some
+supper, as the landlord refuses to do so?"
+
+"No," he replied, with great composure, "because I am a good Catholic
+and fast.  But I will undertake to make it all right for you with the
+landlord, who will give you a good supper."
+
+Thereupon he went downstairs, and I, comparing my hastiness to his
+calm, acknowledged the man worthy of teaching me some lessons.  He
+soon came up again, informed me that peace was signed, and that I
+would be served immediately.
+
+"Will you not take supper with me?"
+
+"No, but I will keep you company."
+
+I accepted his offer, and to learn who he was, I told him my name,
+giving myself the title of secretary to Cardinal Acquaviva.
+
+"My name is Sancio Pico," he said; "I am a Castilian, and the
+'proveditore' of the army of H. C. M., which is commanded by Count de
+Gages under the orders of the generalissimo, the Duke of Modem."
+
+My excellent appetite astonished him, and he enquired whether I had
+dined.  "No," said I; and I saw his countenance assume an air of
+satisfaction.
+
+"Are you not afraid such a supper will hurt you?" he said.
+
+"On the contrary, I hope it will do me a great deal of good."
+
+"Then you have deceived the Pope?"
+
+"No, for I did not tell him that I had no appetite, but only that I
+liked meat better than fish."
+
+"If you feel disposed to hear some good music," he said a moment
+after, "follow me to the next room; the prima donna of Ancona lives
+there."
+
+The words prima donna interested me at once, and I followed him.  I
+saw, sitting before a table, a woman already somewhat advanced in
+age, with two young girls and two boys, but I looked in vain for the
+actress, whom Don Sancio Pico at last presented to me in the shape of
+one of the two boys, who was remarkably handsome and might have been
+seventeen.  I thought he was a 'castrato' who, as is the custom in
+Rome, performed all the parts of a prima donna.  The mother presented
+to, me her other son, likewise very good-looking, but more manly than
+the 'castrato', although younger.  His name was Petronio, and,
+keeping up the transformations of the family, he was the first female
+dancer at the opera.  The eldest girl, who was also introduced to me,
+was named Cecilia, and studied music; she was twelve years old; the
+youngest, called Marina, was only eleven, and like her brother
+Petronio was consecrated to the worship of Terpsichore.  Both the
+girls were very pretty.
+
+The family came from Bologna and lived upon the talent of its
+members; cheerfulness and amiability replaced wealth with them.
+Bellino, such was the name of the castrato, yielding to the
+entreaties of Don Sancio, rose from the table, went to the
+harpiscord, and sang with the voice of an angel and with delightful
+grace.  The Castilian listened with his eyes closed in an ecstasy of
+enjoyment, but I, far from closing my eyes, gazed into Bellino's,
+which seemed to dart amorous lightnings upon me.  I could discover in
+him some of the features of Lucrezia and the graceful manner of the
+marchioness, and everything betrayed a beautiful woman, for his dress
+concealed but imperfectly the most splendid bosom.  The consequence
+was that, in spite of his having been introduced as a man, I fancied
+that the so-called Bellino was a disguised beauty, and, my
+imagination taking at once the highest flight, I became thoroughly
+enamoured.
+
+We spent two very pleasant hours, and I returned to my room
+accompanied by the Castilian.  "I intend to leave very early to-
+morrow morning," he said, "for Sinigaglia, with the Abbe Vilmarcati,
+but I expect to return for supper the day after to-morrow."  I wished
+him a happy journey, saying that we would most 'likely meet on the
+road, as I should probably leave Ancona myself on the same day, after
+paying a visit to my banker.
+
+I went to bed thinking of Bellino and of the impression he had made
+upon me; I was sorry to go away without having proved to him that I
+was not the dupe of his disguise.  Accordingly, I was well pleased to
+see him enter my room in the morning as soon as I had opened my door.
+He came to offer me the services of his young brother Petronio during
+my stay in Ancona, instead of my engaging a valet de place.  I
+willingly agreed to the proposal, and sent Petronio to get coffee for
+all the family.
+
+I asked Bellino to sit on my bed with the intention of making love to
+him, and of treating him like a girl, but the two young sisters ran
+into my room and disturbed my plans.  Yet the trio formed before me a
+very pleasing sight; they represented natural beauty and artless
+cheerfulness of three different kinds; unobtrusive familiarity,
+theatrical wit, pleasing playfulness, and pretty Bolognese manners
+which I witnessed for the first time; all this would have sufficed to
+cheer me if I had been downcast.  Cecilia and Marina were two sweet
+rosebuds, which, to bloom in all their beauty, required only the
+inspiration of love, and they would certainly have had the preference
+over Bellino if I had seen in him only the miserable outcast of
+mankind, or rather the pitiful victim of sacerdotal cruelty, for, in
+spite of their youth, the two amiable girls offered on their dawning
+bosom the precious image of womanhood.
+
+Petronio came with the coffee which he poured out, and I sent some to
+the mother, who never left her room.  Petronio was a true male harlot
+by taste and by profession.  The species is not scare in Italy, where
+the offence is not regarded with the wild and ferocious intolerance
+of England and Spain.  I had given him one sequin to pay for the
+coffee, and told him to keep the change, and, to chew me his
+gratitude, he gave me a voluptuous kiss with half-open lips,
+supposing in me a taste which I was very far from entertaining.  I
+disabused him, but he did not seem the least ashamed.  I told him to
+order dinner for six persons, but he remarked that he would order it
+only for four, as he had to keep his dear mother company; she always
+took her dinner in bed.  Everyone to his taste, I thought, and I let
+him do as he pleased.
+
+Two minutes after he had gone, the landlord came to my room and said,
+"Reverend sir, the persons you have invited here have each the
+appetite of two men at least; I give you notice of it, because I must
+charge accordingly."  "All right," I replied, "but let us have a good
+dinner."
+
+When I was dressed, I thought I ought to pay my compliments to the
+compliant mother.  I went to her room, and congratulated her upon her
+children.  She thanked me for the present I had given to Petronio,
+and began to make me the confidant of her distress.  "The manager of
+the theatre," she said, "is a miser who has given us only fifty Roman
+crowns for the whole carnival.  We have spent them for our living,
+and, to return to Bologna, we shall have to walk and beg our way."
+Her confidence moved my pity, so I took a gold quadruple from my
+purse and offered it to her; she wept for joy and gratitude.
+
+"I promise you another gold quadruple, madam," I said, "if you will
+confide in me entirely.  Confess that Bellino is a pretty woman in
+disguise."
+
+"I can assure you it is not so, although he has the appearance of a
+woman."
+
+"Not only the appearance, madam, but the tone, the manners; I am a
+good judge."
+
+"Nevertheless, he is a boy, for he has had to be examined before he
+could sing on the stage here."
+
+"And who examined him?"
+
+"My lord bishop's chaplain."
+
+"A chaplain?"
+
+"Yes, and you may satisfy yourself by enquiring from him."
+
+"The only way to clear my doubts would be to examine him myself."
+
+"You may, if he has no objection, but truly I cannot interfere, as I
+do not know what your intentions are."
+
+"They are quite natural."
+
+I returned to my room and sent Petronio for a bottle of Cyprus wine.
+He brought the wine and seven sequins, the change for the doubloon I
+had given him.  I divided them between Bellino, Cecilia and Marina,
+and begged the two young girls to leave me alone with their brother.
+
+"Bellino, I am certain that your natural conformation is different
+from mine; my dear, you are a girl."
+
+"I am a man, but a castrato; I have been examined."
+
+"Allow me to examine you likewise, and I will give you a doubloon."
+
+"I cannot, for it is evident that you love me, and such love is
+condemned by religion."
+
+"You did not raise these objections with the bishop's chaplain."
+
+"He was an elderly priest, and besides, he only just glanced at me."
+
+"I will know the truth," said I, extending my hand boldly.
+
+But he repulsed me and rose from his chair.  His obstinacy vexed me,
+for I had already spent fifteen or sixteen sequins to satisfy my
+curiosity.
+
+I began my dinner with a very bad humour, but the excellent appetite
+of my pretty guests brought me round, and I soon thought that, after
+all, cheerfulness was better than sulking, and I resolved to make up
+for my disappointment with the two charming sisters, who seemed well
+disposed to enjoy a frolic.
+
+I began by distributing a few innocent kisses right and left, as I
+sat between them near a good fire, eating chestnuts which we wetted
+with Cyprus wine.  But very soon my greedy hands touched every part
+which my lips could not kiss, and Cecilia, as well as Marina,
+delighted in the game.  Seeing that Bellino was smiling, I kissed him
+likewise, and his half-open ruffle attracting my hand, I ventured and
+went in without resistance.  The chisel of Praxiteles had never
+carved a finer bosom!
+
+"Oh!  this is enough," I exclaimed; "I can no longer doubt that you
+are a beautifully-formed woman!"
+
+"It is," he replied, "the defect of all castrati."
+
+No, it is the perfection of all handsome women.  Bellino, believe me,
+I am enough of a good judge to distinguish between the deformed
+breast of a castrato, and that of a beautiful woman; and your
+alabaster bosom belongs to a young beauty of seventeen summers."
+
+Who does not know that love, inflamed by all that can excite it,
+never stops in young people until it is satisfied, and that one
+favour granted kindles the wish for a greater one?  I had begun well,
+I tried to go further and to smother with burning kisses that which
+my hand was pressing so ardently, but the false Bellino, as if he had
+only just been aware of the illicit pleasure I was enjoying, rose and
+ran away.  Anger increased in me the ardour of love, and feeling the
+necessity of calming myself either by satisfying my ardent desires or
+by evaporating them, I begged Cecilia, Bellino's pupil, to sing a few
+Neapolitan airs.
+
+I then went out to call upon the banker, from whom I took a letter of
+exchange at sight upon Bologna, for the amount I had to receive from
+him, and on my return, after a light supper with the two young
+sisters, I prepared to go to bed, having previously instructed
+Petronio to order a carriage for the morning.
+
+I was just locking my door when Cecilia, half undressed, came in to
+say that Bellino begged me to take him to Rimini, where he was
+engaged to sing in an opera to be performed after Easter.
+
+"Go and tell him, my dear little seraph, that I am ready to do what
+he wishes, if he will only grant me in your presence what I desire; I
+want to know for a certainty whether he is a man or a woman."
+
+She left me and returned soon, saying that Bellino had gone to bed,
+but that if I would postpone my departure for one day only he
+promised to satisfy me on the morrow.
+
+"Tell me the truth, Cecilia, and I will give you six sequins."
+
+"I cannot earn them, for I have never seen him naked, and I cannot
+swear to his being a girl.  But he must be a man, otherwise he would
+not have been allowed to perform here."
+
+"Well, I will remain until the day after to-morrow, provided you keep
+me company tonight."
+
+"Do you love me very much?"
+
+"Very much indeed, if you shew yourself very kind."
+
+"I will be very kind, for I love you dearly likewise.  I will go and
+tell my mother."
+
+"Of course you have a lover?"
+
+"I never had one."
+
+She left my room, and in a short time came back full of joy, saying
+that her mother believed me an honest man; she of course meant a
+generous one.  Cecilia locked the door, and throwing herself in my
+arms covered me with kisses.  She was pretty, charming, but I was not
+in love with her, and I was not able to say to her as to Lucrezia: "
+You have made me so happy!" But she said it herself, and I did not
+feel much flattered, although I pretended to believe her.  When I
+woke up in the morning I gave her a tender salutation, and presenting
+her with three doubloons, which must have particularly delighted the
+mother, I sent her away without losing my time in promising
+everlasting constancy--a promise as absurd as it is trifling, and
+which the most virtuous man ought never to make even to the most
+beautiful of women.
+
+After breakfast I sent for mine host and ordered an excellent supper
+for five persons, feeling certain that Don Sancio, whom I expected in
+the evening, would not refuse to honour me by accepting my
+invitation, and with that idea I made up my mind to go without my
+dinner.  The Bolognese family did not require to imitate my diet to
+insure a good appetite for the evening.
+
+I then summoned Bellino to my room, and claimed the performance of
+his promise but he laughed, remarked that the day was not passed yet,
+and said that he was certain of traveling with me.
+
+"I fairly warn you that you cannot accompany me unless I am fully
+satisfied."
+
+"Well, I will satisfy you."
+
+"Shall we go and take a walk together?"
+
+"Willingly; I will dress myself."
+
+While I was waiting for him, Marina came in with a dejected
+countenance, enquiring how she had deserved my contempt.
+
+"Cecilia has passed the night with you, Bellino will go with you to-
+morrow, I am the most unfortunate of us all."
+
+"Do you want money?"
+
+"No, for I love you."
+
+"But, Marinetta, you are too young."
+
+"I am much stronger than my sister."
+
+"Perhaps you have a lover."
+
+"Oh! no."
+
+"Very well, we can try this evening."
+
+"Good!  Then I will tell mother to prepare clean sheets for to-morrow
+morning; otherwise everybody here would know that I slept with you."
+
+I could not help admiring the fruits of a theatrical education, and
+was much amused.
+
+Bellino came back, we went out together, and we took our walk towards
+the harbour.  There were several vessels at anchor, and amongst them
+a Venetian ship and a Turkish tartan.  We went on board the first
+which we visited with interest, but not seeing anyone of my
+acquaintance, we rowed towards the Turkish tartan, where the most
+romantic surprise awaited me.  The first person I met on board was
+the beautiful Greek woman I had left in Ancona, seven months before,
+when I went away from the lazzaretto.  She was seated near the old
+captain, of whom I enquired, without appearing to notice his handsome
+slave, whether he had any fine goods to sell.  He took us to his
+cabin, but as I cast a glance towards the charming Greek, she
+expressed by her looks all her delight at such an unexpected meeting.
+
+I pretended not to be pleased with the goods shewn by the Turk, and
+under the impulse of inspiration I told him that I would willingly
+buy something pretty which would take the fancy of his better-half.
+He smiled, and the Greek slave-having whispered a few words to him,
+he left the cabin.  The moment he was out of sight, this new Aspasia
+threw herself in my arms, saying, "Now is your time!"  I would not be
+found wanting in courage, and taking the most convenient position in
+such a place, I did to her in one instant that which her old master
+had not done in five years.  I had not yet reached the goal of my
+wishes, when the unfortunate girl, hearing her master, tore herself
+from my arms with a deep sigh, and placing herself cunningly in front
+of me, gave me time to repair the disorder of my dress, which might
+have cost me my life, or at least all I possessed to compromise the
+affair.  In that curious situation, I was highly amused at the
+surprise of Bellino, who stood there trembling like an aspen leaf.
+
+The trifles chosen by the handsome slave cost me only thirty sequins.
+'Spolaitis', she said to me in her own language, and the Turk telling
+her that she ought to kiss me, she covered her face with her hands,
+and ran away.  I left the ship more sad than pleased, for I regretted
+that, in spite of her courage, she should have enjoyed only an
+incomplete pleasure.  As soon as we were in our row boat, Bellino,
+who had recovered from his fright, told me that I had just made him
+acquainted with a phenomenon, the reality of which he could not
+admit, and which gave him a very strange idea of my nature; that, as
+far as the Greek girl was concerned, he could not make her out,
+unless I should assure him that every woman in her country was like
+her.  "How unhappy they must be!" he added.
+
+"Do you think," I asked, "that coquettes are happier?"
+
+"No, but I think that when a woman yields to love, she should not be
+conquered before she has fought with her own desires; she should not
+give way to the first impulse of a lustful desire and abandon herself
+to the first man who takes her fancy, like an animal--the slave of
+sense.  You must confess that the Greek woman has given you an
+evident proof that you had taken her fancy, but that she has at the
+same time given you a proof not less certain of her beastly lust, and
+of an effrontery which exposed her to the shame of being repulsed,
+for she could not possibly know whether you would feel as well
+disposed for her as she felt for you.  She is very handsome, and it
+all turned out well, but the adventure has thrown me into a whirlpool
+of agitation which I cannot yet control."
+
+I might easily have put a stop to Bellino's perplexity, and rectified
+the mistake he was labouring under; but such a confession would not
+have ministered to my self-love, and I held my peace, for, if Bellino
+happened to be a girl, as I suspected, I wanted her to be convinced
+that I attached, after all, but very little importance to the great
+affair, and that it was not worth while employing cunning expedients
+to obtain it.
+
+We returned to the inn, and, towards evening, hearing Don Sancio's
+travelling carriage roll into the yard, I hastened to meet him, and
+told him that I hoped he would excuse me if I had felt certain that
+he would not refuse me the honour of his company to supper with
+Bellino.  He thanked me politely for the pleasure I was so delicately
+offering him, and accepted my invitation.
+
+The most exquisite dishes, the most delicious wines of Spain, and,
+more than everything else, the cheerfulness and the charming voices
+of Bellino and of Cecilia, gave the Castilian five delightful hours.
+He left me at midnight, saying that he could not declare himself
+thoroughly pleased unless I promised to sup with him the next evening
+with the same guests.  It would compel me to postpone my departure
+for another day, but I accepted.
+
+As soon as Don Sancio had gone, I called upon Bellino to fulfil his
+promise, but he answered that Marinetta was waiting for me, and that,
+as I was not going away the next day, he would find an opportunity of
+satisfying my doubts; and wishing me a good night, he left the room.
+
+Marinetta, as cheerful as a lark, ran to lock the door and came back
+to me, her eyes beaming with ardour.  She was more formed than
+Cecilia, although one year younger, and seemed anxious to convince me
+of her superiority, but, thinking that the fatigue of the preceding
+night might have exhausted my strength, she unfolded all the armorous
+ideas of her mind, explained at length all she knew of the great
+mystery she was going to enact with me, and of all the contrivances
+she had had recourse to in order to acquire her imperfect knowledge,
+the whole interlarded with the foolish talk natural to her age.  I
+made out that she was afraid of my not finding her a maiden, and of
+my reproaching her about it.  Her anxiety pleased me, and I gave her
+a new confidence by telling her that nature had refused to many young
+girls what is called maidenhood, and that only a fool could be angry
+with a girl for such a reason.
+
+My science gave her courage and confidence, and I was compelled to
+acknowledge that she was very superior to her sister.
+
+"I am delighted you find me so," she said; "we must not sleep at all
+throughout the night."
+
+"Sleep, my darling, will prove our friend, and our strength renewed
+by repose will reward you in the morning for what you may suppose
+lost time."
+
+And truly, after a quiet sleep, the morning was for her a succession
+of fresh triumphs, and I crowned her happiness by sending her away
+with three doubloons, which she took to her mother, and which gave
+the good woman an insatiable desire to contract new obligations
+towards Providence.
+
+I went out to get some money from the banker, as I did not know what
+might happen during my journey.  I had enjoyed myself, but I had
+spent too much: yet there was Bellino who, if a girl, was not to find
+me less generous than I had been with the two young sisters.  It was
+to be decided during the day, and I fancied that I was sure of the
+result.
+
+There are some persons who pretend that life is only a succession of
+misfortunes, which is as much as to say that life itself is a
+misfortune; but if life is a misfortune, death must be exactly the
+reverse and therefore death must be happiness, since death is the
+very reverse of life.  That deduction may appear too finely drawn.
+But those who say that life is a succession of misfortunes are
+certainly either ill or poor; for, if they enjoyed good health, if
+they had cheerfulness in their heart and money in their purse, if
+they had for their enjoyment a Cecilia, a Marinetta, and even a more
+lovely beauty in perspective, they would soon entertain a very
+different opinion of life!  I hold them to be a race of pessimists,
+recruited amongst beggarly philosophers and knavish, atrabilious
+theologians.  If pleasure does exist, and if life is necessary to
+enjoy pleasure, then life is happiness.  There are misfortunes, as I
+know by experience; but the very existence of such misfortunes proves
+that the sum-total of happiness is greater.  Because a few thorns are
+to be found in a basket full of roses, is the existence of those
+beautiful flowers to be denied?  No; it is a slander to deny that
+life is happiness.  When I am in a dark room, it pleases me greatly
+to see through a window an immense horizon before me.
+
+As supper-time was drawing near, I went to Don Sancio, whom I found
+in magnificently-furnished apartments.  The table was loaded with
+silver plate, and his servants were in livery.  He was alone, but all
+his guests arrived soon after me--Cecilia, Marina, and Bellino, who,
+either by caprice or from taste, was dressed as a woman.  The two
+young sisters, prettily arranged, looked charming, but Bellino, in
+his female costume, so completely threw them into the shade, that my
+last doubt vanished.
+
+"Are you satisfied," I said to Don Sancio, "that Bellino is a woman?"
+
+"Woman or man, what do I care!  I think he is a very pretty
+'castrato', and 'I have seen many as good-looking as he is."
+
+"But are you sure he is a 'castrato'?"
+
+"'Valgame Dios'!" answered the grave Castilian, "I have not the
+slightest wish to ascertain the truth."
+
+Oh, how widely different our thoughts were!  I admired in him the
+wisdom of which I was so much in need, and did not venture upon any
+more indiscreet questions.  During the supper, however, my greedy
+eyes could not leave that charming being; my vicious nature caused me
+to feel intense voluptuousness in believing him to be of that sex to
+which I wanted him to belong.
+
+Don Sancio's supper was excellent, and, as a matter of course,
+superior to mine; otherwise the pride of the Castilian would have
+felt humbled.  As a general rule, men are not satisfied with what is
+good; they want the best, or, to speak more to the point, the most.
+He gave us white truffles, several sorts of shell-fish, the best fish
+of the Adriatic, dry champagne, peralta, sherry and pedroximenes
+wines.
+
+After that supper worthy of Lucullus, Bellino sang with a voice of
+such beauty that it deprived us of the small amount of reason left in
+us by the excellent wine.  His movements, the expression of his
+looks, his gait, his walk, his countenance, his voice, and, above
+all, my own instinct, which told me that I could not possibly feel
+for a castrato what I felt for Bellino, confirmed me in my hopes; yet
+it was necessary that my eyes should ascertain the truth.
+
+After many compliments and a thousand thanks, we took leave of the
+grand Spaniard, and went to my room, where the mystery was at last to
+be unravelled.  I called upon Bellino to keep his word, or I
+threatened to leave him alone the next morning at day-break.
+
+I took him by the hand, and we seated ourselves near the fire.  I
+dismissed Cecilia and Marina, and I said to him,
+
+"Bellino, everything must have an end; you have promised: it will
+soon be over.  If you are what you represent yourself to be, I will
+let you go back to your own room; if you are what I believe you to
+be, and if you consent to remain with me to-night, I will give you
+one hundred sequins, and we will start together tomorrow morning."
+
+"You must go alone, and forgive me if I cannot fulfil my promise.  I
+am what I told you, and I can neither reconcile myself to the idea of
+exposing my shame before you, nor lay myself open to the terrible
+consequences that might follow the solution of your doubts."
+
+"There can be no consequences, since there will be an end to it at
+the moment I have assured myself that you are unfortunate enough to
+be what you say, and without ever mentioning the circumstances again,
+I promise to take you with me to-morrow and to leave you at Rimini."
+
+"No, my mind is made up; I cannot satisfy your curiosity."
+
+Driven to madness by his words, I was very near using violence, but
+subduing my angry feelings, I endeavored to succeed by gentle means
+and by going straight to the spot where the mystery could be solved.
+I was very near it, when his hand opposed a very strong resistance.
+I repeated my efforts, but Bellino, rising suddenly, repulsed me, and
+I found myself undone.  After a few moments of calm, thinking I
+should take him by surprise, I extended my hand, but I drew back
+terrified, for I fancied that I had recognized in him a man, and a
+degraded man, contemptible less on account of his degradation than
+for the want of feeling I thought I could read on his countenance.
+Disgusted, confused, and almost blushing for myself, I sent him away.
+
+His sisters came to my room, but I dismissed them, sending word to
+their brother that he might go with me, without any fear of further
+indiscretion on my part.  Yet, in spite of the conviction I thought I
+had acquired, Bellino, even such as I believe him to be, filled my
+thoughts; I could not make it out.
+
+Early the next morning I left Ancona with him, distracted by the
+tears of the two charming sisters and loaded with the blessings of
+the mother who, with beads in hand, mumbled her 'paternoster', and
+repeated her constant theme: 'Dio provedera'.
+
+The trust placed in Providence by most of those persons who earn
+their living by some profession forbidden by religion is neither
+absurd, nor false, nor deceitful; it is real and even godly, for it
+flows from an excellent source.  Whatever may be the ways of
+Providence, human beings must always acknowledge it in its action,
+and those who call upon Providence independently of all external
+consideration must, at the bottom, be worthy, although guilty of
+transgressing its laws.
+
+                    'Pulchra Laverna,
+     Da mihi fallere; da justo sanctoque videri;
+     Noctem peccatis, et fraudibus objice nubem.'
+
+Such was the way in which, in the days of Horace, robbers addressed
+their goddess, and I recollect a Jesuit who told me once that Horace
+would not have known his own language, if he had said justo
+sanctoque: but there were ignorant men even amongst the Jesuits, and
+robbers most likely have but little respect for the rules of grammar.
+
+The next morning I started with Bellino, who, believing me to be
+undeceived, could suppose that I would not shew any more curiosity
+about him, but we had not been a quarter of an hour together when he
+found out his mistake, for I could not let my looks fall upon his
+splendid eyes without feeling in me a fire which the sight of a man
+could not have ignited.  I told him that all his features were those
+of a woman, and that I wanted the testimony of my eyes before I could
+feel perfectly satisfied, because the protuberance I had felt in a
+certain place might be only a freak of nature.  "Should it be the
+case," I added, "I should have no difficulty in passing over a
+deformity which, in reality, is only laughable.  Bellino, the
+impression you produce upon me, this sort of magnetism, your bosom
+worthy of Venus herself, which you have once abandoned to my eager
+hand, the sound of your voice, every movement of yours, assure me
+that you do not belong to my sex.  Let me see for myself, and, if my
+conjectures are right, depend upon my faithful love; if, on the
+contrary, I find that I have been mistaken, you can rely upon my
+friendship.  If you refuse me, I shall be compelled to believe that
+you are cruelly enjoying my misery, and that you have learned in the
+most accursed school that the best way of preventing a young man from
+curing himself of an amorous passion is to excite it constantly; but
+you must agree with me that, to put such tyranny in practice, it is
+necessary to hate the person it is practised upon, and, if that be
+so, I ought to call upon my reason to give me the strength necessary
+to hate you likewise."
+
+I went on speaking for a long time; Bellino did not answer, but he
+seemed deeply moved.  At last I told him that, in the fearful state
+to which I was reduced by his resistance, I should be compelled to
+treat him without any regard for his feelings, and find out the truth
+by force.  He answered with much warmth and dignity: "Recollect that
+you are not my master, that I am in your hands, because I had faith
+in your promise, and that, if you use violence, you will be guilty of
+murder.  Order the postillion to stop, I will get out of the
+carriage, and you may rely upon my not complaining of your
+treatment."
+
+Those few words were followed by a torrent of tears, a sight which I
+never could resist.  I felt myself moved in the inmost recesses of my
+soul, and I almost thought that I had been wrong.  I say almost,
+because, had I been convinced of it, I would have thrown myself at
+his feet entreating pardon; but, not feeling myself competent to
+stand in judgment in my own cause, I satisfied myself by remaining
+dull and silent, and I never uttered one word until we were only half
+a mile from Sinigaglia, where I intended to take supper and to remain
+for the night.  Having fought long enough with my own feelings, I
+said to him;
+
+"We might have spent a little time in Rimini like good friends, if
+you had felt any friendship for me, for, with a little kind
+compliance, you could have easily cured me of my passion."
+
+"It would not cure you," answered Bellino, courageously, but with a
+sweetness of tone which surprised me; "no, you would not be cured,
+whether you found me to be man or woman, for you are in love with me
+independently of my sex, and the certainty you would acquire would
+make you furious.  In such a state, should you find me inexorable,
+you would very likely give way to excesses which would afterwards
+cause you deep sorrow."
+
+"You expect to make me admit that you are right, but you are
+completely mistaken, for I feel that I should remain perfectly calm,
+and that by complying with my wishes you would gain my friendship."
+
+"I tell you again that you would become furious."
+
+"Bellino, that which has made me furious is the sight of your charms,
+either too real or too completely deceiving, the power of which you
+cannot affect to ignore.  You have not been afraid to ignite my
+amorous fury, how can you expect me to believe you now, when you
+pretend to fear it, and when I am only asking you to let me touch a
+thing, which, if it be as you say, will only disgust me?"
+
+"Ah! disgust you; I am quite certain of the contrary.  Listen to me.
+Were I a girl, I feel I could not resist loving you, but, being a
+man, it is my duty not to grant what you desire, for your passion,
+now very natural, would then become monstrous.  Your ardent nature
+would be stronger than your reason, and your reason itself would
+easily come to the assistance of your senses and of your nature.
+That violent clearing-up of the mystery, were you to obtain it, would
+leave you deprived of all control over yourself.  Disappointed in not
+finding what you had expected, you would satisfy your passion upon
+that which you would find, and the result would, of course, be an
+abomination.  How can you, intelligent as you are, flatter yourself
+that, finding me to be a man, you could all at once cease to love me?
+Would the charms which you now see in me cease to exist then?
+Perhaps their power would, on the contrary, be enhanced, and your
+passion, becoming brutal, would lead you to take any means your
+imagination suggested to gratify it.  You would persuade yourself
+that you might change me into a woman, or, what is worse, that you
+might change yourself into one.  Your passion would invent a thousand
+sophisms to justify your love, decorated with the fine appellation of
+friendship, and you would not fail to allege hundreds of similarly
+disgusting cases in order to excuse your conduct.  You would
+certainly never find me compliant; and how am I to know that you
+would not threaten me with death?"
+
+"Nothing of the sort would happen, Bellino," I answered, rather tired
+of the length of his argument, "positively nothing, and I am sure you
+are exaggerating your fears.  Yet I am bound to tell you that, even
+if all you say should happen, it seems to me that to allow what can
+strictly be considered only as a temporary fit of insanity, would
+prove a less evil than to render incurable a disease of the mind
+which reason would soon cut short."
+
+Thus does a poor philosopher reason when he takes it into his head to
+argue at those periods during which a passion raging in his soul
+makes all its faculties wander.  To reason well, we must be under the
+sway neither of love nor of anger, for those two passions have one
+thing in common which is that, in their excess, they lower us to the
+condition of brutes acting only under the influence of their
+predominating instinct, and, unfortunately, we are never more
+disposed to argue than when we feel ourselves under the influence of
+either of those two powerful human passions.
+
+We arrived at Sinigaglia late at night, and I went to the best inn,
+and, after choosing a comfortable room, ordered supper.  As there was
+but one bed in the room, I asked Bellino, in as calm a tone as I
+could assume, whether he would have a fire lighted in another
+chamber, and my surprise may be imagined when he answered quietly
+that he had no objection to sleep in the same bed with me.  Such an
+answer, however, unexpected, was necessary to dispel the angry
+feelings under which I was labouring.  I guessed that I was near the
+denouement of the romance, but I was very far from congratulating
+myself, for I did not know whether the denouement would prove
+agreeable or not.  I felt, however, a real satisfaction at having
+conquered, and was sure of my self-control, in case the senses, my
+natural instinct, led me astray.  But if I found myself in the right,
+I thought I could expect the most precious favours.
+
+We sat down to supper opposite each other, and during the meal, his
+words, his countenance, the expression of his beautiful eyes, his
+sweet and voluptuous smile, everything seemed to announce that he had
+had enough of playing a part which must have proved as painful to him
+as to me.
+
+A weight was lifted off my mind, and I managed to shorten the supper
+as much as possible.  As soon as we had left the table, my amiable
+companion called for a night-lamp, undressed himself, and went to
+bed.  I was not long in following him, and the reader will soon know
+the nature of a denouement so long and so ardently desired; in the
+mean time I beg to wish him as happy a night as the one which was
+then awaiting me.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+Bellino's History--I Am Put Under Arrest--I Run Away Against My Will
+--My Return To Rimini, and My Arrival In Bologna
+
+
+Dear reader, I said enough at the end of the last chapter to make you
+guess what happened, but no language would be powerful enough to make
+you realize all the voluptuousness which that charming being had in
+store for me.  She came close to me the moment I was in bed.  Without
+uttering one word our lips met, and I found myself in the ecstasy of
+enjoyment before I had had time to seek for it.  After so complete a
+victory, what would my eyes and my fingers have gained from
+investigations which could not give me more certainty than I had
+already obtained?  I could not take my gaze off that beautiful face,
+which was all aflame with the ardour of love.
+
+After a moment of quiet rapture, a spark lighted up in our veins a
+fresh conflagration which we drowned in a sea of new delights.
+Bellino felt bound to make me forget my sufferings, and to reward me
+by an ardour equal to the fire kindled by her charms.
+
+The happiness I gave her increased mine twofold, for it has always
+been my weakness to compose the four-fifths of my enjoyment from the
+sum-total of the happiness which I gave the charming being from whom
+I derived it.  But such a feeling must necessarily cause hatred for
+old age which can still receive pleasure, but can no longer give
+enjoyment to another.  And youth runs away from old age, because it
+is its most cruel enemy.
+
+An interval of repose became necessary, in consequence of the
+activity of our enjoyment.  Our senses were not tired out, but they
+required the rest which renews their sensitiveness and restores the
+buoyancy necessary to active service.
+
+Bellino was the first to break our silence.
+
+"Dearest," she said, "are you satisfied now?  Have you found me truly
+loving?"
+
+"Truly loving?  Ah!  traitress that you are!  Do you, then, confess
+that I was not mistaken when I guessed that you were a charming
+woman?  And if you truly loved me, tell me how you could contrive to
+defer your happiness and mine so long?  But is it quite certain that
+I did not make a mistake?"
+
+"I am yours all over; see for yourself."
+
+Oh, what delightful survey!  what charming beauties! what an ocean of
+enjoyment!  But I could not find any trace of the protuberance which
+had so much terrified and disgusted me.
+
+"What has become," I said, "of that dreadful monstrosity?"
+
+"Listen to me," she replied, "and I will tell you everything.
+
+"My name is Therese.  My father, a poor clerk in the Institute of
+Bologna, had let an apartment in his house to the celebrated
+Salimberi, a castrato, and a delightful musician.  He was young and
+handsome, he became attached to me, and I felt flattered by his
+affection and by the praise he lavished upon me.  I was only twelve
+years of age; he proposed to teach me music, and finding that I had a
+fine voice, he cultivated it carefully, and in less than a year I
+could accompany myself on the harpsichord.  His reward was that which
+his love for me induced him to ask, and I granted the reward without
+feeling any humiliation, for I worshipped him.  Of course, men like
+yourself are much above men of his species, but Salimberi was an
+exception.  His beauty, his manners, his talent, and the rare
+qualities of his soul, made him superior in my eyes to all the men I
+had seen until then.  He was modest and reserved, rich and generous,
+and I doubt whether he could have found a woman able to resist him;
+yet I never heard him boast of having seduced any.  The mutilation
+practised upon his body had made him a monster, but he was an angel
+by his rare qualities and endowments.
+
+"Salimberi was at that time educating a boy of the same age as
+myself, who was in Rimini with a music teacher.  The father of the
+boy, who was poor and had a large family, seeing himself near death,
+had thought of having his unfortunate son maimed so that he should
+become the support of his brothers with his voice.  The name of the
+boy was Bellino; the good woman whom you have just seen in Ancona was
+his mother, and everybody believes that she is mine.
+
+"I had belonged to Salimberi for about a year, when he announced to
+me one day, weeping bitterly, that he was compelled to leave me to go
+to Rome, but he promised to see me again.  The news threw me into
+despair.  He had arranged everything for the continuation of my
+musical education, but, as he was preparing himself for his
+departure, my father died very suddenly, after a short illness, and I
+was left an orphan.
+
+"Salimberi had not courage enough to resist my tears and my
+entreaties; he made up his mind to take me to Rimini, and to place me
+in the same house where his young 'protege' was educated.  We reached
+Rimini, and put up at an inn; after a short rest, Salimberi left me
+to call upon the teacher of music, and to make all necessary
+arrangements respecting me with him; but he soon returned, looking
+sad and unhappy; Bellino had died the day before.
+
+"As he was thinking of the grief which the loss of the young man
+would cause his mother, he was struck with the idea of bringing me
+back to Bologna under the name of Bellino, where he could arrange for
+my board with the mother of the deceased Bellino, who, being very
+poor, would find it to her advantage to keep the secret.  'I will
+give her,' he said, 'everything necessary for the completion of your
+musical education, and in four years, I will take you to Dresden (he
+was in the service of the Elector of Saxony, King of Poland), not as
+a girl, but as a castrato.  There we will live together without
+giving anyone cause for scandal, and you will remain with me and
+minister to my happiness until I die.  All we have to do is to
+represent you as Bellino, and it is very easy, as nobody knows you in
+Bologna.  Bellino's mother will alone know the secret; her other
+children have seen their brother only when he was very young, and can
+have no suspicion.  But if you love me you must renounce your sex,
+lose even the remembrance of it, and leave immediately for Bologna,
+dressed as a boy, and under the name of Bellino.  You must be very
+careful lest anyone should find out that you are a girl; you must
+sleep alone, dress yourself in private, and when your bosom is
+formed, as it will be in a year or two, it will only be thought a
+deformity not uncommon amongst 'castrati'.  Besides, before leaving
+you, I will give you a small instrument, and teach how to fix it in
+such manner that, if you had at any time to submit to an examination,
+you would easily be mistaken for a man.  If you accept my plan, I
+feel certain that we can live together in Dresden without losing the
+good graces of the queen, who is very religious.  Tell me, now,
+whether you will accept my proposal?
+
+"He could not entertain any doubt of my consent, for I adored him.
+As soon as he had made a boy of me we left Rimini for Bologna, where
+we arrived late in the evening.  A little gold made everything right
+with Bellino's mother; I gave her the name of mother, and she kissed
+me, calling me her dear son.  Salimberi left us, and returned a short
+time afterwards with the instrument which would complete my
+transformation.  He taught me, in the presence of my new mother, how
+to fix it with some tragacanth gum, and I found myself exactly like
+my friend.  I would have laughed at it, had not my heart been deeply
+grieved at the departure of my beloved Salimberi, for he bade me
+farewell as soon as the curious operation was completed.  People
+laugh at forebodings; I do not believe in them myself, but the
+foreboding of evil, which almost broke my heart as he gave me his
+farewell kiss, did not deceive me.  I felt the cold shivering of
+death run through me; I felt I was looking at him for the last time,
+and I fainted away.  Alas!  my fears proved only too prophetic.
+Salimberi died a year ago in the Tyrol in the prime of life, with the
+calmness of a true philosopher.  His death compelled me to earn my
+living with the assistance of my musical talent.  My mother advised
+me to continue to give myself out as a castrato, in the hope of being
+able to take me to Rome.  I agreed to do so, for I did not feel
+sufficient energy to decide upon any other plan.  In the meantime she
+accepted an offer for the Ancona Theatre, and Petronio took the part
+of first female dancer; in this way we played the comedy of 'The
+World Turned Upside Down.'
+
+"After Salimberi, you are the only man I have known, and, if you
+like, you can restore me to my original state, and make me give up
+the name of Bellino, which I hate since the death of my protector,
+and which begins to inconvenience me.  I have only appeared at two
+theatres, and each time I have been compelled to submit to the
+scandalous, degrading examination, because everywhere I am thought to
+have too much the appearance of a girl, and I am admitted only after
+the shameful test has brought conviction.  Until now, fortunately, I
+have had to deal only with old priests who, in their good faith, have
+been satisfied with a very slight examination, and have made a
+favourable report to the bishop; but I might fall into the hands of
+some young abbe, and the test would then become a more severe one.
+Besides, I find myself exposed to the daily persecutions of two sorts
+of beings: those who, like you, cannot and will not believe me to be
+a man, and those who, for the satisfaction of their disgusting
+propensities, are delighted at my being so, or find it advantageous
+to suppose me so.  The last particularly annoy me! Their tastes are
+so infamous, their habits so low,  that I fear I shall murder one of
+them some day, when I can no longer control the rage in which their
+obscene language throws me.  Out of pity, my beloved angel, be
+generous; and, if you love me, oh! free me from this state of shame
+and degradation!  Take me with you.  I do not ask to become your
+wife, that would be too much happiness; I will only be your friend,
+your mistress, as I would have been Salimberi's; my heart is pure and
+innocent, I feel that I can remain faithful to my lover through my
+whole life.  Do not abandon me.  The love I have for you is sincere;
+my affection for Salimberi was innocent; it was born of my
+inexperience and of my gratitude, and it is only with you that I have
+felt myself truly a woman."
+
+Her emotion, an inexpressible charm which seemed to flow from her
+lips and to enforce conviction, made me shed tears of love and
+sympathy.  I blended my tears with those falling from her beautiful
+eyes, and deeply moved, I promised not to abandon her and to make her
+the sharer of my fate.  Interested in the history, as singular as
+extraordinary, that she had just narrated, and having seen nothing in
+it that did not bear the stamp of truth, I felt really disposed to
+make her happy but I could not believe that I had inspired her with a
+very deep passion during my short stay in Ancona, many circumstances
+of which might, on the contrary, have had an opposite effect upon her
+heart.
+
+"If you loved me truly," I said, "how could you let me sleep with
+your sisters, out of spite at your resistance?"
+
+"Alas, dearest! think of our great poverty, and how difficult it was
+for me to discover myself.  I loved you; but was it not natural that
+I should suppose your inclination for me only a passing caprice?
+When I saw you go so easily from Cecilia to Marinetta, I thought that
+you would treat me in the same manner as soon as your desires were
+satisfied, I was likewise confirmed in my opinion of your want of
+constancy and of the little importance you attached to the delicacy
+of the sentiment of love, when I witnessed what you did on board the
+Turkish vessel without being hindered by my presence; had you loved
+me, I thought my being present would have made you uncomfortable.  I
+feared to be soon despised, and God knows how much I suffered!  You
+have insulted me, darling, in many different ways, but my heart
+pleaded in your favour, because I knew you were excited, angry, and
+thirsting for revenge.  Did you not threaten me this very day in your
+carriage?  I confess you greatly frightened me, but do not fancy that
+I gave myself to you out of fear.  No, I had made up my mind to be
+yours from the moment you sent me word by Cecilia that you would take
+me to Rimini, and your control over your own feelings during a part
+of our journey confirmed me in my resolution, for I thought I could
+trust myself to your honour, to your delicacy."
+
+"Throw up," I said, "the engagement you have in Rimini; let us
+proceed on our journey, and, after remaining a couple of days in
+Bologna, you will go with me to Venice; dressed as a woman, and with
+another name, I would challenge the manager here to find you out."
+
+"I accept.  Your will shall always be my law.  I am my own mistress,
+and I give myself to you without any reserve or restriction; my heart
+belongs to you, and I trust to keep yours."
+
+Man has in himself a moral force of action which always makes him
+overstep the line on which he is standing.  I had obtained
+everything, I wanted more.  "Shew me," I said, "how you were when I
+mistook you for a man." She got out of bed, opened her trunk, took
+out the instrument and fixed it with the gum: I was compelled to
+admire the ingenuity of the contrivance.  My curiosity was satisfied,
+and I passed a most delightful night in her arms.
+
+When I woke up in the morning, I admired her lovely face while she
+was sleeping: all I knew of her came back to my mind; the words which
+had been spoken by her bewitching mouth, her rare talent, her
+candour, her feelings so full of delicacy, and her misfortunes, the
+heaviest of which must have been the false character she had been
+compelled to assume, and which exposed her to humiliation and shame,
+everything strengthened my resolution to make her the companion of my
+destiny, whatever it might be, or to follow her fate, for our
+positions were very nearly the same; and wishing truly to attach
+myself seriously to that interesting being, I determined to give to
+our union the sanction of religion and of law, and to take her
+legally for my wife.  Such a step, as I then thought, could but
+strengthen our love, increase our mutual esteem, and insure the
+approbation of society which could not accept our union unless it was
+sanctioned in the usual manner.
+
+The talents of Therese precluded the fear of our being ever in want
+of the necessaries of life, and, although I did not know in what way
+my own talents might be made available, I had faith in myself.  Our
+love might have been lessened, she would have enjoyed too great
+advantages over me, and my self-dignity would have too deeply
+suffered if I had allowed myself to be supported by her earnings
+only.  It might, after a time, have altered the nature of our
+feelings; my wife, no longer thinking herself under any obligation to
+me, might have fancied herself the protecting, instead of the
+protected party, and I felt that my love would soon have turned into
+utter contempt, if it had been my misfortune to find her harbouring
+such thoughts.  Although I trusted it would not be so, I wanted,
+before taking the important step of marriage, to probe her heart, and
+I resolved to try an experiment which would at once enable me to
+judge the real feelings of her inmost soul.  As soon as she was
+awake, I spoke to her thus:
+
+"Dearest Therese, all you have told me leaves me no doubt of your
+love for me, and the consciousness you feel of being the mistress of
+my heart enhances my love for you to such a degree, that I am ready
+to do everything to convince you that you were not mistaken in
+thinking that you had entirely conquered me.  I wish to prove to you
+that I am worthy of the noble confidence you have reposed in me by
+trusting you with equal sincerity.
+
+"Our hearts must be on a footing of perfect equality.  I know you, my
+dearest Therese, but you do not know me yet.  I can read in your eyes
+that you do not mind it, and it proves our great love, but that
+feeling places me too much below you, and I do not wish you to have
+so great an advantage over me.  I feel certain that my confidence is
+not necessary to your love; that you only care to be mine, that your
+only wish is to possess my heart, and I admire you, my Therese; but I
+should feel humiliated if I found myself either too much above or too
+much below you.  You have entrusted your secrets to me, now listen to
+mine; but before I begin, promise me that, when you know everything
+that concerns me, you will tell me candidly if any change has taken
+place either in your feelings or in your hopes."
+
+"I promise it faithfully; I promise not to conceal anything from you;
+but be upright enough not to tell me anything that is not perfectly
+true, for I warn you that it would be useless.  If you tried any
+artifice in order to find me less worthy of you than I am in reality,
+you would only succeed in lowering yourself in my estimation.  I
+should be very sorry to see you guilty of any cunning towards me.
+Have no more suspicion of me than I have of you; tell me the whole
+truth."
+
+"Here it is.  You suppose me wealthy, and I am not so; as soon as
+what there is now in my purse is spent I shall have nothing left.
+You may fancy that I was born a patrician, but my social condition is
+really inferior to your own.  I have no lucrative talents, no
+profession, nothing to give me the assurance that I am able to earn
+my living.  I have neither relatives nor friends, nor claims upon
+anyone, and I have no serious plan or purpose before me.  All I
+possess is youth, health, courage, some intelligence, honour,
+honesty, and some tincture of letters.  My greatest treasure consists
+in being my own master, perfectly independent, and not afraid of
+misfortune.  With all that, I am naturally inclined to extravagance.
+Lovely Therese, you have my portrait.  What is your answer?"
+
+"In the first place, dearest, let me assure you that I believe every
+word you have just uttered, as I would believe in the Gospel; in the
+second, allow me to tell you that several times in Ancona I have
+judged you such as you have just described yourself, but far from
+being displeased at such a knowledge of your nature, I was only
+afraid of some illusion on my part, for I could hope to win you if
+you were what I thought you to be.  In one word, dear one, if it is
+true that you are poor and a very bad hand at economy, allow me to
+tell you that I feel delighted, because, if you love me, you will not
+refuse a present from me, or despise me for offering it.  The present
+consists of myself, such as I am, and with all my faculties.  I give
+myself to you without any condition, with no restriction; I am yours,
+I will take care of you.  For the future think only of your love for
+me, but love me exclusively.  From this moment I am no longer
+Bellino.  Let us go to Venice, where my talent will keep us both
+comfortably; if you wish to go anywhere else, let us go where you
+please."
+
+"I must go to Constantinople."
+
+"Then let us proceed to Constantinople.  If you are afraid to lose me
+through want of constancy, marry me, and your right over me will be
+strengthened by law.  I should not love you better than I do now, but
+I should be happy to be your wife."
+
+"It is my intention to marry you, and I am delighted that we agree in
+that respect.  The day after to-morrow, in Bologna, you shall be made
+my legal-wife before the altar of God; I swear it to you here in the
+presence of Love.  I want you to be mine, I want to be yours, I want
+us to be united by the most holy ties."
+
+"I am the happiest of women!  We have nothing to do in Rimini;
+suppose we do not get up; we can have our dinner in bed, and go away
+to-morrow well rested after our fatigues."
+
+We left Rimini the next day, and stayed for breakfast at Pesaro.  As
+we were getting into the carriage to leave that place, an officer,
+accompanied by two soldiers, presented himself, enquired for our
+names, and demanded our passports.  Bellino had one and gave it, but
+I looked in vain for mine; I could not find it.
+
+The officer, a corporal, orders the postillion to wait and goes to
+make his report.  Half an hour afterwards, he returns, gives Bellino
+his passport, saying that he can continue his journey, but tells me
+that his orders are to escort me to the commanding officer, and I
+follow him.
+
+"What have you done with your passport?" enquires that officer.
+
+"I have lost it."
+
+"A passport is not so easily lost."
+
+"Well, I have lost mine."
+
+"You cannot proceed any further."
+
+"I come from Rome, and I am going to Constantinople, bearing a letter
+from Cardinal Acquaviva.  Here is the letter stamped with his seal."
+
+"All I can do for you is to send you to M. de Gages."
+
+I found the famous general standing, surrounded by his staff.  I told
+him all I had already explained to the officer, and begged him to let
+me continue my journey.
+
+"The only favour I can grant you is to put you under arrest till you
+receive another passport from Rome delivered under the same name as
+the one you have given here.  To lose a passport is a misfortune
+which befalls only a thoughtless, giddy man, and the cardinal will
+for the future know better than to put his confidence in a giddy
+fellow like you."
+
+With these words, he gave orders to take me to the guard-house at St.
+Mary's Gate, outside the city, as soon as I should have written to
+the cardinal for a new passport.  His orders were executed.  I was
+brought back to the inn, where I wrote my letter, and I sent it by
+express to his eminence, entreating him to forward the document,
+without loss of time, direct to the war office.  Then I embraced
+Therese who was weeping, and, telling her to go to Rimini and to wait
+there for my return, I made her take one hundred sequins.  She wished
+to remain in Pesaro, but I would not hear of it; I had my trunk
+brought out, I saw Therese go away from the inn, and was taken to the
+place appointed by the general.
+
+It is undoubtedly under such circumstances that the most determined
+optimist finds himself at a loss; but an easy stoicism can blunt the
+too sharp edge of misfortune.
+
+My greatest sorrow was the heart-grief of Therese who, seeing me torn
+from her arms at the very moment of our union, was suffocated by the
+tears which she tried to repress.  She would not have left me if I
+had not made her understand that she could not remain in Pesaro, and
+if I had not promised to join her within ten days, never to be parted
+again.  But fate had decided otherwise.
+
+When we reached the gate, the officer confined me immediately in the
+guard-house, and I sat down on my trunk.  The officer was a taciturn
+Spaniard who did not even condescend to honour me with an answer,
+when I told him that I had money and would like to have someone to
+wait on me.  I had to pass the night on a little straw, and without
+food, in the midst of the Spanish soldiers.  It was the second night
+of the sort that my destiny had condemned me to, immediately after
+two delightful nights.  My good angel doubtless found some pleasure
+in bringing such conjunctions before my mind for the benefit of my
+instruction.  At all events, teachings of that description have an
+infallible effect upon natures of a peculiar stamp.
+
+If you should wish to close the lips of a logician calling himself a
+philosopher, who dares to argue that in this life grief overbalances
+pleasure, ask him whether he would accept a life entirely without
+sorrow and happiness.  Be certain that he will not answer you, or he
+will shuffle, because, if he says no, he proves that he likes life
+such as it is, and if he likes it, he must find it agreeable, which
+is an utter impossibility, if life is painful; should he, on the
+contrary, answer in the affirmative, he would declare himself a fool,
+for it would be as much as to say that he can conceive pleasure
+arising from indifference, which is absurd nonsense.
+
+Suffering is inherent in human nature; but we never suffer without
+entertaining the hope of recovery, or, at least, very seldom without
+such hope, and hope itself is a pleasure.  If it happens sometimes
+that man suffers without any expectation of a cure, he necessarily
+finds pleasure in the complete certainty of the end of his life; for
+the worst, in all cases, must be either a sleep arising from extreme
+dejection, during which we have the consolation of happy dreams or
+the loss of all sensitiveness.  But when we are happy, our happiness
+is never disturbed by the thought that it will be followed by grief.
+Therefore pleasure, during its active period, is always complete,
+without alloy; grief is always soothed by hope.
+
+I suppose you, dear reader, at the age of twenty, and devoting
+yourself to the task of making a man of yourself by furnishing your
+mind with all the knowledge necessary to render you a useful being
+through the activity of your brain.  Someone comes in and tells you,
+"I bring you thirty years of existence; it is the immutable decree of
+fate; fifteen consecutive years must be happy, and fifteen years
+unhappy.  You are at liberty to choose the half by which you wish to
+begin."
+
+Confess it candidly, dear reader, you will not require much more
+consideration to decide, and you will certainly begin by the unhappy
+series of years, because you will feel that the expectation of
+fifteen delightful years cannot fail to brace you up with the courage
+necessary to bear the unfortunate years you have to go through, and
+we can even surmise, with every probability of being right, that the
+certainty of future happiness will soothe to a considerable extent
+the misery of the first period.
+
+You have already guessed, I have no doubt, the purpose of this
+lengthy argument.  The sagacious man, believe me, can never be
+utterly miserable, and I most willingly agree with my friend Horace,
+who says that, on the contrary, such a man is always happy.
+
+     'Nisi quum pituita molesta est.'
+
+But, pray where is the man who is always suffering from a rheum?
+
+The fact is that the fearful night I passed in the guardhouse of St.
+Mary resulted for me in a slight loss and in a great gain.  The small
+loss was to be away from my dear Therese, but, being certain of
+seeing her within ten days, the misfortune was not very great: as to
+the gain, it was in experience the true school for a man.  I gained a
+complete system against thoughtlessness, a system of foresight.  You
+may safely bet a hundred to one that a young man who has once lost
+his purse or his passport, will not lose either a second time. Each
+of those misfortunes has befallen me once only, and I might have been
+very often the victim of them, if experience had not taught me how
+much they were to be dreaded.  A thoughtless fellow is a man who has
+not yet found the word dread in the dictionary of his life.
+
+The officer who relieved my cross-grained Castilian on the following
+day seemed of a different nature altogether; his prepossessing
+countenance pleased me much.  He was a Frenchman, and I must say that
+I have always liked the French, and never the Spainards; there is in
+the manners of the first something so engaging, so obliging, that you
+feel attracted towards them as towards a friend, whilst an air of
+unbecoming haughtiness gives to the second a dark, forbidding
+countenance which certainly does not prepossess in their favour.  Yet
+I have often been duped by Frenchmen, and never by Spaniards--a proof
+that we ought to mistrust our tastes.
+
+The new officer, approaching me very politely, said to me,--
+
+"To what chance, reverend sir, am I indebted for the honour of having
+you in my custody?"
+
+Ah! here was a way of speaking which restored to my lungs all their
+elasticity!  I gave him all the particulars of my misfortune, and he
+found the mishap very amusing. But a man disposed to laugh at my
+disappointment could not be disagreeable to me, for it proved that
+the turn of his mind had more than one point of resemblance with
+mine. He gave me at once a soldier to serve me, and I had very
+quickly a bed, a table, and a few chairs. He was kind enough to have
+my bed placed in his own room, and I felt very grateful to him for
+that delicate attention.
+
+He gave me an invitation to share his dinner, and proposed a game of
+piquet afterwards, but from the very beginning he saw that I was no
+match for him; he told me so, and he warned me that the officer who
+would relieve him the next day was a better player even than he was
+himself; I lost three or four ducats. He advised me to abstain from
+playing on the following day, and I followed his advice. He told me
+also that he would have company to supper, that there would be a game
+of faro, but that the banker being a Greek and a crafty player, I
+ought not to play. I thought his advice very considerate,
+particularly when I saw that all the punters lost, and that the
+Greek, very calm in the midst of the insulting treatment of those he
+had duped, was pocketing his money, after handing a share to the
+officer who had taken an interest in the bank.  The name of the
+banker was Don Pepe il Cadetto, and by his accent I knew he was a
+Neapolitan.  I communicated my discovery to the officer, asking him
+why he had told me that the man was a Greek.  He explained to me the
+meaning of the word greek applied to a gambler, and the lesson which
+followed his explanation proved very useful to me in after years.
+
+During the five following days, my life was uniform and rather dull,
+but on the sixth day the same French officer was on guard, and I was
+very glad to see him.  He told me, with a hearty laugh, that he was
+delighted to find me still in the guard-house, and I accepted the
+compliment for what it was worth.  In the evening, we had the same
+bank at faro, with the same result as the first time, except a
+violent blow from the stick of one of the punters upon the back of
+the banker, of which the Greek stoically feigned to take no notice.
+I saw the same man again nine years afterwards in Vienna, captain in
+the service of Maria Theresa; he then called himself d'Afflisso.  Ten
+years later, I found him a colonel, and some time after worth a
+million; but the last time I saw him, some thirteen or fourteen years
+ago, he was a galley slave.  He was handsome, but (rather a singular
+thing) in spite of his beauty, he had a gallows look.  I have seen
+others with the same stamp--Cagliostro, for instance, and another who
+has not yet been sent to the galleys, but who cannot fail to pay them
+a visit.  Should the reader feel any curiosity about it, I can
+whisper the name in his ear.
+
+Towards the ninth or tenth day everyone in the army knew and liked
+me, and I was expecting the passport, which could not be delayed much
+longer.  I was almost free, and I would often walk about even out of
+sight of the sentinel.  They were quite right not to fear my running
+away, and I should have been wrong if I had thought of escaping, but
+the most singular adventure of my life happened to me then, and most
+unexpectedly.
+
+It was about six in the morning.  I was taking a walk within one
+hundred yards of the sentinel, when an officer arrived and alighted
+from his horse, threw the bridle on the neck of his steed, and walked
+off.  Admiring the docility of the horse, standing there like a
+faithful servant to whom his master has given orders to wait for him
+I got up to him, and without any purpose I get hold of the bridle,
+put my foot in the stirrup, and find myself in the saddle.  I was on
+horseback for the first time in my life.  I do not know whether I
+touched the horse with my cane or with my heels, but suddenly the
+animal starts at full speed.  My right foot having slipped out of the
+stirrup, I press against the horse with my heels, and, feeling the
+pressure, it gallops faster and faster, for I did not know how to
+check it.  At the last advanced post the sentinels call out to me to
+stop; but I cannot obey the order, and the horse carrying me away
+faster than ever, I hear the whizzing of a few musket balls, the
+natural consequence of my, involuntary disobedience.  At last, when I
+reach the first advanced picket of the Austrians, the horse is
+stopped, and I get off his back thanking God.
+
+An officer of Hussars asks where I am running so fast, and my tongue,
+quicker than my thought, answers without any privity on my part, that
+I can render no account but to Prince Lobkowitz, commander-in-chief
+of the army, whose headquarters were at Rimini.  Hearing my answer,
+the officer gave orders for two Hussars to get on horseback, a fresh
+one is given me, and I am taken at full gallop to Rimini, where the
+officer on guard has me escorted at once to the prince.
+
+I find his highness alone, and I tell him candidly what has just
+happened to me.  My story makes him laugh, although he observes that
+it is hardly credible.
+
+"I ought," he says, "to put you under arrest, but I am willing to
+save you that unpleasantness."  With that he called one of his
+officers and ordered him to escort me through the Cesena Gate.  "Then
+you can go wherever you please," he added, turning round to me; "but
+take care not to again enter the lines of my army without a passport,
+or you might fare badly."
+
+I asked him to let me have the horse again, but he answered that the
+animal did not belong to me.  I forgot to ask him to send me back to
+the place I had come from, and I regretted it; but after all perhaps
+I did for the best.
+
+The officer who accompanied me asked me, as we were passing a coffee-
+house, whether I would like to take some chocolate, and we went in.
+At that moment I saw Petronio going by, and availing myself of a
+moment when the officer was talking to someone, I told him not to
+appear to be acquainted with me, but to tell me where he lived.  When
+we had taken our chocolate the officer paid and we went out.  Along
+the road we kept up the conversation; he told me his name, I gave him
+mine, and I explained how I found myself in Rimini.  He asked me
+whether I had not remained some time in Ancona; I answered in the
+affirmative, and he smiled and said I could get a passport in
+Bologna, return to Rimini and to Pesaro without any fear, and recover
+my trunk by paying the officer for the horse he had lost.  We reached
+the gate, he wished me a pleasant journey, and we parted company.
+
+I found myself free, with gold and jewels, but without my trunk.
+Therese was in Rimini, and I could not enter that city.  I made up my
+mind to go to Bologna as quickly as possible in order to get a
+passport, and to return to Pesaro, where I should find my passport
+from Rome, for I could not make up my mind to lose my trunk, and I
+did not want to be separated from Therese until the end of her
+engagement with the manager of the Rimini Theatre.
+
+It was raining; I had silk stockings on, and I longed for a carriage.
+I took shelter under the portal of a church, and turned my fine
+overcoat inside out, so as not to look like an abbe.  At that moment
+a peasant happened to come along, and I asked him if a carriage could
+be had to drive me to Cesena.  "I have one, sir," he said, "but I
+live half a league from here."
+
+"Go and get it, I will wait for you here."
+
+While I was waiting for the return of the peasant with his vehicle,
+some forty mules laden with provisions came along the road towards
+Rimini.  It was still raining fast, and the mules passing close by
+me, I placed my hand mechanically upon the neck of one of them, and
+following the slow pace of the animals I re-entered Rimini without
+the slightest notice being taken of me, even by the drivers of the
+mules.  I gave some money to the first street urchin I met, and he
+took me to Therese's house.
+
+With my hair fastened under a night-cap, my hat pulled down over my
+face, and my fine cane concealed under my coat, I did not look a very
+elegant figure.  I enquired for Bellino's mother, and the mistress of
+the house took me to a room where I found all the family, and Therese
+in a woman's dress.  I had reckoned upon surmising them, but Petronio
+had told them of our meeting, and they were expecting me.  I gave a
+full account of my adventures, but Therese, frightened at the danger
+that threatened me, and in spite of her love, told me that it was
+absolutely necessary for me to go to Bologna, as I had been advised
+by M. Vais, the officer.
+
+"I know him," she said, "and he is a worthy man, but he comes here
+every evening, and you must conceal yourself."
+
+It was only eight o'clock in the morning; we had the whole day before
+us, and everyone promised to be discreet.  I allayed Therese's
+anxiety by telling her that I could easily contrive to leave the city
+without being observed.
+
+Therese took me to her own room, where she told me that she had met
+the manager of the theatre on her arrival in Rimini, and that he had
+taken her at once to the apartments engaged for the family.  She had
+informed him that she was a woman, and that she had made up her mind
+not to appear as a castrato any more; he had expressed himself
+delighted at such news, because women could appear on the stage at
+Rimini, which was not under the same legate as Ancona.  She added
+that her engagement would be at an end by the 1st of May, and that
+she would meet me wherever it would be agreeable to me to wait for
+her.
+
+"As soon as I can get a passport," I said, "there is nothing to
+hinder me from remaining near you until the end of your engagement.
+But as M. Vais calls upon you, tell me whether you have informed him
+of my having spent a few days in Ancona?"
+
+"I did, and I even told him that you had been arrested because you
+had lost your passport."
+
+I understood why the officer had smiled as he was talking with me.
+After my conversation with Therese, I received the compliments of the
+mother and of the young sisters who appeared to me less cheerful and
+less free than they had been in Ancona.  They felt that Bellino,
+transformed into Therese, was too formidable a rival.  I listened
+patiently to all the complaints of the mother who maintained that, in
+giving up the character of castrato, Therese had bidden adieu to
+fortune, because she might have earned a thousand sequins a year in
+Rome.
+
+"In Rome, my good woman," I said, "the false Bellino would have been
+found out, and Therese would have been consigned to a miserable
+convent for which she was never made."
+
+Notwithstanding the danger of my position, I spent the whole of the
+day alone with my beloved mistress, and it seemed that every moment
+gave her fresh beauties and increased my love.  At eight o'clock in
+the evening, hearing someone coming in, she left me, and I remained
+in the dark, but in such a position that I could see everything and
+hear every word.  The Baron Vais came in, and Therese gave him her
+hand with the grace of a pretty woman and the dignity of a princess.
+The first thing he told her was the news about me; she appeared to be
+pleased, and listened with well-feigned indifference, when he said
+that he had advised me to return with a passport.  He spent an hour
+with her, and I was thoroughly well pleased with her manners and
+behaviour, which had been such as to leave me no room for the
+slightest feeling of jealousy.  Marina lighted him out and Therese
+returned to me.  We had a joyous supper together, and, as we were
+getting ready to go to bed, Petronio came to inform me that ten
+muleteers would start for Cesena two hours before day-break, and that
+he was sure I could leave the city with them if I would go and meet
+them a quarter of an hour before their departure, and treat them to
+something to drink.  I was of the same opinion, and made up my mind
+to make the attempt.  I asked Petronio to sit up and to wake me in
+good time.  It proved an unnecessary precaution, for I was ready
+before the time, and left Therese satisfied with my love, without any
+doubt of my constancy, but rather anxious as to my success in
+attempting to leave Rimini.  She had sixty sequins which she wanted
+to force back upon me, but I asked her what opinion she would have of
+me if I accepted them, and we said no more about it.
+
+I went to the stable, and having treated one of the muleteers to some
+drink I told him that I would willingly ride one of his mules as far
+as Sarignan.
+
+"You are welcome to the ride," said the good fellow, "but I would
+advise you not to get on the mule till we are outside the city, and
+to pass through the gate on foot as if you were one of the drivers."
+
+It was exactly what I wanted.  Petronio accompanied me as far as the
+gate, where I gave him a substantial proof of my gratitude.  I got
+out of the city without the slightest difficulty, and left the
+muleteers at Sarignan, whence I posted to Bologna.
+
+I found out that I could not obtain a passport, for the simple reason
+that the authorities of the city persisted that it was not necessary;
+but I knew better, and it was not for me to tell them why.  I
+resolved to write to the French officer who had treated me so well at
+the guardhouse.  I begged him to enquire at the war office whether my
+passport had arrived from Rome, and, if so, to forward it to me.  I
+also asked him to find out the owner of the horse who had run away
+with me, offering to pay for it.  I made up my mind to wait for
+Therese in Bologna, and I informed her of my decision, entreating her
+to write very often.  The reader will soon know the new resolution I
+took on the very same day.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of MEMOIRES OF JACQUES CASANOVA
+VENETION YEARS, Vol. 1b, A CLERIC IN NAPLES
+by Jacques Casanova de Seingalt
+
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+The Project Gutenberg Etext of A Cleric in Naples, by Jacques Casanova
+#2 in our series by Jacques Casanova de Seingalt
+
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+Title: A Cleric in Naples, Casanova, v2
+
+Author: Jacques Casanova de Seingalt
+
+Release Date: December, 2001 [Etext #2952]
+[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule]
+[Most recently updated: December 10, 2001]
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+Edition: 11
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+The Project Gutenberg Etext of A Cleric in Naples, by Casanova
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+
+MEMOIRS OF JACQUES CASANOVA de SEINGALT 1725-1798
+VENETIAN YEARS, Volume 1b--A CLERIC IN NAPLES
+
+
+THE RARE UNABRIDGED LONDON EDITION OF 1894 TRANSLATED BY ARTHUR
+MACHEN TO WHICH HAS BEEN ADDED THE CHAPTERS DISCOVERED
+BY ARTHUR SYMONS.
+
+
+
+
+A CLERIC IN NAPLES
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+My Misfortunes in Chiozza--Father Stephano--The Lazzaretto at Ancona
+--The Greek Slave--My Pilgrimage to Our Lady of Loretto--I Go to Rome
+on Foot, and From Rome to Naples to Meet the Bishop--I Cannot Join
+Him--Good Luck Offers Me the Means of Reaching Martorano, Which Place
+I Very Quickly Leave to Return to Naples
+
+
+The retinue of the ambassador, which was styled "grand," appeared to
+me very small.  It was composed of a Milanese steward, named
+Carcinelli, of a priest who fulfilled the duties of secretary because
+he could not write, of an old woman acting as housekeeper, of a man
+cook with his ugly wife, and eight or ten servants.
+
+We reached Chiozza about noon.  Immediately after landing, I politely
+asked the steward where I should put up, and his answer was:
+
+"Wherever you please, provided you let this man know where it is, so
+that he can give you notice when the peotta is ready to sail.  My
+duty," he added, "is to leave you at the lazzaretto of Ancona free of
+expense from the moment we leave this place.  Until then enjoy
+yourself as well as you can."
+
+The man to whom I was to give my address was the captain of the
+peotta.  I asked him to recommend me a lodging.
+
+"You can come to my house," he said, "if you have no objection to
+share a large bed with the cook, whose wife remains on board."
+
+Unable to devise any better plan, I accepted the offer, and a sailor,
+carrying my trunk, accompanied me to the dwelling of the honest
+captain.  My trunk had to be placed under the bed which filled up the
+room.  I was amused at this, for I was not in a position to be over-
+fastidious, and, after partaking of some dinner at the inn, I went
+about the town.  Chiozza is a peninsula, a sea-port belonging to
+Venice, with a population of ten thousand inhabitants, seamen,
+fishermen, merchants, lawyers, and government clerks.
+
+I entered a coffee-room, and I had scarcely taken a seat when a young
+doctor-at-law, with whom I had studied in Padua, came up to me, and
+introduced me to a druggist whose shop was near by, saying that his
+house was the rendezvous of all the literary men of the place.  A few
+minutes afterwards, a tall Jacobin friar, blind of one eye, called
+Corsini, whom I had known in Venice, came in and paid me many
+compliments.  He told me that I had arrived just in time to go to a
+picnic got up by the Macaronic academicians for the next day, after a
+sitting of the academy in which every member was to recite something
+of his composition.  He invited me to join them, and to gratify the
+meeting with the delivery of one of my productions.  I accepted the
+invitation, and, after the reading of ten stanzas which I had written
+for the occasion, I was unanimously elected a member.  My success at
+the picnic was still greater, for I disposed of such a quantity of
+macaroni that I was found worthy of the title of prince of the
+academy.
+
+The young doctor, himself one of the academicians, introduced me to
+his family.  His parents, who were in easy circumstances, received me
+very kindly.  One of his sisters was very amiable, but the other, a
+professed nun, appeared to me a prodigy of beauty.  I might have
+enjoyed myself in a very agreeable way in the midst of that charming
+family during my stay in Chiozza, but I suppose that it was my
+destiny to meet in that place with nothing but sorrows.  The young
+doctor forewarned me that the monk Corsini was a very worthless
+fellow, despised by everybody, and advised me to avoid him.  I
+thanked him for the information, but my thoughtlessness prevented me
+from profiting by it.  Of a very easy disposition, and too giddy to
+fear any snares, I was foolish enough to believe that the monk would,
+on the contrary, be the very man to throw plenty of amusement in my
+way.
+
+On the third day the worthless dog took me to a house of ill-fame,
+where I might have gone without his introduction, and, in order to
+shew my mettle, I obliged a low creature whose ugliness ought to have
+been a sufficient antidote against any fleshly desire.  On leaving
+the place, he brought me for supper to an inn where we met four
+scoundrels of his own stamp.  After supper one of them began a bank
+of faro, and I was invited to join in the game.  I gave way to that
+feeling of false pride which so often causes the ruin of young men,
+and after losing four sequins I expressed a wish to retire, but my
+honest friend, the Jacobin contrived to make me risk four more
+sequins in partnership with him.  He held the bank, and it was
+broken.  I did not wish to play any more, but Corsini, feigning to
+pity me and to feel great sorrow at being the cause of my loss,
+induced me to try myself a bank of twenty-five sequins; my bank was
+likewise broken.  The hope of winning back my money made me keep up
+the game, and I lost everything I had.
+
+Deeply grieved, I went away and laid myself down near the cook, who
+woke up and said I was a libertine.
+
+"You are right," was all I could answer.
+
+I was worn out with fatigue and sorrow, and I slept soundly.  My vile
+tormentor, the monk, woke me at noon, and informed me with a
+triumphant joy that a very rich young man had been invited by his
+friends to supper, that he would be sure to play and to lose, and
+that it would be a good opportunity for me to retrieve my losses.
+
+"I have lost all my money.  Lend me twenty sequins."
+
+"When I lend money I am sure to lose; you may call it superstition,
+but I have tried it too often.  Try to find money somewhere else, and
+come.  Farewell."
+
+I felt ashamed to confess my position to my friend, and sending for,
+a money-lender I emptied my trunk before him.  We made an inventory
+of my clothes, and the honest broker gave me thirty sequins, with the
+understanding that if I did not redeem them within three days all my
+things would become his property.  I am bound to call him an honest
+man, for he advised me to keep three shirts, a few pairs of
+stockings, and a few handkerchiefs; I was disposed to let him take
+everything, having a presentiment that I would win back all I had
+lost; a very common error.  A few years later I took my revenge by
+writing a diatribe against presentiments.  I am of opinion that the
+only foreboding in which man can have any sort of faith is the one
+which forbodes evil, because it comes from the mind, while a
+presentiment of happiness has its origin in the heart, and the heart
+is a fool worthy of reckoning foolishly upon fickle fortune.
+
+I did not lose any time in joining the honest company, which was
+alarmed at the thought of not seeing me.  Supper went off without any
+allusion to gambling, but my admirable qualities were highly praised,
+and it was decided that a brilliant fortune awaited me in Rome.
+After supper there was no talk of play, but giving way to my evil
+genius I loudly asked for my revenge.  I was told that if I would
+take the bank everyone would punt.  I took the bank, lost every
+sequin I had, and retired, begging the monk to pay what I owed to the
+landlord, which he promised to do.
+
+I was in despair, and to crown my misery I found out as I was going
+home that I had met the day before with another living specimen of
+the Greek woman, less beautiful but as perfidious.  I went to bed
+stunned by my grief, and I believe that I must have fainted into a
+heavy sleep, which lasted eleven hours; my awaking was that of a
+miserable being, hating the light of heaven, of which he felt himself
+unworthy, and I closed my eyes again, trying to sleep for a little
+while longer.  I dreaded to rouse myself up entirely, knowing that I
+would then have to take some decision; but I never once thought of
+returning to Venice, which would have been the very best thing to do,
+and I would have destroyed myself rather than confide my sad position
+to the young doctor.  I was weary of my existence, and I entertained
+vaguely some hope of starving where I was, without leaving my bed.
+It is certain that I should not have got up if M. Alban, the master
+of the peotta, had not roused me by calling upon me and informing me
+that the boat was ready to sail.
+
+The man who is delivered from great perplexity, no matter by what
+means, feels himself relieved.  It seemed to me that Captain Alban
+had come to point out the only thing I could possibly do; I dressed
+myself in haste, and tying all my worldly possessions in a
+handkerchief I went on board.  Soon afterwards we left the shore, and
+in the morning we cast anchor in Orsara, a seaport of Istria.  We all
+landed to visit the city, which would more properly be called a
+village.  It belongs to the Pope, the Republic of Venice having
+abandoned it to the Holy See.
+
+A young monk of the order of the Recollects who called himself Friar
+Stephano of Belun, and had obtained a free passage from the devout
+Captain Alban, joined me as we landed and enquired whether I felt
+sick.
+
+"Reverend father, I am unhappy."
+
+"You will forget all your sorrow, if you will come and dine with me
+at the house of one of our devout friends."
+
+I had not broken my fast for thirty-six hours, and having suffered
+much from sea-sickness during the night, my stomach was quite empty.
+My erotic inconvenience made me very uncomfortable, my mind felt
+deeply the consciousness of my degradation, and I did not possess a
+groat!  I was in such a miserable state that I had no strength to
+accept or to refuse anything.  I was thoroughly torpid, and I
+followed the monk mechanically.
+
+He presented me to a lady, saying that he was accompanying me to
+Rome, where I intend to become a Franciscan.  This untruth disgusted
+me, and under any other circumstances I would not have let it pass
+without protest, but in my actual position it struck me as rather
+comical.  The good lady gave us a good dinner of fish cooked in oil,
+which in Orsara is delicious, and we drank some exquisite refosco.
+During our meal, a priest happened to drop in, and, after a short
+conversation, he told me that I ought not to pass the night on board
+the tartan, and pressed me to accept a bed in his house and a good
+dinner for the next day in case the wind should not allow us to sail;
+I accepted without hesitation.  I offered my most sincere thanks to
+the good old lady, and the priest took me all over the town.  In the
+evening, he brought me to his house where we partook of an excellent
+supper prepared by his housekeeper, who sat down to the table with
+us, and with whom I was much pleased.  The refosco, still better than
+that which I had drunk at dinner, scattered all my misery to the
+wind, and I conversed gaily with the priest.  He offered to read to
+me a poem of his own composition, but, feeling that my eyes would not
+keep open, I begged he would excuse me and postpone the reading until
+the following day.
+
+I went to bed, and in the morning, after ten hours of the most
+profound sleep, the housekeeper, who had been watching for my
+awakening, brought me some coffee.  I thought her a charming woman,
+but, alas!  I was not in a fit state to prove to her the high
+estimation in which I held her beauty.
+
+Entertaining feelings of gratitude for my kind host, and disposed to
+listen attentively to his poem, I dismissed all sadness, and I paid
+his poetry such compliments that he was delighted, and, finding me
+much more talented than he had judged me to be at first, he insisted
+upon treating me to a reading of his idylls, and I had to swallow
+them, bearing the infliction cheerfully. The day passed off very
+agreeably; the housekeeper surrounded me with the kindest attentions
+--a proof that she was smitten with me; and, giving way to that
+pleasing idea, I felt that, by a very natural system of reciprocity,
+she had made my conquest.  The good priest thought that the day had
+passed like lightning, thanks to all the beauties I had discovered in
+his poetry, which, to speak the truth, was below mediocrity, but time
+seemed to me to drag along very slowly, because the friendly glances
+of the housekeeper made me long for bedtime, in spite of the
+miserable condition in which I felt myself morally and physically.
+But such was my nature; I abandoned myself to joy and happiness,
+when, had I been more reasonable, I ought to have sunk under my grief
+and sadness.
+
+But the golden time came at last.  I found the pretty housekeeper
+full of compliance, but only up to a certain point, and as she
+offered some resistance when I shewed myself disposed to pay a full
+homage to her charms, I quietly gave up the undertaking, very well
+pleased for both of us that it had not been carried any further, and
+I sought my couch in peace.  But I had not seen the end of the
+adventure, for the next morning, when she brought my coffee, her
+pretty, enticing manners allured me to bestow a few loving caresses
+upon her, and if she did not abandon herself entirely, it was only,
+as she said, because she was afraid of some surprise.  The day passed
+off very pleasantly with the good priest, and at night, the house-
+keeper no longer fearing detection, and I having on my side taken
+every precaution necessary in the state in which I was, we passed two
+most delicious hours.  I left Orsara the next morning.
+
+Friar Stephano amused me all day with his talk, which plainly showed
+me his ignorance combined with knavery under the veil of simplicity.
+He made me look at the alms he had received in Orsara--bread, wine,
+cheese, sausages, preserves, and chocolate; every nook and cranny of
+his holy garment was full of provisions.
+
+"Have you received money likewise?" I enquired.
+
+"God forbid!  In the first place, our glorious order does not permit
+me to touch money, and, in the second place, were I to be foolish
+enough to receive any when I am begging, people would think
+themselves quit of me with one or two sous, whilst they dive me ten
+times as much in eatables.  Believe me Saint-Francis, was a very
+judicious man."
+
+I bethought myself that what this monk called wealth would be poverty
+to me.  He offered to share with me, and seemed very proud at my
+consenting to honour him so far.
+
+The tartan touched at the harbour of Pola, called Veruda, and we
+landed.  After a walk up hill of nearly a quarter of an hour, we
+entered the city, and I devoted a couple of hours to visiting the
+Roman antiquities, which are numerous, the town having been the
+metropolis of the empire.  Yet I saw no other trace of grand
+buildings except the ruins of the arena.  We returned to Veruda, and
+went again to sea.  On the following day we sighted Ancona, but the
+wind being against us we were compelled to tack about, and we did not
+reach the port till the second day.  The harbour of Ancona, although
+considered one of the great works of Trajan, would be very unsafe if
+it were not for a causeway which has cost a great deal of money, and
+which makes it some what better.  I observed a fact worthy of notice,
+namely, that, in the Adriatic, the northern coast has many harbours,
+while the opposite coast can only boast of one or two.  It is evident
+that the sea is retiring by degrees towards the east, and that in
+three or four more centuries Venice must be joined to the land.  We
+landed at the old lazzaretto, where we received the pleasant
+information that we would go through a quarantine of twenty-eight
+days, because Venice had admitted, after a quarantine of three
+months, the crew of two ships from Messina, where the plague had
+recently been raging.  I requested a room for myself and for Brother
+Stephano, who thanked me very heartily.  I hired from a Jew a bed, a
+table and a few chairs, promising to pay for the hire at the
+expiration of our quarantine.  The monk would have nothing but straw.
+If he had guessed that without him I might have starved, he would
+most likely not have felt so much vanity at sharing my room.  A
+sailor, expecting to find in me a generous customer, came to enquire
+where my trunk was, and, hearing from me that I did not know, he, as
+well as Captain Alban, went to a great deal of trouble to find it,
+and I could hardly keep down my merriment when the captain called,
+begging to be excused for having left it behind, and assuring me that
+he would take care to forward it to me in less than three weeks.
+
+The friar, who had to remain with me four weeks, expected to live at
+my expense, while, on the contrary, he had been sent by Providence to
+keep me.  He had provisions enough for one week, but it was necessary
+to think of the future.
+
+After supper, I drew a most affecting picture of my position, shewing
+that I should be in need of everything until my arrival at Rome,
+where I was going, I said, to fill the post of secretary of
+memorials, and my astonishment may be imagined when I saw the
+blockhead delighted at the recital of my misfortunes.
+
+"I undertake to take care of you until we reach Rome; only tell me
+whether you can write."
+
+"What a question!  Are you joking?"
+
+"Why should I?  Look at me; I cannot write anything but my name.
+True, I can write it with either hand; and what else do I want to
+know?"
+
+"You astonish me greatly, for I thought you were a priest."
+
+"I am a monk; I say the mass, and, as a matter of course, I must know
+how to read.  Saint-Francis, whose unworthy son I am, could not read,
+an that is the reason why he never said a mass.  But as you can
+write, you will to-morrow pen a letter in my name to the persons
+whose names I will give you, and I warrant you we shall have enough
+sent here to live like fighting cocks all through our quarantine."
+
+The next day he made me write eight letters, because, in the oral
+tradition of his order, it is said that, when a monk has knocked at
+seven doors and has met with a refusal at every one of them, he must
+apply to the eighth with perfect confidence, because there he is
+certain of receiving alms.  As he had already performed the
+pilgrimage to Rome, he knew every person in Ancona devoted to the
+cult of Saint-Francis, and was acquainted with the superiors of all
+the rich convents.  I had to write to every person he named, and to
+set down all the lies he dictated to me.  He likewise made me sign
+the letters for him, saying, that, if he signed himself, his
+correspondents would see that the letters had not been written by
+him, which would injure him, for, he added, in this age of
+corruption, people will esteem only learned men.  He compelled me to
+fill the letters with Latin passages and quotations, even those
+addressed to ladies, and I remonstrated in vain, for, when I raised
+any objection, he threatened to leave me without anything to eat.  I
+made up my mind to do exactly as he wished.  He desired me to write
+to the superior of the Jesuits that he would not apply to the
+Capuchins, because they were no better than atheists, and that that
+was the reason of the great dislike of Saint-Francis for them.  It
+was in vain that I reminded him of the fact that, in the time of
+Saint-Francis, there were neither Capuchins nor Recollets.  His
+answer was that I had proved myself an ignoramus.  I firmly believed
+that he would be thought a madman, and that we should not receive
+anything, but I was mistaken, for such a quantity of provisions came
+pouring in that I was amazed.  Wine was sent from three or four
+different quarters, more than enough for us during all our stay, and
+yet I drank nothing but water, so great was my wish to recover my
+health.  As for eatables, enough was sent in every day for six
+persons; we gave all our surplus to our keeper, who had a large
+family.  But the monk felt no gratitude for the kind souls who
+bestowed their charity upon him; all his thanks were reserved for
+Saint-Francis.
+
+He undertook to have my men washed by the keeper; I would not have
+dared to give it myself, and he said that he had nothing to fear, as
+everybody was well aware that the monks of his order never wear any
+kind of linen.
+
+I kept myself in bed nearly all day, and thus avoided shewing myself
+to visitors.  The persons who did not come wrote letters full of
+incongruities cleverly worded, which I took good care not to point
+out to him.  It was with great difficulty that I tried to persuade
+him that those letters did not require any answer.
+
+A fortnight of repose and severe diet brought me round towards
+complete recovery, and I began to walk in the yard of the lazzaretto
+from morning till night; but the arrival of a Turk from Thessalonia
+with his family compelled me to suspend my walks, the ground-floor
+having been given to him.  The only pleasure left me was to spend my
+time on the balcony overlooking the yard.  I soon saw a Greek slave,
+a girl of dazzling beauty, for whom I felt the deepest interest.  She
+was in the habit of spending the whole day sitting near the door with
+a book or some embroidery in her hand.  If she happened to raise her
+eyes and to meet mine, she modestly bent her head down, and sometimes
+she rose and went in slowly, as if she meant to say, "I did not know
+that somebody was looking at me."  Her figure was tall and slender,
+her features proclaimed her to be very young; she had a very fair
+complexion, with beautiful black hair and eyes.  She wore the Greek
+costume, which gave her person a certain air of very exciting
+voluptuousness.
+
+I was perfectly idle, and with the temperament which nature and habit
+had given me, was it likely that I could feast my eyes constantly
+upon such a charming object without falling desperately in love?  I
+had heard her conversing in Lingua Franca with her master, a fine old
+man, who, like her, felt very weary of the quarantine, and used to
+come out but seldom, smoking his pipe, and remaining in the yard only
+a short time.  I felt a great temptation to address a few words to
+the beautiful girl, but I was afraid she might run away and never
+come out again; however, unable to control myself any longer, I
+determined to write to her; I had no difficulty in conveying the
+letter, as I had only to let it fall from my balcony.  But she might
+have refused to pick it up, and this is the plan I adopted in order
+not to risk any unpleasant result.
+
+Availing myself of a moment during which she was alone in the yard, I
+dropped from my balcony a small piece of paper folded like a letter,
+but I had taken care not to write anything on it, and held the true
+letter in my hand.  As soon as I saw her stooping down to pick up the
+first, I quickly let the second drop at her feet, and she put both
+into her pocket.  A few minutes afterwards she left the yard.  My
+letter was somewhat to this effect:
+
+"Beautiful angel from the East, I worship you.  I will remain all
+night on this balcony in the hope that you will come to me for a
+quarter of an hour, and listen to my voice through the hole under my
+feet.  We can speak softly, and in order to hear me you can climb up
+to the top of the bale of goods which lies beneath the same hole."
+
+I begged from my keeper not to lock me in as he did every night, and
+he consented on condition that he would watch me, for if I had jumped
+down in the yard his life might have been the penalty, and he
+promised not to disturb me on the balcony.
+
+At midnight, as I was beginning to give her up, she carne forward.  I
+then laid myself flat on the floor of the balcony, and I placed my
+head against the hole, about six inches square.  I saw her jump on
+the bale, and her head reached within a foot from the balcony.  She
+was compelled to steady herself with one hand against the wall for
+fear of falling, and in that position we talked of love, of ardent
+desires, of obstacles, of impossibilities, and of cunning artifices.
+I told her the reason for which I dared not jump down in the yard,
+and she observed that, even without that reason, it would bring ruin
+upon us, as it would be impossible to come up again, and that,
+besides, God alone knew what her master would do if he were to find
+us together.  Then, promising to visit me in this way every night,
+she passed her hand through the hole.  Alas! I could not leave off
+kissing it, for I thought that I had never in my life touched so
+soft, so delicate a hand.  But what bliss when she begged for mine!
+I quickly thrust my arm through the hole, so that she could fasten
+her lips to the bend of the elbow.  How many sweet liberties my hand
+ventured to take!  But we were at last compelled by prudence to
+separate, and when I returned to my room I saw with great pleasure
+that the keeper was fast asleep.
+
+Although I was delighted at having obtained every favour I could
+possibly wish for in the uncomfortable position we had been in, I
+racked my brain to contrive the means of securing more complete
+enjoyment for the following night, but I found during the afternoon
+that the feminine cunning of my beautiful Greek was more fertile than
+mine.
+
+Being alone in the yard with her master, she said a few words to him
+in Turkish, to which he seemed to give his approval, and soon after a
+servant, assisted by the keeper, brought under the balcony a large
+basket of goods.  She overlooked the arrangement, and in order to
+secure the basket better, she made the servant place a bale of cotton
+across two others.  Guessing at her purpose, I fairly leaped for joy,
+for she had found the way of raising herself two feet higher; but I
+thought that she would then find herself in the most inconvenient
+position, and that, forced to bend double, she would not be able to
+resist the fatigue.  The hole was not wide enough for her head to
+pass through, otherwise she might have stood erect and been
+comfortable.  It was necessary at all events to guard against that
+difficulty; the only way was to tear out one of the planks of the
+floor of the balcony, but it was not an easy undertaking.  Yet I
+decided upon attempting it, regardless of consequences; and I went to
+my room to provide myself with a large pair of pincers.  Luckily the
+keeper was absent, and availing myself of the opportunity, I
+succeeded in dragging out carefully the four large nails which
+fastened the plank.  Finding that I could lift it at my will, I
+replaced the pincers, and waited for the night with amorous
+impatience.
+
+The darling girl came exactly at midnight, noticing the difficulty
+she experienced in climbing up, and in getting a footing upon the
+third bale of cotton, I lifted the plank, and, extending my arm as
+far as I could, I offered her a steady point of support.  She stood
+straight, and found herself agreeably surprised, for she could pass
+her head and her arms through the hole.  We wasted no time in empty
+compliments; we only congratulated each other upon having both worked
+for the same purpose.
+
+If, the night before, I had found myself master of her person more
+than she was of mine, this time the position was entirely reversed.
+Her hand roamed freely over every part of my body, but I had to stop
+half-way down hers.  She cursed the man who had packed the bale for
+not having made it half a foot bigger, so as to get nearer to me.
+Very likely even that would not have satisfied us, but she would have
+felt happier.
+
+Our pleasures were barren, yet we kept up our enjoyment until the
+first streak of light.  I put back the plank carefully, and I lay
+down in my bed in great need of recruiting my strength.
+
+My dear mistress had informed me that the Turkish Bairam began that
+very morning, and would last three days during which it would be
+impossible for her to see me.
+
+The night after Bairam, she did not fail to make her appearance, and,
+saying that she could not be happy without me, she told me that, as
+she was a Christian woman, I could buy her, if I waited for her after
+leaving the lazzaretto.  I was compelled to tell her that I did not
+possess the means of doing so, and my confession made her sigh.  On
+the following night, she informed me that her master would sell her
+for two thousand piasters, that she would give me the amount, that
+she was yet a virgin, and that I would be pleased with my bargain.
+She added that she would give me a casket full of diamonds, one of
+which was alone worth two thousand piasters, and that the sale of the
+others would place us beyond the reach of poverty for the remainder
+of our life.  She assured me that her master would not notice the
+loss of the casket, and that, if he did, he would never think of
+accusing her.
+
+I was in love with this girl; and her proposal made me uncomfortable,
+but when I woke in the morning I did not hesitate any longer.  She
+brought the casket in the evening, but I told her that I never could
+make up my mind to be accessory to a robbery; she was very unhappy,
+and said that my love was not as deep as her own, but that she could
+not help admiring me for being so good a Christian.
+
+This was the last night; probably we should never meet again.  The
+flame of passion consumed us.  She proposed that I should lift her up
+to the balcony through the open space.  Where is the lover who would
+have objected to so attractive a proposal?  I rose, and without being
+a Milo, I placed my hands under her arms, I drew her up towards me,
+and my desires are on the point of being fulfilled.  Suddenly I feel
+two hands upon my shoulders, and the voice of the keeper exclaims,
+"What are you about?" I let my precious burden drop; she regains her
+chamber, and I, giving vent to my rage, throw myself flat on the
+floor of the balcony, and remain there without a movement, in spite
+of the shaking of the keeper whom I was sorely tempted to strangle.
+At last I rose from the floor and went to bed without uttering one
+word, and not even caring to replace the plank.
+
+In the morning, the governor informed us that we were free.  As I
+left the lazzaretto, with a breaking heart, I caught a glimpse of the
+Greek slave drowned in tears.
+
+I agreed to meet Friar Stephano at the exchange, and I took the Jew
+from whom I had hired the furniture, to the convent of the Minims,
+where I received from Father Lazari ten sequins and the address of
+the bishop, who, after performing quarantine on the frontiers of
+Tuscany, had proceeded to Rome, where he would expect me to meet him.
+
+I paid the Jew, and made a poor dinner at an inn.  As I was leaving
+it to join the monk, I was so unlucky as to meet Captain Alban, who
+reproached me bitterly for having led him to believe that my trunk
+had been left behind.  I contrived to appease his anger by telling
+him all my misfortunes, and I signed a paper in which I declared that
+I had no claim whatever upon him.  I then purchased a pair of shoes
+and an overcoat, and met Stephano, whom I informed of my decision to
+make a pilgrimage to Our Lady of Loretto.  I said I would await there
+for him, and that we would afterwards travel together as far as Rome.
+He answered that he did not wish to go through Loretto, and that I
+would repent of my contempt for the grace of Saint-Francis.  I did
+not alter my mind, and I left for Loretto the next day in the
+enjoyment of perfect health.
+
+I reached the Holy City, tired almost to death, for it was the first
+time in my life that I had walked fifteen miles, drinking nothing but
+water, although the weather was very warm, because the dry wine used
+in that part of the country parched me too much.  I must observe
+that, in spite of my poverty, I did not look like a beggar.
+
+As I was entering the city, I saw coming towards me an elderly priest
+of very respectable appearance, and, as he was evidently taking
+notice of me, as soon as he drew near, I saluted him, and enquired
+where I could find a comfortable inn.  "I cannot doubt," he said,
+"that a person like you, travelling on foot, must come here from
+devout motives; come with me."  He turned back, I followed him, and
+he took me to a fine-looking house.  After whispering a few words to
+a man who appeared to be a steward, he left me saying, very affably,
+"You shall be well attended to."
+
+My first impression was that I had been mistaken for some other
+person, but I said nothing.
+
+I was led to a suite of three rooms; the chamber was decorated with
+damask hangings, the bedstead had a canopy, and the table was
+supplied with all materials necessary for writing.  A servant brought
+me a light dressing-gown, and another came in with linen and a large
+tub full of water, which he placed before me; my shoes and stockings
+were taken off, and my feet washed.  A very decent-looking woman,
+followed by a servant girl, came in a few minutes after, and
+curtsying very low, she proceeded to make my bed.  At that moment the
+Angelus bell was heard; everyone knelt down, and I followed their
+example.  After the prayer, a small table was neatly laid out, I was
+asked what sort of wine I wished to drink, and I was provided with
+newspapers and two silver candlesticks.  An hour afterwards I had a
+delicious fish supper, and, before I retired to bed, a servant came
+to enquire whether I would take chocolate in the morning before or
+after mass.
+
+As soon as I was in bed, the servant brought me a night-lamp with a
+dial, and I remained alone.  Except in France I have never had such a
+good bed as I had that night.  It would have cured the most chronic
+insomnia, but I was not labouring under such a disease, and I slept
+for ten hours.
+
+This sort of treatment easily led me to believe that I was not in any
+kind of hostelry; but where was I?  How was I to suppose that I was
+in a hospital?
+
+When I had taken my chocolate, a hair-dresser--quite a fashionable,
+dapper fellow--made his appearance, dying to give vent to his
+chattering propensities.  Guessing that I did not wish to be shaved,
+he offered to clip my soft down with the scissors, saying that I
+would look younger.
+
+"Why do you suppose that I want to conceal my age?"
+
+"It is very natural, because, if your lordship did not wish to do so,
+your lordship would have shaved long ago.  Countess Marcolini is
+here; does your lordship know her?  I must go to her at noon to dress
+her hair."
+
+I did not feel interested in the Countess Marcolini, and, seeing it,
+the gossip changed the subject.
+
+"Is this your lordship's first visit to this house?  It is the
+finest hospital throughout the papal states."
+
+"I quite agree with you, and I shall compliment His Holiness on the
+establishment."
+
+"Oh!  His Holiness knows all about it, he resided here before he
+became pope.  If Monsignor Caraffa had not been well acquainted with
+you, he would not have introduced you here."
+
+Such is the use of barbers throughout Europe; but you must not put
+any questions to them, for, if you do, they are sure to threat you to
+an impudent mixture of truth and falsehood, and instead of you
+pumping them, they will worm everything out of you.
+
+Thinking that it was my duty to present my respectful compliments to
+Monsignor Caraffa, I desired to be taken to his apartment.  He gave
+me a pleasant welcome, shewed me his library, and entrusted me to the
+care of one of his abbes, a man of parts, who acted as my cicerone
+every where.  Twenty years afterwards, this same abbe was of great
+service to me in Rome, and, if still alive, he is a canon of St. John
+Lateran.
+
+On the following day, I took the communion in the Santa-Casa.  The
+third day was entirely employed in examining the exterior of this
+truly wonderful sanctuary, and early the next day I resumed my
+journey, having spent nothing except three paoli for the barber.
+Halfway to Macerata, I overtook Brother Stephano walking on at a very
+slow rate.  He was delighted to see me again, and told me that he had
+left Ancona two hours after me, but that he never walked more than
+three miles a day, being quite satisfied to take two months for a
+journey which, even on foot, can easily be accomplished in a week.
+"I want," he said, "to reach Rome without fatigue and in good health.
+I am in no hurry, and if you feel disposed to travel with me and in
+the same quiet way, Saint-Francis will not find it difficult to keep
+us both during the journey."
+
+This lazy fellow was a man about thirty, red-haired, very strong and
+healthy; a true peasant who had turned himself into a monk only for
+the sake of living in idle comfort. I answered that, as I was in a
+hurry to reach Rome, I could not be his travelling companion.
+
+"I undertake to walk six miles, instead of three, today," he said,
+"if you will carry my cloak, which I find very heavy."
+
+The proposal struck me as a rather funny one; I put on his cloak, and
+he took my great-coat, but, after the exchange, we cut such a comical
+figure that every peasant we met laughed at us.  His cloak would
+truly have proved a load for a mule. There were twelve pockets quite
+full, without taken into account a pocket behind, which he called 'il
+batticulo', and which contained alone twice as much as all the
+others. Bread, wine, fresh and salt meat, fowls, eggs, cheese, ham,
+sausages--everything was to be found in those pockets, which
+contained provisions enough for a fortnight.
+
+I told him how well I had been treated in Loretto, and he assured me
+that I might have asked Monsignor Caraffa to give me letters for all
+the hospitals on my road to Rome, and that everywhere I would have
+met with the same reception. "The hospitals," he added, "are all
+under the curse of Saint-Francis, because the mendicant friars are
+not admitted in them; but we do not mind their gates being shut
+against us, because they are too far apart from each other. We prefer
+the homes of the persons attached to our order; these we find
+everywhere."
+
+"Why do you not ask hospitality in the convents of your order?"
+
+"I am not so foolish. In the first place, I should not be admitted,
+because, being a fugitive, I have not the written obedience which
+must be shown at every convent, and I should even run the risk of
+being thrown into prison; your monks are a cursed bad lot.  In the
+second place, I should not be half so comfortable in the convents as
+I am with our devout benefactors."
+
+"Why and how are you a fugitive?"
+
+He answered my question by the narrative of his imprisonment and
+flight, the whole story being a tissue of absurdities and lies.  The
+fugitive Recollet friar was a fool, with something of the wit of
+harlequin, and he thought that every man listening to him was a
+greater fool than himself.  Yet with all his folly he was not went in
+a certain species of cunning.  His religious principles were
+singular.  As he did not wish to be taken for a bigoted man he was
+scandalous, and for the sake of making people laugh he would often
+make use of the most disgusting expressions.  He had no taste
+whatever for women, and no inclination towards the pleasures of the
+flesh; but this was only owing to a deficiency in his natural
+temperament, and yet he claimed for himself the virtue of continence.
+On that score, everything appeared to him food for merriment, and
+when he had drunk rather too much, he would ask questions of such an
+indecent character that they would bring blushes on everybody's
+countenance.  Yet the brute would only laugh.
+
+As we were getting within one hundred yards from the house of the
+devout friend whom he intended to honour with his visit, he took back
+his heavy cloak.  On entering the house he gave his blessing to
+everybody, and everyone in the family came to kiss his hand.  The
+mistress of the house requested him to say mass for them, and the
+compliant monk asked to be taken to the vestry, but when I whispered
+in his ear,---
+
+"Have you forgotten that we have already broken our fast to-day?" he
+answered, dryly,---
+
+"Mind your own business."
+
+I dared not make any further remark, but during the mass I was indeed
+surprised, for I saw that he did not understand what he was doing.  I
+could not help being amused at his awkwardness, but I had not yet
+seen the best part of the comedy.  As soon as he had somehow or other
+finished his mass he went to the confessional, and after hearing in
+confession every member of the family he took it into his head to
+refuse absolution to the daughter of his hostess, a girl of twelve or
+thirteen, pretty and quite charming.  He gave his refusal publicly,
+scolding her and threatening her with the torments of hell.  The poor
+girl, overwhelmed with shame, left the church crying bitterly, and I,
+feeling real sympathy for her, could not help saying aloud to
+Stephano that he was a madman.  I ran after the girl to offer her my
+consolations, but she had disappeared, and could not be induced to
+join us at dinner.  This piece of extravagance on the part of the
+monk exasperated me to such an extent that I felt a very strong
+inclination to thrash him.  In the presence of all the family I told
+him that he was an impostor, and the infamous destroyer of the poor
+child's honour; I challenged him to explain his reasons for refusing
+to give her absolution, but he closed my lips by answering very
+coolly that he could not betray the secrets of the confessional.
+I could eat nothing, and was fully determined to leave the scoundrel.
+As we left the house I was compelled to accept one paolo as the price
+of the mock mass he had said.  I had to fulfil the sorry duty of his
+treasurer.
+
+The moment we were on the road, I told him that I was going to part
+company, because I was afraid of being sent as a felon to the galleys
+if I continued my journey with him.  We exchanged high words; I
+called him an ignorant scoundrel, he styled me beggar.  I struck him
+a violent slap on the face, which he returned with a blow from his
+stick, but I quickly snatched it from him, and, leaving him, I
+hastened towards Macerata.  A carrier who was going to Tolentino took
+me with him for two paoli, and for six more I might have reached
+Foligno in a waggon, but unfortunately a wish for economy made me
+refuse the offer.  I felt well, and I thought I could easily walk as
+far as Valcimare, but I arrived there only after five hours of hard
+walking, and thoroughly beaten with fatigue.  I was strong and
+healthy, but a walk of five hours was more than I could bear, because
+in my infancy I had never gone a league on foot.  Young people cannot
+practise too much the art of walking.
+
+The next day, refreshed by a good night's rest, and ready to resume
+my journey, I wanted to pay the innkeeper, but, alas! a new
+misfortune was in store for me!  Let the reader imagine my sad
+position!  I recollected that I had forgotten my purse, containing
+seven sequins, on the table of the inn at Tolentino.  What a
+thunderbolt!  I was in despair, but I gave up the idea of going back,
+as it was very doubtful whether I would find my money.  Yet it
+contained all I possessed, save a few copper coins I had in my
+pocket.  I paid my small bill, and, deeply grieved at my loss,
+continued my journey towards Seraval.  I was within three miles of
+that place when, in jumping over a ditch, I sprained my ankle, and
+was compelled to sit down on one side of the road, and to wait until
+someone should come to my assistance.
+
+In the course of an hour a peasant happened to pass with his donkey,
+and he agreed to carry me to Seraval for one paolo.  As I wanted to
+spend as little as possible, the peasant took me to an ill-looking
+fellow who, for two paoli paid in advance, consented to give me a
+lodging.  I asked him to send for a surgeon, but I did not obtain one
+until the following morning.  I had a wretched supper, after which I
+lay down in a filthy bed.  I was in hope that sleep would bring me
+some relief, but my evil genius was preparing for me a night of
+torments.
+
+Three men, armed with guns and looking like banditti, came in shortly
+after I had gone to bed, speaking a kind of slang which I could not
+make out, swearing, raging, and paying no attention to me.  They
+drank and sang until midnight, after which they threw themselves down
+on bundles of straw brought for them, and my host, who was drunk,
+came, greatly to my dismay, to lie down near me.  Disgusted at the
+idea of having such a fellow for my bed companion, I refused to let
+him come, but he answered, with fearful blasphemies, that all the
+devils in hell could not prevent him from taking possession of his
+own bed.  I was forced to make room for him, and exclaimed "Heavens,
+where am I?"  He told me that I was in the house of the most honest
+constable in all the papal states.
+
+Could I possibly have supposed that the peasant would have brought me
+amongst those accursed enemies of humankind!
+
+He laid himself down near me, but the filthy scoundrel soon compelled
+me to give him, for certain reasons, such a blow in his chest that he
+rolled out of bed.  He picked himself up, and renewed his beastly
+attempt.  Being well aware that I could not master him without great
+danger, I got out of bed, thinking myself lucky that he did not
+oppose my wish, and crawling along as well as I could, I found a
+chair on which I passed the night.  At day-break, my tormentor,
+called up by his honest comrades, joined them in drinking and
+shouting, and the three strangers, taking their guns, departed.  Left
+alone by the departure of the vile rabble, I passed another
+unpleasant hour, calling in vain for someone.  At last a young boy
+came in, I gave him some money and he went for a surgeon.  The doctor
+examined my foot, and assured me that three or four days would set me
+to rights.  He advised me to be removed to an inn, and I most
+willingly followed his counsel.  As soon as I was brought to the inn,
+I went to bed, and was well cared for, but my position was such that
+I dreaded the moment of my recovery.  I feared that I should be
+compelled to sell my coat to pay the inn-keeper, and the very thought
+made me feel ashamed.  I began to consider that if I had controlled
+my sympathy for the young girl so ill-treated by Stephano, I should
+not have fallen into this sad predicament, and I felt conscious that
+my sympathy had been a mistake.  If I had put up with the faults of
+the friar, if this and if that, and every other if was conjured up to
+torment my restless and wretched brain.  Yet I must confess that the
+thoughts which have their origin in misfortune are not without
+advantage to a young man, for they give him the habit of thinking,
+and the man who does not think never does anything right.
+
+The morning of the fourth day came, and I was able to walk, as the
+surgeon had predicted; I made up my mind, although reluctantly, to
+beg the worthy man to sell my great coat for me--a most unpleasant
+necessity, for rain had begun to fall.  I owed fifteen paoli to the
+inn-keeper and four to the surgeon.  Just as I was going to proffer
+my painful request, Brother Stephano made his appearance in my room,
+and burst into loud laughter enquiring whether I had forgotten the
+blow from his stick!
+
+I was struck with amazement!  I begged the surgeon to leave me with
+the monk, and he immediately complied.
+
+I must ask my readers whether it is possible, in the face of such
+extraordinary circumstances, not to feel superstitious!  What is
+truly miraculous in this case is the precise minute at which the
+event took place, for the friar entered the room as the word was
+hanging on my lips.  What surprised me most was the force of
+Providence, of fortune, of chance, whatever name is given to it, of
+that very necessary combination which compelled me to find no hope
+but in that fatal monk, who had begun to be my protective genius in
+Chiozza at the moment my distress had likewise commenced.  And yet, a
+singular guardian angel, this Stephano!  I felt that the mysterious
+force which threw me in his hands was a punishment rather than a
+favour.
+
+Nevertheless he was welcome, because I had no doubt of his relieving
+me from my difficulties,--and whatever might be the power that sent
+him to me, I felt that I could not do better than to submit to its
+influence; the destiny of that monk was to escort me to Rome.
+
+"Chi va piano va sano," said the friar as soon as we were alone.  He
+had taken five days to traverse the road over which I had travelled
+in one day, but he was in good health, and he had met with no
+misfortune.  He told me that, as he was passing, he heard that an
+abbe, secretary to the Venetian ambassador at Rome, was lying ill at
+the inn, after having been robbed in Valcimara.  "I came to see you,"
+he added, "and as I find you recovered from your illness, we can
+start again together; I agree to walk six miles every day to please
+you.  Come, let us forget the past, and let us be at once on our
+way."
+
+"I cannot go; I have lost my purse, and I owe twenty paoli."
+
+"I will go and find the amount in the name of Saint-Francis."
+
+He returned within an hour, but he was accompanied by the infamous
+constable who told me that, if I had let him know who I was, he would
+have been happy to keep me in his house.  "I will give you," he
+continued, "forty paoli, if you will promise me the protection of
+your ambassador; but if you do not succeed in obtaining it for me in
+Rome, you will undertake to repay me.  Therefore you must give me an
+acknowledgement of the debt."
+
+"I have no objection."  Every arrangement was speedily completed; I
+received the money, paid my debts, and left Seraval with Stephano.
+
+About one o'clock in the afternoon, we saw a wretched-looking house
+at a short distance from the road, and the friar said, "It is a good
+distance from here to Collefiorito; we had better put up there for
+the night."  It was in vain that I objected, remonstrating that we
+were certain of having very poor accommodation!  I had to submit to
+his will.  We found a decrepit old man lying on a pallet, two ugly
+women of thirty or forty, three children entirely naked, a cow, and a
+cursed dog which barked continually.  It was a picture of squalid
+misery; but the niggardly monk, instead of giving alms to the poor
+people, asked them to entertain us to supper in the name of Saint-
+Francis.
+
+"You must boil the hen," said the dying man to the females, "and
+bring out of the cellar the bottle of wine which I have kept now for
+twenty years."  As he uttered those few words, he was seized with
+such a fit of coughing that I thought he would die.  The friar went
+near him, and promised him that, by the grace of Saint-Francis, he
+would get young and well.  Moved by the sight of so much misery, I
+wanted to continue my journey as far as Collefiorito, and to wait
+there for Stephano, but the women would not let me go, and I
+remained.  After boiling for four hours the hen set the strongest
+teeth at defiance, and the bottle which I uncorked proved to be
+nothing but sour vinegar.  Losing patience, I got hold of the monk's
+batticaslo, and took out of it enough for a plentiful supper, and I
+saw the two women opening their eyes very wide at the sight of our
+provisions.
+
+We all ate with good appetite, and, after our supper the women made
+for us two large beds of fresh straw, and we lay down in the dark, as
+the last bit of candle to be found in the miserable dwelling was
+burnt out.  We had not been lying on the straw five minutes, when
+Stephano called out to me that one of the women had just placed
+herself near him, and at the same instant the other one takes me in
+her arms and kisses me.  I push her away, and the monk defends
+himself against the other; but mine, nothing daunted, insists upon
+laying herself near me; I get up, the dog springs at my neck, and
+fear compels me to remain quiet on my straw bed; the monk screams,
+swears, struggles, the dog barks furiously, the old man coughs; all
+is noise and confusion.  At last Stephano, protected by his heavy
+garments, shakes off the too loving shrew, and, braving the dog,
+manages to find his stick.  Then he lays about to right and left,
+striking in every direction; one of the women exclaims, "Oh, God!"
+the friar answers, "She has her quietus."  Calm reigns again in the
+house, the dog, most likely dead, is silent; the old man, who perhaps
+has received his death-blow, coughs no more; the children sleep, and
+the women, afraid of the singular caresses of the monk, sheer off
+into a corner; the remainder of the night passed off quietly.
+
+At day-break I rose; Stephano was likewise soon up.  I looked all
+round, and my surprise was great when I found that the women had gone
+out, and seeing that the old man gave no sign of life, and had a
+bruise on his forehead, I shewed it to Stephano, remarking that very
+likely he had killed him.
+
+"It is possible," he answered, "but I have not done it
+intentionally."
+
+Then taking up his batticulo and finding it empty he flew into a
+violent passion; but I was much pleased, for I had been afraid that
+the women had gone out to get assistance and to have us arrested, and
+the robbery of our provisions reassured me, as I felt certain that
+the poor wretches had gone out of the way so as to secure impunity
+for their theft.  But I laid great stress upon the danger we should
+run by remaining any longer, and I succeeded in frightening the friar
+out of the house.  We soon met a waggoner going to Folligno; I
+persuaded Stephano to take the opportunity of putting a good distance
+between us and the scene of our last adventures; and, as we were
+eating our breakfast at Folligno, we saw another waggon, quite empty,
+got a lift in it for a trifle, and thus rode to Pisignano, where a
+devout person gave us a charitable welcome, and I slept soundly
+through the night without the dread of being arrested.
+
+Early the next day we reached Spoleti, where Brother Stephano had two
+benefactors, and, careful not to give either of them a cause of
+jealousy, he favoured both; we dined with the first, who entertained
+us like princes, and we had supper and lodging in the house of the
+second, a wealthy wine merchant, and the father of a large and
+delightful family.  He gave us a delicious supper, and everything
+would have gone on pleasantly had not the friar, already excited by
+his good dinner, made himself quite drunk.  In that state, thinking
+to please his new host, he began to abuse the other, greatly to my
+annoyance; he said the wine he had given us to drink was adulterated,
+and that the man was a thief.  I gave him the lie to his face, and
+called him a scoundrel.  The host and his wife pacified me, saying
+that they were well acquainted with their neighbour, and knew what to
+think of him; but the monk threw his napkin at my face, and the host
+took him very quietly by the arm and put him to bed in a room in
+which he locked him up.  I slept in another room.
+
+In the morning I rose early, and was considering whether it would not
+be better to go alone, when the friar, who had slept himself sober,
+made his appearance and told me that we ought for the future to live
+together like good friends, and not give way to angry feelings; I
+followed my destiny once more.  We resumed our journey, and at Soma,
+the inn-keeper, a woman of rare beauty, gave us a good dinner, and
+some excellent Cyprus wine which the Venetian couriers exchanged with
+her against delicious truffles found in the vicinity of Soma, which
+sold for a good price in Venice.  I did not leave the handsome inn-
+keeper without losing a part of my heart.
+
+It would be difficult to draw a picture of the indignation which
+overpowered me when, as we were about two miles from Terni, the
+infamous friar shewed me a small bag full of truffles which the
+scoundrel had stolen from the amiable woman by way of thanks for her
+generous hospitality.  The truffles were worth two sequins at least.
+In my indignation I snatched the bag from him, saying that I would
+certainly return it to its lawful owner.  But, as he had not
+committed the robbery to give himself the pleasure of making
+restitution, he threw himself upon me, and we came to a regular
+fight.  But victory did not remain long in abeyance; I forced his
+stick out of his hands, knocked him into a ditch, and went off.  On
+reaching Terni, I wrote a letter of apology to our beautiful hostess
+of Soma, and sent back the truffles.
+
+From Terni I went on foot to Otricoli, where I only stayed long
+enough to examine the fine old bridge, and from there I paid four
+paoli to a waggoner who carried me to Castel-Nuovo, from which place
+I walked to Rome.  I reached the celebrated city on the 1st of
+September, at nine in the morning.
+
+I must not forget to mention here a rather peculiar circumstance,
+which, however ridiculous it may be in reality, will please many of
+my readers.
+
+An hour after I had left Castel-Nuovo, the atmosphere being calm and
+the sky clear, I perceived on my right, and within ten paces of me, a
+pyramidal flame about two feet long and four or five feet above the
+ground.  This apparition surprised me, because it seemed to accompany
+me.  Anxious to examine it, I endeavoured to get nearer to it, but
+the more I advanced towards it the further it went from me.  It would
+stop when I stood still, and when the road along which I was
+travelling happened to be lined with trees, I no longer saw it, but
+it was sure to reappear as soon as I reached a portion of the road
+without trees.  I several times retraced my steps purposely, but,
+every time I did so, the flame disappeared, and would not shew itself
+again until I proceeded towards Rome.  This extraordinary beacon left
+me when daylight chased darkness from the sky.
+
+What a splendid field for ignorant superstition, if there had been
+any witnesses to that phenomenon, and if I had chanced to make a
+great name in Rome!  History is full of such trifles, and the world
+is full of people who attach great importance to them in spite of the
+so-called light of science. I must candidly confess that, although
+somewhat versed in physics, the sight of that small meteor gave me
+singular ideas. But I was prudent enough not to mention the
+circumstance to any one.
+
+When I reached the ancient capital of the world, I possessed only
+seven paoli, and consequently I did not loiter about.  I paid no
+attention to the splendid entrance through the gate of the polar
+trees, which is by mistake pompously called of the people, or to the
+beautiful square of the same name, or to the portals of the
+magnificent churches, or to all the stately buildings which generally
+strike the traveller as he enters the city.  I went straight towards
+Monte-Magnanopoli, where, according to the address given to me, I was
+to find the bishop.  There I was informed that he had left Rome ten
+days before, leaving instructions to send me to Naples free of
+expense.  A coach was to start for Naples the next day; not caring to
+see Rome, I went to bed until the time for the departure of the
+coach.  I travelled with three low fellows to whom I did not address
+one word through the whole of the journey.  I entered Naples on the
+6th day of September.
+
+I went immediately to the address which had been given to me in Rome;
+the bishop was not there.  I called at the Convent of the Minims, and
+I found that he had left Naples to proceed to Martorano.  I enquired
+whether he had left any instructions for me, but all in vain, no one
+could give me any information.  And there I was, alone in a large
+city, without a friend, with eight carlini in my pocket, and not
+knowing what to do!  But never mind; fate calls me to Martorano, and
+to Martorano I must go.  The distance, after all, is only two hundred
+miles.
+
+I found several drivers starting for Cosenza, but when they heard
+that I had no luggage, they refused to take me, unless I paid in
+advance.  They were quite right, but their prudence placed me under
+the necessity of going on foot.  Yet I felt I must reach Martorano,
+and I made up my mind to walk the distance, begging food and lodging
+like the very reverend Brother Stephano.
+
+First of all I made a light meal for one fourth of my money, and,
+having been informed that I had to follow the Salerno road, I went
+towards Portici where I arrived in an hour and a half.  I already
+felt rather fatigued; my legs, if not my head, took me to an inn,
+where I ordered a room and some supper.  I was served in good style,
+my appetite was excellent, and I passed a quiet night in a
+comfortable bed.  In the morning I told the inn-keeper that I would
+return for my dinner, and I went out to visit the royal palace.  As I
+passed through the gate, I was met by a man of prepossessing
+appearance, dressed in the eastern fashion, who offered to shew me
+all over the palace, saying that I would thus save my money.  I was
+in a position to accept any offer; I thanked him for his kindness.
+
+Happening during the conversation to state that I was a Venetian, he
+told me that he was my subject, since he came from Zante.  I
+acknowledged his polite compliment with a reverence.
+
+"I have," he said, "some very excellent muscatel wine 'grown in the
+East, which I could sell you cheap."
+
+"I might buy some, but I warn you I am a good judge."
+
+"So much the better.  Which do you prefer?"
+
+"The Cerigo wine."
+
+"You are right.  I have some rare Cerigo muscatel, and we can taste
+it if you have no objection to dine with me."
+
+"None whatever."
+
+"I can likewise give you the wines of Samos and Cephalonia.  I have
+also a quantity of minerals, plenty of vitriol, cinnabar, antimony,
+and one hundred quintals of mercury."
+
+"Are all these goods here?"
+
+"No, they are in Naples.  Here I have only the muscatel wine and the
+mercury."
+
+It is quite naturally and without any intention to deceive, that a
+young man accustomed to poverty, and ashamed of it when he speaks to
+a rich stranger, boasts of his means--of his fortune.  As I was
+talking with my new acquaintance, I recollected an amalgam of mercury
+with lead and bismuth, by which the mercury increases one-fourth in
+weight.  I said nothing, but I bethought myself that if the mystery
+should be unknown to the Greek I might profit by it.  I felt that
+some cunning was necessary, and that he would not care for my secret
+if I proposed to sell it to him without preparing the way.  The best
+plan was to astonish my man with the miracle of the augmentation of
+the mercury, treat it as a jest, and see what his intentions would
+be.  Cheating is a crime, but honest cunning may be considered as a
+species of prudence.  True, it is a quality which is near akin to
+roguery; but that cannot be helped, and the man who, in time of need,
+does not know how to exercise his cunning nobly is a fool.  The
+Greeks call this sort of wisdom Cerdaleophyon from the word cerdo;
+fox, and it might be translated by foxdom if there were such a word
+in English.
+
+After we had visited the palace we returned to the inn, and the Greek
+took me to his room, in which he ordered the table to be laid for
+two.  In the next room I saw several large vessels of muscatel wine
+and four flagons of mercury, each containing about ten pounds.
+
+My plans were laid, and I asked him to let me have one of the flagons
+of mercury at the current price, and took it to my room.  The Greek
+went out to attend to his business, reminding me that he expected me
+to dinner.  I went out likewise, and bought two pounds and a half of
+lead and an equal quantity of bismuth; the druggist had no more.  I
+came back to the inn, asked for some large empty bottles, and made
+the amalgam.
+
+We dined very pleasantly, and the Greek was delighted because I
+pronounced his Cerigo excellent.  In the course of conversation he
+inquired laughingly why I had bought one of his flagons of mercury.
+
+"You can find out if you come to my room," I said.
+
+After dinner we repaired to my room, and he found his mercury divided
+in two vessels.  I asked for a piece of chamois, strained the liquid
+through it, filled his own flagon, and the Greek stood astonished at
+the sight of the fine mercury, about one-fourth of a flagon, which
+remained over, with an equal quantity of a powder unknown to him; it
+was the bismuth.  My merry laugh kept company with his astonishment,
+and calling one of the servants of the inn I sent him to the druggist
+to sell the mercury that was left.  He returned in a few minutes and
+handed me fifteen carlini.
+
+The Greek, whose surprise was complete, asked me to give him back his
+own flagon, which was there quite full, and worth sixty carlini.  I
+handed it to him with a smile, thanking him for the opportunity he
+had afforded me of earning fifteen carlini, and took care to add that
+I should leave for Salerno early the next morning.
+
+"Then we must have supper together this evening," he said.
+
+During the afternoon we took a walk towards Mount Vesuvius.  Our
+conversation went from one subject to another, but no allusion was
+made to the mercury, though I could see that the Greek had something
+on his mind.  At supper he told me, jestingly, that I ought to stop
+in Portici the next day to make forty-five carlini out of the three
+other flagons of mercury.  I answered gravely that I did not want the
+money, and that I had augmented the first flagon only for the sake of
+procuring him an agreeable surprise.
+
+"But," said he, "you must be very wealthy."
+
+"No, I am not, because I am in search of the secret of the
+augmentation of gold, and it is a very expensive study for us."
+
+"How many are there in your company?"
+
+"Only my uncle and myself."
+
+"What do you want to augment gold for?  The augmentation of mercury
+ought to be enough for you.  Pray, tell me whether the mercury
+augmented by you to-day is again susceptible of a similar increase."
+
+"No, if it were so, it would be an immense source of wealth for us."
+
+"I am much pleased with your sincerity."
+
+Supper over I paid my bill, and asked the landlord to get me a
+carriage and pair of horses to take me to Salerno early the next
+morning.  I thanked the Greek for his delicious muscatel wine, and,
+requesting his address in Naples, I assured him that he would see me
+within a fortnight, as I was determined to secure a cask of his
+Cerigo.
+
+We embraced each other, and I retired to bed well pleased with my
+day's work, and in no way astonished at the Greek's not offering to
+purchase my secret, for I was certain that he would not sleep for
+anxiety, and that I should see him early in the morning.  At all
+events, I had enough money to reach the Tour-du-Grec, and there
+Providence would take care of me.  Yet it seemed to me very difficult
+to travel as far as Martorano, begging like a mendicant-friar,
+because my outward appearance did not excite pity; people would feel
+interested in me only from a conviction that I needed nothing--a very
+unfortunate conviction, when the object of it is truly poor.
+
+As I had forseen, the Greek was in my room at daybreak.  I received
+him in a friendly way, saying that we could take coffee together.
+
+"Willingly; but tell me, reverend abbe, whether you would feel
+disposed to sell me your secret?"
+
+"Why not?  When we meet in Naples--"
+
+"But why not now?"
+
+"I am expected in Salerno; besides, I would only sell the secret for
+a large sum of money, and I am not acquainted with you."
+
+"That does not matter, as I am sufficiently known here to pay you in
+cash.  How much would you want?"
+
+"Two thousand ounces."
+
+"I agree to pay you that sum provided that I succeed in making the
+augmentation myself with such matter as you name to me, which I will
+purchase."
+
+"It is impossible, because the necessary ingredients cannot be got
+here; but they are common enough in Naples."
+
+"If it is any sort of metal, we can get it at the Tourdu-Grec.  We
+could go there together.  Can you tell me what is the expense of the
+augmentation?"
+
+"One and a half per cent. but are you likewise known at the Tour-du-
+Grec, for I should not like to lose my time?"
+
+"Your doubts grieve me."
+
+Saying which, he took a pen, wrote a few words, and handed to me this
+order:
+
+"At sight, pay to bearer the sum of fifty gold ounces, on account of
+Panagiotti."
+
+He told me that the banker resided within two hundred yards of the
+inn, and he pressed me to go there myself.  I did not stand upon
+ceremony, but went to the banker who paid me the amount.  I returned
+to my room in which he was waiting for me, and placed the gold on the
+table, saying that we could now proceed together to the Tour-du-Grec,
+where we would complete our arrangements after the signature of a
+deed of agreement.  The Greek had his own carriage and horses; he
+gave orders for them to be got ready, and we left the inn; but he had
+nobly insisted upon my taking possession of the fifty ounces.
+
+When we arrived at the Tour-du-Grec, he signed a document by which he
+promised to pay me two thousand ounces as soon as I should have
+discovered to him the process of augmenting mercury by one-fourth
+without injuring its quality, the amalgam to be equal to the mercury
+which I had sold in his presence at Portici.
+
+He then gave me a bill of exchange payable at sight in eight days on
+M. Genaro de Carlo.  I told him that the ingredients were lead and
+bismuth; the first, combining with mercury, and the second giving to
+the whole the perfect fluidity necessary to strain it through the
+chamois leather.  The Greek went out to try the amalgam--I do not
+know where, and I dined alone, but toward evening he came back,
+looking very disconsolate, as I had expected.
+
+"I have made the amalgam," he said, "but the mercury is not perfect."
+
+"It is equal to that which I have sold in Portici, and that is the
+very letter of your engagement."
+
+"But my engagement says likewise without injury to the quality.  You
+must agree that the quality is injured, because it is no longer
+susceptible of further augmentation."
+
+"You knew that to be the case; the point is its equality with the
+mercury I sold in Portici.  But we shall have to go to law, and you
+will lose.  I am sorry the secret should become public.  Congratulate
+yourself, sir, for, if you should gain the lawsuit, you will have
+obtained my secret for nothing.  I would never have believed you
+capable of deceiving me in such a manner."
+
+"Reverend sir, I can assure you that I would not willingly deceive
+any one."
+
+"Do you know the secret, or do you not?  Do you suppose I would have
+given it to you without the agreement we entered into?  Well, there
+will be some fun over this affair in Naples, and the lawyers will
+make money out of it.  But I am much grieved at this turn of affairs,
+and I am very sorry that I allowed myself to be so easily deceived by
+your fine talk.  In the mean time, here are your fifty ounces."
+
+As I was taking the money out of my pocket, frightened to death lest
+he should accept it, he left the room, saying that he would not have
+it.  He soon returned; we had supper in the same room, but at
+separate tables; war had been openly declared, but I felt certain
+that a treaty of peace would soon be signed.  We did not exchange one
+word during the evening, but in the morning he came to me as I was
+getting ready to go.  I again offered to return the money I received,
+but he told me to keep it, and proposed to give me fifty ounces more
+if I would give him back his bill of exchange for two thousand.  We
+began to argue the matter quietly, and after two hours of discussion
+I gave in.  I received fifty ounces more, we dined together like old
+friends, and embraced each other cordially.  As I was bidding him
+adieu, he gave me an order on his house at Naples for a barrel of
+muscatel wine, and he presented me with a splendid box containing
+twelve razors with silver handles, manufactured in the Tour-du-Grec.
+We parted the best friends in the world and well pleased with each
+other.
+
+I remained two days in Salerno to provide myself with linen and other
+necessaries.  Possessing about one hundred sequins, and enjoying good
+health, I was very proud of my success, in which I could not see any
+cause of reproach to myself, for the cunning I had brought into play
+to insure the sale of my secret could not be found fault with except
+by the most intolerant of moralists, and such men have no authority
+to speak on matters of business.  At all events, free, rich, and
+certain of presenting myself before the bishop with a respectable
+appearance, and not like a beggar, I soon recovered my natural
+spirits, and congratulated myself upon having bought sufficient
+experience to insure me against falling a second time an easy prey to
+a Father Corsini, to thieving gamblers, to mercenary women, and
+particularly to the impudent scoundrels who barefacedly praise so
+well those they intend to dupe--a species of knaves very common in
+the world, even amongst people who form what is called good society.
+
+I left Salerno with two priests who were going to Cosenza on
+business, and we traversed the distance of one hundred and forty-two
+miles in twenty-two hours.  The day after my arrival in the capital
+of Calabria, I took a small carriage and drove to Martorano.  During
+the journey, fixing my eyes upon the famous mare Ausonaum, I felt
+delighted at finding myself in the middle of Magna Grecia, rendered
+so celebrated for twenty-four centuries by its connection with
+Pythagoras.  I looked with astonishment upon a country renowned for
+its fertility, and in which, in spite of nature's prodigality, my
+eyes met everywhere the aspect of terrible misery, the complete
+absence of that pleasant superfluity which helps man to enjoy life,
+and the degradation of the inhabitants sparsely scattered on a soil
+where they ought to be so numerous; I felt ashamed to acknowledge
+them as originating from the same stock as myself.  Such is, however
+the Terra di Lavoro where labour seems to be execrated, where
+everything is cheap, where the miserable inhabitants consider that
+they have made a good bargain when they have found anyone disposed to
+take care of the fruit which the ground supplies almost spontaneously
+in too great abundance, and for which there is no market.  I felt
+compelled to admit the justice of the Romans who had called them
+Brutes instead of Byutians.  The good priests with whom I had been
+travelling laughed at my dread of the tarantula and of the crasydra,
+for the disease brought on by the bite of those insects appeared to
+me more fearful even than a certain disease with which I was already
+too well acquainted.  They assured me that all the stories relating
+to those creatures were fables; they laughed at the lines which
+Virgil has devoted to them in the Georgics as well as at all those I
+quoted to justify my fears.
+
+I found Bishop Bernard de Bernardis occupying a hard chair near an
+old table on which he was writing.  I fell on my knees, as it is
+customary to do before a prelate, but, instead of giving me his
+blessing, he raised me up from the floor, and, folding me in his
+arms, embraced me tenderly.  He expressed his deep sorrow when I told
+him that in Naples I had not been able to find any instructions to
+enable me to join him, but his face lighted up again when I added
+that I was indebted to no one for money, and that I was in good
+health.  He bade me take a seat, and with a heavy sigh he began to
+talk of his poverty, and ordered a servant to lay the cloth for three
+persons.  Besides this servant, his lordship's suite consisted of a
+most devout-looking housekeeper, and of a priest whom I judged to be
+very ignorant from the few words he uttered during our meal.  The
+house inhabited by his lordship was large, but badly built and poorly
+kept.  The furniture was so miserable that, in order to make up a bed
+for me in the room adjoining his chamber, the poor bishop had to give
+up one of his two mattresses!  His dinner, not to say any more about
+it, frightened me, for he was very strict in keeping the rules of his
+order, and this being a fast day, he did not eat any meat, and the
+oil was very bad.  Nevertheless, monsignor was an intelligent man,
+and, what is still better, an honest man.  He told me, much to my
+surprise, that his bishopric, although not one of little importance,
+brought him in only five hundred ducat-diregno yearly, and that,
+unfortunately, he had contracted debts to the amount of six hundred.
+He added, with a sigh, that his only happiness was to feel himself
+out of the clutches of the monks, who had persecuted him, and made
+his life a perfect purgatory for fifteen years.  All these
+confidences caused me sorrow and mortification, because they proved
+to me, not only that I was not in the promised land where a mitre
+could be picked up, but also that I would be a heavy charge for him.
+I felt that he was grieved himself at the sorry present his patronage
+seemed likely to prove.
+
+I enquired whether he had a good library, whether there were any
+literary men, or any good society in which one could spend a few
+agreeable hours.  He smiled and answered that throughout his diocese
+there was not one man who could boast of writing decently, and still
+less of any taste or knowledge in literature; that there was not a
+single bookseller, nor any person caring even for the newspapers.
+But he promised me that we would follow our literary tastes together,
+as soon as he received the books he had ordered from Naples.
+
+That was all very well, but was this the place for a young man of
+eighteen to live in, without a good library, without good society,
+without emulation and literacy intercourse?  The good bishop, seeing
+me full of sad thoughts, and almost astounded at the prospect of the
+miserable life I should have to lead with him, tried to give me
+courage by promising to do everything in his power to secure my
+happiness.
+
+The next day, the bishop having to officiate in his pontifical robes,
+I had an opportunity of seeing all the clergy, and all the faithful
+of the diocese, men and women, of whom the cathedral was full; the
+sight made me resolve at once to leave Martorano.  I thought I was
+gazing upon a troop of brutes for whom my external appearance was a
+cause of scandal.  How ugly were the women!  What a look of stupidity
+and coarseness in the men!  When I returned to the bishop's house I
+told the prelate that I did not feel in me the vocation to die within
+a few months a martyr in this miserable city.
+
+"Give me your blessing," I added, "and let me go; or, rather, come
+with me.  I promise you that we shall make a fortune somewhere else."
+
+The proposal made him laugh repeatedly during the day.  Had he agreed
+to it he would not have died two years afterwards in the prime of
+manhood.  The worthy man, feeling how natural was my repugnance,
+begged me to forgive him for having summoned me to him, and,
+considering it his duty to send me back to Venice, having no money
+himself and not being aware that I had any, he told me that he would
+give me an introduction to a worthy citizen of Naples who would lend
+me sixty ducati-di-regno to enable me to reach my native city.  I
+accepted his offer with gratitude, and going to my room I took out of
+my trunk the case of fine razors which the Greek had given me, and I
+begged his acceptance of it as a souvenir of me.  I had great
+difficulty in forcing it upon him, for it was worth the sixty ducats,
+and to conquer his resistance I had to threaten to remain with him if
+he refused my present.  He gave me a very flattering letter of
+recommendation for the Archbishop of Cosenza, in which he requested
+him to forward me as far as Naples without any expense to myself.  It
+was thus I left Martorano sixty hours after my arrival, pitying the
+bishop whom I was leaving behind, and who wept as he was pouring
+heartfelt blessings upon me.
+
+The Archbishop of Cosenza, a man of wealth and of intelligence,
+offered me a room in his palace.  During the dinner I made, with an
+overflowing heart, the eulogy of the Bishop of Martorano; but I
+railed mercilessly at his diocese and at the whole of Calabria in so
+cutting a manner that I greatly amused the archbishop and all his
+guests, amongst whom were two ladies, his relatives, who did the
+honours of the dinner-table.  The youngest, however, objected to the
+satirical style in which I had depicted her country, and declared war
+against me; but I contrived to obtain peace again by telling her that
+Calabria would be a delightful country if one-fourth only of its
+inhabitants were like her.  Perhaps it was with the idea of proving
+to me that I had been wrong in my opinion that the archbishop gave on
+the following day a splendid supper.
+
+Cosenza is a city in which a gentleman can find plenty of amusement;
+the nobility are wealthy, the women are pretty, and men generally
+well-informed, because they have been educated in Naples or in Rome.
+I left Cosenza on the third day with a letter from the archbishop for
+the far-famed Genovesi.
+
+I had five travelling companions, whom I judged, from their
+appearance, to be either pirates or banditti, and I took very good
+care not to let them see or guess that I had a well-filled purse.  I
+likewise thought it prudent to go to bed without undressing during
+the whole journey--an excellent measure of prudence for a young man
+travelling in that part of the country.
+
+I reached Naples on the 16th of September, 1743, and I lost no time
+in presenting the letter of the Bishop of Martorano.  It was
+addressed to a M. Gennaro Polo at St. Anne's.  This excellent man,
+whose duty was only to give me the sum of sixty ducats, insisted,
+after perusing the bishop's letter, upon receiving me in his house,
+because he wished me to make the acquaintance of his son, who was a
+poet like myself.  The bishop had represented my poetry as sublime.
+After the usual ceremonies, I accepted his kind invitation, my trunk
+was sent for, and I was a guest in the house of M. Gennaro Polo.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+My Stay in Naples; It Is Short but Happy--Don Antonio Casanova--Don
+Lelio Caraffa--I Go to Rome in Very Agreeable Company, and Enter the
+Service of Cardinal Acquaviva--Barbara--Testaccio--Frascati
+
+
+I had no difficulty in answering the various questions which Doctor
+Gennaro addressed to me, but I was surprised, and even displeased, at
+the constant peals of laughter with which he received my answers.
+The piteous description of miserable Calabria, and the picture of the
+sad situation of the Bishop of Martorano, appeared to me more likely
+to call forth tears than to excite hilarity, and, suspecting that
+some mystification was being played upon me, I was very near getting
+angry when, becoming more composed, he told me with feeling that I
+must kindly excuse him; that his laughter was a disease which seemed
+to be endemic in his family, for one of his uncles died of it.
+
+"What!  "I exclaimed, "died of laughing!"
+
+"Yes.  This disease, which was not known to Hippocrates, is called li
+flati."
+
+"What do you mean?  Does an hypochondriac affection, which causes
+sadness and lowness in all those who suffer from it, render you
+cheerful?"
+
+"Yes, because, most likely, my flati, instead of influencing the
+hypochondrium, affects my spleen, which my physician asserts to be
+the organ of laughter.  It is quite a discovery."
+
+"You are mistaken; it is a very ancient notion, and it is the only
+function which is ascribed to the spleen in our animal organization."
+
+"Well, we must discuss the matter at length, for I hope you will
+remain with us a few weeks."
+
+"I wish I could, but I must leave Naples to-morrow or the day after."
+
+"Have you got any money?"
+
+"I rely upon the sixty ducats you have to give me."
+
+At these words, his peals of laughter began again, and as he could
+see that I was annoyed, he said, "I am amused at the idea that I can
+keep you here as long as I like.  But be good enough to see my son;
+he writes pretty verses enough."
+
+And truly his son, although only fourteen, was already a great poet.
+
+A servant took me to the apartment of the young man whom I found
+possessed of a pleasing countenance and engaging manners.  He gave me
+a polite welcome, and begged to be excused if he could not attend to
+me altogether for the present, as he had to finish a song which he
+was composing for a relative of the Duchess de Rovino, who was taking
+the veil at the Convent of St. Claire, and the printer was waiting
+for the manuscript.  I told him that his excuse was a very good one,
+and I offered to assist him.  He then read his song, and I found it
+so full of enthusiasm, and so truly in the style of Guidi, that I
+advised him to call it an ode; but as I had praised all the truly
+beautiful passages, I thought I could venture to point out the weak
+ones, and I replaced them by verses of my own composition.  He was
+delighted, and thanked me warmly, inquiring whether I was Apollo.  As
+he was writing his ode, I composed a sonnet on the same subject, and,
+expressing his admiration for it he begged me to sign it, and to
+allow him to send it with his poetry.
+
+While I was correcting and recopying my manuscript, he went to his
+father to find out who I was, which made the old man laugh until
+supper-time.  In the evening, I had the pleasure of seeing that my
+bed had been prepared in the young man's chamber.
+
+Doctor Gennaro's family was composed of this son and of a daughter
+unfortunately very plain, of his wife and of two elderly, devout
+sisters.  Amongst the guests at the supper-table I met several
+literary men, and the Marquis Galiani, who was at that time
+annotating Vitruvius.  He had a brother, an abbe whose acquaintance I
+made twenty years after, in Paris, when he was secretary of embassy
+to Count Cantillana.  The next day, at supper, I was presented to the
+celebrated Genovesi; I had already sent him the letter of the
+Archbishop of Cosenza.  He spoke to me of Apostolo Zeno and of the
+Abbe Conti.  He remarked that it was considered a very venial sin for
+a regular priest to say two masses in one day for the sake of earning
+two carlini more, but that for the same sin a secular priest would
+deserve to be burnt at the stake.
+
+The nun took the veil on the following day, and Gennaro's ode and my
+sonnet had the greatest success.  A Neapolitan gentleman, whose name
+was the same as mine, expressed a wish to know me, and, hearing that
+I resided at the doctor's, he called to congratulate him on the
+occasion of his feast-day, which happened to fall on the day
+following the ceremony at Sainte-Claire.
+
+Don Antonio Casanova, informing me of his name, enquired whether my
+family was originally from Venice.
+
+"I am, sir," I answered modestly, "the great-grandson of the
+unfortunate Marco Antonio Casanova, secretary to Cardinal Pompeo
+Colonna, who died of the plague in Rome, in the year 1528, under the
+pontificate of Clement VII."  The words were scarcely out of my lips
+when he embraced me, calling me his cousin, but we all thought that
+Doctor Gennaro would actually die with laughter, for it seemed
+impossible to laugh so immoderately without risk of life.  Madame
+Gennaro was very angry and told my newly-found cousin that he might
+have avoided enacting such a scene before her husband, knowing his
+disease, but he answered that he never thought the circumstance
+likely to provoke mirth.  I said nothing, for, in reality, I felt
+that the recognition was very comic.  Our poor laugher having
+recovered his composure, Casanova, who had remained very serious,
+invited me to dinner for the next day with my young friend Paul
+Gennaro, who had already become my alter ego.
+
+When we called at his house, my worthy cousin showed me his family
+tree, beginning with a Don Francisco, brother of Don Juan.  In my
+pedigree, which I knew by heart, Don Juan, my direct ancestor, was a
+posthumous child.  It was possible that there might have been a
+brother of Marco Antonio's; but when he heard that my genealogy began
+with Don Francisco, from Aragon, who had lived in the fourteenth
+century, and that consequently all the pedigree of the illustrious
+house of the Casanovas of Saragossa belonged to him, his joy knew no
+bounds; he did not know what to do to convince me that the same blood
+was flowing in his veins and in mine.
+
+He expressed some curiosity to know what lucky accident had brought
+me to Naples; I told him that, having embraced the ecclesiastical
+profession, I was going to Rome to seek my fortune.  He then
+presented me to his family, and I thought that I could read on the
+countenance of my cousin, his dearly beloved wife, that she was not
+much pleased with the newly-found relationship, but his pretty
+daughter, and a still prettier niece of his, might very easily have
+given me faith in the doctrine that blood is thicker than water,
+however fabulous it may be.
+
+After dinner, Don Antonio informed me that the Duchess de Bovino had
+expressed a wish to know the Abbe Casanova who had written the sonnet
+in honour of her relative, and that he would be very happy to
+introduce me to her as his own cousin.  As we were alone at that
+moment, I begged he would not insist on presenting me, as I was only
+provided with travelling suits, and had to be careful of my purse so
+as not to arrive in Rome without money.  Delighted at my confidence,
+and approving my economy, he said, "I am rich, and you must not
+scruple to come with me to my tailor;" and he accompanied his offer
+with an assurance that the circumstance would not be known to anyone,
+and that he would feel deeply mortified if I denied him the pleasure
+of serving me.  I shook him warmly by the hand, and answered that I
+was ready to do anything he pleased.  We went to a tailor who took my
+measure, and who brought me on the following day everything necessary
+to the toilet of the most elegant abbe.  Don Antonio called on me,
+and remained to dine with Don Gennaro, after which he took me and my
+friend Paul to the duchess.  This lady, according to the Neapolitan
+fashion, called me thou in her very first compliment of welcome.  Her
+daughter, then only ten or twelve years old, was very handsome, and a
+few years later became Duchess de Matalona.  The duchess presented me
+with a snuff-box in pale tortoise-shell with arabesque incrustations
+in gold, and she invited us to dine with her on the morrow, promising
+to take us after dinner to the Convent of St. Claire to pay a visit
+to the new nun.
+
+As we came out of the palace of the duchess, I left my friends and
+went alone to Panagiotti's to claim the barrel of muscatel wine.  The
+manager was kind enough to have the barrel divided into two smaller
+casks of equal capacity, and I sent one to Don Antonio, and the other
+to Don Gennaro.  As I was leaving the shop I met the worthy
+Panagiotti, who was glad to see me.  Was I to blush at the sight of
+the good man I had at first deceived?  No, for in his opinion I had
+acted very nobly towards him.
+
+Don Gennaro, as I returned home, managed to thank me for my handsome
+present without laughing, and the next day Don Antonio, to make up
+for the muscatel wine I had sent him, offered me a gold-headed cane,
+worth at least fifteen ounces, and his tailor brought me a travelling
+suit and a blue great coat, with the buttonholes in gold lace.  I
+therefore found myself splendidly equipped.
+
+At the Duchess de Bovino's dinner I made the acquaintance of the
+wisest and most learned man in Naples, the illustrious Don Lelio
+Caraffa, who belonged to the ducal family of Matalona, and whom King
+Carlos honoured with the title of friend.
+
+I spent two delightful hours in the convent parlour, coping
+successfully with the curiosity of all the nuns who were pressing
+against the grating.  Had destiny allowed me to remain in Naples my
+fortune would have been made; but, although I had no fixed plan, the
+voice of fate summoned me to Rome, and therefore I resisted all the
+entreaties of my cousin Antonio to accept the honourable position of
+tutor in several houses of the highest order.
+
+Don Antonio gave a splendid dinner in my honour, but he was annoyed
+and angry because he saw that his wife looked daggers at her new
+cousin.  I thought that, more than once, she cast a glance at my new
+costume, and then whispered to the guest next to her.  Very likely
+she knew what had taken place.  There are some positions in life to
+which I could never be reconciled.  If, in the most brilliant circle,
+there is one person who affects to stare at me I lose all presence of
+mind.  Self-dignity feels outraged, my wit dies away, and I play the
+part of a dolt.  It is a weakness on my part, but a weakness I cannot
+overcome.
+
+Don Lelio Caraffa offered me a very liberal salary if I would
+undertake the education of his nephew, the Duke de Matalona, then ten
+years of age.  I expressed my gratitude, and begged him to be my true
+benefactor in a different manner--namely, by giving me a few good
+letters of introduction for Rome, a favour which he granted at once.
+He gave me one for Cardinal Acquaviva, and another for Father Georgi.
+
+I found out that the interest felt towards me by my friends had
+induced them to obtain for me the honour of kissing the hand of Her
+Majesty the Queen, and I hastened my preparations to leave Naples,
+for the queen would certainly have asked me some questions, and I
+could not have avoided telling her that I had just left Martorano and
+the poor bishop whom she had sent there.  The queen likewise knew my
+mother; she would very likely have alluded to my mother's profession
+in Dresden; it would have mortified Don Antonio, and my pedigree
+would have been covered with ridicule.  I knew the force of
+prejudice!  I should have been ruined, and I felt I should do well to
+withdraw in good time.  As I took leave of him, Don Antonio presented
+me with a fine gold watch and gave me a letter for Don Gaspar
+Vidaldi, whom he called his best friend.  Don Gennaro paid me the
+sixty ducats, and his son, swearing eternal friendship, asked me to
+write to him.  They all accompanied me to the coach, blending their
+tears with mine, and loading me with good wishes and blessings.
+
+From my landing in Chiozza up to my arrival in Naples, fortune had
+seemed bent upon frowning on me; in Naples it began to shew itself
+less adverse, and on my return to that city it entirely smiled upon
+me.  Naples has always been a fortunate place for me, as the reader
+of my memoirs will discover.  My readers must not forget that in
+Portici I was on the point of disgracing myself, and there is no
+remedy against the degradation of the mind, for nothing can restore
+it to its former standard.  It is a case of disheartening atony for
+which there is no possible cure.
+
+I was not ungrateful to the good Bishop of Martorano, for, if he had
+unwittingly injured me by summoning me to his diocese, I felt that to
+his letter for M.  Gennaro I was indebted for all the good fortune
+which had just befallen me.  I wrote to him from Rome.
+
+I was wholly engaged in drying my tears as we were driving through
+the beautiful street of Toledo, and it was only after we had left
+Naples that I could find time to examine the countenance of my
+travelling companions.  Next to me, I saw a man of from forty to
+fifty, with a pleasing face and a lively air, but, opposite to me,
+two charming faces delighted my eyes.  They belonged to two ladies,
+young and pretty, very well dressed, with a look of candour and
+modesty.  This discovery was most agreeable, but I felt sad and I
+wanted calm and silence.  We reached Avessa without one word being
+exchanged, and as the vetturino stopped there only to water his
+mules, we did not get out of the coach.  From Avessa to Capua my
+companions conversed almost without interruption, and, wonderful to
+relate!  I did not open my lips once.  I was amused by the Neapolitan
+jargon of the gentleman, and by the pretty accent of the ladies, who
+were evidently Romans.  It was a most wonderful feat for me to remain
+five hours before two charming women without addressing one word to
+them, without paying them one compliment.
+
+At Capua, where we were to spend the night, we put up at an inn, and
+were shown into a room with two beds--a very usual thing in Italy.
+The Neapolitan, addressing himself to me, said,
+
+"Am I to have the honour of sleeping with the reverend gentleman?"
+
+I answered in a very serious tone that it was for him to choose or to
+arrange it otherwise, if he liked.  The answer made the two ladies
+smile, particularly the one whom I preferred, and it seemed to me a
+good omen.
+
+We were five at supper, for it is usual for the vetturino to supply
+his travellers with their meals, unless some private agreement is
+made otherwise, and to sit down at table with them.  In the desultory
+talk which went on during the supper, I found in my travelling
+companions decorum, propriety, wit, and the manners of persons
+accustomed to good society.  I became curious to know who they were,
+and going down with the driver after supper, I asked him.
+
+"The gentleman," he told me, "is an advocate, and one of the ladies
+is his wife, but I do not know which of the two."
+
+I went back to our room, and I was polite enough to go to bed first,
+in order to make it easier for the ladies to undress themselves with
+freedom; I likewise got up first in the morning, left the room, and
+only returned when I was called for breakfast.  The coffee was
+delicious.  I praised it highly, and the lady, the one who was my
+favourite, promised that I should have the same every morning during
+our journey.  The barber came in after breakfast; the advocate was
+shaved, and the barber offered me his services, which I declined, but
+the rogue declared that it was slovenly to wear one's beard.
+
+When we had resumed our seats in the coach, the advocate made some
+remark upon the impudence of barbers in general.
+
+"But we ought to decide first," said the lady, "whether or not it is
+slovenly to go bearded."
+
+"Of course it is," said the advocate.  "Beard is nothing but a dirty
+excrescence."
+
+"You may think so," I answered, "but everybody does not share your
+opinion.  Do we consider as a dirty excrescence the hair of which we
+take so much care, and which is of the same nature as the beard?  Far
+from it; we admire the length and the beauty of the hair."
+
+"Then," remarked the lady, "the barber is a fool."
+
+"But after all," I asked, "have I any beard?"
+
+"I thought you had," she answered.
+
+"In that case, I will begin to shave as soon as I reach Rome, for
+this is the first time that I have been convicted of having a beard."
+
+"My dear wife," exclaimed the advocate, "you should have held your
+tongue; perhaps the reverend abbe is going to Rome with the intention
+of becoming a Capuchin friar."
+
+The pleasantry made me laugh, but, unwilling that he should have the
+last word, I answered that he had guessed rightly, that such had been
+my intention, but that I had entirely altered my mind since I had
+seen his wife.
+
+"Oh! you are wrong," said the joyous Neapolitan, "for my wife is very
+fond of Capuchins, and if you wish to please her, you had better
+follow your original vocation."  Our conversation continued in the
+same tone of pleasantry, and the day passed off in an agreeable
+manner; in the evening we had a very poor supper at Garillan, but we
+made up for it by cheerfulness and witty conversation.  My dawning
+inclination for the advocate's wife borrowed strength from the
+affectionate manner she displayed towards me.
+
+The next day she asked me, after we had resumed our journey, whether
+I intended to make a long stay in Rome before returning to Venice.  I
+answered that, having no acquaintances in Rome, I was afraid my life
+there would be very dull.
+
+"Strangers are liked in Rome," she said, "I feel certain that you
+will be pleased with your residence in that city."
+
+"May I hope, madam, that you will allow me to pay you my respects?"
+
+"We shall be honoured by your calling on us," said the advocate.
+
+My eyes were fixed upon his charming wife.  She blushed, but I did
+not appear to notice it.  I kept up the conversation, and the day
+passed as pleasantly as the previous one.  We stopped at Terracina,
+where they gave us a room with three beds, two single beds and a
+large one between the two others.  It was natural that the two
+sisters should take the large bed; they did so, and undressed
+themselves while the advocate and I went on talking at the table,
+with our backs turned to them.  As soon as they had gone to rest, the
+advocate took the bed on which he found his nightcap, and I the
+other, which was only about one foot distant from the large bed.  I
+remarked that the lady by whom I was captivated was on the side
+nearest my couch, and, without much vanity, I could suppose that it
+was not owing only to chance.
+
+I put the light out and laid down, revolving in my mind a project
+which I could not abandon, and yet durst not execute.  In vain did I
+court sleep.  A very faint light enabled me to perceive the bed in
+which the pretty woman was lying, and my eyes would, in spite of
+myself, remain open.  It would be difficult to guess what I might
+have done at last (I had already fought a hard battle with myself for
+more than an hour), when I saw her rise, get out of her bed, and go
+and lay herself down near her husband, who, most likely, did not wake
+up, and continued to sleep in peace, for I did not hear any noise.
+
+Vexed, disgusted....  I tried to compose myself to sleep, and I woke
+only at day-break.  Seeing the beautiful wandering star in her own
+bed, I got up, dressed myself in haste, and went out, leaving all my
+companions fast asleep.  I returned to the inn only at the time fixed
+for our departure, and I found the advocate and the two ladies
+already in the coach, waiting for me.
+
+The lady complained, in a very obliging manner, of my not having
+cared for her coffee; I pleaded as an excuse a desire for an early
+walk, and I took care not to honour her even with a look; I feigned
+to be suffering from the toothache, and remained in my corner dull
+and silent.  At Piperno she managed to whisper to me that my
+toothache was all sham; I was pleased with the reproach, because it
+heralded an explanation which I craved for, in spite of my vexation.
+
+During the afternoon I continued my policy of the morning.  I was
+morose and silent until we reached Serinonetta, where we were to pass
+the night.  We arrived early, and the weather being fine, the lady
+said that she could enjoy a walk, and asked me politely to offer her
+my arm.  I did so, for it would have been rude to refuse; besides I
+had had enough of my sulking fit.  An explanation could alone bring
+matters back to their original standing, but I did not know how to
+force it upon the lady.  Her husband followed us at some distance
+with the sister.
+
+When we were far enough in advance, I ventured to ask her why she had
+supposed my toothache to have been feigned.
+
+"I am very candid," she said; "it is because the difference in your
+manner was so marked, and because you were so careful to avoid
+looking at me through the whole day.  A toothache would not have
+prevented you from being polite, and therefore I thought it had been
+feigned for some purpose.  But I am certain that not one of us can
+possibly have given you any grounds for such a rapid change in your
+manner."
+
+"Yet something must have caused the change, and you, madam, are only
+half sincere."
+
+"You are mistaken, sir, I am entirely sincere; and if I have given
+you any motive for anger, I am, and must remain, ignorant of it.  Be
+good enough to tell me what I have done."
+
+"Nothing, for I have no right to complain."
+
+"Yes, you have; you have a right, the same that I have myself; the
+right which good society grants to every one of its members.  Speak,
+and shew yourself as sincere as I am."
+
+"You are certainly bound not to know, or to pretend not to know the
+real cause, but you must acknowledge that my duty is to remain
+silent."
+
+"Very well; now it is all over; but if your duty bids you to conceal
+the cause of your bad humour, it also bids you not to shew it.
+Delicacy sometimes enforces upon a polite gentleman the necessity of
+concealing certain feelings which might implicate either himself or
+others; it is a restraint for the mind, I confess, but it has some
+advantage when its effect is to render more amiable the man who
+forces himself to accept that restraint."  Her close argument made me
+blush for shame, and carrying her beautiful hand to my lips, I
+confessed my self in the wrong.
+
+"You would see me at your feet," I exclaimed, "in token of my
+repentance, were I not afraid of injuring you---"
+
+"Do not let us allude to the matter any more," she answered.
+
+And, pleased with my repentance, she gave me a look so expressive of
+forgiveness that, without being afraid of augmenting my guilt, I took
+my lips off her hand and I raised them to her half-open, smiling
+mouth.  Intoxicated with rapture, I passed so rapidly from a state of
+sadness to one of overwhelming cheerfulness that during our supper
+the advocate enjoyed a thousand jokes upon my toothache, so quickly
+cured by the simple remedy of a walk.  On the following day we dined
+at Velletri and slept in Marino, where, although the town was full of
+troops, we had two small rooms and a good supper.  I could not have
+been on better terms with my charming Roman; for, although I had
+received but a rapid proof of her regard, it had been such a true
+one--such a tender one!  In the coach our eyes could not say much;
+but I was opposite to her, and our feet spoke a very eloquent
+language.
+
+The advocate had told me that he was going to Rome on some
+ecclesiastical business, and that he intended to reside in the house
+of his mother-in-law, whom his wife had not seen since her marriage,
+two years ago, and her sister hoped to remain in Rome, where she
+expected to marry a clerk at the Spirito Santo Bank.  He gave me
+their address, with a pressing invitation to call upon them, and I
+promised to devote all my spare time to them.
+
+We were enjoying our dessert, when my beautiful lady-love, admiring
+my snuff-box, told her husband that she wished she had one like it.
+
+"I will buy you one, dear."
+
+"Then buy mine," I said; "I will let you have it for twenty ounces,
+and you can give me a note of hand payable to bearer in payment.  I
+owe that amount to an Englishman, and I will give it him to redeem my
+debt."
+
+"Your snuff-box, my dear abbe, is worth twenty ounces, but I cannot
+buy it unless you agree to receive payment in cash; I should be
+delighted to see it in my wife's possession, and she would keep it as
+a remembrance of you."
+
+His wife, thinking that I would not accept his offer, said that she
+had no objection to give me the note of hand.
+
+"But," exclaimed the advocate, "can you not guess the Englishman
+exists only in our friend's imagination?  He would never enter an
+appearance, and we would have the snuff-box for nothing.  Do not
+trust the abbe, my dear, he is a great cheat."
+
+"I had no idea," answered his wife, looking at me, "that the world
+contained rogues of this species."
+
+I affected a melancholy air, and said that I only wished myself rich
+enough to be often guilty of such cheating.
+
+When a man is in love very little is enough to throw him into
+despair, and as little to enhance his joy to the utmost.  There was
+but one bed in the room where supper had been served, and another in
+a small closet leading out of the room, but without a door.  The
+ladies chose the closet, and the advocate retired to rest before me.
+I bid the ladies good night as soon as they had gone to bed; I looked
+at my dear mistress, and after undressing myself I went to bed,
+intending not to sleep through the night.  But the reader may imagine
+my rage when I found, as I got into the bed, that it creaked loud
+enough to wake the dead.  I waited, however, quite motionless, until
+my companion should be fast asleep, and as soon as his snoring told
+me that he was entirely under the influence of Morpheus, I tried to
+slip out of the bed; but the infernal creaking which took place
+whenever I moved, woke my companion, who felt about with his hand,
+and, finding me near him, went to sleep again.  Half an hour after, I
+tried a second time, but with the same result.  I had to give it up
+in despair.
+
+Love is the most cunning of gods; in the midst of obstacles he seems
+to be in his own element, but as his very existence depends upon the
+enjoyment of those who ardently worship him, the shrewd, all-seeing,
+little blind god contrives to bring success out of the most desperate
+case.
+
+I had given up all hope for the night, and had nearly gone to sleep,
+when suddenly we hear a dreadful noise.  Guns are fired in the
+street, people, screaming and howling, are running up and down the
+stairs; at last there is a loud knocking at our door.  The advocate,
+frightened out of his slumbers, asks me what it can all mean; I
+pretend to be very indifferent, and beg to be allowed to sleep.  But
+the ladies are trembling with fear, and loudly calling for a light.
+I remain very quiet, the advocate jumps out of bed, and runs out of
+the room to obtain a candle; I rise at once, I follow him to shut the
+door, but I slam it rather too hard, the double spring of the lock
+gives way, and the door cannot be reopened without the key.
+
+I approach the ladies in order to calm their anxiety, telling them
+that the advocate would soon return with a light, and that we should
+then know the cause of the tumult, but I am not losing my time, and
+am at work while I am speaking.  I meet with very little opposition,
+but, leaning rather too heavily upon my fair lady, I break through
+the bottom of the bedstead, and we suddenly find ourselves, the two
+ladies and myself, all together in a heap on the floor.  The advocate
+comes back and knocks at the door; the sister gets up, I obey the
+prayers of my charming friend, and, feeling my way, reach the door,
+and tell the advocate that I cannot open it, and that he must get the
+key.  The two sisters are behind me.  I extend my hand; but I am
+abruptly repulsed, and judge that I have addressed myself to the
+wrong quarter; I go to the other side, and there I am better
+received.  But the husband returns, the noise of the key in the lock
+announces that the door is going to be opened, and we return to our
+respective beds.
+
+The advocate hurries to the bed of the two frightened ladies,
+thinking of relieving their anxiety, but, when he sees them buried in
+their broken-down bedstead, he bursts into a loud laugh.  He tells me
+to come and have a look at them, but I am very modest, and decline
+the invitation.  He then tells us that the alarm has been caused by a
+German detachment attacking suddenly the Spanish troops in the city,
+and that the Spaniards are running away.  In a quarter of an hour the
+noise has ceased, and quiet is entirely re-established.
+
+The advocate complimented me upon my coolness, got into bed again,
+and was soon asleep.  As for me, I was careful not to close my eyes,
+and as soon as I saw daylight I got up in order to perform certain
+ablutions and to change my shirt; it was an absolute necessity.
+
+I returned for breakfast, and while we were drinking the delicious
+coffee which Donna Lucrezia had made, as I thought, better than ever,
+I remarked that her sister frowned on me.  But how little I cared for
+her anger when I saw the cheerful, happy countenance, and the
+approving looks of my adored Lucrezia!  I felt a delightful sensation
+run through the whole of my body.
+
+We reached Rome very early.  We had taken breakfast at the Tour, and
+the advocate being in a very gay mood I assumed the same tone,
+loading him with compliments, and predicting that a son would be born
+to him, I compelled his wife to promise it should be so.  I did not
+forget the sister of my charming Lucrezia, and to make her change her
+hostile attitude towards me I addressed to her so many pretty
+compliments, and behaved in such a friendly manner, that she was
+compelled to forgive the fall of the bed.  As I took leave of them, I
+promised to give them a call on the following day.
+
+I was in Rome! with a good wardrobe, pretty well supplied with money
+and jewellery, not wanting in experience, and with excellent letters
+of introduction.  I was free, my own master, and just reaching the
+age in which a man can have faith in his own fortune, provided he is
+not deficient in courage, and is blessed with a face likely to
+attract the sympathy of those he mixes with.  I was not handsome, but
+I had something better than beauty--a striking expression which
+almost compelled a kind interest in my favour, and I felt myself
+ready for anything.  I knew that Rome is the one city in which a man
+can begin from the lowest rung, and reach the very top of the social
+ladder.  This knowledge increased my courage, and I must confess that
+a most inveterate feeling of self-esteem which, on account of my
+inexperience, I could not distrust, enhanced wonderfully my
+confidence in myself.
+
+The man who intends to make his fortune in this ancient capital of
+the world must be a chameleon susceptible of reflecting all the
+colours of the atmosphere that surrounds him--a Proteus apt to assume
+every form, every shape.  He must be supple, flexible, insinuating;
+close, inscrutable, often base, sometimes sincere, some times
+perfidious, always concealing a part of his knowledge, indulging in
+one tone of voice, patient, a perfect master of his own countenance.
+as cold as ice when any other man would be all fire; and if
+unfortunately he is not religious at heart--a very common occurrence
+for a soul possessing the above requisites--he must have religion in
+his mind, that is to say, on his face, on his lips, in his manners;
+he must suffer quietly, if he be an honest man the necessity of
+knowing himself an arrant hypocrite.  The man whose soul would loathe
+such a life should leave Rome and seek his fortune elsewhere.  I do
+not know whether I am praising or excusing myself, but of all those
+qualities I possessed but one--namely, flexibility; for the rest, I
+was only an interesting, heedless young fellow, a pretty good blood
+horse, but not broken, or rather badly broken; and that is much
+worse.
+
+I began by delivering the letter I had received from Don Lelio for
+Father Georgi.  The learned monk enjoyed the esteem of everyone in
+Rome, and the Pope himself had a great consideration for him, because
+he disliked the Jesuits, and did not put a mask on to tear the mask
+from their faces, although they deemed themselves powerful enough to
+despise him.
+
+He read the letter with great attention, and expressed himself
+disposed to be my adviser; and that consequently I might make him
+responsible for any evil which might befall me, as misfortune is not
+to be feared by a man who acts rightly.  He asked me what I intended
+to do in Rome, and I answered that I wished him to tell me what to
+do.
+
+"Perhaps I may; but in that case you must come and see me often, and
+never conceal from me anything, you understand, not anything, of what
+interests you, or of what happens to you."
+
+"Don Lelio has likewise given me a letter for the Cardinal
+Acquaviva."
+
+"I congratulate you; the cardinal's influence in Rome is greater even
+than that of the Pope."
+
+"Must I deliver the letter at once?"
+
+"No; I will see him this evening, and prepare him for your visit.
+Call on me to-morrow morning, and I will then tell you where and when
+you are to deliver your letter to the cardinal.  Have you any money?"
+
+"Enough for all my wants during one year."
+
+"That is well.  Have you any acquaintances?"
+
+"Not one."
+
+"Do not make any without first consulting me, and, above all, avoid
+coffee-houses and ordinaries, but if you should happen to frequent
+such places, listen and never speak.  Be careful to form your
+judgment upon those who ask any questions from you, and if common
+civility obliges you to give an answer, give only an evasive one, if
+any other is likely to commit you.  Do you speak French?"
+
+"Not one word."
+
+"I am sorry for that; you must learn French.  Have you been a
+student?"
+
+"A poor one, but I have a sufficient smattering to converse with
+ordinary company."
+
+"That is enough; but be very prudent, for Rome is the city in which
+smatterers unmask each other, and are always at war amongst
+themselves.  I hope you will take your letter to the cardinal,
+dressed like a modest abbe, and not in this elegant costume which is
+not likely to conjure fortune.  Adieu, let me see you to-morrow."
+
+Highly pleased with the welcome I had received at his hands, and with
+all he had said to me, I left his house and proceeded towards Campo-
+di-Fiore to deliver the letter of my cousin Antonio to Don Gaspar
+Vivaldi, who received me in his library, where I met two respectable-
+looking priests.  He gave me the most friendly welcome, asked for my
+address, and invited me to dinner for the next day.  He praised
+Father Georgi most highly, and, accompanying me as far as the stairs,
+he told me that he would give me on the morrow the amount his friend
+Don Antonio requested him to hand me.
+
+More money which my generous cousin was bestowing on me!  It is easy
+enough to give away when one possesses sufficient means to do it, but
+it is not every man who knows how to give.  I found the proceeding of
+Don Antonio more delicate even than generous; I could not refuse his
+present; it was my duty to prove my gratitude by accepting it.
+
+Just after I had left M.  Vivaldi's house I found myself face to face
+with Stephano, and this extraordinary original loaded me with
+friendly caresses.  I inwardly despised him, yet I could not feel
+hatred for him; I looked upon him as the instrument which Providence
+had been pleased to employ in order to save me from ruin.  After
+telling me that he had obtained from the Pope all he wished, he
+advised me to avoid meeting the fatal constable who had advanced me
+two sequins in Seraval, because he had found out that I had deceived
+him, and had sworn revenge against me.  I asked Stephano to induce
+the man to leave my acknowledgement of the debt in the hands of a
+certain merchant whom we both knew, and that I would call there to
+discharge the amount.  This was done, and it ended the affair.
+
+That evening I dined at the ordinary, which was frequented by Romans
+and foreigners; but I carefully followed the advice of Father Georgi.
+I heard a great deal of harsh language used against the Pope and
+against the Cardinal Minister, who had caused the Papal States to be
+inundated by eighty thousand men, Germans as well as Spaniards.  But
+I was much surprised when I saw that everybody was eating meat,
+although it was Saturday.  But a stranger during the first few days
+after his arrival in Rome is surrounded with many things which at
+first cause surprise, and to which he soon gets accustomed.  There is
+not a Catholic city in the world in which a man is half so free on
+religious matters as in  Rome.  The inhabitants of Rome are like the
+men employed at the Government tobacco works, who are allowed to take
+gratis as much tobacco as they want for their own use.  One can live
+in Rome with the most complete freedom, except that the 'ordini
+santissimi' are as much to be dreaded as the famous Lettres-de-cachet
+before the Revolution came and destroyed them, and shewed the whole
+world the general character of the French nation.
+
+The next day, the 1st of October, 1743, I made up my mind to be
+shaved.  The down on my chin had become a beard, and I judged that it
+was time to renounce some of the privileges enjoyed by adolescence.
+I dressed myself completely in the Roman fashion, and Father Georgi
+was highly pleased when he saw me in that costume, which had been
+made by the tailor of my dear cousin, Don Antonio.
+
+Father Georgi invited me to take a cup of chocolate with him, and
+informed me that the cardinal had been apprised of my arrival by a
+letter from Don Lelio, and that his eminence would receive me at noon
+at the Villa Negroni, where he would be taking a walk.  I told Father
+Georgi that I had been invited to dinner by M. Vivaldi, and he
+advised me to cultivate his acquaintance.
+
+I proceeded to the Villa Negroni; the moment he saw me the cardinal
+stopped to receive my letter, allowing two persons who accompanied
+him to walk forward.  He put the letter in his pocket without reading
+it, examined me for one or two minutes, and enquired whether I felt
+any taste for politics.  I answered that, until now, I had not felt
+in me any but frivolous tastes, but that I would make bold to answer
+for my readiness to execute all the orders which his eminence might
+be pleased to lay upon me, if he should judge me worthy of entering
+his service.
+
+"Come to my office to-morrow morning," said the cardinal, "and ask
+for the Abbe Gama, to whom I will give my instructions.  You must
+apply yourself diligently to the study of the French language; it is
+indispensable."  He then enquired after Don Leilo's health, and after
+kissing his hand I took my leave.
+
+I hastened to the house of M. Gaspar Vivaldi, where I dined amongst a
+well-chosen party of guests.  M. Vivaldi was not married; literature
+was his only passion.  He loved Latin poetry even better than
+Italian, and Horace, whom I knew by heart, was his favourite poet.
+After dinner, we repaired to his study, and he handed me one hundred
+Roman crowns, and Don Antonio's present, and assured me that I would
+be most welcome whenever I would call to take a cup of chocolate with
+him.
+
+After I had taken leave of Don Gaspar, I proceeded towards the
+Minerva, for I longed to enjoy the surprise of my dear Lucrezia and
+of her sister; I inquired for Donna Cecilia Monti, their mother, and
+I saw, to my great astonishment, a young widow who looked like the
+sister of her two charming daughters.  There was no need for me to
+give her my name; I had been announced, and she expected me.  Her
+daughters soon came in, and their greeting caused me some amusement,
+for I did not appear to them to be the same individual.  Donna
+Lucrezia presented me to her youngest sister, only eleven years of
+age, and to her brother, an abbe of fifteen, of charming appearance.
+I took care to behave so as to please the mother; I was modest,
+respectful, and shewed a deep interest in everything I saw.  The good
+advocate arrived, and was surprised at the change in my appearance.
+He launched out in his usual jokes, and I followed him on that
+ground, yet I was careful not to give to my conversation the tone of
+levity which used to cause so much mirth in our travelling coach; so
+that, to, pay me a compliment, he told nee that, if I had had the
+sign of manhood shaved from my face, I had certainly transferred it
+to my mind.  Donna Lucrezia did not know what to think of the change
+in my manners.
+
+Towards evening I saw, coming in rapid succession, five or six
+ordinary-looking ladies, and as many abbes, who appeared to me some
+of the volumes with which I was to begin my Roman education.  They
+all listened attentively to the most insignificant word I uttered,
+and I was very careful to let them enjoy their conjectures about me.
+Donna Cecilia told the advocate that he was but a poor painter, and
+that his portraits were not like the originals; he answered that she
+could not judge, because the original was shewing under a mask, and I
+pretended to be mortified by his answer.  Donna Lucrezia said that
+she found me exactly the same, and her sister was of opinion that the
+air of Rome gave strangers a peculiar appearance.  Everybody
+applauded, and Angelique turned red with satisfaction.  After a visit
+of four hours I bowed myself out, and the advocate, following me,
+told me that his mother-in-law begged me to consider myself as a
+friend of the family, and to be certain of a welcome at any hour I
+liked to call.  I thanked him gratefully and took my leave, trusting
+that I had pleased this amiable society as much as it had pleased me.
+
+The next day I presented myself to the Abbe Gama.  He was a
+Portuguese, about forty years old, handsome, and with a countenance
+full of candour, wit, and good temper.  His affability claimed and
+obtained confidence.  His manners and accent were quite Roman.  He
+informed me, in the blandest manner, that his eminence had himself
+given his instructions about me to his majordomo, that I would have a
+lodging in the cardinal's palace, that I would have my meals at the
+secretaries' table, and that, until I learned French, I would have
+nothing to do but make extracts from letters that he would supply me
+with.  He then gave me the address of the French teacher to whom he
+had already spoken in my behalf.  He was a Roman advocate, Dalacqua
+by name, residing precisely opposite the palace.
+
+After this short explanation, and an assurance that I could at all
+times rely upon his friendship, he had me taken to the major-domo,
+who made me sign my name at the bottom of a page in a large book,
+already filled with other names, and counted out sixty Roman crowns
+which he paid me for three months salary in advance.  After this he
+accompanied me, followed by a 'staffiere' to my apartment on the
+third floor, which I found very comfortably furnished.  The servant
+handed me the key, saying that he would come every morning to attend
+upon me, and the major-domo accompanied me to the gate to make me
+known to the gate-keeper.  I immediately repaired to my inn, sent my
+luggage to the palace, and found myself established in a place in
+which a great fortune awaited me, if I had only been able to lead a
+wise and prudent life, but unfortunately it was not in my nature.
+'Volentem ducit, nolentem trahit.'
+
+I naturally felt it my duty to call upon my mentor, Father Georgi, to
+whom I gave all my good news.  He said I was on the right road, and
+that my fortune was in my hands.
+
+"Recollect," added the good father, "that to lead a blameless life
+you must curb your passions, and that whatever misfortune may befall
+you it cannot be ascribed by any one to a want of good luck, or
+attributed to fate; those words are devoid of sense, and all the
+fault will rightly fall on your own head."
+
+"I foresee, reverend father, that my youth and my want of experience
+will often make it necessary for me to disturb you.  I am afraid of
+proving myself too heavy a charge for you, but you will find me
+docile and obedient."
+
+"I suppose you will often think me rather too severe; but you are not
+likely to confide everything to me."
+
+"Everything, without any exception."
+
+"Allow me to feel somewhat doubtful; you have not told me where you
+spent four hours yesterday."
+
+"Because I did not think it was worth mentioning.  I made the
+acquaintance of those persons during my journey; I believe them to be
+worthy and respectable, and the right sort of people for me to visit,
+unless you should be of a different opinion."
+
+"God forbid!  It is a very respectable house, frequented by honest
+people.  They are delighted at having made your acquaintance; you are
+much liked by everybody, and they hope to retain you as a friend; I
+have heard all about it this morning; but you must not go there too
+often and as a regular guest."
+
+"Must I cease my visits at once, and without cause?"
+
+"No, it would be a want of politeness on your part.  You may go there
+once or twice every week, but do not be a constant visitor.  You are
+sighing, my son?"
+
+"No, I assure you not.  I will obey you."
+
+"I hope it may not be only a matter of obedience, and I trust your
+heart will not feel it a hardship, but, if necessary, your heart must
+be conquered.  Recollect that the heart is the greatest enemy of
+reason."
+
+"Yet they can be made to agree."
+
+"We often imagine so; but distrust the animism of your dear Horace.
+You know that there is no middle course with it: 'nisi paret,
+imperat'."
+
+"I know it, but in the family of which we were speaking there is no
+danger for my heart."
+
+"I am glad of it, because in that case it will be all the easier for
+you to abstain from frequent visits.  Remember that I shall trust
+you."
+
+"And I, reverend father; will listen to and follow your good advice.
+I will visit Donna Cecilia only now and then."  Feeling most unhappy,
+I took his hand to press it against my lips, but he folded me in his
+arms as a father might have done, and turned himself round so as not
+to let me see that he was weeping.
+
+I dined at the cardinal's palace and sat near the Abbe Gama; the
+table was laid for twelve persons, who all wore the costume of
+priests, for in Rome everyone is a priest or wishes to be thought a
+priest and as there is no law to forbid anyone to dress like an
+ecclesiastic that dress is adopted by all those who wish to be
+respected (noblemen excepted) even if they are not in the
+ecclesiastical profession.
+
+I felt very miserable, and did not utter a word during the dinner; my
+silence was construed into a proof of my sagacity.  As we rose from
+the table, the Abbe Gama invited me to spend the day with him, but I
+declined under pretence of letters to be written, and I truly did so
+for seven hours.  I wrote to Don Lelio, to Don Antonio, to my young
+friend Paul, and to the worthy Bishop of Martorano, who answered that
+he heartily wished himself in my place.
+
+Deeply enamoured of Lucrezia and happy in my love, to give her up
+appeared to me a shameful action.  In order to insure the happiness
+of my future life, I was beginning to be the executioner of my
+present felicity, and the tormentor of my heart.  I revolted against
+such a necessity which I judged fictitious, and which I could not
+admit unless I stood guilty of vileness before the tribunal of my own
+reason.  I thought that Father Georgi, if he wished to forbid my
+visiting that family, ought not to have said that it was worthy of
+respect; my sorrow would not have been so intense.  The day and the
+whole of the night were spent in painful thoughts.
+
+In the morning the Abbe Gama brought me a great book filled with
+ministerial letters from which I was to compile for my amusement.
+After a short time devoted to that occupation, I went out to take my
+first French lesson, after which I walked towards the Strada-
+Condotta.  I intended to take a long walk, when I heard myself called
+by my name.  I saw the Abbe Gama in front of a coffee-house.
+I whispered to him that Minerva had forbidden me the coffee-rooms of
+Rome.  "Minerva," he answered, "desires you to form some idea of such
+places.  Sit down by me."
+
+I heard a young abbe telling aloud, but without bitterness, a story,
+which attacked in a most direct manner the justice of His Holiness.
+Everybody was laughing and echoing the story.  Another, being asked
+why he had left the services of Cardinal B., answered that it was
+because his eminence did not think himself called upon to pay him
+apart for certain private services, and everybody laughed outright.
+Another came to the Abbe Gama, and told him that, if he felt any
+inclination to spend the afternoon at the Villa Medicis, he would
+find him there with two young Roman girls who were satisfied with a
+'quartino', a gold coin worth one-fourth of a sequin.  Another abbe
+read an incendiary sonnet against the government, and several took a
+copy of it.  Another read a satire of his own composition, in which
+he tore to pieces the honour of a family.  In the middle of all that
+confusion, I saw a priest with a very attractive countenance come in.
+The size of his hips made me take him for a woman dressed in men's
+clothes, and I said so to Gama, who told me that he was the
+celebrated castrato, Bepino delta Mamana.  The abbe called him to us,
+and told him with a laugh that I had taken him for a girl.  The
+impudent fellow looked me full in the face, and said that, if I
+liked, he would shew me whether I had been right or wrong.
+
+At the dinner-table everyone spoke to me, and I fancied I had given
+proper answers to all, but, when the repast was over, the Abbe Gama
+invited me to take coffee in his own apartment.  The moment we were
+alone, he told me that all the guests I had met were worthy and
+honest men, and he asked me whether I believed that I had succeeded
+in pleasing the company.
+
+"I flatter myself I have," I answered.
+
+"You are wrong," said the abbe, "you are flattering yourself.  You
+have so conspicuously avoided the questions put to you that everybody
+in the room noticed your extreme reserve.  In the future no one will
+ask you any questions."
+
+"I should be sorry if it should turn out so, but was I to expose my
+own concerns?"
+
+"No, but there is a medium in all things."
+
+"Yes, the medium of Horace, but it is often a matter of great
+difficulty to hit it exactly."
+
+"A man ought to know how to obtain affection and esteem at the same
+time."
+
+"That is the very wish nearest to my heart."
+
+"To-day you have tried for the esteem much more than for the
+affection of your fellow-creatures.  It may be a noble aspiration,
+but you must prepare yourself to fight jealousy and her daughter,
+calumny; if those two monsters do not succeed in destroying you, the
+victory must be yours.  Now, for instance, you thoroughly refuted
+Salicetti to-day.  Well, he is a physician, and what is more a
+Corsican; he must feel badly towards you."
+
+"Could I grant that the longings of women during their pregnancy have
+no influence whatever on the skin of the foetus, when I know the
+reverse to be the case?  Are you not of my opinion?"
+
+"I am for neither party; I have seen many children with some such
+marks, but I have no means of knowing with certainty whether those
+marks have their origin in some longing experienced by the mother
+while she was pregnant."
+
+"But I can swear it is so."
+
+"All the better for you if your conviction is based upon such
+evidence, and all the worse for Salicetti if he denies the
+possibility of the thing without certain authority.  But let him
+remain in error; it is better thus than to prove him in the wrong and
+to make a bitter enemy of him."
+
+In the evening I called upon Lucrezia.  The family knew my success,
+and warmly congratulated me.  Lucrezia told me that I looked sad, and
+I answered that I was assisting at the funeral of my liberty, for I
+was no longer my own master.  Her husband, always fond of a joke,
+told her that I was in love with her, and his mother-in-law advised
+him not to show so much intrepidity.  I only remained an hour with
+those charming persons, and then took leave of them, but the very air
+around me was heated by the flame within my breast.  When I reached
+my room I began to write, and spent the night in composing an ode
+which I sent the next day to the advocate.  I was certain that he
+would shew it to his wife, who loved poetry, and who did not yet know
+that I was a poet.  I abstained from seeing her again for three or
+four days.  I was learning French, and making extracts from
+ministerial letters.
+
+His eminence was in the habit of receiving every evening, and his
+rooms were thronged with the highest nobility of Rome; I had never
+attended these receptions.  The Abbe Gama told me that I ought to do
+so as well as he did, without any pretension.  I followed his advice
+and went; nobody spoke to me, but as I was unknown everyone looked at
+me and enquired who I was.  The Abbe Gama asked me which was the lady
+who appeared to me the most amiable, and I shewed one to him; but I
+regretted having done so, for the courtier went to her, and of course
+informed her of what I had said.  Soon afterwards I saw her look at
+me through her eye-glass and smile kindly upon me.  She was the
+Marchioness G----, whose 'cicisbeo' was Cardinal S---- C----.
+
+On the very day I had fixed to spend the evening with Donna Lucrezia
+the worthy advocate called upon me.  He told me that if I thought I
+was going to prove I was not in love with his wife by staying away I
+was very much mistaken, and he invited me to accompany all the family
+to Testaccio, where they intended to have luncheon on the following
+Thursday.  He added that his wife knew my ode by heart, and that she
+had read it to the intended husband of Angelique, who had a great
+wish to make my acquaintance.  That gentleman was likewise a poet,
+and would be one of the party to Testaccio.  I promised the advocate
+I would come to his house on the Thursday with a carriage for two.
+
+At that time every Thursday in the month of October was a festival
+day in Rome.  I went to see Donna Cecilia in the evening, and we
+talked about the excursion the whole time.  I felt certain that Donna
+Lucrezia looked forward to it with as much pleasure as I did myself.
+We had no fixed plan, we could not have any, but we trusted to the
+god of love, and tacitly placed our confidence in his protection.
+
+I took care that Father Georgi should not hear of that excursion
+before I mentioned it to him myself, and I hastened to him in order
+to obtain his permission to go.  I confess that, to obtain his leave,
+I professed the most complete indifference about it, and the
+consequence was that the good man insisted upon my going, saying that
+it was a family party, and that it was quite right for me to visit
+the environs of Rome and to enjoy myself in a respectable way.
+
+I went to Donna Cecilia's in a carriage which I hired from a certain
+Roland, a native of Avignon, and if I insist here upon his name it is
+because my readers will meet him again in eighteen years, his
+acquaintance with me having had very important results.  The charming
+widow introduced me to Don Francisco, her intended son-in-law, whom
+she represented as a great friend of literary men, and very deeply
+learned himself.  I accepted it as gospel, and behaved accordingly;
+yet I thought he looked rather heavy and not sufficiently elated for
+a young man on the point of marrying such a pretty girl as Angelique.
+But he had plenty of good-nature and plenty of money, and these are
+better than learning and gallantry.
+
+As we were ready to get into the carriages, the advocate told me that
+he would ride with me in my carriage, and that the three ladies would
+go with Don Francisco in the other.  I answered at once that he ought
+to keep Don Francisco company, and that I claimed the privilege of
+taking care of Donna Cecilia, adding that I should feel dishonoured
+if things were arranged differently.  Thereupon I offered my arm to
+the handsome widow, who thought the arrangement according to the
+rules of etiquette and good breeding, and an approving look of my
+Lucrezia gave me the most agreeable sensation.  Yet the proposal of
+the advocate struck me somewhat unpleasantly, because it was in
+contradiction with his former behaviour, and especially with what he
+had said to me in my room a few days before.  "Has he become
+jealous?"  I said to myself; that would have made me almost angry,
+but the hope of bringing him round during our stay at Testaccio
+cleared away the dark cloud on my mind, and I was very amiable to
+Donna Cecilia.  What with lunching and walking we contrived to pass
+the afternoon very pleasantly; I was very gay, and my love for
+Lucrezia was not once mentioned; I was all attention to her mother.
+I occasionally addressed myself to Lucrezia, but not once to the
+advocate, feeling this the best way to shew him that he had insulted
+me.
+
+As we prepared to return, the advocate carried off Donna Cecilia and
+went with her to the carriage in which were already seated Angelique
+and Don Francisco.  Scarcely able to control my delight, I offered my
+arm to Donna Lucrezia, paying her some absurd compliment, while the
+advocate laughed outright, and seemed to enjoy the trick he imagined
+he had played me.
+
+How many things we might have said to each other before giving
+ourselves up to the material enjoyment of our love, had not the
+instants been so precious!  But, aware that we had only half an hour
+before us, we were sparing of the minutes.  We were absorbed in
+voluptuous pleasure when suddenly Lucrezia exclaims,---
+
+"Oh!  dear, how unhappy we are!"
+
+She pushes me back, composes herself, the carriage stops, and the
+servant opens the door.  "What is the matter?" I enquire.  "We are at
+home."  Whenever I recollect the circumstance, it seems to me
+fabulous, for it is not possible to annihilate time, and the horses
+were regular old screws.  But we were lucky all through.  The night
+was dark, and my beloved angel happened to be on the right side to
+get out of the carriage first, so that, although the advocate was at
+the door of the brougham as soon as the footman, everything went
+right, owing to the slow manner in which Lucrezia alighted.  I
+remained at Donna Cecilia's until midnight.
+
+When I got home again, I went to bed; but how could I sleep?  I felt
+burning in me the flame which I had not been able to restore to its
+original source in the too short distance from Testaccio to Rome.  It
+was consuming me.  Oh! unhappy are those who believe that the
+pleasures of Cythera are worth having, unless they are enjoyed in the
+most perfect accord by two hearts overflowing with love!
+
+I only rose in time for my French lesson.  My teacher had a pretty
+daughter, named Barbara, who was always present during my lessons,
+and who sometimes taught me herself with even more exactitude than
+her father.  A good-looking young man, who likewise took lessons, was
+courting her, and I soon perceived that she loved him.  This young
+man called often upon me, and I liked him, especially on account of
+his reserve, for, although I made him confess his love for Barbara,
+he always changed the subject, if I mentioned it in our conversation.
+
+I had made up my mind to respect his reserve, and had not alluded to
+his affection for several days.  But all at once I remarked that he
+had ceased his visits both to me and to his teacher, and at the same
+time I observed that the young girl was no longer present at my
+lessons; I felt some curiosity to know what had happened, although it
+was not, after all, any concern of mine.
+
+A few days after, as I was returning from church, I met the young
+man, and reproached him for keeping away from us all.  He told me
+that great sorrow had befallen him, which had fairly turned his
+brain, and that he was a prey to the most intense despair.  His eyes
+were wet with tears.  As I was leaving him, he held me back, and I
+told him that I would no longer be his friend unless he opened his
+heart to me.  He took me to one of the cloisters, and he spoke thus:
+
+"I have loved Barbara for the last six months, and for three months
+she has given me indisputable proofs of her affection.  Five days
+ago, we were betrayed by the servant, and the father caught us in a
+rather delicate position.  He left the room without saying one word,
+and I followed him, thinking of throwing myself at his feet; but, as
+I appeared before him, he took hold of me by the arm, pushed me
+roughly to the door, and forbade me ever to present myself again at
+his house.  I cannot claim her hand in marriage, because one of my
+brothers is married, and my father is not rich; I have no profession,
+and my mistress has nothing.  Alas, now that I have confessed all to
+you, tell me, I entreat you, how she is.  I am certain that she is as
+miserable as I am myself.  I cannot manage to get a letter delivered
+to her, for she does not leave the house, even to attend church.
+Unhappy wretch!  What shall I do?"
+
+I could but pity him, for, as a man of honour, it was impossible for
+me to interfere in such a business.  I told him that I had not seen
+Barbara for five days, and, not knowing what to say, I gave him the
+advice which is tendered by all fools under similar circumstances; I
+advised him to forget his mistress.
+
+We had then reached the quay of Ripetta, and, observing that he was
+casting dark looks towards the Tiber, I feared his despair might lead
+him to commit some foolish attempt against his own life, and, in
+order to calm his excited feelings, I promised to make some enquiries
+from the father about his mistress, and to inform him of all I heard.
+He felt quieted by my promise, and entreated me not to forget him.
+
+In spite of the fire which had been raging through my veins ever
+since the excursion to Testaccio, I had not seen my Lucrezia for four
+days.  I dreaded Father Georgi's suave manner, and I was still more
+afraid of finding he had made up his mind to give me no more advice.
+But, unable to resist my desires, I called upon Lucrezia after my
+French lesson, and found her alone, sad and dispirited.
+
+"Ah!" she exclaimed, as soon as I was by her side, "I think you might
+find time to come and see me!"
+
+"My beloved one, it is not that I cannot find time, but I am so
+jealous of my love that I would rather die than let it be known
+publicly.  I have been thinking of inviting you all to dine with me
+at Frascati.  I will send you a phaeton, and I trust that some lucky
+accident will smile upon our love."
+
+"Oh!  yes, do, dearest!  I am sure your invitation will be accepted:"
+
+In a quarter of an hour the rest of the family came in, and I
+proffered my invitation for the following Sunday, which happened to
+be the Festival of St. Ursula, patroness of Lucrezia's youngest
+sister.  I begged Donna Cecilia to bring her as well as her son.  My
+proposal being readily accepted, I gave notice that the phaeton would
+be at Donna Cecilia's door at seven o'clock, and that I would come
+myself with a carriage for two persons.
+
+The next day I went to M. Dalacqua, and, after my lesson, I saw
+Barbara who, passing from one room to another, dropped a paper and
+earnestly looked at me.  I felt bound to pick it up, because a
+servant, who was at hand, might have seen it and taken it.  It was a
+letter, enclosing another addressed to her lover.  The note for me
+ran thus: "If you think it to be a sin to deliver the enclosed to
+your friend, burn it.  Have pity on an unfortunate girl, and be
+discreet."
+
+The enclosed letter which was unsealed, ran as follows: "If you love
+me as deeply as 'I love you, you cannot hope to be happy without me;
+we cannot correspond in any other way than the one I am bold enough
+to adopt.  I am ready to do anything to unite our lives until death.
+Consider and decide."
+
+The cruel situation of the poor girl moved me almost to tears; yet I
+determined to return her letter the next day, and I enclosed it in a
+note in which I begged her to excuse me if I could not render her the
+service she required at my hands.  I put it in my pocket ready for
+delivery.  The next day I went for my lesson as usual, but, not
+seeing Barbara, I had no opportunity of returning her letter, and
+postponed its delivery to the following day.  Unfortunately, just
+after I had returned to my room, the unhappy lover made his
+appearance.  His eyes were red from weeping, his voice hoarse; he
+drew such a vivid picture of his misery, that, dreading some mad
+action counselled by despair, I could not withhold from him the
+consolation which I knew it was in my power to give.  This was my
+first error in this fatal business; I was the victim of my own
+kindness.
+
+The poor fellow read the letter over and over; he kissed it with
+transports of joy; he wept, hugged me, and thanked me for saving his
+life, and finally entreated me to take charge of his answer, as his
+beloved mistress must be longing for consolation as much as he had
+been himself, assuring me that his letter could not in any way
+implicate me, and that I was at liberty to read it.
+
+And truly, although very long, his letter contained nothing but the
+assurance of everlasting love, and hopes which could not be realized.
+Yet I was wrong to accept the character of Mercury to the two young
+lovers.  To refuse, I had only to recollect that Father Georgi would
+certainly have disapproved of my easy compliance.
+
+The next day I found M. Dalacqua ill in bed; his daughter gave me my
+lesson in his room, and I thought that perhaps she had obtained her
+pardon.  I contrived to give her her lover's letter, which she
+dextrously conveyed to her pocket, but her blushes would have easily
+betrayed her if her father had been looking that way.  After the
+lesson I gave M. Dalacqua notice that I would not come on the morrow,
+as it was the Festival of St. Ursula, one of the eleven thousand
+princesses and martyr-virgins.
+
+In the evening, at the reception of his eminence, which I attended
+regularly, although persons of distinction seldom spoke to me, the
+cardinal beckoned to me.  He was speaking to the beautiful
+Marchioness G----, to whom Gama had indiscreetly confided that I
+thought her the handsomest woman amongst his eminence's guests.
+
+"Her grace," said the Cardinal, "wishes to know whether you are
+making rapid progress in the French language, which she speaks
+admirably."
+
+I answered in Italian that I had learned a great deal, but that I was
+not yet bold enough to speak.
+
+"You should be bold," said the marchioness, "but without showing any
+pretension.  It is the best wav to disarm criticism."
+
+My mind having almost unwittingly lent to the words "You should be
+bold" a meaning which had very likely been far from the idea of the
+marchioness, I turned very red, and the handsome speaker, observing
+it, changed the conversation and dismissed me.
+
+The next morning, at seven o'clock, I was at Donna Cecilia's door.
+The phaeton was there as well as the carriage for two persons, which
+this time was an elegant vis-a-vis, so light and well-hung that Donna
+Cecilia praised it highly when she took her seat.
+
+"I shall have my turn as we return to Rome," said Lucrezia; and I
+bowed to her as if in acceptance of her promise.
+
+Lucrezia thus set suspicion at defiance in order to prevent suspicion
+arising.  My happiness was assured, and I gave way to my natural flow
+of spirits.  I ordered a splendid dinner, and we all set out towards
+the Villa Ludovisi.  As we might have missed each other during our
+ramblings, we agreed to meet again at the inn at one o'clock.  The
+discreet widow took the arm of her son-in-law, Angelique remained
+with her sister, and Lucrezia was my delightful share; Ursula and her
+brother were running about together, and in less than a quarter of an
+hour I had Lucrezia entirely to myself.
+
+"Did you remark," she said, "with what candour I secured for us two
+hours of delightful 'tete-a-tete', and a 'tete-a-tete' in a 'vis-a-
+vis', too!  How clever Love is!"
+
+"Yes, darling, Love has made but one of our two souls.  I adore you,
+and if I have the courage to pass so many days without seeing you it
+is in order to be rewarded by the freedom of one single day like
+this."
+
+"I did not think it possible.  But you have managed it all very well.
+You know too much for your age, dearest."
+
+"A month ago, my beloved, I was but an ignorant child, and you are
+the first woman who has initiated me into the mysteries of love.
+Your departure will kill me, for I could not find another woman like
+you in all Italy."
+
+"What! am I your first love?  Alas! you will never be cured of it.
+Oh! why am I not entirely your own?  You are also the first true love
+of my heart, and you will be the last.  How great will be the
+happiness of my successor!  I should not be jealous of her, but what
+suffering would be mine if I thought that her heart was not like
+mine!"
+
+Lucrezia, seeing my eyes wet with tears, began to give way to her
+own, and, seating ourselves on the grass, our lips drank our tears
+amidst the sweetest kisses.  How sweet is the nectar of the tears
+shed by love, when that nectar is relished amidst the raptures of
+mutual ardour!  I have often tasted them--those delicious tears, and
+I can say knowingly that the ancient physicians were right, and that
+the modern are wrong.
+
+In a moment of calm, seeing the disorder in which we both were, I
+told her that we might be surprised.
+
+"Do not fear, my best beloved," she said, "we are under the
+guardianship of our good angels."
+
+We were resting and reviving our strength by gazing into one
+another's eyes, when suddenly Lucrezia, casting a glance to the
+right, exclaimed,
+
+"Look there!  idol of my heart, have I not told you so?  Yes, the
+angels are watching over us!  Ah!  how he stares at us!  He seems to
+try to give us confidence.  Look at that little demon; admire him!
+He must certainly be your guardian spirit or mine."
+
+I thought she was delirious.
+
+"What are you saying, dearest?  I do not understand you.  What am I
+to admire?"
+
+"Do you not see that beautiful serpent with the blazing skin, which
+lifts its head and seems to worship us?"
+
+I looked in the direction she indicated, and saw a serpent with
+changeable colours about three feet in length, which did seem to be
+looking at us.  I was not particularly pleased at the sight, but I
+could not show myself less courageous than she was.
+
+"What!" said I, "are you not afraid?"
+
+"I tell you, again, that the sight is delightful to me, and I feel
+certain that it is a spirit with nothing but the shape, or rather the
+appearance, of a serpent."
+
+"And if the spirit came gliding along the grass and hissed at you?"
+
+"I would hold you tighter against my bosom, and set him at defiance.
+In your arms Lucrezia is safe.  Look!  the spirit is going away.
+Quick, quick!  He is warning us of the approach of some profane
+person, and tells us to seek some other retreat to renew our
+pleasures.  Let us go."
+
+We rose and slowly advanced towards Donna Cecilia and the advocate,
+who were just emerging from a neighbouring alley.  Without avoiding
+them, and without hurrying, just as if to meet one another was a very
+natural occurrence, I enquired of Donna Cecilia whether her daughter
+had any fear of serpents.
+
+"In spite of all her strength of mind," she answered, "she is
+dreadfully afraid of thunder, and she will scream with terror at the
+sight of the smallest snake.  There are some here, but she need not
+be frightened, for they are not venomous"
+
+I was speechless with astonishment, for I discovered that I had just
+witnessed a wonderful love miracle.  At that moment the children came
+up, and, without ceremony, we again parted company.
+
+"Tell me, wonderful being, bewitching woman, what would you have done
+if, instead of your pretty serpent, you had seen your husband and
+your mother?"
+
+"Nothing.  Do you not know that, in moments of such rapture, lovers
+see and feel nothing but love?  Do you doubt having possessed me
+wholly, entirely?"
+
+Lucrezia, in speaking thus, was not composing a poetical ode; she was
+not feigning fictitious sentiments; her looks, the sound of her
+voice, were truth itself!
+
+"Are you certain," I enquired, "that we are not suspected?"
+
+"My husband does not believe us to be in love with each other, or
+else he does not mind such trifling pleasures as youth is generally
+wont to indulge in.  My mother is a clever woman, and perhaps she
+suspects the truth, but she is aware that it is no longer any concern
+of hers.  As to my sister, she must know everything, for she cannot
+have forgotten the broken-down bed; but she is prudent, and besides,
+she has taken it into her head to pity me.  She has no conception of
+the nature of my feelings towards you.  If I had not met you, my
+beloved, I should probably have gone through life without realizing
+such feelings myself; for what I feel for my husband.... well, I have
+for him the obedience which my position as a wife imposes upon me."
+
+"And yet he is most happy, and I envy him!  He can clasp in his arms
+all your lovely person whenever he likes!  There is no hateful veil
+to hide any of your charms from his gaze."
+
+"Oh!  where art thou, my dear serpent?  Come to us, come and protect
+us against the surprise of the uninitiated, and this very instant I
+fulfil all the wishes of him I adore!"
+
+We passed the morning in repeating that we loved each other, and in
+exchanging over and over again substantial proofs of our mutual
+passion.
+
+We had a delicious dinner, during which I was all attention for the
+amiable Donna Cecilia.  My pretty tortoise-shell box, filled with
+excellent snuff, went more than once round the table.  As it happened
+to be in the hands of Lucrezia who was sitting on my left, her
+husband told her that, if I had no objection, she might give me her
+ring and keep the snuff-box in exchange.  Thinking that the ring was
+not of as much value as my box, I immediately accepted, but I found
+the ring of greater value.  Lucrezia would not, however, listen to
+anything on that subject.  She put the box in her pocket, and thus
+compelled me to keep her ring.
+
+Dessert was nearly over, the conversation was very animated, when
+suddenly the intended husband of Angelique claimed our attention for
+the reading of a sonnet which he had composed and dedicated to me.  I
+thanked him, and placing the sonnet in my pocket promised to write
+one for him.  This was not, however, what he wished; he expected
+that, stimulated by emulation, I would call for paper and pen, and
+sacrifice to Apollo hours which it was much more to my taste to
+employ in worshipping another god whom his cold nature knew only by
+name.  We drank coffee, I paid the bill, and we went about rambling
+through the labyrinthine alleys of the Villa Aldobrandini.
+
+What sweet recollections that villa has left in my memory!  It seemed
+as if I saw my divine Lucrezia for the first time.  Our looks were
+full of ardent love, our hearts were beating in concert with the most
+tender impatience, and a natural instinct was leading us towards a
+solitary asylum which the hand of Love seemed to have prepared on
+purpose for the mysteries of its secret worship.  There, in the
+middle of a long avenue, and under a canopy of thick foliage, we
+found a wide sofa made of grass, and sheltered by a deep thicket;
+from that place our eyes could range over an immense plain, and view
+the avenue to such a distance right and left that we were perfectly
+secure against any surprise.  We did not require to exchange one word
+at the sight of this beautiful temple so favourable to our love; our
+hearts spoke the same language.
+
+Without a word being spoken, our ready hands soon managed to get rid
+of all obstacles, and to expose in a state of nature all the beauties
+which are generally veiled by troublesome wearing apparel.  Two whole
+hours were devoted to the most delightful, loving ecstasies.  At last
+we exclaimed together in mutual ecstasy, "O Love, we thank thee!"
+
+We slowly retraced our steps towards the carriages, revelling in our
+intense happiness.  Lucrezia informed me that Angelique's suitor was
+wealthy, that he owned a splendid villa at Tivoli, and that most
+likely he would invite us all to dine and pass the night there.
+"I pray the god of love," she added, "to grant us a night as
+beautiful as this day has been."  Then, looking sad, she said, "But
+alas!  the ecclesiastical lawsuit which has brought my husband to
+Rome is progressing so favourably that I am mortally afraid he will
+obtain judgment all too soon."
+
+The journey back to the city lasted two hours; we were alone in my
+vis-a-vis and we overtaxed nature, exacting more than it can possibly
+give.  As we were getting near Rome we were compelled to let the
+curtain fall before the denouement of the drama which we had
+performed to the complete satisfaction of the actors.
+
+I returned home rather fatigued, but the sound sleep which was so
+natural at my age restored my full vigour, and in the morning I took
+my French lesson at the usual hour.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+Benedict XIV--Excursion to Tivoli--Departure of Lucrezia--The
+Marchioness G.--Barbara Dalacqua--My Misfortunes--I Leave Rome
+
+
+M. Dalacqua being very ill, his daughter Barbara gave me my lesson.
+When it was over, she seized an opportunity of slipping a letter into
+my pocket, and immediately disappeared, so that I had no chance of
+refusing.  The letter was addressed to me, and expressed feelings of
+the warmest gratitude.  She only desired me to inform her lover that
+her father had spoken to her again, and that most likely he would
+engage a new servant as soon as he had recovered from his illness,
+and she concluded her letter by assuring me that she never would
+implicate me in this business.
+
+Her father was compelled to keep his bed for a fortnight, and Barbara
+continued to give me my lesson every day.  I felt for her an interest
+which, from me towards a young and pretty girl, was, indeed, quite a
+new sentiment.  It was a feeling of pity, and I was proud of being
+able to help and comfort her.  Her eyes never rested upon mine, her
+hand never met mine, I never saw in her toilet the slightest wish to
+please me.  She was very pretty, and I knew she had a tender, loving
+nature; but nothing interfered with the respect and the regard which
+I was bound in honour and in good faith to feel towards her, and I
+was proud to remark that she never thought me capable of taking
+advantage of her weakness or of her position.
+
+When the father had recovered he dismissed his servant and engaged
+another.  Barbara entreated me to inform her friend of the
+circumstance, and likewise of her hope to gain the new servant to
+their interests, at least sufficiently to secure the possibility of
+carrying on some correspondence.  I promised to do so, and as a mark
+of her gratitude she took my hand to carry it to her lips, but
+quickly withdrawing it I tried to kiss her; she turned her face away,
+blushing deeply.  I was much pleased with her modesty.
+
+Barbara having succeeded in gaining the new servant over, I had
+nothing more to do with the intrigue, and I was very glad of it, for
+I knew my interference might have brought evil on my own head.
+Unfortunately, it was already too late.
+
+I seldom visited Don Gaspar; the study of the French language took up
+all my mornings, and it was only in the morning that I could see him;
+but I called every evening upon Father Georgi, and, although I went
+to him only as one of his 'proteges', it gave me some reputation.  I
+seldom spoke before his guests, yet I never felt weary, for in his
+circle his friends would criticise without slandering, discuss
+politics without stubbornness, literature without passion, and I
+profited by all.  After my visit to the sagacious monk, I used to
+attend the assembly of the cardinal, my master, as a matter of duty.
+Almost every evening, when she happened to see me at her card-table,
+the beautiful marchioness would address to me a few gracious words in
+French, and I always answered in Italian, not caring to make her
+laugh before so many persons.  My feelings for her were of a singular
+kind.  I must leave them to the analysis of the reader.  I thought
+that woman charming, yet I avoided her; it was not because I was
+afraid of falling in love with her; I loved Lucrezia, and I firmly
+believed that such an affection was a shield against any other
+attachment, but it was because I feared that she might love me or
+have a passing fancy for me.  Was it self-conceit or modesty, vice or
+virtue?  Perhaps neither one nor the other.
+
+One evening she desired the Abbe Gama to call me to her; she was
+standing near the cardinal, my patron, and the moment I approached
+her she caused me a strange feeling of surprise by asking me in
+Italian a question which I was far from anticipating:
+
+"How did you like Frascati?"
+
+"Very much, madam; I have never seen such a beautiful place."
+
+"But your company was still more beautiful, and your vis-a-vis was
+very smart."
+
+I only bowed low to the marchioness, and a moment after Cardinal
+Acquaviva said to me, kindly,
+
+"You are astonished at your adventure being known?"
+
+"No, my lord; but I am surprised that people should talk of it.  I
+could not have believed Rome to be so much like a small village."
+
+"The longer you live in Rome," said his eminence, "the more you will
+find it so.  You have not yet presented yourself to kiss the foot of
+our Holy Father?"
+
+"Not yet, my lord."
+
+"Then you must do so."
+
+I bowed in compliance to his wishes.
+
+The Abbe Gama told me to present myself to the Pope on the morrow,
+and he added,
+
+"Of course you have already shewn yourself in the Marchioness G.'s
+palace?"
+
+"No, I have never been there."
+
+"You astonish me; but she often speaks to you!"
+
+"I have no objection to go with you."
+
+"I never visit at her palace."
+
+"Yet she speaks to you likewise."
+
+"Yes, but....  You do not know Rome; go alone; believe me, you ought
+to go."
+
+"Will she receive me?"
+
+"You are joking, I suppose.  Of course it is out of the question for
+you to be announced.  You will call when the doors are wide open to
+everybody.  You will meet there all those who pay homage to her."
+
+"Will she see me?"
+
+"No doubt of it."
+
+On the following day I proceeded to Monte-Cavallo, and I was at once
+led into the room where the Pope was alone.  I threw myself on my
+knees and kissed the holy cross on his most holy slipper.  The Pope
+enquiring who I was, I told him, and he answered that he knew me,
+congratulating me upon my being in the service of so eminent a
+cardinal.  He asked me how I had succeeded in gaining the cardinal's
+favour; I answered with a faithful recital of my adventures from my
+arrival at Martorano.  He laughed heartily at all I said respecting
+the poor and worthy bishop, and remarked that, instead of trying to
+address him in Tuscan, I could speak in the Venetian dialect, as he
+was himself speaking to me in the dialect of Bologna.  I felt quite
+at my ease with him, and I told him so much news and amused him so
+well that the Holy Father kindly said that he would be glad to see me
+whenever I presented myself at Monte-Cavallo.  I begged his
+permission to read all forbidden books, and he granted it with his
+blessing, saying that I should have the permission in writing, but he
+forgot it.
+
+Benedict XIV, was a learned man, very amiable, and fond of a joke.
+I saw him for the second time at the Villa Medicis.  He called me to
+him, and continued his walk, speaking of trifling things.  He was
+then accompanied by Cardinal Albani and the ambassador from Venice.
+A man of modest appearance approached His Holiness, who asked what he
+required; the man said a few words in a low voice, and, after
+listening to him, the Pope answered, "You are right, place your trust
+in God;" and he gave him his blessing.  The poor fellow went away
+very dejected, and the Holy Father continued his walk.
+
+"This man," I said, "most Holy Father, has not been pleased with the
+answer of Your Holiness."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Because most likely he had already addressed himself to God before
+he ventured to apply to you; and when Your Holiness sends him to God
+again, he finds himself sent back, as the proverb says, from Herod to
+Pilate."
+
+The Pope, as well as his two companions, laughed heartily; but I kept
+a serious countenance.
+
+"I cannot," continued the Pope, "do any good without God's
+assistance."
+
+"Very true, Holy Father; but the man is aware that you are God's
+prime minister, and it is easy to imagine his trouble now that the
+minister sends him again to the master.  His only resource is to give
+money to the beggars of Rome, who for one 'bajocco' will pray for
+him.  They boast of their influence before the throne of the
+Almighty, but as I have faith only in your credit, I entreat Your
+Holiness to deliver me of the heat which inflames my eyes by granting
+me permission to eat meat."
+
+"Eat meat, my son."
+
+"Holy Father, give me your blessing."
+
+He blessed me, adding that I was not dispensed from fasting.
+
+That very evening, at the cardinal's assembly, I found that the news
+of my dialogue with the Pope was already known.  Everybody was
+anxious to speak to me.  I felt flattered, but I was much more
+delighted at the joy which Cardinal Acquaviva tried in vain to
+conceal.
+
+As I wished not to neglect Gama's advice, I presented myself at the
+mansion of the beautiful marchioness at the hour at which everyone
+had free access to her ladyship.  I saw her, I saw the cardinal and a
+great many abbes; but I might have supposed myself invisible, for no
+one honoured me with a look, and no one spoke to me.  I left after
+having performed for half an hour the character of a mute.  Five or
+six days afterwards, the marchioness told me graciously that she had
+caught a sight of me in her reception-rooms.
+
+"I was there, it is true, madam; but I had no idea that I had had the
+honour to be seen by your ladyship."
+
+"Oh!  I see everybody.  They tell me that you have wit."
+
+"If it is not a mistake on the part of your informants, your ladyship
+gives me very good news."
+
+"Oh! they are excellent judges."
+
+"Then, madam, those persons must have honoured me with their
+conversation; otherwise, it is not likely that they would have been
+able to express such an opinion."
+
+"No doubt; but let me see you often at my receptions."
+
+Our conversation had been overheard by those who were around; his
+excellency the cardinal told me that, when the marchioness addressed
+herself particularly to me in French, my duty was to answer her in
+the same language, good or bad.  The cunning politician Gama took me
+apart, and remarked that my repartees were too smart, too cutting,
+and that, after a time, I would be sure to displease.  I had made
+considerable progress in French; I had given up my lessons, and
+practice was all I required.  I was then in the habit of calling
+sometimes upon Lucrezia in the morning, and of visiting in the
+evening Father Georgi, who was acquainted with the excursion to
+Frascati, and had not expressed any dissatisfaction.
+
+Two days after the sort of command laid upon me by the marchioness, I
+presented myself at her reception.  As soon as she saw me, she
+favoured me with a smile which I acknowledged by a deep reverence;
+that was all.  In a quarter of an hour afterwards I left the mansion.
+The marchioness was beautiful, but she was powerful, and I could not
+make up my mind to crawl at the feet of power, and, on that head, I
+felt disgusted with the manners of the Romans.
+
+One morning towards the end of November the advocate, accompanied by
+Angelique's intended, called on me.  The latter gave me a pressing
+invitation to spend twenty-four hours at Tivoli with the friends I
+had entertained at Frascati.  I accepted with great pleasure, for I
+had found no opportunity of being alone with Lucrezia since the
+Festival of St. Ursula.  I promised to be at Donna Cecilia's house at
+day-break with the same 'is-a-vis'.  It was necessary to start very
+early, because Tivoli is sixteen miles from Rome, and has so many
+objects of interest that it requires many hours to see them all.  As
+I had to sleep out that night, I craved permission to do so from the
+cardinal himself, who, hearing with whom I was going, told me that I
+was quite right not to lose such an opportunity of visiting that
+splendid place in such good society.
+
+The first dawn of day found me with my 'vis-a-vis' and four at the
+door of Donna Cecilia, who came with me as before.  The charming
+widow, notwithstanding her strict morality, was delighted at my love
+for her daughter.  The family rode in a large phaeton hired by Don
+Francisco, which gave room for six persons.
+
+At half-past seven in the morning we made a halt at a small place
+where had been prepared, by Don Franciso's orders, an excellent
+breakfast, which was intended to replace the dinner, and we all made
+a hearty meal, as we were not likely to find time for anything but
+supper at Tivoli.  I wore on my finger the beautiful ring which
+Lucrezia had given me.  At the back of the ring I had had a piece of
+enamel placed, on it was delineated a saduceus, with one serpent
+between the letters Alpha and Omega.  This ring was the subject of
+conversation during breakfast, and Don Francisco, as well as the
+advocate, exerted himself in vain to guess the meaning of the
+hieroglyphs; much to the amusement of Lucrezia, who understood the
+mysterious secret so well.  We continued our road, and reached Tivoli
+at ten o'clock.
+
+We began by visiting Don Francisco's villa.  It was a beautiful
+little house, and we spent the following six hours in examining
+together the antiquities of Tivoli.  Lucrezia having occasion to
+whisper a few words to Don Francisco, I seized the opportunity of
+telling Angelique that after her marriage I should be happy to spend
+a few days of the fine season with her.
+
+"Sir," she answered, "I give you fair notice that the moment I become
+mistress in this house you will be the very first person to be
+excluded."
+
+"I feel greatly obliged to you, signora, for your timely notice."
+
+But the most amusing part of the affair was that I construed
+Angelique's wanton insult into a declaration of love.  I was
+astounded.  Lucrezia, remarking the state I was in, touched my arm,
+enquiring what ailed me.  I told her, and she said at once,
+
+"My darling, my happiness cannot last long; the cruel moment of our
+separation is drawing near.  When I have gone, pray undertake the
+task of compelling her to acknowledge her error.  Angelique pities
+me, be sure to avenge me."
+
+I have forgotten to mention that at Don Francisco's villa I happened
+to praise a very pretty room opening upon the orange-house, and the
+amiable host, having heard me, came obligingly to me, and said that
+it should be my room that night.  Lucrezia feigned not to hear, but
+it was to her Ariadne's clue, for, as we were to remain altogether
+during our visit to the beauties of Tivoli, we had no chance of a
+tete-a-tete through the day.
+
+I have said that we devoted six hours to an examination of the
+antiquities of Tivoli, but I am bound to confess here that I saw, for
+my part, very little of them, and it was only twenty-eight years
+later that I made a thorough acquaintance with the beautiful spot.
+
+We returned to the villa towards evening, fatigued and very hungry,
+but an hour's rest before supper--a repast which lasted two hours,
+the most delicious dishes, the most exquisite wines, and particularly
+the excellent wine of Tivoli--restored us so well that everybody
+wanted nothing more than a good bed and the freedom to enjoy the bed
+according to his own taste.
+
+As everybody objected to sleep alone, Lucrezia said that she would
+sleep with Angelique in one of the rooms leading to the orange-house,
+and proposed that her husband should share a room with the young
+abbe, his brother-in-law, and that Donna Cecilia should take her
+youngest daughter with her.
+
+The arrangement met with general approbation, and Don Francisco,
+taking a candle, escorted me to my pretty little room adjoining the
+one in which the two sisters were to sleep, and, after shewing me how
+I could lock myself in, he wished me good night and left me alone.
+
+Angelique had no idea that I was her near neighbour, but Lucrezia and
+I, without exchanging a single word on the subject, had perfectly
+understood each other.
+
+I watched through the key-hole and saw the two sisters come into
+their room, preceded by the polite Don Francisco, who carried a
+taper, and, after lighting a night-lamp, bade them good night and
+retired.  Then my two beauties, their door once locked, sat down on
+the sofa and completed their night toilet, which, in that fortunate
+climate, is similar to the costume of our first mother.  Lucrezia,
+knowing that I was waiting to come in, told her sister to lie down on
+the side towards the window, and the virgin, having no idea that she
+was exposing her most secret beauties to my profane eyes, crossed the
+room in a state of complete nakedness.  Lucrezia put out the lamp and
+lay down near her innocent sister.
+
+Happy moments which I can no longer enjoy, but the sweet remembrance
+of which death alone can make me lose!  I believe I never undressed
+myself as quickly as I did that evening.
+
+I open the door and fall into the arms of my Lucrezia, who says to
+her sister, "It is my angel, my love; never mind him, and go to
+sleep."
+
+What a delightful picture I could offer to my readers if it were
+possible for me to paint voluptuousnes in its most enchanting
+colours!  What ecstasies of love from the very onset!  What delicious
+raptures succeed each other until the sweetest fatigue made us give
+way to the soothing influence of Morpheus!
+
+The first rays of the sun, piercing through the crevices of the
+shutters, wake us out of our refreshing slumbers, and like two
+valorous knights who have ceased fighting only to renew the contest
+with increased ardour, we lose no time in giving ourselves up to all
+the intensity of the flame which consumes us.
+
+"Oh, my beloved Lucrezia! how supremely happy I am!  But, my darling,
+mind your sister; she might turn round and see us."
+
+"Fear nothing, my life; my sister is kind, she loves me, she pities
+me; do you not love me, my dear Angelique?  Oh! turn round, see how
+happy your sister is, and know what felicity awaits you when you own
+the sway of love."
+
+Angelique, a young maiden of seventeen summers, who must have
+suffered the torments of Tantalus during the night, and who only
+wishes for a pretext to shew that she has forgiven her sister, turns
+round, and covering her sister with kisses, confesses that she has
+not closed her eyes through the night.
+
+"Then forgive likewise, darling Angelique, forgive him who loves me,
+and whom I adore," says Lucrezia.
+
+Unfathomable power of the god who conquers all human beings!
+
+"Angelique hates me," I say, "I dare not...."
+
+"No, I do not hate you!" answers the charming girl.
+
+"Kiss her, dearest," says Lucrezia, pushing me towards her sister,
+and pleased to see her in my arms motionless and languid.
+
+But sentiment, still more than love, forbids me to deprive Lucrezia
+of the proof of my gratitude, and I turn to her with all the rapture
+of a beginner, feeling that my ardour is increased by Angelique's
+ecstasy, as for the first time she witnesses the amorous contest.
+Lucrezia, dying of enjoyment, entreats me to stop, but, as I do not
+listen to her prayer, she tricks me, and the sweet Angelique makes
+her first sacrifice to the mother of love.  It is thus, very likely,
+that when the gods inhabited this earth, the voluptuous Arcadia, in
+love with the soft and pleasing breath of Zephyrus, one day opened
+her arms, and was fecundated.
+
+Lucrezia was astonished and delighted, and covered us both with
+kisses.  Angelique, as happy as her sister, expired deliciously in my
+arms for the third time, and she seconded me with so much loving
+ardour, that it seemed to me I was tasting happiness for the first
+time.
+
+Phoebus had left the nuptial couch, and his rays were already
+diffusing light over the universe; and that light, reaching us
+through the closed shutters, gave me warning to quit the place; we
+exchanged the most loving adieus, I left my two divinities and
+retired to my own room.  A few minutes afterwards, the cheerful voice
+of the advocate was heard in the chamber of the sisters; he was
+reproaching them for sleeping too long!  Then he knocked at my door,
+threatening to bring the ladies to me, and went away, saying that he
+would send me the hair-dresser.
+
+After many ablutions and a careful toilet, I thought I could skew my
+face, and I presented myself coolly in the drawing-room.  The two
+sisters were there with the other members of our society, and I was
+delighted with their rosy cheeks.  Lucrezia was frank and gay, and
+beamed with happiness; Angelique, as fresh as the morning dew, was
+more radiant than usual, but fidgety, and carefully avoided looking
+me in the face.  I saw that my useless attempts to catch her eyes
+made her smile, and I remarked to her mother, rather mischievously,
+that it was a pity Angelique used paint for her face.  She was duped
+by this stratagem, and compelled me to pass a handkerchief over her
+face, and was then obliged to look at me.  I offered her my
+apologies, and Don Francisco appeared highly pleased that the
+complexion of his intended had met with such triumph.
+
+After breakfast we took a walk through the garden, and, finding
+myself alone with Lucrezia, I expostulated tenderly with her for
+having almost thrown her sister in my arms.
+
+"Do not reproach me," she said, "when I deserve praise.  I have
+brought light into the darkness of my charming sister's soul; I have
+initiated her in the sweetest of mysteries, and now, instead of
+pitying me, she must envy me.  Far from having hatred for you, she
+must love you dearly, and as I am so unhappy as to have to part from
+you very soon, my beloved, I leave her to you; she will replace me."
+
+"Ah, Lucrezia!  how can I love her?"
+
+"Is she not a charming girl?"
+
+"No doubt of it; but my adoration for you is a shield against any
+other love.  Besides Don Francisco must, of course, entirely
+monopolize her, and I do not wish to cause coolness between them, or
+to ruin the peace of their home.  I am certain your sister is not
+like you, and I would bet that, even now, she upbraids herself for
+having given way to the ardour of her temperament:"
+
+"Most likely; but, dearest, I am sorry to say my husband expects to
+obtain judgment in the course of this week, and then the short
+instants of happiness will for ever be lost to me."
+
+This was sad news indeed, and to cause a diversion at the breakfast-
+table I took much notice of the generous Don Francisco, and promised
+to compose a nuptial song for his wedding-day, which had been fixed
+for the early part of January.
+
+We returned to Rome, and for the three hours that she was with me in
+my vis-a-vis, Lucrezia had no reason to think that my ardour was at
+all abated.  But when we reached the city I was rather fatigued, and
+proceeded at once to the palace.
+
+Lucrezia had guessed rightly; her husband obtained his judgment three
+or four days afterwards, and called upon me to announce their
+departure for the day after the morrow; he expressed his warm
+friendship for me, and by his invitation I spent the two last
+evenings with Lucrezia, but we were always surrounded by the family.
+The day of her departure, wishing to cause her an agreeable surprise,
+I left Rome before them and waited for them at the place where I
+thought they would put up for the night, but the advocate, having
+been detained by several engagements, was detained in Rome, and they
+only reached the place next day for dinner.  We dined together, we
+exchanged a sad, painful farewell, and they continued their journey
+while I returned to Rome.
+
+After the departure of this charming woman, I found myself in sort of
+solitude very natural to a young man whose heart is not full of hope.
+
+I passed whole days in my room, making extracts from the French
+letters written by the cardinal, and his eminence was kind enough to
+tell me that my extracts were judiciously made, but that he insisted
+upon my not working so hard.  The beautiful marchioness was present
+when he paid me that compliment.
+
+Since my second visit to her, I had not presented myself at her
+house; she was consequently rather cool to me, and, glad of an
+opportunity of making me feel her displeasure, she remarked to his
+eminence that very likely work was a consolation to me in the great
+void caused by the departure of Donna Lucrezia.
+
+"I candidly confess, madam, that I have felt her loss deeply.  She
+was kind and generous; above all, she was indulgent when I did not
+call often upon her.  My friendship for her was innocent."
+
+"I have no doubt of it, although your ode was the work of a poet
+deeply in love."
+
+"Oh!" said the kindly cardinal, "a poet cannot possibly write without
+professing to be in love."
+
+"But," replied the marchioness, "if the poet is really in love, he
+has no need of professing a feeling which he possesses."
+
+As she was speaking, the marchioness drew out of her pocket a paper
+which she offered to his eminence.
+
+"This is the ode," she said, "it does great honour to the poet, for
+it is admitted to be a masterpiece by all the literati in Rome, and
+Donna Lucrezia knows it by heart."
+
+The cardinal read it over and returned it, smiling, and remarking
+that, as he had no taste for Italian poetry, she must give herself
+the pleasure of translating it into French rhyme if she wished him to
+admire it.
+
+"I only write French prose," answered the marchioness, "and a prose
+translation destroys half the beauty of poetry.  I am satisfied with
+writing occasionally a little Italian poetry without any pretension
+to poetical fame"
+
+Those words were accompanied by a very significant glance in my
+direction.
+
+"I should consider myself fortunate, madam, if I could obtain the
+happiness of admiring some of your poetry."
+
+"Here is a sonnet of her ladyship's," said Cardinal S. C.
+
+I took it respectfully, and I prepared to read it, but the amiable
+marchioness told me to put it in my pocket and return it to the
+cardinal the next day, although she did not think the sonnet worth so
+much trouble.  "If you should happen to go out in the morning," said
+Cardinal S. C., "you could bring it back, and dine with me." Cardinal
+Aquaviva immediately answered for me: "He will be sure to go out
+purposely."
+
+With a deep reverence, which expressed my thanks, I left the room
+quietly and returned to my apartment, very impatient to read the
+sonnet.  Yet, before satisfying my wish, I could not help making some
+reflections on the situation.  I began to think myself somebody since
+the gigantic stride I had made this evening at the cardinal's
+assembly.  The Marchioness de G. had shewn in the most open way the
+interest she felt in me, and, under cover of her grandeur, had not
+hesitated to compromise herself publicly by the most flattering
+advances.  But who would have thought of disapproving?  A young abbe
+like me, without any importance whatever, who could scarcely pretend
+to her high protection!  True, but she was precisely the woman to
+grant it to those who, feeling themselves unworthy of it, dared not
+shew any pretensions to her patronage.  On that head, my modesty must
+be evident to everyone, and the marchioness would certainly have
+insulted me had she supposed me capable of sufficient vanity to fancy
+that she felt the slightest inclination for me.  No, such a piece of
+self-conceit was not in accordance with my nature.  Her cardinal
+himself had invited me to dinner.  Would he have done so if he had
+admitted the possibility of the beautiful marchioness feeling
+anything for me?  Of course not, and he gave me an invitation to dine
+with him only because he had understood, from the very words of the
+lady, that I was just the sort of person with whom they could
+converse for a few hours without any risk; to be sure, without any
+risk whatever.  Oh, Master Casanova! do you really think so?
+
+Well, why should I put on a mask before my readers?  They may think
+me conceited if they please, but the fact of the matter is that I
+felt sure of having made a conquest of the marchioness.  I
+congratulated myself because she had taken the first, most difficult,
+and most important step.  Had she not done so, I should never have
+dared-to lay siege to her even in the most approved fashion; I should
+never have even ventured to dream of winning her.  It was only this
+evening that I thought she might replace Lucrezia.  She was
+beautiful, young, full of wit and talent; she was fond of literary
+pursuits, and very powerful in Rome; what more was necessary?  Yet I
+thought it would be good policy to appear ignorant of her inclination
+for me, and to let her suppose from the very next day that I was in
+love with her, but that my love appeared to me hopeless.  I knew that
+such a plan was infallible, because it saved her dignity.  It seemed
+to me that Father Georgi himself would be compelled to approve such
+an undertaking, and I had remarked with great satisfaction that
+Cardinal Acquaviva had expressed his delight at Cardinal S. C.'s
+invitation--an honour which he had never yet bestowed on me himself.
+This affair might have very important results for me.
+
+I read the marchioness's sonnet, and found it easy, flowing, and well
+written.  It was composed in praise of the King of Prussia, who had
+just conquered Silesia by a masterly stroke.  As I was copying it,
+the idea struck me to personify Silesia, and to make her, in answer
+to the sonnet, bewail that Love (supposed to be the author of the
+sonnet of the marchioness) could applaud the man who had conquered
+her, when that conqueror was the sworn enemy of Love.
+
+It is impossible for a man accustomed to write poetry to abstain when
+a happy subject smiles upon his delighted imagination.  If he
+attempted to smother the poetical flame running through his veins it
+would consume him.  I composed my sonnet, keeping the same rhymes as
+in the original, and, well pleased with my muse, I went to bed.
+
+The next morning the Abbe Gama came in just as I had finished
+recopying my sonnet, and said he would breakfast with me.  He
+complimented me upon the honour conferred on me by the invitation of
+Cardinal S. C.
+
+"But be prudent," he added, "for his eminence has the reputation of
+being jealous:"
+
+I thanked him for his friendly advice, taking care to assure him that
+I had nothing to fear, because I did not feel the slightest
+inclination for the handsome marchioness.
+
+Cardinal S. C.  received me with great kindness mingled with dignity,
+to make me realize the importance of the favour he was bestowing upon
+me.
+
+"What do you think," he enquired, "of the sonnet?"
+
+"Monsignor, it is perfectly written, and, what is more, it is a
+charming composition.  Allow me to return it to you with my thanks."
+
+"She has much talent.  I wish to shew you ten stanzas of her
+composition, my dear abbe, but you must promise to be very discreet
+about it."
+
+"Your eminence may rely on me."
+
+He opened his bureau and brought forth the stanzas of which he was
+the subject.  I read them, found them well written, but devoid of
+enthusiasm; they were the work of a poet, and expressed love in the
+words of passion, but were not pervaded by that peculiar feeling by
+which true love is so easily discovered.  The worthy cardinal was
+doubtless guilty of a very great indiscretion, but self-love is the
+cause of so many injudicious steps!  I asked his eminence whether he
+had answered the stanzas.
+
+"No," he replied, "I have not; but would you feel disposed to lend me
+your poetical pen, always under the seal of secrecy?"
+
+"As to secrecy, monsignor, I promise it faithfully; but I am afraid
+the marchioness will remark the difference between your style and
+mine."
+
+"She has nothing of my composition," said the cardinal; "I do not
+think she supposes me a fine poet, and for that reason your stanzas
+must be written in such a manner that she will not esteem them above
+my abilities."
+
+"I will write them with pleasure, monsignor, and your eminence can
+form an opinion; if they do not seem good enough to be worthy of you,
+they need not be given to the marchioness."
+
+"That is well said.  Will you write them at once?"
+
+"What! now, monsignor?  It is not like prose."
+
+"Well, well!  try to let me have them to-morrow."
+
+We dined alone, and his eminence complimented me upon my excellent
+appetite, which he remarked was as good as his own; but I was
+beginning to understand my eccentric host, and, to flatter him, I
+answered that he praised me more than I deserved, and that my
+appetite was inferior to his.  The singular compliment delighted him,
+and I saw all the use I could make of his eminence.
+
+Towards the end of the dinner, as we were conversing, the marchioness
+made her appearance, and, as a matter of course, without being
+announced.  Her looks threw me into raptures; I thought her a perfect
+beauty.  She did not give the cardinal time to meet her, but sat down
+near him, while I remained standing, according to etiquette.
+
+Without appearing to notice me, the marchioness ran wittily over
+various topics until coffee was brought in.  Then, addressing herself
+to me, she told me to sit down, just as if she was bestowing charity
+upon me.
+
+"By-the-by, abbe," she said, a minute after, "have you read my
+sonnet?"
+
+"Yes, madam, and I have had the honour to return it to his eminence.
+I have found it so perfect that I am certain it must have cost you a
+great deal of time."
+
+"Time?" exclaimed the cardinal; "Oh! you do not know the
+marchioness."
+
+"Monsignor," I replied, "nothing can be done well without time, and
+that is why I have not dared to chew to your eminence an answer to
+the sonnet which I have written in half an hour."
+
+"Let us see it, abbe," said the marchioness; "I want to read it."
+
+"Answer of Silesia to Love."  This title brought the most fascinating
+blushes on her countenance.  "But Love is not mentioned in the
+sonnet," exclaimed the cardinal.  "Wait," said the marchioness, "we
+must respect the idea of the poet:"
+
+She read the sonnet over and over, and thought that the reproaches
+addressed by Silesia to Love were very just.  She explained my idea
+to the cardinal, making him understand why Silesia was offended at
+having been conquered by the King of Prussia.
+
+"Ah, I see, I see!" exclaimed the cardinal, full of joy; "Silesia is
+a woman....  and the King of Prussia....  Oh!  oh!  that is really a
+fine idea!"  And the good cardinal laughed heartily for more than a
+quarter of an hour.  "I must copy that sonnet," he added, "indeed I
+must have it."
+
+"The abbe," said the obliging marchioness, "will save you the
+trouble: I will dictate it to him."
+
+I prepared to write, but his eminence suddenly exclaimed, "My dear
+marchioness, this is wonderful; he has kept the same rhymes as in
+your own sonnet: did you observe it?"
+
+The beautiful marchioness gave me then a look of such expression that
+she completed her conquest.  I understood that she wanted me to know
+the cardinal as well as she knew him; it was a kind of partnership in
+which I was quite ready to play my part.
+
+As soon as I had written the sonnet under the charming woman's
+dictation, I took my leave, but not before the cardinal had told me
+that he expected me to dinner the next day.
+
+I had plenty of work before me, for the ten stanzas I had to compose
+were of the most singular character, and I lost no time in shutting
+myself up in my room to think of them.  I had to keep my balance
+between two points of equal difficulty, and I felt that great care
+was indispensable.  I had to place the marchioness in such a position
+that she could pretend to believe the cardinal the author of the
+stanzas, and, at the same time, compel her to find out that I had
+written them, and that I was aware of her knowing it.  It was
+necessary to speak so carefully that not one expression should
+breathe even the faintest hope on my part, and yet to make my stanzas
+blaze with the ardent fire of my love under the thin veil of poetry.
+As for the cardinal, I knew well enough that the better the stanzas
+were written, the more disposed he would be to sign them.  All I
+wanted was clearness, so difficult to obtain in poetry, while a
+little doubtful darkness would have been accounted sublime by my new
+Midas.  But, although I wanted to please him, the cardinal was only a
+secondary consideration, and the handsome marchioness the principal
+object.
+
+As the marchioness in her verses had made a pompous enumeration of
+every physical and moral quality of his eminence, it was of course
+natural that he should return the compliment, and here my task was
+easy.  At last having mastered my subject well, I began my work, and
+giving full career to my imagination and to my feelings I composed
+the ten stanzas, and gave the finishing stroke with these two
+beautiful lines from Ariosto:
+
+          Le angelicche bellezze nate al cielo
+          Non si ponno celar sotto alcum velo.
+
+Rather pleased with my production, I presented it the next day to the
+cardinal, modestly saying that I doubted whether he would accept the
+authorship of so ordinary a composition.  He read the stanzas twice
+over without taste or expression, and said at last that they were
+indeed not much, but exactly what he wanted.  He thanked me
+particularly for the two lines from Ariosto, saying that they would
+assist in throwing the authorship upon himself, as they would prove
+to the lady for whom they were intended that he had not been able to
+write them without borrowing.  And, as to offer me some consolation,
+he told me that, in recopying the lines, he would take care to make a
+few mistakes in the rhythm to complete the illusion.
+
+We dined earlier than the day before, and I withdrew immediately
+after dinner so as to give him leisure to make a copy of the stanzas
+before the arrival of the lady.
+
+The next evening I met the marchioness at the entrance of the palace,
+and offered her my arm to come out of her carriage.  The instant she
+alighted, she said to me,
+
+"If ever your stanzas and mine become known in Rome, you may be sure
+of my enmity."
+
+"Madam, I do not understand what you mean."
+
+"I expected you to answer me in this manner," replied the
+marchioness, "but recollect what I have said."
+
+I left her at the door of the reception-room, and thinking that she
+was really angry with me, I went away in despair.  "My stanzas," I
+said to myself, "are too fiery; they compromise her dignity, and her
+pride is offended at my knowing the secret of her intrigue with
+Cardinal S. C.  Yet, I feel certain that the dread she expresses of
+my want of discretion is only feigned, it is but a pretext to turn me
+out of her favour.  She has not understood my reserve!  What would
+she have done, if I had painted her in the simple apparel of the
+golden age, without any of those veils which modesty imposes upon her
+sex!"  I was sorry I had not done so.  I undressed and went to bed.
+My head was scarcely on the pillow when the Abbe Gama knocked at my
+door.  I pulled the door-string, and coming in, he said,
+
+"My dear sir, the cardinal wishes to see you, and I am sent by the
+beautiful marchioness and Cardinal S. C., who desire you to come
+down."
+
+"I am very sorry, but I cannot go; tell them the truth; I am ill in
+bed."
+
+As the abbe did not return, I judged that he had faithfully acquitted
+himself of the commission, and I spent a quiet night.  I was not yet
+dressed in the morning, when I received a note from Cardinal S. C.
+inviting me to dinner, saying that he had just been bled, and that he
+wanted to speak to me: he concluded by entreating me to come to him
+early, even if I did not feel well.
+
+The invitation was pressing; I could not guess what had caused it,
+but the tone of the letter did not forebode anything unpleasant.  I
+went to church, where I was sure that Cardinal Acquaviva would see
+me, and he did.  After mass, his eminence beckoned to me.
+
+"Are you truly ill?" he enquired.
+
+"No, monsignor, I was only sleepy."
+
+"I am very glad to hear it; but you are wrong, for you are loved.
+Cardinal S. C.  has been bled this morning."
+
+"I know it, monsignor.  The cardinal tells me so in this note, in
+which he invites me to dine with him, with your excellency's
+permission."
+
+"Certainly.  But this is amusing!  I did not know that he wanted a
+third person."
+
+"Will there be a third person?"
+
+"I do not know, and I have no curiosity about it."
+
+The cardinal left me, and everybody imagined that his eminence had
+spoken to me of state affairs.
+
+I went to my new Maecenas, whom I found in bed.
+
+"I am compelled to observe strict diet," he said to me; "I shall have
+to let you dine alone, but you will not lose by it as my cook does
+not know it.  What I wanted to tell you is that your stanzas are, I
+am afraid, too pretty, for the marchioness adores them.  If you had
+read them to me in the same way that she does, I could never have
+made up my mind to offer them."  "But she believes them to be written
+by your eminence?"
+
+"Of course."
+
+"That is the essential point, monsignor."
+
+"Yes; but what should I do if she took it into her head to compose
+some new stanzas for me?"
+
+"You would answer through the same pen, for you can dispose of me
+night and day, and rely upon the utmost secrecy."
+
+"I beg of you to accept this small present; it is some negrillo snuff
+from Habana, which Cardinal Acquaviva has given me."
+
+The snuff was excellent, but the object which contained it was still
+better.  It was a splendid gold-enamelled box.  I received it with
+respect, and with the expression of the deepest gratitude.
+
+If his eminence did not know how to write poetry, at least he knew
+how to be generous, and in a delicate manner, and that science is, at
+least in my estimation, superior to the other for a great nobleman.
+
+At noon, and much to my surprise, the beautiful marchioness made her
+appearance in the most elegant morning toilet.
+
+"If I had known you were in good company," she said to the cardinal,
+"I would not have come."
+
+"I am sure, dear marchioness, you will not find our dear abbe in the
+way."
+
+"No, for I believe him to be honest and true."
+
+I kept at a respectful distance, ready to go away with my splendid
+snuff-box at the first jest she might hurl at me.
+
+The cardinal asked her if she intended to remain to dinner.
+
+"Yes," she answered; "but I shall not enjoy my dinner, for I hate to
+eat alone."
+
+"If you would honour him so far, the abbe would keep you company."
+
+She gave me a gracious look, but without uttering one word.
+
+This was the first time I had anything to do with a woman of quality,
+and that air of patronage, whatever kindness might accompany it,
+always put me out of temper, for I thought it made love out of the
+question.  However, as we were in the presence of the cardinal, I
+fancied that she might be right in treating me in that fashion.
+
+The table was laid out near the cardinal's bed, and the marchioness,
+who ate hardly anything, encouraged me in my good appetite.
+
+"I have told you that the abbe is equal to me in that respect," said
+S. C.
+
+"I truly believe," answered the marchioness, "that he does not remain
+far behind you; but," added she with flattery, "you are more dainty
+in your tastes."
+
+"Would her ladyship be so good as to tell me in what I have appeared
+to her to be a mere glutton?  For in all things I like only dainty
+and exquisite morsels."
+
+"Explain what you mean by saying in all things," said the cardinal.
+Taking the liberty of laughing, I composed a few impromptu verses in
+which I named all I thought dainty and exquisite.  The marchioness
+applauded, saying that she admired my courage.
+
+"My courage, madam, is due to you, for I am as timid as a hare when I
+am not encouraged; you are the author of my impromptu."
+
+"I admire you.  As for myself, were I encouraged by Apollo himself, I
+could not compose four lines without paper and ink."
+
+"Only give way boldly to your genius, madam, and you will produce
+poetry worthy of heaven."
+
+"That--is my opinion, too," said the cardinal.  "I entreat you to
+give me permission to skew your ten stanzas to the abbe."
+
+"They are not very good, but I have no objection provided it remains
+between us."
+
+The cardinal gave me, then, the stanzas composed by the marchioness,
+and I read them aloud with all the expression, all the feeling
+necessary to such reading.
+
+"How well you have read those stanzas!" said the marchioness; "I can
+hardly believe them to be my own composition; I thank you very much.
+But have the goodness to give the benefit of your reading to the
+stanzas which his eminence has written in answer to mine.  They
+surpass them much."
+
+"Do not believe it, my dear abbe," said the cardinal, handing them to
+me.  "Yet try not to let them lose anything through your reading."
+
+There was certainly no need of his eminence enforcing upon me such a
+recommendation; it was my own poetry.  I could not have read it
+otherwise than in my best style, especially when I had before me the
+beautiful woman who had inspired them, and when, besides, Bacchus was
+in me giving courage to Apollo as much as the beautiful eyes of the
+marchioness were fanning into an ardent blaze the fire already
+burning through my whole being.
+
+I read the stanzas with so much expression that the cardinal was
+enraptured, but I brought a deep carnation tint upon the cheeks of
+the lovely marchioness when I came to the description of those
+beauties which the imagination of the poet is allowed to guess at,
+but which I could not, of course, have gazed upon.  She snatched the
+paper from my hands with passion, saying that I was adding verses of
+my own; it was true, but I did not confess it.  I was all aflame, and
+the fire was scorching her as well as me.
+
+The cardinal having fallen asleep, she rose and went to take a seat
+on the balcony; I followed her.  She had a rather high seat; I stood
+opposite to her, so that her knee touched the fob-pocket in which was
+my watch.  What a position!  Taking hold gently of one of her hands,
+I told her that she had ignited in my soul a devouring flame, that I
+adored her, and that, unless some hope was left to me of finding her
+sensible to my sufferings, I was determined to fly away from her for
+ever.
+
+"Yes, beautiful marchioness, pronounce my sentence."
+
+"I fear you are a libertine and an unfaithful lover."
+
+"I am neither one nor the other."
+
+With these words I folded her in my arms, and I pressed upon her
+lovely lips, as pure as a rose, an ardent kiss which she received
+with the best possible grace.  This kiss, the forerunner of the most
+delicious pleasures, had imparted to my hands the greatest boldness;
+I was on the point of....  but the marchioness, changing her
+position, entreated me so sweetly to respect her, that, enjoying new
+voluptuousness through my very obedience, I not only abandoned an
+easy victory, but I even begged her pardon, which I soon read in the
+most loving look.
+
+She spoke of Lucrezia, and was pleased with my discretion.  She then
+alluded to the cardinal, doing her best to make me believe that there
+was nothing between them but a feeling of innocent friendship.  Of
+course I had my opinion on that subject, but it was my interest to
+appear to believe every word she uttered.  We recited together lines
+from our best poets, and all the time she was still sitting down and
+I standing before her, with my looks rapt in the contemplation of the
+most lovely charms, to which I remained insensible in appearance, for
+I had made up my mind not to press her that evening for greater
+favours than those I had already received.
+
+The cardinal, waking from his long and peaceful siesta, got up and
+joined us in his night-cap, and good-naturedly enquired whether we
+had not felt impatient at his protracted sleep.  I remained until
+dark and went home highly pleased with my day's work, but determined
+to keep my ardent desires in check until the opportunity for complete
+victory offered itself.
+
+From that day, the charming marchioness never ceased to give me the
+marks of her particular esteem, without the slightest constraint; I
+was reckoning upon the carnival, which was close at hand, feeling
+certain that the more I should spare her delicacy, the more she would
+endeavour to find the opportunity of rewarding my loyalty, and of
+crowning with happiness my loving constancy.  But fate ordained
+otherwise; Dame Fortune turned her back upon me at the very moment
+when the Pope and Cardinal Acquaviva were thinking of giving me a
+really good position.
+
+The Holy Father had congratulated me upon the beautiful snuff-box
+presented to me by Cardinal S. C., but he had been careful never to
+name the marchioness.  Cardinal Acquaviva expressed openly his
+delight at his brother-cardinal having given me a taste of his
+negrillo snuff in so splendid an envelope; the Abbe Gama, finding me
+so forward on the road to success, did not venture to counsel me any
+more, and the virtuous Father Georgi gave me but one piece of advice-
+namely, to cling to the lovely marchioness and not to make any other
+acquaintances.
+
+Such was my position-truly a brilliant one, when, on Christmas Day,
+the lover of Barbara Dalacqua entered my room, locked the door, and
+threw himself on the sofa, exclaiming that I saw him for the last
+time.
+
+"I only come to beg of you some good advice."
+
+"On what subject can I advise you?"
+
+"Take this and read it; it will explain everything."
+
+It was a letter from his mistress; the contents were these:
+
+"I am pregnant of a child, the pledge of our mutual love; I can no
+longer have any doubt of it, my beloved, and I forewarn you that I
+have made up my mind to quit Rome alone, and to go away to die where
+it may please God, if you refuse to take care of me and save me.  I
+would suffer anything, do anything, rather than let my father
+discover the truth."
+
+"If you are a man of honour," I said, "you cannot abandon the poor
+girl.  Marry her in spite of your father, in spite of her own, and
+live together honestly.  The eternal Providence of God will watch
+over you and help you in your difficulties:"
+
+My advice seemed to bring calm to his mind, and he left me more
+composed.
+
+At the beginning of January, 1744, he called again, looking very
+cheerful.  "I have hired," he said, "the top floor of the house next
+to Barbara's dwelling; she knows it, and to-night I will gain her
+apartment through one of the windows of the garret, and we will make
+all our arrangements to enable me to carry her off.  I have made up
+my mind; I have decided upon taking her to Naples, and I will take
+with us the servant who, sleeping in the garret, had to be made a
+confidante of."
+
+"God speed you, my friend!"
+
+A week afterwards, towards eleven o'clock at night, he entered my
+room accompanied by an abbe.
+
+"What do you want so late?"
+
+"I wish to introduce you to this handsome abbe."
+
+I looked up, and to my consternation I recognized Barbara.
+
+"Has anyone seen you enter the house?" I enquired.
+
+"No; and if we had been seen, what of it?  It is only an abbe.  We
+now pass every night together."
+
+"I congratulate you."
+
+"The servant is our friend; she has consented to follow us, and all
+our arrangements are completed."
+
+"I wish you every happiness.  Adieu.  I beg you to leave me."
+
+Three or four days after that visit, as I was walking with the Abbe
+Gama towards the Villa Medicis, he told me deliberately that there
+would be an execution during the night in the Piazza di Spagna.
+
+"What kind of execution?"
+
+"The bargello or his lieutenant will come to execute some 'ordine
+santissimo', or to visit some suspicious dwelling in order to arrest
+and carry off some person who does not expect anything of the sort."
+
+"How do you know it?"
+
+"His eminence has to know it, for the Pope would not venture to
+encroach upon his jurisdiction without asking his permission."
+
+"And his eminence has given it?"
+
+"Yes, one of the Holy Father's auditors came for that purpose this
+morning."
+
+"But the cardinal might have refused?"
+
+"Of course; but such a permission is never denied."
+
+"And if the person to be arrested happened to be under the protection
+of the cardinal--what then?"
+
+"His eminence would give timely warning to that person."
+
+We changed the conversation, but the news had disturbed me.  I
+fancied that the execution threatened Barbara and her lover, for her
+father's house was under the Spanish jurisdiction.  I tried to see
+the young man but I could not succeed in meeting him, and I was
+afraid lest a visit at his home or at M. Dalacqua's dwelling might
+implicate me.  Yet it is certain that this last consideration would
+not have stopped me if I had been positively sure that they were
+threatened; had I felt satisfied of their danger, I would have braved
+everything.
+
+About midnight, as I was ready to go to bed, and just as I was
+opening my door to take the key from outside, an abbe rushed panting
+into my room and threw himself on a chair.  It was Barbara; I guessed
+what had taken place, and, foreseeing all the evil consequences her
+visit might have for me, deeply annoyed and very anxious, I upbraided
+her for having taken refuge in my room, and entreated her to go away.
+
+Fool that I was!  Knowing that I was only ruining myself without any
+chance of saving her, I ought to have compelled her to leave my room,
+I ought to have called for the servants if she had refused to
+withdraw.  But I had not courage enough, or rather I voluntarily
+obeyed the decrees of destiny.
+
+When she heard my order to go away, she threw herself on her knees,
+and melting into tears, she begged, she entreated my pity!
+
+Where is the heart of steel which is not softened by the tears, by
+the prayers of a pretty and unfortunate woman?  I gave way, but I
+told her that it was ruin for both of us.
+
+"No one," she replied, "has seen me, I am certain, when I entered the
+mansion and came up to your room, and I consider my visit here a week
+ago as most fortunate; otherwise, I never could have known which was
+your room."
+
+"Alas!  how much better if you had never come!  But what has become
+of your lover?"
+
+"The 'sbirri' have carried him off, as well as the servant.  I will
+tell you all about it.  My lover had informed me that a carriage
+would wait to-night at the foot of the flight of steps before the
+Church of Trinita del Monte, and that he would be there himself.  I
+entered his room through the garret window an hour ago.  There I put
+on this disguise, and, accompanied by the servant, proceeded to meet
+him.  The servant walked a few yards before me, and carried a parcel
+of my things.  At the corner of the street, one of the buckles of my
+shoes being unfastened, I stopped an instant, and the servant went
+on, thinking that I was following her.  She reached the carriage, got
+into it, and, as I was getting nearer, the light from a lantern
+disclosed to me some thirty sbirri; at the same instant, one of them
+got on the driver's box and drove off at full speed, carrying off the
+servant, whom they must have mistaken for me, and my lover who was in
+the coach awaiting me.  What could I do at such a fearful moment?  I
+could not go back to my father's house, and I followed my first
+impulse which brought me here.  And here I am!  You tell me that my
+presence will cause your ruin; if it is so, tell me what to do; I
+feel I am dying; but find some expedient and I am ready to do
+anything, even to lay my life down, rather than be the cause of your
+ruin."
+
+But she wept more bitterly than ever.
+
+Her position was so sad that I thought it worse even than mine,
+although I could almost fancy I saw ruin before me despite my
+innocence.
+
+"Let me," I said, "conduct you to your father; I feel sure of
+obtaining your pardon."
+
+But my proposal only enhanced her fears.
+
+"I am lost," she exclaimed; "I know my father.  Ah! reverend sir,
+turn me out into the street, and abandon me to my miserable fate."
+
+No doubt I ought to have done so, and I would have done it if the
+consciousness of what was due to my own interest had been stronger
+than my feeling of pity.  But her tears!  I have often said it, and
+those amongst my readers who have experienced it, must be of the same
+opinion; there is nothing on earth more irresistible than two
+beautiful eyes shedding tears, when the owner of those eyes is
+handsome, honest, and unhappy.  I found myself physically unable to
+send her away.
+
+"My poor girl," I said at last, "when daylight comes, and that will
+not be long, for it is past midnight, what do you intend to do?"
+
+"I must leave the palace," she replied, sobbing.  "In this disguise
+no one can recognize me; I will leave Rome, and I will walk straight
+before me until I fall on the ground, dying with grief and fatigue."
+
+With these words she fell on the floor.  She was choking; I could see
+her face turn blue; I was in the greatest distress.
+
+I took off her neck-band, unlaced her stays under the abbe's dress, I
+threw cold water in her face, and I finally succeeded in bringing her
+back to consciousness.
+
+The night was extremely cold, and there was no fire in my room.  I
+advised her to get into my bed, promising to respect her.
+
+"Alas!  reverend sir, pity is the only feeling with which I can now
+inspire anyone."
+
+And, to speak the truth I was too deeply moved, and, at the same
+time, too full of anxiety, to leave room in me for any desire.
+Having induced her to go to bed, and her extreme weakness preventing
+her from doing anything for herself, I undressed her and put her to
+bed, thus proving once more that compassion will silence the most
+imperious requirements of nature, in spite of all the charms which
+would, under other circumstances, excite to the highest degree the
+senses of a man.  I lay down near her in my clothes, and woke her at
+day-break.  Her strength was somewhat restored, she dressed herself
+alone, and I left my room, telling her to keep quiet until my return.
+I intended to proceed to her father's house, and to solicit her
+pardon, but, having perceived some suspicious-looking men loitering
+about the palace, I thought it wise to alter my mind, and went to a
+coffeehouse.
+
+I soon ascertanied that a spy was watching my movements at a
+distance; but I did not appear to notice him, and having taken some
+chocolate and stored a few biscuits in my pocket, I returned towards
+the palace, apparently without any anxiety or hurry, always followed
+by the same individual.  I judged that the bargello, having failed in
+his project, was now reduced to guesswork, and I was strengthened in
+that view of the case when the gate-keeper of the palace told me,
+without my asking any question, as I came in, that an arrest had been
+attempted during the night, and had not succeeded.  While he was
+speaking, one of the auditors of the Vicar-General called to enquire
+when he could see the Abby Gama.  I saw that no time was to be lost,
+and went up to my room to decide upon what was to be done.
+
+I began by making the poor girl eat a couple of biscuits soaked in
+some Canary wine, and I took her afterwards to the top story of the
+palace, where, leaving her in a not very decent closet which was not
+used by anyone, I told her to wait for me.
+
+My servant came soon after, and I ordered him to lock the door of my
+room as soon as he finished cleaning it, and to bring me the key at
+the Abbe Gama's apartment, where I was going.  I found Gama in
+conversation with the auditor sent by the Vicar-General.  As soon as
+he had dismissed him, he came to me, and ordered his servant to serve
+the chocolate.  When we were left alone he gave me an account of his
+interview with the auditor, who had come to entreat his eminence to
+give orders to turn out of his palace a person who was supposed to
+have taken refuge in it about midnight.  "We must wait," said the
+abbe, "until the cardinal is visible, but I am quite certain that, if
+anyone has taken refuge here unknown to him, his eminence will compel
+that person to leave the palace."  We then spoke of the weather and
+other trifles until my servant brought my key.  Judging that I had at
+least an hour to spare, I bethought myself of a plan which alone
+could save Barbara from shame and misery.
+
+Feeling certain that I was unobserved, I went up to my poor prisoner
+and made her write the following words in French:
+
+"I am an honest girl, monsignor, though I am disguised in the dress
+of an abbe.  I entreat your eminence to allow me to give my name only
+to you and in person.  I hope that, prompted by the great goodness of
+your soul, your eminence will save me from dishonour." I gave her the
+necessary instructions, as to sending the note to the cardinal,
+assuring her that he would have her brought to him as soon as he read
+it.
+
+"When you are in his presence," I added, "throw yourself on your
+knees, tell him everything without any concealment, except as regards
+your having passed the night in my room.  You must be sure not to
+mention that circumstance, for the cardinal must remain in complete
+ignorance of my knowing anything whatever of this intrigue.  Tell him
+that, seeing your lover carried off, you rushed to his palace and ran
+upstairs as far as you could go, and that after a most painful night
+Heaven inspired you with the idea of writing to him to entreat his
+pity.  I feel certain that, one way or the other, his eminence will
+save you from dishonour, and it certainly is the only chance you have
+of being united to the man you love so dearly."
+
+She promised to follow 'my instructions faithfully, and, coming down,
+I had my hair dressed and went to church, where the cardinal saw me.
+I then went out and returned only for dinner, during which the only
+subject of conversation was the adventure of the night.  Gama alone
+said nothing, and I followed his example, but I understood from all
+the talk going on round the table that the cardinal had taken my poor
+Barbara under his protection.  That was all I wanted, and thinking
+that I had nothing more to fear I congratulated myself, in petto,
+upon my stratagem, which had, I thought, proved a master-stroke.
+After dinner, finding myself alone with Gama, I asked him what was
+the meaning of it all, and this is what he told me:
+
+"A father, whose name I do not know yet, had requested the assistance
+of the Vicar-General to prevent his son from carrying off a young
+girl, with whom he intended to leave the States of the Church; the
+pair had arranged to meet at midnight in this very square, and the
+Vicar, having previously obtained the consent of our cardinal, as I
+told you yesterday, gave orders to the bargello to dispose his men in
+such a way as to catch the young people in the very act of running
+away, and to arrest them.  The orders were executed, but the 'sbirri'
+found out, when they returned to the bargello, that they had met with
+only a half success, the woman who got out of the carriage with the
+young man not belonging to that species likely to be carried off.
+Soon afterwards a spy informed the bargello that, at the very moment
+the arrest was executed, he had seen a young abbe run away very
+rapidly and take refuge in this palace, and the suspicion immediately
+arose that it might be the missing young lady in the disguise of an
+ecclesiastic.  The bargello reported to the Vicar-General the failure
+of his men, as well as the account given by the spy, and the Prelate,
+sharing the suspicion of the police, sent to his eminence, our
+master, requesting him to have the person in question, man or woman,
+turned out of the palace, unless such persons should happen to be
+known to his excellency, and therefore above suspicion.  Cardinal
+Acquaviva was made acquainted with these circumstances at nine this
+morning through the auditor you met in my room, and he promised to
+have the person sent away unless she belonged to his household.
+
+"According to his promise, the cardinal ordered the palace to be
+searched, but, in less than a quarter of an hour, the major-domo
+received orders to stop, and the only reason for these new
+instructions must be this:
+
+"I am told by the major-domo that at nine o'clock exactly a very
+handsome, young abbe, whom he immediately judged to be a girl in
+disguise, asked him to deliver a note to his eminence, and that the
+cardinal, after reading it, had desired the said abbe be brought to
+his apartment, which he has not left since.  As the order to stop
+searching the palace was given immediately after the introduction of
+the abbe to the cardinal, it is easy enough to suppose that this
+ecclesiastic is no other than the young girl missed by the police,
+who took refuge in the palace in which she must have passed the whole
+night."
+
+"I suppose," said I, "that his eminence will give her up to-day, if
+not to the bargello, at least to the Vicar-General."
+
+"No, not even to the Pope himself," answered Gama.  "You have not yet
+a right idea of the protection of our cardinal, and that protection
+is evidently granted to her, since the young person is not only in
+the palace of his eminence, but also in his own apartment and under
+his own guardianship."
+
+The whole affair being in itself very interesting, my attention could
+not appear extraordinary to Gama, however suspicious he might be
+naturally, and I was certain that he would not have told me anything
+if he had guessed the share I had taken in the adventure, and the
+interest I must have felt in it.
+
+The next day, Gama came to my room with a radiant countenance, and
+informed me that the Cardinal-Vicar was aware of the ravisher being
+my friend, and supposed that I was likewise the friend of the girl,
+as she was the daughter of my French teacher.  "Everybody," he added,
+"is satisfied that you knew the whole affair, and it is natural to
+suspect that the poor girl spent the night in your room.  I admire
+your prudent reserve during our conversation of yesterday.  You kept
+so well on your guard that I would have sworn you knew nothing
+whatever of the affair."
+
+"And it is the truth," I answered, very seriously; "I have only
+learned all the circumstances from you this moment.  I know the girl,
+but I have not seen her for six weeks, since I gave up my French
+lessons; I am much better acquainted with the young man, but he never
+confided his project to me.  However, people may believe whatever
+they please.  You say that it is natural for the girl to have passed
+the night in my room, but you will not mind my laughing in the face
+of those who accept their own suppositions as realities."
+
+"That, my dear friend," said the abbe, "is one of the vices of the
+Romans; happy those who can afford to laugh at it; but this slander
+may do you harm, even in the mind of our cardinal."
+
+As there was no performance at the Opera that night, I went to the
+cardinal's reception; I found no difference towards me either in the
+cardinal's manners, or in those of any other person, and the
+marchioness was even more gracious than usual.
+
+After dinner, on the following day, Gama informed me that the
+cardinal had sent the young girl to a convent in which she would be
+well treated at his eminence's expense, and that he was certain that
+she would leave it only to become the wife of the young doctor.
+
+"I should be very happy if it should turn out so," I replied; "for
+they are both most estimable people."
+
+Two days afterwards, I called upon Father Georgi, and he told me,
+with an air of sorrow, that the great news of the day in Rome was the
+failure of the attempt to carry off Dalacqua's daughter, and that all
+the honour of the intrigue was given to me, which displeased him
+much.  I told him what I had already told Gama, and he appeared to
+believe me, but he added that in Rome people did not want to know
+things as they truly were, but only as they wished them to be.
+
+"It is known, that you have been in the habit of going every morning
+to Dalacqua's house; it is known that the young man often called on
+you; that is quite enough.  People do not care, to know the
+circumstances which might counteract the slander, but only those,
+likely to give it new force for slander is vastly relished in the
+Holy City.  Your innocence will not prevent the whole adventure being
+booked to your account, if, in forty years time you were proposed as
+pope in the conclave."
+
+During the following days the fatal adventure began to cause me more
+annoyance than I could express, for everyone mentioned it to me, and
+I could see clearly that people pretended to believe what I said only
+because they did not dare to do otherwise.  The marchioness told me
+jeeringly that the Signora Dalacqua had contracted peculiar
+obligations towards me, but my sorrow was very great when, during the
+last days of the carnival, I remarked that Cardinal Acquaviva's
+manner had become constrained, although I was the only person who
+observed the change.
+
+The noise made by the affair was, however, beginning to subside,
+when, in the first days of Lent, the cardinal desired me to come to
+his private room, and spoke as follows
+
+"The affair of the girl Dalacqua is now over; it is no longer spoken
+of, but the verdict of the public is that you and I have profited by
+the clumsiness of the young man who intended to carry her off.  In
+reality I care little for such a verdict, for, under similar
+circumstances, I should always act in a similar manner, and I do not
+wish to know that which no one can compel you to confess, and which,
+as a man of honour, you must not admit.  If you had no previous
+knowledge of the intrigue, and had actually turned the girl out of
+your room (supposing she did come to you), you would have been guilty
+of a wrong and cowardly action, because you would have sealed her
+misery for the remainder of her days, and it would not have caused
+you to escape the suspicion of being an accomplice, while at the same
+time it would have attached to you the odium of dastardly treachery.
+Notwithstanding all I have just said, you can easily imagine that, in
+spite of my utter contempt for all gossiping fools, I cannot openly
+defy them.  I therefore feel myself compelled to ask you not only to
+quit my service, but even to leave Rome.  I undertake to supply you
+with an honourable pretext for your departure, so as to insure you
+the continuation of the respect which you may have secured through
+the marks of esteem I have bestowed upon you.  I promise you to
+whisper in the ear of any person you may choose, and even to inform
+everybody, that you are going on an important mission which I have
+entrusted to you.  You have only to name the country where you want
+to go; I have friends everywhere, and can recommend you to such
+purpose that you will be sure to find employment.  My letters of
+recommendation will be in my own handwriting, and nobody need know
+where you are going.  Meet me to-morrow at the Villa Negroni, and let
+me know where my letters are to be addressed.  You must be ready to
+start within a week.  Believe me, I am sorry to lose you; but the
+sacrifice is forced upon me by the most absurd prejudice.  Go now,
+and do not let me witness your grief."
+
+He spoke the last words because he saw my eyes filling with tears,
+and he did not give me time to answer.  Before leaving his room, I
+had the strength of mind to compose myself, and I put on such an air
+of cheerfulness that the Abbe Gama, who took me to his room to drink
+some coffee, complimented me upon my happy looks.
+
+"I am sure," he said, "that they are caused by the conversation you
+have had with his eminence."
+
+"You are right; but you do not know the sorrow at my heart which I
+try not to shew outwardly."
+
+"What sorrow?"
+
+"I am afraid of failing in a difficult mission which the cardinal has
+entrusted me with this morning.  I am compelled to conceal how little
+confidence I feel in myself in order not to lessen the good opinion
+his eminence is pleased to entertain of me."
+
+"If my advice can be of any service to you, pray dispose of me; but
+you are quite right to chew yourself calm and cheerful.  Is it any
+business to transact in Rome?"
+
+"No; it is a journey I shall have to undertake in a week or ten
+days."
+
+"Which way?"
+
+"Towards the west."
+
+"Oh! I am not curious to know."
+
+I went out alone and took a walk in the Villa Borghese, where I spent
+two hours wrapped in dark despair.  I liked Rome, I was on the high
+road to fortune, and suddenly I found myself in the abyss, without
+knowing where to go, and with all my hopes scattered to the winds.  I
+examined my conduct, I judged myself severely, I could not find
+myself guilty of any crime save of too much kindness, but I perceived
+how right the good Father Georgi had been.  My duty was not only to
+take no part in the intrigue of the two love, but also to change my
+French teacher the moment I beard of it; but this was like calling in
+a doctor after death has struck the patient.  Besides, young as I
+was, having no experience yet of misfortune, and still less of the
+wickedness of society, it was very difficult for me to have that
+prudence which a man gains only by long intercourse with the world.
+
+"Where shall I go?"  This was the question which seemed to me
+impossible of solution.  I thought of it all through the night, and
+through the morning, but I thought in vain; after Rome, I was
+indifferent where I went to!
+
+In the evening, not caring for any supper, I had gone to my room; the
+Abbe Gama came to me with a request from the cardinal not to accept
+any invitation to dinner for the next day, as he wanted to speak to
+me.  I therefore waited upon his eminence the next day at the Villa
+Negroni; he was walking with his secretary, whom he dismissed the
+moment he saw me.  As soon as we were alone, I gave him all the
+particulars of the intrigue of the two lovers, and I expressed in the
+most vivid manner the sorrow I felt at leaving his service.
+
+"I have no hope of success," I added, "for I am certain that Fortune
+will smile upon me only as long as I am near your eminence."
+
+For nearly an hour I told him all the grief with which my heart was
+bursting, weeping bitterly; yet I could not move him from his
+decision.  Kindly, but firmly he pressed me to tell him to what part
+of Europe I wanted to go, and despair as much as vexation made me
+name Constantinople.
+
+"Constantinople!" he exclaimed, moving back a step or two.
+
+"Yes, monsignor, Constantinople," I repeated, wiping away my tears.
+
+The prelate, a man of great wit, but a Spaniard to the very back-
+bone, after remaining silent a few minutes, said, with a smile,
+
+"I am glad you have not chosen Ispahan, as I should have felt rather
+embarrassed.  When do you wish to go?"
+
+"This day week, as your eminence has ordered me."
+
+"Do you intend to sail from Naples or from Venice?"
+
+"From Venice."
+
+"I will give you such a passport as will be needed, for you will find
+two armies in winter-quarters in the Romagna.  It strikes me that you
+may tell everybody that I sent you to Constantinople, for nobody will
+believe you."
+
+This diplomatic suggestion nearly made me smile.  The cardinal told
+me that I should dine with him, and he left me to join his secretary.
+
+When I returned to the palace, thinking of the choice I had made, I
+said to myself, "Either I am mad, or I am obeying the impulse of a
+mysterious genius which sends me to Constantinople to work out my
+fate."  I was only astonished that the cardinal had so readily
+accepted my choice.  "Without any doubt," I thought, "he did not wish
+me to believe that he had boasted of more than he could achieve, in
+telling me that he had friends everywhere.  But to whom can he
+recommend me in Constantinople?  I have not the slightest idea, but
+to Constantinople I must go."
+
+I dined alone with his eminence; he made a great show of peculiar
+kindness and I of great satisfaction, for my self-pride, stronger
+even than my sorrow, forbade me to let anyone guess that I was in
+disgrace.  My deepest grief was, however, to leave the marchioness,
+with whom I was in love, and from whom I had not obtained any
+important favour.
+
+Two days afterwards, the cardinal gave me a passport for Venice, and
+a sealed letter addressed to Osman Bonneval, Pacha of Caramania, in
+Constantinople.  There was no need of my saying anything to anyone,
+but, as the cardinal had not forbidden me to do it, I shewed the
+address on the letter to all my acquaintances.
+
+The Chevalier de Lezze, the Venetian Ambassador, gave me a letter for
+a wealthy Turk, a very worthy man who had been his friend; Don Gaspar
+and Father Georgi asked me to write to them, but the Abbe Gams,
+laughed, and said he was quite sure I was not going to
+Constantinople.
+
+I went to take my farewell of Donna Cecilia, who had just received a
+letter from Lucrezia, imparting the news that she would soon be a
+mother.  I also called upon Angelique and Don Francisco, who had
+lately been married and had not invited me to the wedding.
+
+When I called to take Cardinal Acquaviva's final instructions he gave
+me a purse containing one hundred ounces, worth seven hundred
+sequins.  I had three hundred more, so that my fortune amounted to
+one thousand sequins; I kept two hundred, and for the rest I took a
+letter of exchange upon a Ragusan who was established in Ancona.  I
+left Rome in the coach with a lady going to Our Lady of Loretto, to
+fulfil a vow made during a severe illness of her daughter, who
+accompanied her.  The young lady was ugly; my journey was a rather
+tedious one.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+My Short But Rather Too Gay Visit To Ancona--Cecilia, Marina,
+Bellino--the Greek Slave of the Lazzaretto--Bellino Discovers Himself
+
+
+I arrived in Ancona on the 25th of February, 1744, and put up at the
+best inn.  Pleased with my room, I told mine host to prepare for me a
+good meat dinner; but he answered that during Lent all good Catholics
+eat nothing but fish.
+
+"The Holy Father has granted me permission to eat meat."
+
+"Let me see your permission."
+
+"He gave it to me by word of mouth."
+
+"Reverend sir, I am not obliged to believe you."
+
+"You are a fool."
+
+"I am master in my own house, and I beg you will go to some other
+inn."
+
+Such an answer, coupled to a most unexpected notice to quit, threw me
+into a violent passion.  I was swearing, raving, screaming, when
+suddenly a grave-looking individual made his appearance in my room,
+and said to me:
+
+"Sir, you are wrong in calling for meat, when in Ancona fish is much
+better; you are wrong in expecting the landlord to believe you on
+your bare word; and if you have obtained the permission from the
+Pope, you have been wrong in soliciting it at your age; you have been
+wrong in not asking for such permission in writing; you are wrong in
+calling the host a fool, because it is a compliment that no man is
+likely to accept in his own house; and, finally, you are wrong in
+making such an uproar."
+
+Far from increasing my bad temper, this individual, who had entered
+my room only to treat me to a sermon, made me laugh.
+
+"I willingly plead guilty, sir," I answered, "to all the counts which
+you allege against me; but it is raining, it is getting late, I am
+tired and hungry, and therefore you will easily understand that I do
+not feel disposed to change my quarters.  Will you give me some
+supper, as the landlord refuses to do so?"
+
+"No," he replied, with great composure, "because I am a good Catholic
+and fast.  But I will undertake to make it all right for you with the
+landlord, who will give you a good supper."
+
+Thereupon he went downstairs, and I, comparing my hastiness to his
+calm, acknowledged the man worthy of teaching me some lessons.  He
+soon came up again, informed me that peace was signed, and that I
+would be served immediately.
+
+"Will you not take supper with me?"
+
+"No, but I will keep you company."
+
+I accepted his offer, and to learn who he was, I told him my name,
+giving myself the title of secretary to Cardinal Acquaviva.
+
+"My name is Sancio Pico," he said; "I am a Castilian, and the
+'proveditore' of the army of H. C. M., which is commanded by Count de
+Gages under the orders of the generalissimo, the Duke of Modem."
+
+My excellent appetite astonished him, and he enquired whether I had
+dined.  "No," said I; and I saw his countenance assume an air of
+satisfaction.
+
+"Are you not afraid such a supper will hurt you?" he said.
+
+"On the contrary, I hope it will do me a great deal of good."
+
+"Then you have deceived the Pope?"
+
+"No, for I did not tell him that I had no appetite, but only that I
+liked meat better than fish."
+
+"If you feel disposed to hear some good music," he said a moment
+after, "follow me to the next room; the prima donna of Ancona lives
+there."
+
+The words prima donna interested me at once, and I followed him.  I
+saw, sitting before a table, a woman already somewhat advanced in
+age, with two young girls and two boys, but I looked in vain for the
+actress, whom Don Sancio Pico at last presented to me in the shape of
+one of the two boys, who was remarkably handsome and might have been
+seventeen.  I thought he was a 'castrato' who, as is the custom in
+Rome, performed all the parts of a prima donna.  The mother presented
+to, me her other son, likewise very good-looking, but more manly than
+the 'castrato', although younger.  His name was Petronio, and,
+keeping up the transformations of the family, he was the first female
+dancer at the opera.  The eldest girl, who was also introduced to me,
+was named Cecilia, and studied music; she was twelve years old; the
+youngest, called Marina, was only eleven, and like her brother
+Petronio was consecrated to the worship of Terpsichore.  Both the
+girls were very pretty.
+
+The family came from Bologna and lived upon the talent of its
+members; cheerfulness and amiability replaced wealth with them.
+Bellino, such was the name of the castrato, yielding to the
+entreaties of Don Sancio, rose from the table, went to the
+harpiscord, and sang with the voice of an angel and with delightful
+grace.  The Castilian listened with his eyes closed in an ecstasy of
+enjoyment, but I, far from closing my eyes, gazed into Bellino's,
+which seemed to dart amorous lightnings upon me.  I could discover in
+him some of the features of Lucrezia and the graceful manner of the
+marchioness, and everything betrayed a beautiful woman, for his dress
+concealed but imperfectly the most splendid bosom.  The consequence
+was that, in spite of his having been introduced as a man, I fancied
+that the so-called Bellino was a disguised beauty, and, my
+imagination taking at once the highest flight, I became thoroughly
+enamoured.
+
+We spent two very pleasant hours, and I returned to my room
+accompanied by the Castilian.  "I intend to leave very early to-
+morrow morning," he said, "for Sinigaglia, with the Abbe Vilmarcati,
+but I expect to return for supper the day after to-morrow."  I wished
+him a happy journey, saying that we would most 'likely meet on the
+road, as I should probably leave Ancona myself on the same day, after
+paying a visit to my banker.
+
+I went to bed thinking of Bellino and of the impression he had made
+upon me; I was sorry to go away without having proved to him that I
+was not the dupe of his disguise.  Accordingly, I was well pleased to
+see him enter my room in the morning as soon as I had opened my door.
+He came to offer me the services of his young brother Petronio during
+my stay in Ancona, instead of my engaging a valet de place.  I
+willingly agreed to the proposal, and sent Petronio to get coffee for
+all the family.
+
+I asked Bellino to sit on my bed with the intention of making love to
+him, and of treating him like a girl, but the two young sisters ran
+into my room and disturbed my plans.  Yet the trio formed before me a
+very pleasing sight; they represented natural beauty and artless
+cheerfulness of three different kinds; unobtrusive familiarity,
+theatrical wit, pleasing playfulness, and pretty Bolognese manners
+which I witnessed for the first time; all this would have sufficed to
+cheer me if I had been downcast.  Cecilia and Marina were two sweet
+rosebuds, which, to bloom in all their beauty, required only the
+inspiration of love, and they would certainly have had the preference
+over Bellino if I had seen in him only the miserable outcast of
+mankind, or rather the pitiful victim of sacerdotal cruelty, for, in
+spite of their youth, the two amiable girls offered on their dawning
+bosom the precious image of womanhood.
+
+Petronio came with the coffee which he poured out, and I sent some to
+the mother, who never left her room.  Petronio was a true male harlot
+by taste and by profession.  The species is not scare in Italy, where
+the offence is not regarded with the wild and ferocious intolerance
+of England and Spain.  I had given him one sequin to pay for the
+coffee, and told him to keep the change, and, to chew me his
+gratitude, he gave me a voluptuous kiss with half-open lips,
+supposing in me a taste which I was very far from entertaining.  I
+disabused him, but he did not seem the least ashamed.  I told him to
+order dinner for six persons, but he remarked that he would order it
+only for four, as he had to keep his dear mother company; she always
+took her dinner in bed.  Everyone to his taste, I thought, and I let
+him do as he pleased.
+
+Two minutes after he had gone, the landlord came to my room and said,
+"Reverend sir, the persons you have invited here have each the
+appetite of two men at least; I give you notice of it, because I must
+charge accordingly."  "All right," I replied, "but let us have a good
+dinner."
+
+When I was dressed, I thought I ought to pay my compliments to the
+compliant mother.  I went to her room, and congratulated her upon her
+children.  She thanked me for the present I had given to Petronio,
+and began to make me the confidant of her distress.  "The manager of
+the theatre," she said, "is a miser who has given us only fifty Roman
+crowns for the whole carnival.  We have spent them for our living,
+and, to return to Bologna, we shall have to walk and beg our way."
+Her confidence moved my pity, so I took a gold quadruple from my
+purse and offered it to her; she wept for joy and gratitude.
+
+"I promise you another gold quadruple, madam," I said, "if you will
+confide in me entirely.  Confess that Bellino is a pretty woman in
+disguise."
+
+"I can assure you it is not so, although he has the appearance of a
+woman."
+
+"Not only the appearance, madam, but the tone, the manners; I am a
+good judge."
+
+"Nevertheless, he is a boy, for he has had to be examined before he
+could sing on the stage here."
+
+"And who examined him?"
+
+"My lord bishop's chaplain."
+
+"A chaplain?"
+
+"Yes, and you may satisfy yourself by enquiring from him."
+
+"The only way to clear my doubts would be to examine him myself."
+
+"You may, if he has no objection, but truly I cannot interfere, as I
+do not know what your intentions are."
+
+"They are quite natural."
+
+I returned to my room and sent Petronio for a bottle of Cyprus wine.
+He brought the wine and seven sequins, the change for the doubloon I
+had given him.  I divided them between Bellino, Cecilia and Marina,
+and begged the two young girls to leave me alone with their brother.
+
+"Bellino, I am certain that your natural conformation is different
+from mine; my dear, you are a girl."
+
+"I am a man, but a castrato; I have been examined."
+
+"Allow me to examine you likewise, and I will give you a doubloon."
+
+"I cannot, for it is evident that you love me, and such love is
+condemned by religion."
+
+"You did not raise these objections with the bishop's chaplain."
+
+"He was an elderly priest, and besides, he only just glanced at me."
+
+"I will know the truth," said I, extending my hand boldly.
+
+But he repulsed me and rose from his chair.  His obstinacy vexed me,
+for I had already spent fifteen or sixteen sequins to satisfy my
+curiosity.
+
+I began my dinner with a very bad humour, but the excellent appetite
+of my pretty guests brought me round, and I soon thought that, after
+all, cheerfulness was better than sulking, and I resolved to make up
+for my disappointment with the two charming sisters, who seemed well
+disposed to enjoy a frolic.
+
+I began by distributing a few innocent kisses right and left, as I
+sat between them near a good fire, eating chestnuts which we wetted
+with Cyprus wine.  But very soon my greedy hands touched every part
+which my lips could not kiss, and Cecilia, as well as Marina,
+delighted in the game.  Seeing that Bellino was smiling, I kissed him
+likewise, and his half-open ruffle attracting my hand, I ventured and
+went in without resistance.  The chisel of Praxiteles had never
+carved a finer bosom!
+
+"Oh!  this is enough," I exclaimed; "I can no longer doubt that you
+are a beautifully-formed woman!"
+
+"It is," he replied, "the defect of all castrati."
+
+"No, it is the perfection of all handsome women.  Bellino, believe me,
+I am enough of a good judge to distinguish between the deformed
+breast of a castrato, and that of a beautiful woman; and your
+alabaster bosom belongs to a young beauty of seventeen summers."
+
+Who does not know that love, inflamed by all that can excite it,
+never stops in young people until it is satisfied, and that one
+favour granted kindles the wish for a greater one?  I had begun well,
+I tried to go further and to smother with burning kisses that which
+my hand was pressing so ardently, but the false Bellino, as if he had
+only just been aware of the illicit pleasure I was enjoying, rose and
+ran away.  Anger increased in me the ardour of love, and feeling the
+necessity of calming myself either by satisfying my ardent desires or
+by evaporating them, I begged Cecilia, Bellino's pupil, to sing a few
+Neapolitan airs.
+
+I then went out to call upon the banker, from whom I took a letter of
+exchange at sight upon Bologna, for the amount I had to receive from
+him, and on my return, after a light supper with the two young
+sisters, I prepared to go to bed, having previously instructed
+Petronio to order a carriage for the morning.
+
+I was just locking my door when Cecilia, half undressed, came in to
+say that Bellino begged me to take him to Rimini, where he was
+engaged to sing in an opera to be performed after Easter.
+
+"Go and tell him, my dear little seraph, that I am ready to do what
+he wishes, if he will only grant me in your presence what I desire; I
+want to know for a certainty whether he is a man or a woman."
+
+She left me and returned soon, saying that Bellino had gone to bed,
+but that if I would postpone my departure for one day only he
+promised to satisfy me on the morrow.
+
+"Tell me the truth, Cecilia, and I will give you six sequins."
+
+"I cannot earn them, for I have never seen him naked, and I cannot
+swear to his being a girl.  But he must be a man, otherwise he would
+not have been allowed to perform here."
+
+"Well, I will remain until the day after to-morrow, provided you keep
+me company tonight."
+
+"Do you love me very much?"
+
+"Very much indeed, if you shew yourself very kind."
+
+"I will be very kind, for I love you dearly likewise.  I will go and
+tell my mother."
+
+"Of course you have a lover?"
+
+"I never had one."
+
+She left my room, and in a short time came back full of joy, saying
+that her mother believed me an honest man; she of course meant a
+generous one.  Cecilia locked the door, and throwing herself in my
+arms covered me with kisses.  She was pretty, charming, but I was not
+in love with her, and I was not able to say to her as to Lucrezia:
+"You have made me so happy!" But she said it herself, and I did not
+feel much flattered, although I pretended to believe her.  When I
+woke up in the morning I gave her a tender salutation, and presenting
+her with three doubloons, which must have particularly delighted the
+mother, I sent her away without losing my time in promising
+everlasting constancy--a promise as absurd as it is trifling, and
+which the most virtuous man ought never to make even to the most
+beautiful of women.
+
+After breakfast I sent for mine host and ordered an excellent supper
+for five persons, feeling certain that Don Sancio, whom I expected in
+the evening, would not refuse to honour me by accepting my
+invitation, and with that idea I made up my mind to go without my
+dinner.  The Bolognese family did not require to imitate my diet to
+insure a good appetite for the evening.
+
+I then summoned Bellino to my room, and claimed the performance of
+his promise but he laughed, remarked that the day was not passed yet,
+and said that he was certain of traveling with me.
+
+"I fairly warn you that you cannot accompany me unless I am fully
+satisfied."
+
+"Well, I will satisfy you."
+
+"Shall we go and take a walk together?"
+
+"Willingly; I will dress myself."
+
+While I was waiting for him, Marina came in with a dejected
+countenance, enquiring how she had deserved my contempt.
+
+"Cecilia has passed the night with you, Bellino will go with you to-
+morrow, I am the most unfortunate of us all."
+
+"Do you want money?"
+
+"No, for I love you."
+
+"But, Marinetta, you are too young."
+
+"I am much stronger than my sister."
+
+"Perhaps you have a lover."
+
+"Oh! no."
+
+"Very well, we can try this evening."
+
+"Good!  Then I will tell mother to prepare clean sheets for to-morrow
+morning; otherwise everybody here would know that I slept with you."
+
+I could not help admiring the fruits of a theatrical education, and
+was much amused.
+
+Bellino came back, we went out together, and we took our walk towards
+the harbour.  There were several vessels at anchor, and amongst them
+a Venetian ship and a Turkish tartan.  We went on board the first
+which we visited with interest, but not seeing anyone of my
+acquaintance, we rowed towards the Turkish tartan, where the most
+romantic surprise awaited me.  The first person I met on board was
+the beautiful Greek woman I had left in Ancona, seven months before,
+when I went away from the lazzaretto.  She was seated near the old
+captain, of whom I enquired, without appearing to notice his handsome
+slave, whether he had any fine goods to sell.  He took us to his
+cabin, but as I cast a glance towards the charming Greek, she
+expressed by her looks all her delight at such an unexpected meeting.
+
+I pretended not to be pleased with the goods shewn by the Turk, and
+under the impulse of inspiration I told him that I would willingly
+buy something pretty which would take the fancy of his better-half.
+He smiled, and the Greek slave-having whispered a few words to him,
+he left the cabin.  The moment he was out of sight, this new Aspasia
+threw herself in my arms, saying, "Now is your time!"  I would not be
+found wanting in courage, and taking the most convenient position in
+such a place, I did to her in one instant that which her old master
+had not done in five years.  I had not yet reached the goal of my
+wishes, when the unfortunate girl, hearing her master, tore herself
+from my arms with a deep sigh, and placing herself cunningly in front
+of me, gave me time to repair the disorder of my dress, which might
+have cost me my life, or at least all I possessed to compromise the
+affair.  In that curious situation, I was highly amused at the
+surprise of Bellino, who stood there trembling like an aspen leaf.
+
+The trifles chosen by the handsome slave cost me only thirty sequins.
+'Spolaitis', she said to me in her own language, and the Turk telling
+her that she ought to kiss me, she covered her face with her hands,
+and ran away.  I left the ship more sad than pleased, for I regretted
+that, in spite of her courage, she should have enjoyed only an
+incomplete pleasure.  As soon as we were in our row boat, Bellino,
+who had recovered from his fright, told me that I had just made him
+acquainted with a phenomenon, the reality of which he could not
+admit, and which gave him a very strange idea of my nature; that, as
+far as the Greek girl was concerned, he could not make her out,
+unless I should assure him that every woman in her country was like
+her.  "How unhappy they must be!" he added.
+
+"Do you think," I asked, "that coquettes are happier?"
+
+"No, but I think that when a woman yields to love, she should not be
+conquered before she has fought with her own desires; she should not
+give way to the first impulse of a lustful desire and abandon herself
+to the first man who takes her fancy, like an animal--the slave of
+sense.  You must confess that the Greek woman has given you an
+evident proof that you had taken her fancy, but that she has at the
+same time given you a proof not less certain of her beastly lust, and
+of an effrontery which exposed her to the shame of being repulsed,
+for she could not possibly know whether you would feel as well
+disposed for her as she felt for you.  She is very handsome, and it
+all turned out well, but the adventure has thrown me into a whirlpool
+of agitation which I cannot yet control."
+
+I might easily have put a stop to Bellino's perplexity, and rectified
+the mistake he was labouring under; but such a confession would not
+have ministered to my self-love, and I held my peace, for, if Bellino
+happened to be a girl, as I suspected, I wanted her to be convinced
+that I attached, after all, but very little importance to the great
+affair, and that it was not worth while employing cunning expedients
+to obtain it.
+
+We returned to the inn, and, towards evening, hearing Don Sancio's
+travelling carriage roll into the yard, I hastened to meet him, and
+told him that I hoped he would excuse me if I had felt certain that
+he would not refuse me the honour of his company to supper with
+Bellino.  He thanked me politely for the pleasure I was so delicately
+offering him, and accepted my invitation.
+
+The most exquisite dishes, the most delicious wines of Spain, and,
+more than everything else, the cheerfulness and the charming voices
+of Bellino and of Cecilia, gave the Castilian five delightful hours.
+He left me at midnight, saying that he could not declare himself
+thoroughly pleased unless I promised to sup with him the next evening
+with the same guests.  It would compel me to postpone my departure
+for another day, but I accepted.
+
+As soon as Don Sancio had gone, I called upon Bellino to fulfil his
+promise, but he answered that Marinetta was waiting for me, and that,
+as I was not going away the next day, he would find an opportunity of
+satisfying my doubts; and wishing me a good night, he left the room.
+
+Marinetta, as cheerful as a lark, ran to lock the door and came back
+to me, her eyes beaming with ardour.  She was more formed than
+Cecilia, although one year younger, and seemed anxious to convince me
+of her superiority, but, thinking that the fatigue of the preceding
+night might have exhausted my strength, she unfolded all the armorous
+ideas of her mind, explained at length all she knew of the great
+mystery she was going to enact with me, and of all the contrivances
+she had had recourse to in order to acquire her imperfect knowledge,
+the whole interlarded with the foolish talk natural to her age.  I
+made out that she was afraid of my not finding her a maiden, and of
+my reproaching her about it.  Her anxiety pleased me, and I gave her
+a new confidence by telling her that nature had refused to many young
+girls what is called maidenhood, and that only a fool could be angry
+with a girl for such a reason.
+
+My science gave her courage and confidence, and I was compelled to
+acknowledge that she was very superior to her sister.
+
+"I am delighted you find me so," she said; "we must not sleep at all
+throughout the night."
+
+"Sleep, my darling, will prove our friend, and our strength renewed
+by repose will reward you in the morning for what you may suppose
+lost time."
+
+And truly, after a quiet sleep, the morning was for her a succession
+of fresh triumphs, and I crowned her happiness by sending her away
+with three doubloons, which she took to her mother, and which gave
+the good woman an insatiable desire to contract new obligations
+towards Providence.
+
+I went out to get some money from the banker, as I did not know what
+might happen during my journey.  I had enjoyed myself, but I had
+spent too much: yet there was Bellino who, if a girl, was not to find
+me less generous than I had been with the two young sisters.  It was
+to be decided during the day, and I fancied that I was sure of the
+result.
+
+There are some persons who pretend that life is only a succession of
+misfortunes, which is as much as to say that life itself is a
+misfortune; but if life is a misfortune, death must be exactly the
+reverse and therefore death must be happiness, since death is the
+very reverse of life.  That deduction may appear too finely drawn.
+But those who say that life is a succession of misfortunes are
+certainly either ill or poor; for, if they enjoyed good health, if
+they had cheerfulness in their heart and money in their purse, if
+they had for their enjoyment a Cecilia, a Marinetta, and even a more
+lovely beauty in perspective, they would soon entertain a very
+different opinion of life!  I hold them to be a race of pessimists,
+recruited amongst beggarly philosophers and knavish, atrabilious
+theologians.  If pleasure does exist, and if life is necessary to
+enjoy pleasure, then life is happiness.  There are misfortunes, as I
+know by experience; but the very existence of such misfortunes proves
+that the sum-total of happiness is greater.  Because a few thorns are
+to be found in a basket full of roses, is the existence of those
+beautiful flowers to be denied?  No; it is a slander to deny that
+life is happiness.  When I am in a dark room, it pleases me greatly
+to see through a window an immense horizon before me.
+
+As supper-time was drawing near, I went to Don Sancio, whom I found
+in magnificently-furnished apartments.  The table was loaded with
+silver plate, and his servants were in livery.  He was alone, but all
+his guests arrived soon after me--Cecilia, Marina, and Bellino, who,
+either by caprice or from taste, was dressed as a woman.  The two
+young sisters, prettily arranged, looked charming, but Bellino, in
+his female costume, so completely threw them into the shade, that my
+last doubt vanished.
+
+"Are you satisfied," I said to Don Sancio, "that Bellino is a woman?"
+
+"Woman or man, what do I care!  I think he is a very pretty
+'castrato', and 'I have seen many as good-looking as he is."
+
+"But are you sure he is a 'castrato'?"
+
+"'Valgame Dios'!" answered the grave Castilian, "I have not the
+slightest wish to ascertain the truth."
+
+Oh, how widely different our thoughts were!  I admired in him the
+wisdom of which I was so much in need, and did not venture upon any
+more indiscreet questions.  During the supper, however, my greedy
+eyes could not leave that charming being; my vicious nature caused me
+to feel intense voluptuousness in believing him to be of that sex to
+which I wanted him to belong.
+
+Don Sancio's supper was excellent, and, as a matter of course,
+superior to mine; otherwise the pride of the Castilian would have
+felt humbled.  As a general rule, men are not satisfied with what is
+good; they want the best, or, to speak more to the point, the most.
+He gave us white truffles, several sorts of shell-fish, the best fish
+of the Adriatic, dry champagne, peralta, sherry and pedroximenes
+wines.
+
+After that supper worthy of Lucullus, Bellino sang with a voice of
+such beauty that it deprived us of the small amount of reason left in
+us by the excellent wine.  His movements, the expression of his
+looks, his gait, his walk, his countenance, his voice, and, above
+all, my own instinct, which told me that I could not possibly feel
+for a castrato what I felt for Bellino, confirmed me in my hopes; yet
+it was necessary that my eyes should ascertain the truth.
+
+After many compliments and a thousand thanks, we took leave of the
+grand Spaniard, and went to my room, where the mystery was at last to
+be unravelled.  I called upon Bellino to keep his word, or I
+threatened to leave him alone the next morning at day-break.
+
+I took him by the hand, and we seated ourselves near the fire.  I
+dismissed Cecilia and Marina, and I said to him,
+
+"Bellino, everything must have an end; you have promised: it will
+soon be over.  If you are what you represent yourself to be, I will
+let you go back to your own room; if you are what I believe you to
+be, and if you consent to remain with me to-night, I will give you
+one hundred sequins, and we will start together tomorrow morning."
+
+"You must go alone, and forgive me if I cannot fulfil my promise.  I
+am what I told you, and I can neither reconcile myself to the idea of
+exposing my shame before you, nor lay myself open to the terrible
+consequences that might follow the solution of your doubts."
+
+"There can be no consequences, since there will be an end to it at
+the moment I have assured myself that you are unfortunate enough to
+be what you say, and without ever mentioning the circumstances again,
+I promise to take you with me to-morrow and to leave you at Rimini."
+
+"No, my mind is made up; I cannot satisfy your curiosity."
+
+Driven to madness by his words, I was very near using violence, but
+subduing my angry feelings, I endeavored to succeed by gentle means
+and by going straight to the spot where the mystery could be solved.
+I was very near it, when his hand opposed a very strong resistance.
+I repeated my efforts, but Bellino, rising suddenly, repulsed me, and
+I found myself undone.  After a few moments of calm, thinking I
+should take him by surprise, I extended my hand, but I drew back
+terrified, for I fancied that I had recognized in him a man, and a
+degraded man, contemptible less on account of his degradation than
+for the want of feeling I thought I could read on his countenance.
+Disgusted, confused, and almost blushing for myself, I sent him away.
+
+His sisters came to my room, but I dismissed them, sending word to
+their brother that he might go with me, without any fear of further
+indiscretion on my part.  Yet, in spite of the conviction I thought I
+had acquired, Bellino, even such as I believe him to be, filled my
+thoughts; I could not make it out.
+
+Early the next morning I left Ancona with him, distracted by the
+tears of the two charming sisters and loaded with the blessings of
+the mother who, with beads in hand, mumbled her 'paternoster', and
+repeated her constant theme: 'Dio provedera'.
+
+The trust placed in Providence by most of those persons who earn
+their living by some profession forbidden by religion is neither
+absurd, nor false, nor deceitful; it is real and even godly, for it
+flows from an excellent source.  Whatever may be the ways of
+Providence, human beings must always acknowledge it in its action,
+and those who call upon Providence independently of all external
+consideration must, at the bottom, be worthy, although guilty of
+transgressing its laws.
+
+                    'Pulchra Laverna,
+     Da mihi fallere; da justo sanctoque videri;
+     Noctem peccatis, et fraudibus objice nubem.'
+
+Such was the way in which, in the days of Horace, robbers addressed
+their goddess, and I recollect a Jesuit who told me once that Horace
+would not have known his own language, if he had said justo
+sanctoque: but there were ignorant men even amongst the Jesuits, and
+robbers most likely have but little respect for the rules of grammar.
+
+The next morning I started with Bellino, who, believing me to be
+undeceived, could suppose that I would not shew any more curiosity
+about him, but we had not been a quarter of an hour together when he
+found out his mistake, for I could not let my looks fall upon his
+splendid eyes without feeling in me a fire which the sight of a man
+could not have ignited.  I told him that all his features were those
+of a woman, and that I wanted the testimony of my eyes before I could
+feel perfectly satisfied, because the protuberance I had felt in a
+certain place might be only a freak of nature.  "Should it be the
+case," I added, "I should have no difficulty in passing over a
+deformity which, in reality, is only laughable.  Bellino, the
+impression you produce upon me, this sort of magnetism, your bosom
+worthy of Venus herself, which you have once abandoned to my eager
+hand, the sound of your voice, every movement of yours, assure me
+that you do not belong to my sex.  Let me see for myself, and, if my
+conjectures are right, depend upon my faithful love; if, on the
+contrary, I find that I have been mistaken, you can rely upon my
+friendship.  If you refuse me, I shall be compelled to believe that
+you are cruelly enjoying my misery, and that you have learned in the
+most accursed school that the best way of preventing a young man from
+curing himself of an amorous passion is to excite it constantly; but
+you must agree with me that, to put such tyranny in practice, it is
+necessary to hate the person it is practised upon, and, if that be
+so, I ought to call upon my reason to give me the strength necessary
+to hate you likewise."
+
+I went on speaking for a long time; Bellino did not answer, but he
+seemed deeply moved.  At last I told him that, in the fearful state
+to which I was reduced by his resistance, I should be compelled to
+treat him without any regard for his feelings, and find out the truth
+by force.  He answered with much warmth and dignity: "Recollect that
+you are not my master, that I am in your hands, because I had faith
+in your promise, and that, if you use violence, you will be guilty of
+murder.  Order the postillion to stop, I will get out of the
+carriage, and you may rely upon my not complaining of your
+treatment."
+
+Those few words were followed by a torrent of tears, a sight which I
+never could resist.  I felt myself moved in the inmost recesses of my
+soul, and I almost thought that I had been wrong.  I say almost,
+because, had I been convinced of it, I would have thrown myself at
+his feet entreating pardon; but, not feeling myself competent to
+stand in judgment in my own cause, I satisfied myself by remaining
+dull and silent, and I never uttered one word until we were only half
+a mile from Sinigaglia, where I intended to take supper and to remain
+for the night.  Having fought long enough with my own feelings, I
+said to him;
+
+"We might have spent a little time in Rimini like good friends, if
+you had felt any friendship for me, for, with a little kind
+compliance, you could have easily cured me of my passion."
+
+"It would not cure you," answered Bellino, courageously, but with a
+sweetness of tone which surprised me; "no, you would not be cured,
+whether you found me to be man or woman, for you are in love with me
+independently of my sex, and the certainty you would acquire would
+make you furious.  In such a state, should you find me inexorable,
+you would very likely give way to excesses which would afterwards
+cause you deep sorrow."
+
+"You expect to make me admit that you are right, but you are
+completely mistaken, for I feel that I should remain perfectly calm,
+and that by complying with my wishes you would gain my friendship."
+
+"I tell you again that you would become furious."
+
+"Bellino, that which has made me furious is the sight of your charms,
+either too real or too completely deceiving, the power of which you
+cannot affect to ignore.  You have not been afraid to ignite my
+amorous fury, how can you expect me to believe you now, when you
+pretend to fear it, and when I am only asking you to let me touch a
+thing, which, if it be as you say, will only disgust me?"
+
+"Ah! disgust you; I am quite certain of the contrary.  Listen to me.
+Were I a girl, I feel I could not resist loving you, but, being a
+man, it is my duty not to grant what you desire, for your passion,
+now very natural, would then become monstrous.  Your ardent nature
+would be stronger than your reason, and your reason itself would
+easily come to the assistance of your senses and of your nature.
+That violent clearing-up of the mystery, were you to obtain it, would
+leave you deprived of all control over yourself.  Disappointed in not
+finding what you had expected, you would satisfy your passion upon
+that which you would find, and the result would, of course, be an
+abomination.  How can you, intelligent as you are, flatter yourself
+that, finding me to be a man, you could all at once cease to love me?
+Would the charms which you now see in me cease to exist then?
+Perhaps their power would, on the contrary, be enhanced, and your
+passion, becoming brutal, would lead you to take any means your
+imagination suggested to gratify it.  You would persuade yourself
+that you might change me into a woman, or, what is worse, that you
+might change yourself into one.  Your passion would invent a thousand
+sophisms to justify your love, decorated with the fine appellation of
+friendship, and you would not fail to allege hundreds of similarly
+disgusting cases in order to excuse your conduct.  You would
+certainly never find me compliant; and how am I to know that you
+would not threaten me with death?"
+
+"Nothing of the sort would happen, Bellino," I answered, rather tired
+of the length of his argument, "positively nothing, and I am sure you
+are exaggerating your fears.  Yet I am bound to tell you that, even
+if all you say should happen, it seems to me that to allow what can
+strictly be considered only as a temporary fit of insanity, would
+prove a less evil than to render incurable a disease of the mind
+which reason would soon cut short."
+
+Thus does a poor philosopher reason when he takes it into his head to
+argue at those periods during which a passion raging in his soul
+makes all its faculties wander.  To reason well, we must be under the
+sway neither of love nor of anger, for those two passions have one
+thing in common which is that, in their excess, they lower us to the
+condition of brutes acting only under the influence of their
+predominating instinct, and, unfortunately, we are never more
+disposed to argue than when we feel ourselves under the influence of
+either of those two powerful human passions.
+
+We arrived at Sinigaglia late at night, and I went to the best inn,
+and, after choosing a comfortable room, ordered supper.  As there was
+but one bed in the room, I asked Bellino, in as calm a tone as I
+could assume, whether he would have a fire lighted in another
+chamber, and my surprise may be imagined when he answered quietly
+that he had no objection to sleep in the same bed with me.  Such an
+answer, however, unexpected, was necessary to dispel the angry
+feelings under which I was labouring.  I guessed that I was near the
+denouement of the romance, but I was very far from congratulating
+myself, for I did not know whether the denouement would prove
+agreeable or not.  I felt, however, a real satisfaction at having
+conquered, and was sure of my self-control, in case the senses, my
+natural instinct, led me astray.  But if I found myself in the right,
+I thought I could expect the most precious favours.
+
+We sat down to supper opposite each other, and during the meal, his
+words, his countenance, the expression of his beautiful eyes, his
+sweet and voluptuous smile, everything seemed to announce that he had
+had enough of playing a part which must have proved as painful to him
+as to me.
+
+A weight was lifted off my mind, and I managed to shorten the supper
+as much as possible.  As soon as we had left the table, my amiable
+companion called for a night-lamp, undressed himself, and went to
+bed.  I was not long in following him, and the reader will soon know
+the nature of a denouement so long and so ardently desired; in the
+mean time I beg to wish him as happy a night as the one which was
+then awaiting me.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+Bellino's History--I Am Put Under Arrest--I Run Away Against My Will
+--My Return To Rimini, and My Arrival In Bologna
+
+
+Dear reader, I said enough at the end of the last chapter to make you
+guess what happened, but no language would be powerful enough to make
+you realize all the voluptuousness which that charming being had in
+store for me.  She came close to me the moment I was in bed.  Without
+uttering one word our lips met, and I found myself in the ecstasy of
+enjoyment before I had had time to seek for it.  After so complete a
+victory, what would my eyes and my fingers have gained from
+investigations which could not give me more certainty than I had
+already obtained?  I could not take my gaze off that beautiful face,
+which was all aflame with the ardour of love.
+
+After a moment of quiet rapture, a spark lighted up in our veins a
+fresh conflagration which we drowned in a sea of new delights.
+Bellino felt bound to make me forget my sufferings, and to reward me
+by an ardour equal to the fire kindled by her charms.
+
+The happiness I gave her increased mine twofold, for it has always
+been my weakness to compose the four-fifths of my enjoyment from the
+sum-total of the happiness which I gave the charming being from whom
+I derived it.  But such a feeling must necessarily cause hatred for
+old age which can still receive pleasure, but can no longer give
+enjoyment to another.  And youth runs away from old age, because it
+is its most cruel enemy.
+
+An interval of repose became necessary, in consequence of the
+activity of our enjoyment.  Our senses were not tired out, but they
+required the rest which renews their sensitiveness and restores the
+buoyancy necessary to active service.
+
+Bellino was the first to break our silence.
+
+"Dearest," she said, "are you satisfied now?  Have you found me truly
+loving?"
+
+"Truly loving?  Ah!  traitress that you are!  Do you, then, confess
+that I was not mistaken when I guessed that you were a charming
+woman?  And if you truly loved me, tell me how you could contrive to
+defer your happiness and mine so long?  But is it quite certain that
+I did not make a mistake?"
+
+"I am yours all over; see for yourself."
+
+Oh, what delightful survey!  what charming beauties! what an ocean of
+enjoyment!  But I could not find any trace of the protuberance which
+had so much terrified and disgusted me.
+
+"What has become," I said, "of that dreadful monstrosity?"
+
+"Listen to me," she replied, "and I will tell you everything.
+
+"My name is Therese.  My father, a poor clerk in the Institute of
+Bologna, had let an apartment in his house to the celebrated
+Salimberi, a castrato, and a delightful musician.  He was young and
+handsome, he became attached to me, and I felt flattered by his
+affection and by the praise he lavished upon me.  I was only twelve
+years of age; he proposed to teach me music, and finding that I had a
+fine voice, he cultivated it carefully, and in less than a year I
+could accompany myself on the harpsichord.  His reward was that which
+his love for me induced him to ask, and I granted the reward without
+feeling any humiliation, for I worshipped him.  Of course, men like
+yourself are much above men of his species, but Salimberi was an
+exception.  His beauty, his manners, his talent, and the rare
+qualities of his soul, made him superior in my eyes to all the men I
+had seen until then.  He was modest and reserved, rich and generous,
+and I doubt whether he could have found a woman able to resist him;
+yet I never heard him boast of having seduced any.  The mutilation
+practised upon his body had made him a monster, but he was an angel
+by his rare qualities and endowments.
+
+"Salimberi was at that time educating a boy of the same age as
+myself, who was in Rimini with a music teacher.  The father of the
+boy, who was poor and had a large family, seeing himself near death,
+had thought of having his unfortunate son maimed so that he should
+become the support of his brothers with his voice.  The name of the
+boy was Bellino; the good woman whom you have just seen in Ancona was
+his mother, and everybody believes that she is mine.
+
+"I had belonged to Salimberi for about a year, when he announced to
+me one day, weeping bitterly, that he was compelled to leave me to go
+to Rome, but he promised to see me again.  The news threw me into
+despair.  He had arranged everything for the continuation of my
+musical education, but, as he was preparing himself for his
+departure, my father died very suddenly, after a short illness, and I
+was left an orphan.
+
+"Salimberi had not courage enough to resist my tears and my
+entreaties; he made up his mind to take me to Rimini, and to place me
+in the same house where his young 'protege' was educated.  We reached
+Rimini, and put up at an inn; after a short rest, Salimberi left me
+to call upon the teacher of music, and to make all necessary
+arrangements respecting me with him; but he soon returned, looking
+sad and unhappy; Bellino had died the day before.
+
+"As he was thinking of the grief which the loss of the young man
+would cause his mother, he was struck with the idea of bringing me
+back to Bologna under the name of Bellino, where he could arrange for
+my board with the mother of the deceased Bellino, who, being very
+poor, would find it to her advantage to keep the secret.  'I will
+give her,' he said, 'everything necessary for the completion of your
+musical education, and in four years, I will take you to Dresden (he
+was in the service of the Elector of Saxony, King of Poland), not as
+a girl, but as a castrato.  There we will live together without
+giving anyone cause for scandal, and you will remain with me and
+minister to my happiness until I die.  All we have to do is to
+represent you as Bellino, and it is very easy, as nobody knows you in
+Bologna.  Bellino's mother will alone know the secret; her other
+children have seen their brother only when he was very young, and can
+have no suspicion.  But if you love me you must renounce your sex,
+lose even the remembrance of it, and leave immediately for Bologna,
+dressed as a boy, and under the name of Bellino.  You must be very
+careful lest anyone should find out that you are a girl; you must
+sleep alone, dress yourself in private, and when your bosom is
+formed, as it will be in a year or two, it will only be thought a
+deformity not uncommon amongst 'castrati'.  Besides, before leaving
+you, I will give you a small instrument, and teach how to fix it in
+such manner that, if you had at any time to submit to an examination,
+you would easily be mistaken for a man.  If you accept my plan, I
+feel certain that we can live together in Dresden without losing the
+good graces of the queen, who is very religious.  Tell me, now,
+whether you will accept my proposal?
+
+"He could not entertain any doubt of my consent, for I adored him.
+As soon as he had made a boy of me we left Rimini for Bologna, where
+we arrived late in the evening.  A little gold made everything right
+with Bellino's mother; I gave her the name of mother, and she kissed
+me, calling me her dear son.  Salimberi left us, and returned a short
+time afterwards with the instrument which would complete my
+transformation.  He taught me, in the presence of my new mother, how
+to fix it with some tragacanth gum, and I found myself exactly like
+my friend.  I would have laughed at it, had not my heart been deeply
+grieved at the departure of my beloved Salimberi, for he bade me
+farewell as soon as the curious operation was completed.  People
+laugh at forebodings; I do not believe in them myself, but the
+foreboding of evil, which almost broke my heart as he gave me his
+farewell kiss, did not deceive me.  I felt the cold shivering of
+death run through me; I felt I was looking at him for the last time,
+and I fainted away.  Alas!  my fears proved only too prophetic.
+Salimberi died a year ago in the Tyrol in the prime of life, with the
+calmness of a true philosopher.  His death compelled me to earn my
+living with the assistance of my musical talent.  My mother advised
+me to continue to give myself out as a castrato, in the hope of being
+able to take me to Rome.  I agreed to do so, for I did not feel
+sufficient energy to decide upon any other plan.  In the meantime she
+accepted an offer for the Ancona Theatre, and Petronio took the part
+of first female dancer; in this way we played the comedy of 'The
+World Turned Upside Down.'
+
+"After Salimberi, you are the only man I have known, and, if you
+like, you can restore me to my original state, and make me give up
+the name of Bellino, which I hate since the death of my protector,
+and which begins to inconvenience me.  I have only appeared at two
+theatres, and each time I have been compelled to submit to the
+scandalous, degrading examination, because everywhere I am thought to
+have too much the appearance of a girl, and I am admitted only after
+the shameful test has brought conviction.  Until now, fortunately, I
+have had to deal only with old priests who, in their good faith, have
+been satisfied with a very slight examination, and have made a
+favourable report to the bishop; but I might fall into the hands of
+some young abbe, and the test would then become a more severe one.
+Besides, I find myself exposed to the daily persecutions of two sorts
+of beings: those who, like you, cannot and will not believe me to be
+a man, and those who, for the satisfaction of their disgusting
+propensities, are delighted at my being so, or find it advantageous
+to suppose me so.  The last particularly annoy me! Their tastes are
+so infamous, their habits so low,  that I fear I shall murder one of
+them some day, when I can no longer control the rage in which their
+obscene language throws me.  Out of pity, my beloved angel, be
+generous; and, if you love me, oh! free me from this state of shame
+and degradation!  Take me with you.  I do not ask to become your
+wife, that would be too much happiness; I will only be your friend,
+your mistress, as I would have been Salimberi's; my heart is pure and
+innocent, I feel that I can remain faithful to my lover through my
+whole life.  Do not abandon me.  The love I have for you is sincere;
+my affection for Salimberi was innocent; it was born of my
+inexperience and of my gratitude, and it is only with you that I have
+felt myself truly a woman."
+
+Her emotion, an inexpressible charm which seemed to flow from her
+lips and to enforce conviction, made me shed tears of love and
+sympathy.  I blended my tears with those falling from her beautiful
+eyes, and deeply moved, I promised not to abandon her and to make her
+the sharer of my fate.  Interested in the history, as singular as
+extraordinary, that she had just narrated, and having seen nothing in
+it that did not bear the stamp of truth, I felt really disposed to
+make her happy but I could not believe that I had inspired her with a
+very deep passion during my short stay in Ancona, many circumstances
+of which might, on the contrary, have had an opposite effect upon her
+heart.
+
+"If you loved me truly," I said, "how could you let me sleep with
+your sisters, out of spite at your resistance?"
+
+"Alas, dearest! think of our great poverty, and how difficult it was
+for me to discover myself.  I loved you; but was it not natural that
+I should suppose your inclination for me only a passing caprice?
+When I saw you go so easily from Cecilia to Marinetta, I thought that
+you would treat me in the same manner as soon as your desires were
+satisfied, I was likewise confirmed in my opinion of your want of
+constancy and of the little importance you attached to the delicacy
+of the sentiment of love, when I witnessed what you did on board the
+Turkish vessel without being hindered by my presence; had you loved
+me, I thought my being present would have made you uncomfortable.  I
+feared to be soon despised, and God knows how much I suffered!  You
+have insulted me, darling, in many different ways, but my heart
+pleaded in your favour, because I knew you were excited, angry, and
+thirsting for revenge.  Did you not threaten me this very day in your
+carriage?  I confess you greatly frightened me, but do not fancy that
+I gave myself to you out of fear.  No, I had made up my mind to be
+yours from the moment you sent me word by Cecilia that you would take
+me to Rimini, and your control over your own feelings during a part
+of our journey confirmed me in my resolution, for I thought I could
+trust myself to your honour, to your delicacy."
+
+"Throw up," I said, "the engagement you have in Rimini; let us
+proceed on our journey, and, after remaining a couple of days in
+Bologna, you will go with me to Venice; dressed as a woman, and with
+another name, I would challenge the manager here to find you out."
+
+"I accept.  Your will shall always be my law.  I am my own mistress,
+and I give myself to you without any reserve or restriction; my heart
+belongs to you, and I trust to keep yours."
+
+Man has in himself a moral force of action which always makes him
+overstep the line on which he is standing.  I had obtained
+everything, I wanted more.  "Shew me," I said, "how you were when I
+mistook you for a man." She got out of bed, opened her trunk, took
+out the instrument and fixed it with the gum: I was compelled to
+admire the ingenuity of the contrivance.  My curiosity was satisfied,
+and I passed a most delightful night in her arms.
+
+When I woke up in the morning, I admired her lovely face while she
+was sleeping: all I knew of her came back to my mind; the words which
+had been spoken by her bewitching mouth, her rare talent, her
+candour, her feelings so full of delicacy, and her misfortunes, the
+heaviest of which must have been the false character she had been
+compelled to assume, and which exposed her to humiliation and shame,
+everything strengthened my resolution to make her the companion of my
+destiny, whatever it might be, or to follow her fate, for our
+positions were very nearly the same; and wishing truly to attach
+myself seriously to that interesting being, I determined to give to
+our union the sanction of religion and of law, and to take her
+legally for my wife.  Such a step, as I then thought, could but
+strengthen our love, increase our mutual esteem, and insure the
+approbation of society which could not accept our union unless it was
+sanctioned in the usual manner.
+
+The talents of Therese precluded the fear of our being ever in want
+of the necessaries of life, and, although I did not know in what way
+my own talents might be made available, I had faith in myself.  Our
+love might have been lessened, she would have enjoyed too great
+advantages over me, and my self-dignity would have too deeply
+suffered if I had allowed myself to be supported by her earnings
+only.  It might, after a time, have altered the nature of our
+feelings; my wife, no longer thinking herself under any obligation to
+me, might have fancied herself the protecting, instead of the
+protected party, and I felt that my love would soon have turned into
+utter contempt, if it had been my misfortune to find her harbouring
+such thoughts.  Although I trusted it would not be so, I wanted,
+before taking the important step of marriage, to probe her heart, and
+I resolved to try an experiment which would at once enable me to
+judge the real feelings of her inmost soul.  As soon as she was
+awake, I spoke to her thus:
+
+"Dearest Therese, all you have told me leaves me no doubt of your
+love for me, and the consciousness you feel of being the mistress of
+my heart enhances my love for you to such a degree, that I am ready
+to do everything to convince you that you were not mistaken in
+thinking that you had entirely conquered me.  I wish to prove to you
+that I am worthy of the noble confidence you have reposed in me by
+trusting you with equal sincerity.
+
+"Our hearts must be on a footing of perfect equality.  I know you, my
+dearest Therese, but you do not know me yet.  I can read in your eyes
+that you do not mind it, and it proves our great love, but that
+feeling places me too much below you, and I do not wish you to have
+so great an advantage over me.  I feel certain that my confidence is
+not necessary to your love; that you only care to be mine, that your
+only wish is to possess my heart, and I admire you, my Therese; but I
+should feel humiliated if I found myself either too much above or too
+much below you.  You have entrusted your secrets to me, now listen to
+mine; but before I begin, promise me that, when you know everything
+that concerns me, you will tell me candidly if any change has taken
+place either in your feelings or in your hopes."
+
+"I promise it faithfully; I promise not to conceal anything from you;
+but be upright enough not to tell me anything that is not perfectly
+true, for I warn you that it would be useless.  If you tried any
+artifice in order to find me less worthy of you than I am in reality,
+you would only succeed in lowering yourself in my estimation.  I
+should be very sorry to see you guilty of any cunning towards me.
+Have no more suspicion of me than I have of you; tell me the whole
+truth."
+
+"Here it is.  You suppose me wealthy, and I am not so; as soon as
+what there is now in my purse is spent I shall have nothing left.
+You may fancy that I was born a patrician, but my social condition is
+really inferior to your own.  I have no lucrative talents, no
+profession, nothing to give me the assurance that I am able to earn
+my living.  I have neither relatives nor friends, nor claims upon
+anyone, and I have no serious plan or purpose before me.  All I
+possess is youth, health, courage, some intelligence, honour,
+honesty, and some tincture of letters.  My greatest treasure consists
+in being my own master, perfectly independent, and not afraid of
+misfortune.  With all that, I am naturally inclined to extravagance.
+Lovely Therese, you have my portrait.  What is your answer?"
+
+"In the first place, dearest, let me assure you that I believe every
+word you have just uttered, as I would believe in the Gospel; in the
+second, allow me to tell you that several times in Ancona I have
+judged you such as you have just described yourself, but far from
+being displeased at such a knowledge of your nature, I was only
+afraid of some illusion on my part, for I could hope to win you if
+you were what I thought you to be.  In one word, dear one, if it is
+true that you are poor and a very bad hand at economy, allow me to
+tell you that I feel delighted, because, if you love me, you will not
+refuse a present from me, or despise me for offering it.  The present
+consists of myself, such as I am, and with all my faculties.  I give
+myself to you without any condition, with no restriction; I am yours,
+I will take care of you.  For the future think only of your love for
+me, but love me exclusively.  From this moment I am no longer
+Bellino.  Let us go to Venice, where my talent will keep us both
+comfortably; if you wish to go anywhere else, let us go where you
+please."
+
+"I must go to Constantinople."
+
+"Then let us proceed to Constantinople.  If you are afraid to lose me
+through want of constancy, marry me, and your right over me will be
+strengthened by law.  I should not love you better than I do now, but
+I should be happy to be your wife."
+
+"It is my intention to marry you, and I am delighted that we agree in
+that respect.  The day after to-morrow, in Bologna, you shall be made
+my legal-wife before the altar of God; I swear it to you here in the
+presence of Love.  I want you to be mine, I want to be yours, I want
+us to be united by the most holy ties."
+
+"I am the happiest of women!  We have nothing to do in Rimini;
+suppose we do not get up; we can have our dinner in bed, and go away
+to-morrow well rested after our fatigues."
+
+We left Rimini the next day, and stayed for breakfast at Pesaro.  As
+we were getting into the carriage to leave that place, an officer,
+accompanied by two soldiers, presented himself, enquired for our
+names, and demanded our passports.  Bellino had one and gave it, but
+I looked in vain for mine; I could not find it.
+
+The officer, a corporal, orders the postillion to wait and goes to
+make his report.  Half an hour afterwards, he returns, gives Bellino
+his passport, saying that he can continue his journey, but tells me
+that his orders are to escort me to the commanding officer, and I
+follow him.
+
+"What have you done with your passport?" enquires that officer.
+
+"I have lost it."
+
+"A passport is not so easily lost."
+
+"Well, I have lost mine."
+
+"You cannot proceed any further."
+
+"I come from Rome, and I am going to Constantinople, bearing a letter
+from Cardinal Acquaviva.  Here is the letter stamped with his seal."
+
+"All I can do for you is to send you to M. de Gages."
+
+I found the famous general standing, surrounded by his staff.  I told
+him all I had already explained to the officer, and begged him to let
+me continue my journey.
+
+"The only favour I can grant you is to put you under arrest till you
+receive another passport from Rome delivered under the same name as
+the one you have given here.  To lose a passport is a misfortune
+which befalls only a thoughtless, giddy man, and the cardinal will
+for the future know better than to put his confidence in a giddy
+fellow like you."
+
+With these words, he gave orders to take me to the guard-house at St.
+Mary's Gate, outside the city, as soon as I should have written to
+the cardinal for a new passport.  His orders were executed.  I was
+brought back to the inn, where I wrote my letter, and I sent it by
+express to his eminence, entreating him to forward the document,
+without loss of time, direct to the war office.  Then I embraced
+Therese who was weeping, and, telling her to go to Rimini and to wait
+there for my return, I made her take one hundred sequins.  She wished
+to remain in Pesaro, but I would not hear of it; I had my trunk
+brought out, I saw Therese go away from the inn, and was taken to the
+place appointed by the general.
+
+It is undoubtedly under such circumstances that the most determined
+optimist finds himself at a loss; but an easy stoicism can blunt the
+too sharp edge of misfortune.
+
+My greatest sorrow was the heart-grief of Therese who, seeing me torn
+from her arms at the very moment of our union, was suffocated by the
+tears which she tried to repress.  She would not have left me if I
+had not made her understand that she could not remain in Pesaro, and
+if I had not promised to join her within ten days, never to be parted
+again.  But fate had decided otherwise.
+
+When we reached the gate, the officer confined me immediately in the
+guard-house, and I sat down on my trunk.  The officer was a taciturn
+Spaniard who did not even condescend to honour me with an answer,
+when I told him that I had money and would like to have someone to
+wait on me.  I had to pass the night on a little straw, and without
+food, in the midst of the Spanish soldiers.  It was the second night
+of the sort that my destiny had condemned me to, immediately after
+two delightful nights.  My good angel doubtless found some pleasure
+in bringing such conjunctions before my mind for the benefit of my
+instruction.  At all events, teachings of that description have an
+infallible effect upon natures of a peculiar stamp.
+
+If you should wish to close the lips of a logician calling himself a
+philosopher, who dares to argue that in this life grief overbalances
+pleasure, ask him whether he would accept a life entirely without
+sorrow and happiness.  Be certain that he will not answer you, or he
+will shuffle, because, if he says no, he proves that he likes life
+such as it is, and if he likes it, he must find it agreeable, which
+is an utter impossibility, if life is painful; should he, on the
+contrary, answer in the affirmative, he would declare himself a fool,
+for it would be as much as to say that he can conceive pleasure
+arising from indifference, which is absurd nonsense.
+
+Suffering is inherent in human nature; but we never suffer without
+entertaining the hope of recovery, or, at least, very seldom without
+such hope, and hope itself is a pleasure.  If it happens sometimes
+that man suffers without any expectation of a cure, he necessarily
+finds pleasure in the complete certainty of the end of his life; for
+the worst, in all cases, must be either a sleep arising from extreme
+dejection, during which we have the consolation of happy dreams or
+the loss of all sensitiveness.  But when we are happy, our happiness
+is never disturbed by the thought that it will be followed by grief.
+Therefore pleasure, during its active period, is always complete,
+without alloy; grief is always soothed by hope.
+
+I suppose you, dear reader, at the age of twenty, and devoting
+yourself to the task of making a man of yourself by furnishing your
+mind with all the knowledge necessary to render you a useful being
+through the activity of your brain.  Someone comes in and tells you,
+"I bring you thirty years of existence; it is the immutable decree of
+fate; fifteen consecutive years must be happy, and fifteen years
+unhappy.  You are at liberty to choose the half by which you wish to
+begin."
+
+Confess it candidly, dear reader, you will not require much more
+consideration to decide, and you will certainly begin by the unhappy
+series of years, because you will feel that the expectation of
+fifteen delightful years cannot fail to brace you up with the courage
+necessary to bear the unfortunate years you have to go through, and
+we can even surmise, with every probability of being right, that the
+certainty of future happiness will soothe to a considerable extent
+the misery of the first period.
+
+You have already guessed, I have no doubt, the purpose of this
+lengthy argument.  The sagacious man, believe me, can never be
+utterly miserable, and I most willingly agree with my friend Horace,
+who says that, on the contrary, such a man is always happy.
+
+     'Nisi quum pituita molesta est.'
+
+But, pray where is the man who is always suffering from a rheum?
+
+The fact is that the fearful night I passed in the guardhouse of St.
+Mary resulted for me in a slight loss and in a great gain.  The small
+loss was to be away from my dear Therese, but, being certain of
+seeing her within ten days, the misfortune was not very great: as to
+the gain, it was in experience the true school for a man.  I gained a
+complete system against thoughtlessness, a system of foresight.  You
+may safely bet a hundred to one that a young man who has once lost
+his purse or his passport, will not lose either a second time. Each
+of those misfortunes has befallen me once only, and I might have been
+very often the victim of them, if experience had not taught me how
+much they were to be dreaded.  A thoughtless fellow is a man who has
+not yet found the word dread in the dictionary of his life.
+
+The officer who relieved my cross-grained Castilian on the following
+day seemed of a different nature altogether; his prepossessing
+countenance pleased me much.  He was a Frenchman, and I must say that
+I have always liked the French, and never the Spainards; there is in
+the manners of the first something so engaging, so obliging, that you
+feel attracted towards them as towards a friend, whilst an air of
+unbecoming haughtiness gives to the second a dark, forbidding
+countenance which certainly does not prepossess in their favour.  Yet
+I have often been duped by Frenchmen, and never by Spaniards--a proof
+that we ought to mistrust our tastes.
+
+The new officer, approaching me very politely, said to me,--
+
+"To what chance, reverend sir, am I indebted for the honour of having
+you in my custody?"
+
+Ah! here was a way of speaking which restored to my lungs all their
+elasticity!  I gave him all the particulars of my misfortune, and he
+found the mishap very amusing. But a man disposed to laugh at my
+disappointment could not be disagreeable to me, for it proved that
+the turn of his mind had more than one point of resemblance with
+mine. He gave me at once a soldier to serve me, and I had very
+quickly a bed, a table, and a few chairs. He was kind enough to have
+my bed placed in his own room, and I felt very grateful to him for
+that delicate attention.
+
+He gave me an invitation to share his dinner, and proposed a game of
+piquet afterwards, but from the very beginning he saw that I was no
+match for him; he told me so, and he warned me that the officer who
+would relieve him the next day was a better player even than he was
+himself; I lost three or four ducats. He advised me to abstain from
+playing on the following day, and I followed his advice. He told me
+also that he would have company to supper, that there would be a game
+of faro, but that the banker being a Greek and a crafty player, I
+ought not to play. I thought his advice very considerate,
+particularly when I saw that all the punters lost, and that the
+Greek, very calm in the midst of the insulting treatment of those he
+had duped, was pocketing his money, after handing a share to the
+officer who had taken an interest in the bank.  The name of the
+banker was Don Pepe il Cadetto, and by his accent I knew he was a
+Neapolitan.  I communicated my discovery to the officer, asking him
+why he had told me that the man was a Greek.  He explained to me the
+meaning of the word greek applied to a gambler, and the lesson which
+followed his explanation proved very useful to me in after years.
+
+During the five following days, my life was uniform and rather dull,
+but on the sixth day the same French officer was on guard, and I was
+very glad to see him.  He told me, with a hearty laugh, that he was
+delighted to find me still in the guard-house, and I accepted the
+compliment for what it was worth.  In the evening, we had the same
+bank at faro, with the same result as the first time, except a
+violent blow from the stick of one of the punters upon the back of
+the banker, of which the Greek stoically feigned to take no notice.
+I saw the same man again nine years afterwards in Vienna, captain in
+the service of Maria Theresa; he then called himself d'Afflisso.  Ten
+years later, I found him a colonel, and some time after worth a
+million; but the last time I saw him, some thirteen or fourteen years
+ago, he was a galley slave.  He was handsome, but (rather a singular
+thing) in spite of his beauty, he had a gallows look.  I have seen
+others with the same stamp--Cagliostro, for instance, and another who
+has not yet been sent to the galleys, but who cannot fail to pay them
+a visit.  Should the reader feel any curiosity about it, I can
+whisper the name in his ear.
+
+Towards the ninth or tenth day everyone in the army knew and liked
+me, and I was expecting the passport, which could not be delayed much
+longer.  I was almost free, and I would often walk about even out of
+sight of the sentinel.  They were quite right not to fear my running
+away, and I should have been wrong if I had thought of escaping, but
+the most singular adventure of my life happened to me then, and most
+unexpectedly.
+
+It was about six in the morning.  I was taking a walk within one
+hundred yards of the sentinel, when an officer arrived and alighted
+from his horse, threw the bridle on the neck of his steed, and walked
+off.  Admiring the docility of the horse, standing there like a
+faithful servant to whom his master has given orders to wait for him
+I got up to him, and without any purpose I get hold of the bridle,
+put my foot in the stirrup, and find myself in the saddle.  I was on
+horseback for the first time in my life.  I do not know whether I
+touched the horse with my cane or with my heels, but suddenly the
+animal starts at full speed.  My right foot having slipped out of the
+stirrup, I press against the horse with my heels, and, feeling the
+pressure, it gallops faster and faster, for I did not know how to
+check it.  At the last advanced post the sentinels call out to me to
+stop; but I cannot obey the order, and the horse carrying me away
+faster than ever, I hear the whizzing of a few musket balls, the
+natural consequence of my, involuntary disobedience.  At last, when I
+reach the first advanced picket of the Austrians, the horse is
+stopped, and I get off his back thanking God.
+
+An officer of Hussars asks where I am running so fast, and my tongue,
+quicker than my thought, answers without any privity on my part, that
+I can render no account but to Prince Lobkowitz, commander-in-chief
+of the army, whose headquarters were at Rimini.  Hearing my answer,
+the officer gave orders for two Hussars to get on horseback, a fresh
+one is given me, and I am taken at full gallop to Rimini, where the
+officer on guard has me escorted at once to the prince.
+
+I find his highness alone, and I tell him candidly what has just
+happened to me.  My story makes him laugh, although he observes that
+it is hardly credible.
+
+"I ought," he says, "to put you under arrest, but I am willing to
+save you that unpleasantness."  With that he called one of his
+officers and ordered him to escort me through the Cesena Gate.  "Then
+you can go wherever you please," he added, turning round to me; "but
+take care not to again enter the lines of my army without a passport,
+or you might fare badly."
+
+I asked him to let me have the horse again, but he answered that the
+animal did not belong to me.  I forgot to ask him to send me back to
+the place I had come from, and I regretted it; but after all perhaps
+I did for the best.
+
+The officer who accompanied me asked me, as we were passing a coffee-
+house, whether I would like to take some chocolate, and we went in.
+At that moment I saw Petronio going by, and availing myself of a
+moment when the officer was talking to someone, I told him not to
+appear to be acquainted with me, but to tell me where he lived.  When
+we had taken our chocolate the officer paid and we went out.  Along
+the road we kept up the conversation; he told me his name, I gave him
+mine, and I explained how I found myself in Rimini.  He asked me
+whether I had not remained some time in Ancona; I answered in the
+affirmative, and he smiled and said I could get a passport in
+Bologna, return to Rimini and to Pesaro without any fear, and recover
+my trunk by paying the officer for the horse he had lost.  We reached
+the gate, he wished me a pleasant journey, and we parted company.
+
+I found myself free, with gold and jewels, but without my trunk.
+Therese was in Rimini, and I could not enter that city.  I made up my
+mind to go to Bologna as quickly as possible in order to get a
+passport, and to return to Pesaro, where I should find my passport
+from Rome, for I could not make up my mind to lose my trunk, and I
+did not want to be separated from Therese until the end of her
+engagement with the manager of the Rimini Theatre.
+
+It was raining; I had silk stockings on, and I longed for a carriage.
+I took shelter under the portal of a church, and turned my fine
+overcoat inside out, so as not to look like an abbe.  At that moment
+a peasant happened to come along, and I asked him if a carriage could
+be had to drive me to Cesena.  "I have one, sir," he said, "but I
+live half a league from here."
+
+"Go and get it, I will wait for you here."
+
+While I was waiting for the return of the peasant with his vehicle,
+some forty mules laden with provisions came along the road towards
+Rimini.  It was still raining fast, and the mules passing close by
+me, I placed my hand mechanically upon the neck of one of them, and
+following the slow pace of the animals I re-entered Rimini without
+the slightest notice being taken of me, even by the drivers of the
+mules.  I gave some money to the first street urchin I met, and he
+took me to Therese's house.
+
+With my hair fastened under a night-cap, my hat pulled down over my
+face, and my fine cane concealed under my coat, I did not look a very
+elegant figure.  I enquired for Bellino's mother, and the mistress of
+the house took me to a room where I found all the family, and Therese
+in a woman's dress.  I had reckoned upon surmising them, but Petronio
+had told them of our meeting, and they were expecting me.  I gave a
+full account of my adventures, but Therese, frightened at the danger
+that threatened me, and in spite of her love, told me that it was
+absolutely necessary for me to go to Bologna, as I had been advised
+by M. Vais, the officer.
+
+"I know him," she said, "and he is a worthy man, but he comes here
+every evening, and you must conceal yourself."
+
+It was only eight o'clock in the morning; we had the whole day before
+us, and everyone promised to be discreet.  I allayed Therese's
+anxiety by telling her that I could easily contrive to leave the city
+without being observed.
+
+Therese took me to her own room, where she told me that she had met
+the manager of the theatre on her arrival in Rimini, and that he had
+taken her at once to the apartments engaged for the family.  She had
+informed him that she was a woman, and that she had made up her mind
+not to appear as a castrato any more; he had expressed himself
+delighted at such news, because women could appear on the stage at
+Rimini, which was not under the same legate as Ancona.  She added
+that her engagement would be at an end by the 1st of May, and that
+she would meet me wherever it would be agreeable to me to wait for
+her.
+
+"As soon as I can get a passport," I said, "there is nothing to
+hinder me from remaining near you until the end of your engagement.
+But as M. Vais calls upon you, tell me whether you have informed him
+of my having spent a few days in Ancona?"
+
+"I did, and I even told him that you had been arrested because you
+had lost your passport."
+
+I understood why the officer had smiled as he was talking with me.
+After my conversation with Therese, I received the compliments of the
+mother and of the young sisters who appeared to me less cheerful and
+less free than they had been in Ancona.  They felt that Bellino,
+transformed into Therese, was too formidable a rival.  I listened
+patiently to all the complaints of the mother who maintained that, in
+giving up the character of castrato, Therese had bidden adieu to
+fortune, because she might have earned a thousand sequins a year in
+Rome.
+
+"In Rome, my good woman," I said, "the false Bellino would have been
+found out, and Therese would have been consigned to a miserable
+convent for which she was never made."
+
+Notwithstanding the danger of my position, I spent the whole of the
+day alone with my beloved mistress, and it seemed that every moment
+gave her fresh beauties and increased my love.  At eight o'clock in
+the evening, hearing someone coming in, she left me, and I remained
+in the dark, but in such a position that I could see everything and
+hear every word.  The Baron Vais came in, and Therese gave him her
+hand with the grace of a pretty woman and the dignity of a princess.
+The first thing he told her was the news about me; she appeared to be
+pleased, and listened with well-feigned indifference, when he said
+that he had advised me to return with a passport.  He spent an hour
+with her, and I was thoroughly well pleased with her manners and
+behaviour, which had been such as to leave me no room for the
+slightest feeling of jealousy.  Marina lighted him out and Therese
+returned to me.  We had a joyous supper together, and, as we were
+getting ready to go to bed, Petronio came to inform me that ten
+muleteers would start for Cesena two hours before day-break, and that
+he was sure I could leave the city with them if I would go and meet
+them a quarter of an hour before their departure, and treat them to
+something to drink.  I was of the same opinion, and made up my mind
+to make the attempt.  I asked Petronio to sit up and to wake me in
+good time.  It proved an unnecessary precaution, for I was ready
+before the time, and left Therese satisfied with my love, without any
+doubt of my constancy, but rather anxious as to my success in
+attempting to leave Rimini.  She had sixty sequins which she wanted
+to force back upon me, but I asked her what opinion she would have of
+me if I accepted them, and we said no more about it.
+
+I went to the stable, and having treated one of the muleteers to some
+drink I told him that I would willingly ride one of his mules as far
+as Sarignan.
+
+"You are welcome to the ride," said the good fellow, "but I would
+advise you not to get on the mule till we are outside the city, and
+to pass through the gate on foot as if you were one of the drivers."
+
+It was exactly what I wanted.  Petronio accompanied me as far as the
+gate, where I gave him a substantial proof of my gratitude.  I got
+out of the city without the slightest difficulty, and left the
+muleteers at Sarignan, whence I posted to Bologna.
+
+I found out that I could not obtain a passport, for the simple reason
+that the authorities of the city persisted that it was not necessary;
+but I knew better, and it was not for me to tell them why.  I
+resolved to write to the French officer who had treated me so well at
+the guardhouse.  I begged him to enquire at the war office whether my
+passport had arrived from Rome, and, if so, to forward it to me.  I
+also asked him to find out the owner of the horse who had run away
+with me, offering to pay for it.  I made up my mind to wait for
+Therese in Bologna, and I informed her of my decision, entreating her
+to write very often.  The reader will soon know the new resolution I
+took on the very same day.
+
+
+
+
+End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of MEMOIRES OF JACQUES CASANOVA
+VENETION YEARS, Vol. 1b, A CLERIC IN NAPLES
+by Jacques Casanova de Seingalt
+
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