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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Venetian Years: Return to Venice
+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: Return to Venice
+       The Memoirs Of Jacques Casanova De Seingalt 1725-1798
+
+Author: Jacques Casanova de Seingalt
+
+Release Date: October 30, 2006 [EBook #2954]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK VENETIAN YEARS: RETURN TO VENICE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Widger
+
+
+
+
+
+MEMOIRS OF JACQUES CASANOVA de SEINGALT 1725-1798
+
+VENETIAN YEARS, Volume 1d--RETURN TO VENICE
+
+THE RARE UNABRIDGED LONDON EDITION OF 1894 TRANSLATED BY ARTHUR MACHEN TO
+WHICH HAS BEEN ADDED THE CHAPTERS DISCOVERED BY ARTHUR SYMONS.
+
+
+
+
+RETURN TO VENICE
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+A Fearful Misfortune Befalls Me--Love Cools Down--Leave Corfu and Return
+to Venice--Give Up the Army and Become a Fiddler
+
+The wound was rapidly healing up, and I saw near at hand the moment when
+Madame F---- would leave her bed, and resume her usual avocations.
+
+The governor of the galeasses having issued orders for a general review
+at Gouyn, M. F----, left for that place in his galley, telling me to join
+him there early on the following day with the felucca. I took supper
+alone with Madame F----, and I told her how unhappy it made me to remain
+one day away from her.
+
+"Let us make up to-night for to-morrow's disappointment," she said, "and
+let us spend it together in conversation. Here are the keys; when you
+know that my maid has left me, come to me through my husband's room."
+
+I did not fail to follow her instructions to the letter, and we found
+ourselves alone with five hours before us. It was the month of June, and
+the heat was intense. She had gone to bed; I folded her in my arms, she
+pressed me to her bosom, but, condemning herself to the most cruel
+torture, she thought I had no right to complain, if I was subjected to
+the same privation which she imposed upon herself. My remonstrances, my
+prayers, my entreaties were of no avail.
+
+"Love," she said, "must be kept in check with a tight hand, and we can
+laugh at him, since, in spite of the tyranny which we force him to obey,
+we succeed all the same in gratifying our desires."
+
+After the first ecstacy, our eyes and lips unclosed together, and a
+little apart from each other we take delight in seeing the mutual
+satisfaction beaming on our features.
+
+Our desires revive; she casts a look upon my state of innocence entirely
+exposed to her sight. She seems vexed at my want of excitement, and,
+throwing off everything which makes the heat unpleasant and interferes
+with our pleasure, she bounds upon me. It is more than amorous fury, it
+is desperate lust. I share her frenzy, I hug her with a sort of delirium,
+I enjoy a felicity which is on the point of carrying me to the regions of
+bliss.... but, at the very moment of completing the offering, she fails
+me, moves off, slips away, and comes back to work off my excitement with
+a hand which strikes me as cold as ice.
+
+"Ah, thou cruel, beloved woman! Thou art burning with the fire of love,
+and thou deprivest thyself of the only remedy which could bring calm to
+thy senses! Thy lovely hand is more humane than thou art, but thou has
+not enjoyed the felicity that thy hand has given me. My hand must owe
+nothing to thine. Come, darling light of my heart, come! Love doubles my
+existence in the hope that I will die again, but only in that charming
+retreat from which you have ejected me in the very moment of my greatest
+enjoyment."
+
+While I was speaking thus, her very soul was breathing forth the most
+tender sighs of happiness, and as she pressed me tightly in her arms I
+felt that she was weltering in an ocean of bliss.
+
+Silence lasted rather a long time, but that unnatural felicity was
+imperfect, and increased my excitement.
+
+"How canst thou complain," she said tenderly, "when it is to that very
+imperfection of our enjoyment that we are indebted for its continuance? I
+loved thee a few minutes since, now I love thee a thousand times more,
+and perhaps I should love thee less if thou hadst carried my enjoyment to
+its highest limit."
+
+"Oh! how much art thou mistaken, lovely one! How great is thy error! Thou
+art feeding upon sophisms, and thou leavest reality aside; I mean nature
+which alone can give real felicity. Desires constantly renewed and never
+fully satisfied are more terrible than the torments of hell."
+
+"But are not these desires happiness when they are always accompanied by
+hope?"
+
+"No, if that hope is always disappointed. It becomes hell itself, because
+there is no hope, and hope must die when it is killed by constant
+deception."
+
+"Dearest, if hope does not exist in hell, desires cannot be found there
+either; for to imagine desires without hopes would be more than madness."
+
+"Well, answer me. If you desire to be mine entirely, and if you feel the
+hope of it, which, according to your way of reasoning, is a natural
+consequence, why do you always raise an impediment to your own hope?
+Cease, dearest, cease to deceive yourself by absurd sophisms. Let us be
+as happy as it is in nature to be, and be quite certain that the reality
+of happiness will increase our love, and that love will find a new life
+in our very enjoyment."
+
+"What I see proves the contrary; you are alive with excitement now, but
+if your desires had been entirely satisfied, you would be dead, benumbed,
+motionless. I know it by experience: if you had breathed the full ecstacy
+of enjoyment, as you desired, you would have found a weak ardour only at
+long intervals."
+
+"Ah! charming creature, your experience is but very small; do not trust
+to it. I see that you have never known love. That which you call love's
+grave is the sanctuary in which it receives life, the abode which makes
+it immortal. Give way to my prayers, my lovely friend, and then you shall
+know the difference between Love and Hymen. You shall see that, if Hymen
+likes to die in order to get rid of life, Love on the contrary expires
+only to spring up again into existence, and hastens to revive, so as to
+savour new enjoyment. Let me undeceive you, and believe me when I say
+that the full gratification of desires can only increase a hundredfold
+the mutual ardour of two beings who adore each other."
+
+"Well, I must believe you; but let us wait. In the meantime let us enjoy
+all the trifles, all the sweet preliminaries of love. Devour thy
+mistress, dearest, but abandon to me all thy being. If this night is too
+short we must console ourselves to-morrow by making arrangements for
+another one."
+
+"And if our intercourse should be discovered?"
+
+"Do we make a mystery of it? Everybody can see that we love each other,
+and those who think that we do not enjoy the happiness of lovers are
+precisely the only persons we have to fear. We must only be careful to
+guard against being surprised in the very act of proving our love. Heaven
+and nature must protect our affection, for there is no crime when two
+hearts are blended in true love. Since I have been conscious of my own
+existence, Love has always seemed to me the god of my being, for every
+time I saw a man I was delighted; I thought that I was looking upon
+one-half of myself, because I felt I was made for him and he for me. I
+longed to be married. It was that uncertain longing of the heart which
+occupies exclusively a young girl of fifteen. I had no conception of
+love, but I fancied that it naturally accompanied marriage. You can
+therefore imagine my surprise when my husband, in the very act of making
+a woman of me, gave me a great deal of pain without giving me the
+slightest idea of pleasure! My imagination in the convent was much better
+than the reality I had been condemned to by my husband! The result has
+naturally been that we have become very good friends, but a very
+indifferent husband and wife, without any desires for each other. He has
+every reason to be pleased with me, for I always shew myself docile to
+his wishes, but enjoyment not being in those cases seasoned by love, he
+must find it without flavour, and he seldom comes to me for it.
+
+"When I found out that you were in love with me, I felt delighted, and
+gave you every opportunity of becoming every day more deeply enamoured of
+me, thinking myself certain of never loving you myself. As soon as I felt
+that love had likewise attacked my heart, I ill-treated you to punish you
+for having made my heart sensible. Your patience and constancy have
+astonished me, and have caused me to be guilty, for after the first kiss
+I gave you I had no longer any control over myself. I was indeed
+astounded when I saw the havoc made by one single kiss, and I felt that
+my happiness was wrapped up in yours. That discovery flattered and
+delighted me, and I have found out, particularly to-night, that I cannot
+be happy unless you are so yourself."
+
+"That is, my beloved, the most refined of all sentiments experienced by
+love, but it is impossible for you to render me completely happy without
+following in everything the laws and the wishes of nature."
+
+The night was spent in tender discussions and in exquisite
+voluptuousness, and it was not without some grief that at day-break I
+tore myself from her arms to go to Gouyn. She wept for joy when she saw
+that I left her without having lost a particle of my vigour, for she did
+not imagine such a thing possible.
+
+After that night, so rich in delights, ten or twelve days passed without
+giving us any opportunity of quenching even a small particle of the
+amorous thirst which devoured us, and it was then that a fearful
+misfortune befell me.
+
+One evening after supper, M. D---- R---- having retired, M. F---- used no
+ceremony, and, although I was present, told his wife that he intended to
+pay her a visit after writing two letters which he had to dispatch early
+the next morning. The moment he had left the room we looked at each
+other, and with one accord fell into each other's arms. A torrent of
+delights rushed through our souls without restraint, without reserve, but
+when the first ardour had been appeased, without giving me time to think
+or to enjoy the most complete, the most delicious victory, she drew back,
+repulsed me, and threw herself, panting, distracted, upon a chair near
+her bed. Rooted to the spot, astonished, almost mad, I tremblingly looked
+at her, trying to understand what had caused such an extraordinary
+action. She turned round towards me and said, her eyes flashing with the
+fire of love,
+
+"My darling, we were on the brink of the precipice."
+
+"The precipice! Ah! cruel woman, you have killed me, I feel myself dying,
+and perhaps you will never see me again."
+
+I left her in a state of frenzy, and rushed out, towards the esplanade,
+to cool myself, for I was choking. Any man who has not experienced the
+cruelty of an action like that of Madame F----, and especially in the
+situation I found myself in at that moment, mentally and bodily, can
+hardly realize what I suffered, and, although I have felt that suffering,
+I could not give an idea of it.
+
+I was in that fearful state, when I heard my name called from a window,
+and unfortunately I condescended to answer. I went near the window, and I
+saw, thanks to the moonlight, the famous Melulla standing on her balcony.
+
+"What are you doing there at this time of night?" I enquired.
+
+"I am enjoying the cool evening breeze. Come up for a little while."
+
+This Melulla, of fatal memory, was a courtezan from Zamte, of rare
+beauty, who for the last four months had been the delight and the rage of
+all the young men in Corfu. Those who had known her agreed in extolling
+her charms: she was the talk of all the city. I had seen her often, but,
+although she was very beautiful, I was very far from thinking her as
+lovely as Madame F----, putting my affection for the latter on one side.
+I recollect seeing in Dresden, in the year 1790, a very handsome woman
+who was the image of Melulla.
+
+I went upstairs mechanically, and she took me to a voluptuous boudoir;
+she complained of my being the only one who had never paid her a visit,
+when I was the man she would have preferred to all others, and I had the
+infamy to give way.... I became the most criminal of men.
+
+It was neither desire, nor imagination, nor the merit of the woman which
+caused me to yield, for Melulla was in no way worthy of me; no, it was
+weakness, indolence, and the state of bodily and mental irritation in
+which I then found myself: it was a sort of spite, because the angel whom
+I adored had displeased me by a caprice, which, had I not been unworthy
+of her, would only have caused me to be still more attached to her.
+
+Melulla, highly pleased with her success, refused the gold I wanted to
+give her, and allowed me to go after I had spent two hours with her.
+
+When I recovered my composure, I had but one feeling-hatred for myself
+and for the contemptible creature who had allured me to be guilty of so
+vile an insult to the loveliest of her sex. I went home the prey to
+fearful remorse, and went to bed, but sleep never closed my eyes
+throughout that cruel night.
+
+In the morning, worn out with fatigue and sorrow, I got up, and as soon
+as I was dressed I went to M. F----, who had sent for me to give me some
+orders. After I had returned, and had given him an account of my mission,
+I called upon Madame F----, and finding her at her toilet I wished her
+good morning, observing that her lovely face was breathing the
+cheerfulness and the calm of happiness; but, suddenly, her eyes meeting
+mine, I saw her countenance change, and an expression of sadness replace
+her looks of satisfaction. She cast her eyes down as if she was deep in
+thought, raised them again as if to read my very soul, and breaking our
+painful silence, as soon as she had dismissed her maid, she said to me,
+with an accent full of tenderness and of solemnity,
+
+"Dear one, let there be no concealment either on my part or on yours. I
+felt deeply grieved when I saw you leave me last night, and a little
+consideration made me understand all the evil which might accrue to you
+in consequence of what I had done. With a nature like yours, such scenes
+might cause very dangerous disorders, and I have resolved not to do again
+anything by halves. I thought that you went out to breathe the fresh air,
+and I hoped it would do you good. I placed myself at my window, where I
+remained more than an hour without seeing alight in your room. Sorry for
+what I had done, loving you more than ever, I was compelled, when my
+husband came to my room, to go to bed with the sad conviction that you
+had not come home. This morning, M. F. sent an officer to tell you that
+he wanted to see you, and I heard the messenger inform him that you were
+not yet up, and that you had come home very late. I felt my heart swell
+with sorrow. I am not jealous, dearest, for I know that you cannot love
+anyone but me; I only felt afraid of some misfortune. At last, this
+morning, when I heard you coming, I was happy, because I was ready to
+skew my repentance, but I looked at you, and you seemed a different man.
+Now, I am still looking at you, and, in spite of myself, my soul reads
+upon your countenance that you are guilty, that you have outraged my
+love. Tell me at once, dearest, if I am mistaken; if you have deceived
+me, say so openly. Do not be unfaithful to love and to truth. Knowing
+that I was the cause of it, I should never forgive my self, but there is
+an excuse for you in my heart, in my whole being."
+
+More than once, in the course of my life, I have found myself under the
+painful necessity of telling falsehoods to the woman I loved; but in this
+case, after so true, so touching an appeal, how could I be otherwise than
+sincere? I felt myself sufficiently debased by my crime, and I could not
+degrade myself still more by falsehood. I was so far from being disposed
+to such a line of conduct that I could not speak, and I burst out crying.
+
+"What, my darling! you are weeping! Your tears make me miserable. You
+ought not to have shed any with me but tears of happiness and love.
+Quick, my beloved, tell me whether you have made me wretched. Tell me
+what fearful revenge you have taken on me, who would rather die than
+offend you. If I have caused you any sorrow, it has been in the innocence
+of a loving and devoted heart."
+
+"My own darling angel, I never thought of revenge, for my heart, which
+can never cease to adore you, could never conceive such a dreadful idea.
+It is against my own heart that my cowardly weakness has allured me to
+the commission of a crime which, for the remainder of my life, makes me
+unworthy of you."
+
+"Have you, then, given yourself to some wretched woman?"
+
+"Yes, I have spent two hours in the vilest debauchery, and my soul was
+present only to be the witness of my sadness, of my remorse, of my
+unworthiness."
+
+"Sadness and remorse! Oh, my poor friend! I believe it. But it is my
+fault; I alone ought to suffer; it is I who must beg you to forgive me."
+
+Her tears made mine flow again.
+
+"Divine soul," I said, "the reproaches you are addressing to yourself
+increase twofold the gravity of my crime. You would never have been
+guilty of any wrong against me if I had been really worthy of your love."
+
+I felt deeply the truth of my words.
+
+We spent the remainder of the day apparently quiet and composed,
+concealing our sadness in the depths of our hearts. She was curious to
+know all the circumstances of my miserable adventure, and, accepting it
+as an expiation, I related them to her. Full of kindness, she assured me
+that we were bound to ascribe that accident to fate, and that the same
+thing might have happened to the best of men. She added that I was more
+to be pitied than condemned, and that she did not love me less. We both
+were certain that we would seize the first favourable opportunity, she of
+obtaining her pardon, I of atoning for my crime, by giving each other new
+and complete proofs of our mutual ardour. But Heaven in its justice had
+ordered differently, and I was cruelly punished for my disgusting
+debauchery.
+
+On the third day, as I got up in the morning, an awful pricking announced
+the horrid state into which the wretched Melulla had thrown me. I was
+thunderstruck! And when I came to think of the misery which I might have
+caused if, during the last three days, I had obtained some new favour
+from my lovely mistress, I was on the point of going mad. What would have
+been her feelings if I had made her unhappy for the remainder of her
+life! Would anyone, then, knowing the whole case, have condemned me if I
+had destroyed my own life in order to deliver myself from everlasting
+remorse? No, for the man who kills himself from sheer despair, thus
+performing upon himself the execution of the sentence he would have
+deserved at the hands of justice cannot be blamed either by a virtuous
+philosopher or by a tolerant Christian. But of one thing I am quite
+certain: if such a misfortune had happened, I should have committed
+suicide.
+
+Overwhelmed with grief by the discovery I had just made, but thinking
+that I should get rid of the inconvenience as I had done three times
+before, I prepared myself for a strict diet, which would restore my
+health in six weeks without anyone having any suspicion of my illness,
+but I soon found out that I had not seen the end of my troubles; Melulla
+had communicated to my system all the poisons which corrupt the source of
+life. I was acquainted with an elderly doctor of great experience in
+those matters; I consulted him, and he promised to set me to rights in
+two months; he proved as good as his word. At the beginning of September
+I found myself in good health, and it was about that time that I returned
+to Venice.
+
+The first thing I resolved on, as soon as I discovered the state I was
+in, was to confess everything to Madame F----. I did not wish to wait for
+the time when a compulsory confession would have made her blush for her
+weakness, and given her cause to think of the fearful consequences which
+might have been the result of her passion for me. Her affection was too
+dear to me to run the risk of losing it through a want of confidence in
+her. Knowing her heart, her candour, and the generosity which had
+prompted her to say that I was more to be pitied than blamed, I thought
+myself bound to prove by my sincerity that I deserved her esteem.
+
+I told her candidly my position and the state I had been thrown in, when
+I thought of the dreadful consequences it might have had for her. I saw
+her shudder and tremble, and she turned pale with fear when I added that
+I would have avenged her by killing myself.
+
+"Villainous, infamous Melulla!" she exclaimed.
+
+And I repeated those words, but turning them against myself when I
+realized all I had sacrificed through the most disgusting weakness.
+
+Everyone in Corfu knew of my visit to the wretched Melulla, and everyone
+seemed surprised to see the appearance of health on my countenance; for
+many were the victims that she had treated like me.
+
+My illness was not my only sorrow; I had others which, although of a
+different nature, were not less serious. It was written in the book of
+fate that I should return to Venice a simple ensign as when I left: the
+general did not keep his word, and the bastard son of a nobleman was
+promoted to the lieutenancy instead of myself. From that moment the
+military profession, the one most subject to arbitrary despotism,
+inspired me with disgust, and I determined to give it up. But I had
+another still more important motive for sorrow in the fickleness of
+fortune which had completely turned against me. I remarked that, from the
+time of my degradation with Melulla, every kind of misfortune befell me.
+The greatest of all--that which I felt most, but which I had the good
+sense to try and consider a favour--was that a week before the departure
+of the army M. D---- R---- took me again for his adjutant, and M. F---- had
+to engage another in my place. On the occasion of that change Madame F
+told me, with an appearance of regret, that in Venice we could not, for
+many reasons, continue our intimacy. I begged her to spare me the
+reasons, as I foresaw that they would only throw humiliation upon me. I
+began to discover that the goddess I had worshipped was, after all, a
+poor human being like all other women, and to think that I should have
+been very foolish to give up my life for her. I probed in one day the
+real worth of her heart, for she told me, I cannot recollect in reference
+to what, that I excited her pity. I saw clearly that she no longer loved
+me; pity is a debasing feeling which cannot find a home in a heart full
+of love, for that dreary sentiment is too near a relative of contempt.
+Since that time I never found myself alone with Madame F----. I loved her
+still; I could easily have made her blush, but I did not do it.
+
+As soon as we reached Venice she became attached to M. F---- R----, whom
+she loved until death took him from her. She was unhappy enough to lose
+her sight twenty years after. I believe she is still alive.
+
+During the last two months of my stay in Corfu, I learned the most bitter
+and important lessons. In after years I often derived useful hints from
+the experience I acquired at that time.
+
+Before my adventure with the worthless Melulla, I enjoyed good health, I
+was rich, lucky at play, liked by everybody, beloved by the most lovely
+woman of Corfu. When I spoke, everybody would listen and admire my wit;
+my words were taken for oracles, and everyone coincided with me in
+everything. After my fatal meeting with the courtezan I rapidly lost my
+health, my money, my credit; cheerfulness, consideration, wit,
+everything, even the faculty of eloquence vanished with fortune. I would
+talk, but people knew that I was unfortunate, and I no longer interested
+or convinced my hearers. The influence I had over Madame F---- faded away
+little by little, and, almost without her knowing it, the lovely woman
+became completely indifferent to me.
+
+I left Corfu without money, although I had sold or pledged everything I
+had of any value. Twice I had reached Corfu rich and happy, twice I left
+it poor and miserable. But this time I had contracted debts which I have
+never paid, not through want of will but through carelessness.
+
+Rich and in good health, everyone received me with open arms; poor and
+looking sick, no one shewed me any consideration. With a full purse and
+the tone of a conqueror, I was thought witty, amusing; with an empty
+purse and a modest air, all I said appeared dull and insipid. If I had
+become rich again, how soon I would have been again accounted the eighth
+wonder of the world! Oh, men! oh, fortune! Everyone avoided me as if the
+ill luck which crushed me down was infectious.
+
+We left Corfu towards the end of September, with five galleys, two
+galeasses, and several smaller vessels, under the command of M. Renier.
+We sailed along the shores of the Adriatic, towards the north of the
+gulf, where there are a great many harbours, and we put in one of them
+every night. I saw Madame F---- every evening; she always came with her
+husband to take supper on board our galeass. We had a fortunate voyage,
+and cast anchor in the harbour of Venice on the 14th of October, 1745,
+and after having performed quarantine on board our ships, we landed on
+the 25th of November. Two months afterwards, the galeasses were set aside
+altogether. The use of these vessels could be traced very far back in
+ancient times; their maintenance was very expensive, and they were
+useless. A galeass had the frame of a frigate with the rowing apparatus
+of the galley, and when there was no wind, five hundred slaves had to
+row.
+
+Before simple good sense managed to prevail and to enforce the
+suppression of these useless carcasses, there were long discussions in
+the senate, and those who opposed the measure took their principal ground
+of opposition in the necessity of respecting and conserving all the
+institutions of olden times. That is the disease of persons who can never
+identify themselves with the successive improvements born of reason and
+experience; worthy persons who ought to be sent to China, or to the
+dominions of the Grand Lama, where they would certainly be more at home
+than in Europe.
+
+That ground of opposition to all improvements, however absurd it may be,
+is a very powerful one in a republic, which must tremble at the mere idea
+of novelty either in important or in trifling things. Superstition has
+likewise a great part to play in these conservative views.
+
+There is one thing that the Republic of Venice will never alter: I mean
+the galleys, because the Venetians truly require such vessels to ply, in
+all weathers and in spite of the frequent calms, in a narrow sea, and
+because they would not know what to do with the men sentenced to hard
+labour.
+
+I have observed a singular thing in Corfu, where there are often as many
+as three thousand galley slaves; it is that the men who row on the
+galleys, in consequence of a sentence passed upon them for some crime,
+are held in a kind of opprobrium, whilst those who are there voluntarily
+are, to some extent, respected. I have always thought it ought to be the
+reverse, because misfortune, whatever it may be, ought to inspire some
+sort of respect; but the vile fellow who condemns himself voluntarily and
+as a trade to the position of a slave seems to me contemptible in the
+highest degree. The convicts of the Republic, however, enjoy many
+privileges, and are, in every way, better treated than the soldiers. It
+very often occurs that soldiers desert and give themselves up to a
+'sopracomito' to become galley slaves. In those cases, the captain who
+loses a soldier has nothing to do but to submit patiently, for he would
+claim the man in vain. The reason of it is that the Republic has always
+believed galley slaves more necessary than soldiers. The Venetians may
+perhaps now (I am writing these lines in the year 1797) begin to realize
+their mistake.
+
+A galley slave, for instance, has the privilege of stealing with
+impunity. It is considered that stealing is the least crime they can be
+guilty of, and that they ought to be forgiven for it.
+
+"Keep on your guard," says the master of the galley slave; "and if you
+catch him in the act of stealing, thrash him, but be careful not to
+cripple him; otherwise you must pay me the one hundred ducats the man has
+cost me."
+
+A court of justice could not have a galley slave taken from a galley,
+without paying the master the amount he has disbursed for the man.
+
+As soon as I had landed in Venice, I called upon Madame Orio, but I found
+the house empty. A neighbour told me that she had married the Procurator
+Rosa, and had removed to his house. I went immediately to M. Rosa and was
+well received. Madame Orio informed me that Nanette had become Countess
+R., and was living in Guastalla with her husband.
+
+Twenty-four years afterwards, I met her eldest son, then a distinguished
+officer in the service of the Infante of Parma.
+
+As for Marton, the grace of Heaven had touched her, and she had become a
+nun in the convent at Muran. Two years afterwards, I received from her a
+letter full of unction, in which she adjured me, in the name of Our
+Saviour and of the Holy Virgin, never to present myself before her eyes.
+She added that she was bound by Christian charity to forgive me for the
+crime I had committed in seducing her, and she felt certain of the reward
+of the elect, and she assured me that she would ever pray earnestly for
+my conversion.
+
+I never saw her again, but she saw me in 1754, as I will mention when we
+reach that year.
+
+I found Madame Manzoni still the same. She had predicted that I would not
+remain in the military profession, and when I told her that I had made up
+my mind to give it up, because I could not be reconciled to the injustice
+I had experienced, she burst out laughing. She enquired about the
+profession I intended to follow after giving up the army, and I answered
+that I wished to become an advocate. She laughed again, saying that it
+was too late. Yet I was only twenty years old.
+
+When I called upon M. Grimani I had a friendly welcome from him, but,
+having enquired after my brother Francois, he told me that he had had him
+confined in Fort Saint Andre, the same to which I had been sent before
+the arrival of the Bishop of Martorano.
+
+"He works for the major there," he said; "he copies Simonetti's
+battle-pieces, and the major pays him for them; in that manner he earns
+his living, and is becoming a good painter."
+
+"But he is not a prisoner?"
+
+"Well, very much like it, for he cannot leave the fort. The major, whose
+name is Spiridion, is a friend of Razetta, who could not refuse him the
+pleasure of taking care of your brother."
+
+I felt it a dreadful curse that the fatal Razetta should be the tormentor
+of all my family, but I concealed my anger.
+
+"Is my sister," I enquired, "still with him?"
+
+"No, she has gone to your mother in Dresden."
+
+This was good news.
+
+I took a cordial leave of the Abbe Grimani, and I proceeded to Fort Saint
+Andre. I found my brother hard at work, neither pleased nor displeased
+with his position, and enjoying good health. After embracing him
+affectionately, I enquired what crime he had committed to be thus a
+prisoner.
+
+"Ask the major," he said, "for I have not the faintest idea."
+
+The major came in just then, so I gave him the military salute, and asked
+by what authority he kept my brother under arrest.
+
+"I am not accountable to you for my actions."
+
+"That remains to be seen."
+
+I then told my brother to take his hat, and to come and dine with me. The
+major laughed, and said that he had no objection provided the sentinel
+allowed him to pass.
+
+I saw that I should only waste my time in discussion, and I left the fort
+fully bent on obtaining justice.
+
+The next day I went to the war office, where I had the pleasure of
+meeting my dear Major Pelodoro, who was then commander of the Fortress of
+Chiozza. I informed him of the complaint I wanted to prefer before the
+secretary of war respecting my brother's arrest, and of the resolution I
+had taken to leave the army. He promised me that, as soon as the consent
+of the secretary for war could be obtained, he would find a purchaser for
+my commission at the same price I had paid for it.
+
+I had not long to wait. The war secretary came to the office, and
+everything was settled in half an hour. He promised his consent to the
+sale of my commission as soon as he ascertained the abilities of the
+purchaser, and Major Spiridion happening to make his appearance in the
+office while I was still there, the secretary ordered him rather angrily,
+to set my brother at liberty immediately, and cautioned him not to be
+guilty again of such reprehensible and arbitrary acts.
+
+I went at once for my brother, and we lived together in furnished
+lodgings.
+
+A few days afterwards, having received my discharge and one hundred
+sequins, I threw off my uniform, and found myself once more my own
+master.
+
+I had to earn my living in one way or another, and I decided for the
+profession of gamester. But Dame Fortune was not of the same opinion, for
+she refused to smile upon me from the very first step I took in the
+career, and in less than a week I did not possess a groat. What was to
+become of me? One must live, and I turned fiddler. Doctor Gozzi had
+taught me well enough to enable me to scrape on the violin in the
+orchestra of a theatre, and having mentioned my wishes to M. Grimani he
+procured me an engagement at his own theatre of Saint Samuel, where I
+earned a crown a day, and supported myself while I awaited better things.
+
+Fully aware of my real position, I never shewed myself in the fashionable
+circles which I used to frequent before my fortune had sunk so low. I
+knew that I was considered as a worthless fellow, but I did not care.
+People despised me, as a matter of course; but I found comfort in the
+consciousness that I was worthy of contempt. I felt humiliated by the
+position to which I was reduced after having played so brilliant a part
+in society; but as I kept the secret to myself I was not degraded, even
+if I felt some shame. I had not exchanged my last word with Dame Fortune,
+and was still in hope of reckoning with her some day, because I was
+young, and youth is dear to Fortune.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+I Turn Out A Worthless Fellow--My Good Fortune--I Become A Rich Nobleman
+
+With an education which ought to have ensured me an honourable standing
+in the world, with some intelligence, wit, good literary and scientific
+knowledge, and endowed with those accidental physical qualities which are
+such a good passport into society, I found myself, at the age of twenty,
+the mean follower of a sublime art, in which, if great talent is rightly
+admired, mediocrity is as rightly despised. I was compelled by poverty to
+become a member of a musical band, in which I could expect neither esteem
+nor consideration, and I was well aware that I should be the
+laughing-stock of the persons who had known me as a doctor in divinity,
+as an ecclesiastic, and as an officer in the army, and had welcomed me in
+the highest society.
+
+I knew all that, for I was not blind to my position; but contempt, the
+only thing to which I could not have remained indifferent, never shewed
+itself anywhere under a form tangible enough for me to have no doubt of
+my being despised, and I set it at defiance, because I was satisfied that
+contempt is due only to cowardly, mean actions, and I was conscious that
+I had never been guilty of any. As to public esteem, which I had ever
+been anxious to secure, my ambition was slumbering, and satisfied with
+being my own master I enjoyed my independence without puzzling my head
+about the future. I felt that in my first profession, as I was not
+blessed with the vocation necessary to it, I should have succeeded only
+by dint of hypocrisy, and I should have been despicable in my own
+estimation, even if I had seen the purple mantle on my shoulders, for the
+greatest dignities cannot silence a man's own conscience. If, on the
+other hand, I had continued to seek fortune in a military career, which
+is surrounded by a halo of glory, but is otherwise the worst of
+professions for the constant self-abnegation, for the complete surrender
+of one's will which passive obedience demands, I should have required a
+patience to which I could not lay any claim, as every kind of injustice
+was revolting to me, and as I could not bear to feel myself dependent.
+Besides, I was of opinion that a man's profession, whatever it might be,
+ought to supply him with enough money to satisfy all his wants; and the
+very poor pay of an officer would never have been sufficient to cover my
+expenses, because my education had given me greater wants than those of
+officers in general. By scraping my violin I earned enough to keep myself
+without requiring anybody's assistance, and I have always thought that
+the man who can support himself is happy. I grant that my profession was
+not a brilliant one, but I did not mind it, and, calling prejudices all
+the feelings which rose in my breast against myself, I was not long in
+sharing all the habits of my degraded comrades. When the play was over, I
+went with them to the drinking-booth, which we often left intoxicated to
+spend the night in houses of ill-fame. When we happened to find those
+places already tenanted by other men, we forced them by violence to quit
+the premises, and defrauded the miserable victims of prostitution of the
+mean salary the law allows them, after compelling them to yield to our
+brutality. Our scandalous proceedings often exposed us to the greatest
+danger.
+
+We would very often spend the whole night rambling about the city,
+inventing and carrying into execution the most impertinent, practical
+jokes. One of our favourite pleasures was to unmoor the patricians'
+gondolas, and to let them float at random along the canals, enjoying by
+anticipation all the curses that gondoliers would not fail to indulge in.
+We would rouse up hurriedly, in the middle of the night, an honest
+midwife, telling her to hasten to Madame So-and-so, who, not being even
+pregnant, was sure to tell her she was a fool when she called at the
+house. We did the same with physicians, whom we often sent half dressed
+to some nobleman who was enjoying excellent health. The priests fared no
+better; we would send them to carry the last sacraments to married men
+who were peacefully slumbering near their wives, and not thinking of
+extreme unction.
+
+We were in the habit of cutting the wires of the bells in every house,
+and if we chanced to find a gate open we would go up the stairs in the
+dark, and frighten the sleeping inmates by telling them very loudly that
+the house door was not closed, after which we would go down, making as
+much noise as we could, and leave the house with the gate wide open.
+
+During a very dark night we formed a plot to overturn the large marble
+table of St. Angelo's Square, on which it was said that in the days of
+the League of Cambray the commissaries of the Republic were in the habit
+of paying the bounty to the recruits who engaged to fight under the
+standard of St. Mark--a circumstance which secured for the table a sort
+of public veneration.
+
+Whenever we could contrive to get into a church tower we thought it great
+fun to frighten all the parish by ringing the alarm bell, as if some fire
+had broken out; but that was not all, we always cut the bell ropes, so
+that in the morning the churchwardens had no means of summoning the
+faithful to early mass. Sometimes we would cross the canal, each of us in
+a different gondola, and take to our heels without paying as soon as we
+landed on the opposite side, in order to make the gondoliers run after
+us.
+
+The city was alive with complaints, and we laughed at the useless search
+made by the police to find out those who disturbed the peace of the
+inhabitants. We took good care to be careful, for if we had been
+discovered we stood a very fair chance of being sent to practice rowing
+at the expense of the Council of Ten.
+
+We were seven, and sometimes eight, because, being much attached to my
+brother Francois, I gave him a share now and then in our nocturnal
+orgies. But at last fear put a stop to our criminal jokes, which in those
+days I used to call only the frolics of young men. This is the amusing
+adventure which closed our exploits.
+
+In every one of the seventy-two parishes of the city of Venice, there is
+a large public-house called 'magazzino'. It remains open all night, and
+wine is retailed there at a cheaper price than in all the other drinking
+houses. People can likewise eat in the 'magazzino', but they must obtain
+what they want from the pork butcher near by, who has the exclusive sale
+of eatables, and likewise keeps his shop open throughout the night. The
+pork butcher is usually a very poor cook, but as he is cheap, poor people
+are willingly satisfied with him, and these resorts are considered very
+useful to the lower class. The nobility, the merchants, even workmen in
+good circumstances, are never seen in the 'magazzino', for cleanliness is
+not exactly worshipped in such places. Yet there are a few private rooms
+which contain a table surrounded with benches, in which a respectable
+family or a few friends can enjoy themselves in a decent way.
+
+It was during the Carnival of 1745, after midnight; we were, all the
+eight of us, rambling about together with our masks on, in quest of some
+new sort of mischief to amuse us, and we went into the magazzino of the
+parish of the Holy Cross to get something to drink. We found the public
+room empty, but in one of the private chambers we discovered three men
+quietly conversing with a young and pretty woman, and enjoying their
+wine.
+
+Our chief, a noble Venetian belonging to the Balbi family, said to us,
+"It would be a good joke to carry off those three blockheads, and to keep
+the pretty woman in our possession." He immediately explained his plan,
+and under cover of our masks we entered their room, Balbi at the head of
+us. Our sudden appearance rather surprised the good people, but you may
+fancy their astonishment when they heard Balbi say to them: "Under
+penalty of death, and by order of the Council of Ten, I command you to
+follow us immediately, without making the slightest noise; as to you, my
+good woman, you need not be frightened, you will be escorted to your
+house." When he had finished his speech, two of us got hold of the woman
+to take her where our chief had arranged beforehand, and the others
+seized the three poor fellows, who were trembling all over, and had not
+the slightest idea of opposing any resistance.
+
+The waiter of the magazzino came to be paid, and our chief gave him what
+was due, enjoining silence under penalty of death. We took our three
+prisoners to a large boat. Balbi went to the stern, ordered the boatman
+to stand at the bow, and told him that he need not enquire where we were
+going, that he would steer himself whichever way he thought fit. Not one
+of us knew where Balbi wanted to take the three poor devils.
+
+He sails all along the canal, gets out of it, takes several turnings, and
+in a quarter of an hour, we reach Saint George where Balbi lands our
+prisoners, who are delighted to find themselves at liberty. After this,
+the boatman is ordered to take us to Saint Genevieve, where we land,
+after paying for the boat.
+
+We proceed at once to Palombo Square, where my brother and another of our
+band were waiting for us with our lovely prisoner, who was crying.
+
+"Do not weep, my beauty," says Balbi to her, "we will not hurt you. We
+intend only to take some refreshment at the Rialto, and then we will take
+you home in safety."
+
+"Where is my husband?"
+
+"Never fear; you shall see him again to-morrow."
+
+Comforted by that promise, and as gentle as a lamb, she follows us to the
+"Two Swords." We ordered a good fire in a private room, and, everything
+we wanted to eat and to drink having been brought in, we send the waiter
+away, and remain alone. We take off our masks, and the sight of eight
+young, healthy faces seems to please the beauty we had so unceremoniously
+carried off. We soon manage to reconcile her to her fate by the gallantry
+of our proceedings; encouraged by a good supper and by the stimulus of
+wine, prepared by our compliments and by a few kisses, she realizes what
+is in store for her, and does not seem to have any unconquerable
+objection. Our chief, as a matter of right, claims the privilege of
+opening the ball; and by dint of sweet words he overcomes the very
+natural repugnance she feels at consummating the sacrifice in so numerous
+company. She, doubtless, thinks the offering agreeable, for, when I
+present myself as the priest appointed to sacrifice a second time to the
+god of love, she receives me almost with gratitude, and she cannot
+conceal her joy when she finds out that she is destined to make us all
+happy. My brother Francois alone exempted himself from paying the
+tribute, saying that he was ill, the only excuse which could render his
+refusal valid, for we had established as a law that every member of our
+society was bound to do whatever was done by the others.
+
+After that fine exploit, we put on our masks, and, the bill being paid,
+escorted the happy victim to Saint Job, where she lived, and did not
+leave her till we had seen her safe in her house, and the street door
+closed.
+
+My readers may imagine whether we felt inclined to laugh when the
+charming creature bade us good night, thanking us all with perfect good
+faith!
+
+Two days afterwards, our nocturnal orgy began to be talked of. The young
+woman's husband was a weaver by trade, and so were his two friends. They
+joined together to address a complaint to the Council of Ten. The
+complaint was candidly written and contained nothing but the truth, but
+the criminal portion of the truth was veiled by a circumstance which must
+have brought a smile on the grave countenances of the judges, and highly
+amused the public at large: the complaint setting forth that the eight
+masked men had not rendered themselves guilty of any act disagreeable to
+the wife. It went on to say that the two men who had carried her off had
+taken her to such a place, where they had, an hour later, been met by the
+other six, and that they had all repaired to the "Two Swords," where they
+had spent an hour in drinking. The said lady having been handsomely
+entertained by the eight masked men, had been escorted to her house,
+where she had been politely requested to excuse the joke perpetrated upon
+her husband. The three plaintiffs had not been able to leave the island
+of Saint George until day-break, and the husband, on reaching his house,
+had found his wife quietly asleep in her bed. She had informed him of all
+that had happened; she complained of nothing but of the great fright she
+had experienced on account of her husband, and on that count she
+entreated justice and the punishment of the guilty parties.
+
+That complaint was comic throughout, for the three rogues shewed
+themselves very brave in writing, stating that they would certainly not
+have given way so easily if the dread authority of the council had not
+been put forth by the leader of the band. The document produced three
+different results; in the first place, it amused the town; in the second,
+all the idlers of Venice went to Saint Job to hear the account of the
+adventure from the lips of the heroine herself, and she got many presents
+from her numerous visitors; in the third place, the Council of Ten
+offered a reward of five hundred ducats to any person giving such
+information as would lead to the arrest of the perpetrators of the
+practical joke, even if the informer belonged to the band, provided he
+was not the leader.
+
+The offer of that reward would have made us tremble if our leader,
+precisely the one who alone had no interest in turning informer, had not
+been a patrician. The rank of Balbi quieted my anxiety at once, because I
+knew that, even supposing one of us were vile enough to betray our secret
+for the sake of the reward, the tribunal would have done nothing in order
+not to implicate a patrician. There was no cowardly traitor amongst us,
+although we were all poor; but fear had its effect, and our nocturnal
+pranks were not renewed.
+
+Three or four months afterwards the chevalier Nicolas Iron, then one of
+the inquisitors, astonished me greatly by telling me the whole story,
+giving the names of all the actors. He did not tell me whether any one of
+the band had betrayed the secret, and I did not care to know; but I could
+clearly see the characteristic spirit of the aristocracy, for which the
+'solo mihi' is the supreme law.
+
+Towards the middle of April of the year 1746 M. Girolamo Cornaro, the
+eldest son of the family Cornaro de la Reine, married a daughter of the
+house of Soranzo de St. Pol, and I had the honour of being present at the
+wedding--as a fiddler. I played the violin in one of the numerous bands
+engaged for the balls which were given for three consecutive days in the
+Soranzo Palace.
+
+On the third day, towards the end of the dancing, an hour before
+day-break, feeling tired, I left the orchestra abruptly; and as I was
+going down the stairs I observed a senator, wearing his red robes, on the
+point of getting into a gondola. In taking his handkerchief out of his
+pocket he let a letter drop on the ground. I picked it up, and coming up
+to him just as he was going down the steps I handed it to him. He
+received it with many thanks, and enquired where I lived. I told him, and
+he insisted upon my coming with him in the gondola saying that he would
+leave me at my house. I accepted gratefully, and sat down near him. A few
+minutes afterwards he asked me to rub his left arm, which, he said, was
+so benumbed that he could not feel it. I rubbed it with all my strength,
+but he told me in a sort of indistinct whisper that the numbness was
+spreading all along the left side, and that he was dying.
+
+I was greatly frightened; I opened the curtain, took the lantern, and
+found him almost insensible, and the mouth drawn on one side. I
+understood that he was seized with an apoplectic stroke, and called out
+to the gondoliers to land me at once, in order to procure a surgeon to
+bleed the patient.
+
+I jumped out of the gondola, and found myself on the very spot where
+three years before I had taught Razetta such a forcible lesson; I
+enquired for a surgeon at the first coffee-house, and ran to the house
+that was pointed out to me. I knocked as hard as I could; the door was at
+last opened, and I made the surgeon follow me in his dressing-gown as far
+as the gondola, which was waiting; he bled the senator while I was
+tearing my shirt to make the compress and the bandage.
+
+The operation being performed, I ordered the gondoliers to row as fast as
+possible, and we soon reached St. Marina; the servants were roused up,
+and taking the sick man out of the gondola we carried him to his bed
+almost dead.
+
+Taking everything upon myself, I ordered a servant to hurry out for a
+physician, who came in a short time, and ordered the patient to be bled
+again, thus approving the first bleeding prescribed by me. Thinking I had
+a right to watch the sick man, I settled myself near his bed to give him
+every care he required.
+
+An hour later, two noblemen, friends of the senator, came in, one a few
+minutes after the other. They were in despair; they had enquired about
+the accident from the gondoliers, and having been told that I knew more
+than they did, they loaded me with questions which I answered. They did
+not know who I was, and did not like to ask me; whilst I thought it
+better to preserve a modest silence.
+
+The patient did not move; his breathing alone shewed that he was still
+alive; fomentations were constantly applied, and the priest who had been
+sent for, and was of very little use under such circumstances, seemed to
+be there only to see him die. All visitors were sent away by my advice,
+and the two noblemen and myself were the only persons in the sick man's
+room. At noon we partook silently of some dinner which was served in the
+sick room.
+
+In the evening one of the two friends told me that if I had any business
+to attend to I could go, because they would both pass the night on a
+mattress near the patient.
+
+"And I, sir," I said, "will remain near his bed in this arm-chair, for if
+I went away the patient would die, and he will live as long as I am near
+him."
+
+This sententious answer struck them with astonishment, as I expected it
+would, and they looked at each other in great surprise.
+
+We had supper, and in the little conversation we had I gathered the
+information that the senator, their friend, was M. de Bragadin, the only
+brother of the procurator of that name. He was celebrated in Venice not
+only for his eloquence and his great talents as a statesman, but also for
+the gallantries of his youth. He had been very extravagant with women,
+and more than one of them had committed many follies for him. He had
+gambled and lost a great deal, and his brother was his most bitter enemy,
+because he was infatuated with the idea that he had tried to poison him.
+He had accused him of that crime before the Council of Ten, which, after
+an investigation of eight months, had brought in a verdict of not guilty:
+but that just sentence, although given unanimously by that high tribunal,
+had not had the effect of destroying his brother's prejudices against
+him.
+
+M. de Bragadin, who was perfectly innocent of such a crime and oppressed
+by an unjust brother who deprived him of half of his income, spent his
+days like an amiable philosopher, surrounded by his friends, amongst whom
+were the two noblemen who were then watching him; one belonged to the
+Dandolo family, the other was a Barbaro, and both were excellent men. M.
+de Bragadin was handsome, learned, cheerful, and most kindly disposed; he
+was then about fifty years old.
+
+The physician who attended him was named Terro; he thought, by some
+peculiar train of reasoning, that he could cure him by applying a
+mercurial ointment to the chest, to which no one raised any objection.
+The rapid effect of the remedy delighted the two friends, but it
+frightened me, for in less than twenty-four hours the patient was
+labouring under great excitement of the brain. The physician said that he
+had expected that effect, but that on the following day the remedy would
+act less on the brain, and diffuse its beneficial action through the
+whole of the system, which required to be invigorated by a proper
+equilibrium in the circulation of the fluids.
+
+At midnight the patient was in a state of high fever, and in a fearful
+state of irritation. I examined him closely, and found him hardly able to
+breathe. I roused up his two friends; and declared that in my opinion the
+patient would soon die unless the fatal ointment was at once removed. And
+without waiting for their answer, I bared his chest, took off the
+plaster, washed the skin carefully with lukewarm water, and in less than
+three minutes he breathed freely and fell into a quiet sleep. Delighted
+with such a fortunate result, we lay down again.
+
+The physician came very early in the morning, and was much pleased to see
+his patient so much better, but when M. Dandolo informed him of what had
+been done, he was angry, said it was enough to kill his patient, and
+asked who had been so audacious as to destroy the effect of his
+prescription. M. de Bragadin, speaking for the first time, said to him--
+
+"Doctor, the person who has delivered me from your mercury, which was
+killing me, is a more skilful physician than you;" and, saying these
+words, he pointed to me.
+
+It would be hard to say who was the more astonished: the doctor, when he
+saw an unknown young man, whom he must have taken for an impostor,
+declared more learned than himself; or I, when I saw myself transformed
+into a physician, at a moment's notice. I kept silent, looking very
+modest, but hardly able to control my mirth, whilst the doctor was
+staring at me with a mixture of astonishment and of spite, evidently
+thinking me some bold quack who had tried to supplant him. At last,
+turning towards M. de Bragadin, he told him coldly that he would leave
+him in my hands; he was taken at his word, he went away, and behold! I
+had become the physician of one of the most illustrious members of the
+Venetian Senate! I must confess that I was very glad of it, and I told my
+patient that a proper diet was all he needed, and that nature, assisted
+by the approaching fine season, would do the rest.
+
+The dismissed physician related the affair through the town, and, as M.
+de Bragadin was rapidly improving, one of his relations, who came to see
+him, told him that everybody was astonished at his having chosen for his
+physician a fiddler from the theatre; but the senator put a stop to his
+remarks by answering that a fiddler could know more than all the doctors
+in Venice, and that he owed his life to me.
+
+The worthy nobleman considered me as his oracle, and his two friends
+listened to me with the deepest attention. Their infatuation encouraging
+me, I spoke like a learned physician, I dogmatized, I quoted authors whom
+I had never read.
+
+M. de Bragadin, who had the weakness to believe in the occult sciences,
+told me one day that, for a young man of my age, he thought my learning
+too extensive, and that he was certain I was the possessor of some
+supernatural endowment. He entreated me to tell him the truth.
+
+What extraordinary things will sometimes occur from mere chance, or from
+the force of circumstances! Unwilling to hurt his vanity by telling him
+that he was mistaken, I took the wild resolution of informing him, in the
+presence of his two friends, that I possessed a certain numeral calculus
+which gave answers (also in numbers), to any questions I liked to put.
+
+M. de Bragadin said that it was Solomon's key, vulgarly called cabalistic
+science, and he asked me from whom I learnt it.
+
+"From an old hermit," I answered, "who lives on the Carpegna Mountain,
+and whose acquaintance I made quite by chance when I was a prisoner in
+the Spanish army."
+
+"The hermit," remarked the senator, "has without informing you of it,
+linked an invisible spirit to the calculus he has taught you, for simple
+numbers can not have the power of reason. You possess a real treasure,
+and you may derive great advantages from it."
+
+"I do not know," I said, "in what way I could make my science useful,
+because the answers given by the numerical figures are often so obscure
+that I have felt discouraged, and I very seldom tried to make any use of
+my calculus. Yet, it is very true that, if I had not formed my pyramid, I
+never should have had the happiness of knowing your excellency."
+
+"How so?"
+
+"On the second day, during the festivities at the Soranzo Palace, I
+enquired of my oracle whether I would meet at the ball anyone whom I
+should not care to see. The answer I obtained was this: 'Leave the
+ball-room precisely at four o'clock.' I obeyed implicitly, and met your
+excellency."
+
+The three friends were astounded. M. Dandolo asked me whether I would
+answer a question he would ask, the interpretation of which would belong
+only to him, as he was the only person acquainted with the subject of the
+question.
+
+I declared myself quite willing, for it was necessary to brazen it out,
+after having ventured as far as I had done. He wrote the question, and
+gave it to me; I read it, I could not understand either the subject or
+the meaning of the words, but it did not matter, I had to give an answer.
+If the question was so obscure that I could not make out the sense of it,
+it was natural that I should not understand the answer. I therefore
+answered, in ordinary figures, four lines of which he alone could be the
+interpreter, not caring much, at least in appearance, how they would be
+understood. M. Dandolo read them twice over, seemed astonished, said that
+it was all very plain to him; it was Divine, it was unique, it was a gift
+from Heaven, the numbers being only the vehicle, but the answer emanating
+evidently from an immortal spirit.
+
+M. Dandolo was so well pleased that his two friends very naturally wanted
+also to make an experiment. They asked questions on all sorts of
+subjects, and my answers, perfectly unintelligible to myself, were all
+held as Divine by them. I congratulated them on their success, and
+congratulated myself in their presence upon being the possessor of a
+thing to which I had until then attached no importance whatever, but
+which I promised to cultivate carefully, knowing that I could thus be of
+some service to their excellencies.
+
+They all asked me how long I would require to teach them the rules of my
+sublime calculus. "Not very long," I answered, "and I will teach you as
+you wish, although the hermit assured me that I would die suddenly within
+three days if I communicated my science to anyone, but I have no faith
+whatever in that prediction." M. de Bragadin who believed in it more than
+I did, told me in a serious tone that I was bound to have faith in it,
+and from that day they never asked me again to teach them. They very
+likely thought that, if they could attach me to them, it would answer the
+purpose as well as if they possessed the science themselves. Thus I
+became the hierophant of those three worthy and talented men, who, in
+spite of their literary accomplishments, were not wise, since they were
+infatuated with occult and fabulous sciences, and believed in the
+existence of phenomena impossible in the moral as well as in the physical
+order of things. They believed that through me they possessed the
+philosopher's stone, the universal panacea, the intercourse with all the
+elementary, heavenly, and infernal spirits; they had no doubt whatever
+that, thanks to my sublime science, they could find out the secrets of
+every government in Europe.
+
+After they had assured themselves of the reality of my cabalistic science
+by questions respecting the past, they decided to turn it to some use by
+consulting it upon the present and upon the future. I had no difficulty
+in skewing myself a good guesser, because I always gave answers with a
+double meaning, one of the meanings being carefully arranged by me, so as
+not to be understood until after the event; in that manner, my cabalistic
+science, like the oracle of Delphi, could never be found in fault. I saw
+how easy it must have been for the ancient heathen priests to impose upon
+ignorant, and therefore credulous mankind. I saw how easy it will always
+be for impostors to find dupes, and I realized, even better than the
+Roman orator, why two augurs could never look at each other without
+laughing; it was because they had both an equal interest in giving
+importance to the deceit they perpetrated, and from which they derived
+such immense profits. But what I could not, and probably never shall,
+understand, was the reason for which the Fathers, who were not so simple
+or so ignorant as our Evangelists, did not feel able to deny the divinity
+of oracles, and, in order to get out of the difficulty, ascribed them to
+the devil. They never would have entertained such a strange idea if they
+had been acquainted with cabalistic science. My three worthy friends were
+like the holy Fathers; they had intelligence and wit, but they were
+superstitious, and no philosophers. But, although believing fully in my
+oracles, they were too kind-hearted to think them the work of the devil,
+and it suited their natural goodness better to believe my answers
+inspired by some heavenly spirit. They were not only good Christians and
+faithful to the Church, but even real devotees and full of scruples. They
+were not married, and, after having renounced all commerce with women,
+they had become the enemies of the female sex; perhaps a strong proof of
+the weakness of their minds. They imagined that chastity was the
+condition 'sine qua non' exacted by the spirits from those who wished to
+have intimate communication or intercourse with them: they fancied that
+spirits excluded women, and 'vice versa'.
+
+With all these oddities, the three friends were truly intelligent and
+even witty, and, at the beginning of my acquaintance with them, I could
+not reconcile these antagonistic points. But a prejudiced mind cannot
+reason well, and the faculty of reasoning is the most important of all.
+I often laughed when I heard them talk on religious matters; they would
+ridicule those whose intellectual faculties were so limited that they
+could not understand the mysteries of religion. The incarnation of the
+Word, they would say, was a trifle for God, and therefore easy to
+understand, and the resurrection was so comprehensible that it did not
+appear to them wonderful, because, as God cannot die, Jesus Christ
+was naturally certain to rise again. As for the Eucharist,
+transubstantiation, the real presence, it was all no mystery to them, but
+palpable evidence, and yet they were not Jesuits. They were in the habit
+of going to confession every week, without feeling the slightest trouble
+about their confessors, whose ignorance they kindly regretted. They
+thought themselves bound to confess only what was a sin in their own
+opinion, and in that, at least, they reasoned with good sense.
+
+With those three extraordinary characters, worthy of esteem and respect
+for their moral qualities, their honesty, their reputation, and their
+age, as well as for their noble birth, I spent my days in a very pleasant
+manner: although, in their thirst for knowledge, they often kept me hard
+at work for ten hours running, all four of us being locked up together in
+a room, and unapproachable to everybody, even to friends or relatives.
+
+I completed the conquest of their friendship by relating to them the
+whole of my life, only with some proper reserve, so as not to lead them
+into any capital sins. I confess candidly that I deceived them, as the
+Papa Deldimopulo used to deceive the Greeks who applied to him for the
+oracles of the Virgin. I certainly did not act towards them with a true
+sense of honesty, but if the reader to whom I confess myself is
+acquainted with the world and with the spirit of society, I entreat him
+to think before judging me, and perhaps I may meet with some indulgence
+at his hands.
+
+I might be told that if I had wished to follow the rules of pure morality
+I ought either to have declined intimate intercourse with them or to have
+undeceived them. I cannot deny these premises, but I will answer that I
+was only twenty years of age, I was intelligent, talented, and had just
+been a poor fiddler. I should have lost my time in trying to cure them of
+their weakness; I should not have succeeded, for they would have laughed
+in my face, deplored my ignorance, and the result of it all would have
+been my dismissal. Besides, I had no mission, no right, to constitute
+myself an apostle, and if I had heroically resolved on leaving them as
+soon as I knew them to be foolish visionaries, I should have shewn myself
+a misanthrope, the enemy of those worthy men for whom I could procure
+innocent pleasures, and my own enemy at the same time; because, as a
+young man, I liked to live well, to enjoy all the pleasures natural to
+youth and to a good constitution.
+
+By acting in that manner I should have failed in common politeness, I
+should perhaps have caused or allowed M. de Bragadin's death, and I
+should have exposed those three honest men to becoming the victims of the
+first bold cheat who, ministering to their monomania, might have won
+their favour, and would have ruined them by inducing them to undertake
+the chemical operations of the Great Work. There is also another
+consideration, dear reader, and as I love you I will tell you what it is.
+An invincible self-love would have prevented me from declaring myself
+unworthy of their friendship either by my ignorance or by my pride; and I
+should have been guilty of great rudeness if I had ceased to visit them.
+
+I took, at least it seems to me so, the best, the most natural, and the
+noblest decision, if we consider the disposition of their mind, when I
+decided upon the plan of conduct which insured me the necessaries of life
+and of those necessaries who could be a better judge than your very
+humble servant?
+
+Through the friendship of those three men, I was certain of obtaining
+consideration and influence in my own country. Besides, I found it very
+flattering to my vanity to become the subject of the speculative
+chattering of empty fools who, having nothing else to do, are always
+trying to find out the cause of every moral phenomenon they meet with,
+which their narrow intellect cannot understand.
+
+People racked their brain in Venice to find out how my intimacy with
+three men of that high character could possibly exist; they were wrapped
+up in heavenly aspirations, I was a world's devotee; they were very
+strict in their morals, I was thirsty of all pleasures! At the beginning
+of summer, M. de Bragadin was once, more able to take his seat in the
+senate, and, the day before he went out for the first time, he spoke to
+me thus:
+
+"Whoever you may be, I am indebted to you for my life. Your first
+protectors wanted to make you a priest, a doctor, an advocate, a soldier,
+and ended by making a fiddler of you; those persons did not know you. God
+had evidently instructed your guardian angel to bring you to me. I know
+you and appreciate you. If you will be my son, you have only to
+acknowledge me for your father, and, for the future, until my death, I
+will treat you as my own child. Your apartment is ready, you may send
+your clothes: you shall have a servant, a gondola at your orders, my own
+table, and ten sequins a month. It is the sum I used to receive from my
+father when I was your age. You need not think of the future; think only
+of enjoying yourself, and take me as your adviser in everything that may
+happen to you, in everything you may wish to undertake, and you may be
+certain of always finding me your friend."
+
+I threw myself at his feet to assure him of my gratitude, and embraced
+him calling him my father. He folded me in his arms, called me his dear
+son; I promised to love and to obey him; his two friends, who lived in
+the same palace, embraced me affectionately, and we swore eternal
+fraternity.
+
+Such is the history of my metamorphosis, and of the lucky stroke which,
+taking me from the vile profession of a fiddler, raised me to the rank of
+a grandee.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+I lead a dissolute life--Zawoiski--Rinaldi--L'Abbadie--the young
+countess--the Capuchin friar Z. Steffani--Ancilla--La Ramor--I take a
+gondola at St. Job to go to Mestra.
+
+Fortune, which had taken pleasure in giving me a specimen of its despotic
+caprice, and had insured my happiness through means which sages would
+disavow, had not the power to make me adopt a system of moderation and
+prudence which alone could establish my future welfare on a firm basis.
+
+My ardent nature, my irresistible love of pleasure, my unconquerable
+independence, would not allow me to submit to the reserve which my new
+position in life demanded from me. I began to lead a life of complete
+freedom, caring for nothing but what ministered to my tastes, and I
+thought that, as long as I respected the laws, I could trample all
+prejudices under my feet. I fancied that I could live free and
+independent in a country ruled entirely by an aristocratic government,
+but this was not the case, and would not have been so even if fortune had
+raised me to a seat in that same government, for the Republic of Venice,
+considering that its primary duty is to preserve its own integrity, finds
+itself the slave of its own policy, and is bound to sacrifice everything
+to self-preservation, before which the laws themselves cease to be
+inviolable.
+
+But let us abandon the discussion of a principle now too trite, for
+humankind, at least in Europe, is satisfied that unlimited liberty is
+nowhere consistent with a properly-regulated state of society. I have
+touched lightly on the matter, only to give to my readers some idea of my
+conduct in my own country, where I began to tread a path which was to
+lead me to a state prison as inscrutable as it was unconstitutional.
+
+With enough money, endowed by nature with a pleasing and commanding
+physical appearance, a confirmed gambler, a true spendthrift, a great
+talker, very far from modest, intrepid, always running after pretty
+women, supplanting my rivals, and acknowledging no good company but that
+which ministered to my enjoyment, I was certain to be disliked; but, ever
+ready to expose myself to any danger, and to take the responsibility of
+all my actions, I thought I had a right to do anything I pleased, for I
+always broke down abruptly every obstacle I found in my way.
+
+Such conduct could not but be disagreeable to the three worthy men whose
+oracle I had become, but they did not like to complain. The excellent M.
+de Bragadin would only tell me that I was giving him a repetition of the
+foolish life he had himself led at my age, but that I must prepare to pay
+the penalty of my follies, and to feel the punishment when I should reach
+his time of life. Without wanting in the respect I owed him, I would turn
+his terrible forebodings into jest, and continue my course of
+extravagance. However, I must mention here the first proof he gave me of
+his true wisdom.
+
+At the house of Madame Avogadro, a woman full of wit in spite of her
+sixty years, I had made the acquaintance of a young Polish nobleman
+called Zawoiski. He was expecting money from Poland, but in the mean time
+the Venetian ladies did not let him want for any, being all very much in
+love with his handsome face and his Polish manners. We soon became good
+friends, my purse was his, but, twenty years later, he assisted me to a
+far greater extent in Munich. Zawoiski was honest, he had only a small
+dose of intelligence, but it was enough for his happiness. He died in
+Trieste five or six years ago, the ambassador of the Elector of Treves. I
+will speak of him in another part of these Memoirs.
+
+This amiable young man, who was a favourite with everybody and was
+thought a free-thinker because he frequented the society of Angelo
+Querini and Lunardo Venier, presented me one day, as we were out walking,
+to an unknown countess who took my fancy very strongly. We called on her
+in the evening, and, after introducing me to her husband, Count Rinaldi,
+she invited us to remain and have supper.
+
+The count made a faro bank in the course of the evening, I punted with
+his wife as a partner, and won some fifty ducats.
+
+Very much pleased with my new acquaintance, I called alone on the
+countess the next morning. The count, apologizing for his wife who was
+not up yet, took me to her room. She received me with graceful ease, and,
+her husband having left us alone, she had the art to let me hope for
+every favour, yet without committing herself; when I took leave of her,
+she invited me to supper for the evening. After supper I played, still in
+partnership with her, won again, and went away very much in love. I did
+not fail to pay her another visit the next morning, but when I presented
+myself at the house I was told that she had gone out.
+
+I called again in the evening, and, after she had excused herself for not
+having been at home in the morning, the faro bank began, and I lost all
+my money, still having the countess for my partner. After supper, and
+when the other guests had retired, I remained with Zawoiski, Count
+Rinaldi having offered to give us our revenge. As I had no more money, I
+played upon trust, and the count threw down the cards after I had lost
+five hundred sequins. I went away in great sorrow. I was bound in honour
+to pay the next morning, and I did not possess a groat. Love increased my
+despair, for I saw myself on the point of losing the esteem of a woman by
+whom I was smitten, and the anxiety I felt did not escape M. de Bragadin
+when we met in the morning. He kindly encouraged me to confess my
+troubles to him. I was conscious that it was my only chance, and candidly
+related the whole affair, and I ended by saying that I should not survive
+my disgrace. He consoled me by promising that my debt would be cancelled
+in the course of the day, if I would swear never to play again upon
+trust. I took an oath to that effect, and kissing his hand, I went out
+for a walk, relieved from a great load. I had no doubt that my excellent
+father would give me five hundred sequins during the day, and I enjoyed
+my anticipation the honour I would derive, in the opinion of the lovely
+countess, by my exactitude and prompt discharge of my debt. I felt that
+it gave new strength to my hopes, and that feeling prevented me from
+regretting my heavy loss, but grateful for the great generosity of my
+benefactor I was fully determined on keeping my promise.
+
+I dined with the three friends, and the matter was not even alluded to;
+but, as we were rising from the table, a servant brought M. de Bragadin a
+letter and a parcel.
+
+He read the letter, asked me to follow him into his study, and the moment
+we were alone, he said;
+
+"Here is a parcel for you."
+
+I opened it, and found some forty sequins. Seeing my surprise, M. de
+Bragadin laughed merrily and handed me the letter, the contents of which
+ran thus:
+
+"M. de Casanova may be sure that our playing last night was only a joke:
+he owes me nothing. My wife begs to send him half of the gold which he
+has lost in cash.
+"COUNT RINALDI."
+
+I looked at M. de Bragadin, perfectly amazed, and he burst out laughing.
+I guessed the truth, thanked him, and embracing him tenderly I promised
+to be wiser for the future. The mist I had before my eyes was dispelled,
+I felt that my love was defunct, and I remained rather ashamed, when I
+realized that I had been the dupe of the wife as well as of the husband.
+
+"This evening," said my clever physician, "you can have a gay supper with
+the charming countess."
+
+"This evening, my dear, respected benefactor, I will have supper with
+you. You have given me a masterly lesson."
+
+"The next time you lose money upon trust, you had better not pay it."
+
+"But I should be dishonoured."
+
+"Never mind. The sooner you dishonour yourself, the more you will save,
+for you will always be compelled to accept your dishonour whenever you
+find yourself utterly unable to pay your losses. It is therefore more
+prudent not to wait until then."
+
+"It is much better still to avoid that fatal impossibility by never
+playing otherwise than with money in hand."
+
+"No doubt of it, for then you will save both your honour and your purse.
+But, as you are fond of games of chance, I advise you never to punt. Make
+the bank, and the advantage must be on your side."
+
+"Yes, but only a slight advantage."
+
+"As slight as you please, but it will be on your side, and when the game
+is over you will find yourself a winner and not a loser. The punter is
+excited, the banker is calm. The last says, 'I bet you do not guess,'
+while the first says, 'I bet I can guess.' Which is the fool, and which
+is the wise man? The question is easily answered. I adjure you to be
+prudent, but if you should punt and win, recollect that you are only an
+idiot if at the end you lose."
+
+"Why an idiot? Fortune is very fickle."
+
+"It must necessarily be so; it is a natural consequence. Leave off
+playing, believe me, the very moment you see luck turning, even if you
+should, at that moment, win but one groat."
+
+I had read Plato, and I was astonished at finding a man who could reason
+like Socrates.
+
+The next day, Zawoiski called on me very early to tell me that I had been
+expected to supper, and that Count Rinaldi had praised my promptness in
+paying my debts of honour. I did not think it necessary to undeceive him,
+but I did not go again to Count Rinaldi's, whom I saw sixteen years
+afterwards in Milan. As to Zawoiski, I did not tell him the story till I
+met him in Carlsbad, old and deaf, forty years later.
+
+Three or four months later, M. de Bragadin taught me another of his
+masterly lessons. I had become acquainted, through Zawoiski, with a
+Frenchman called L'Abbadie, who was then soliciting from the Venetian
+Government the appointment of inspector of the armies of the Republic.
+The senate appointed, and I presented him to my protector, who promised
+him his vote; but the circumstance I am going to relate prevented him
+from fulfilling his promise.
+
+I was in need of one hundred sequins to discharge a few debts, and I
+begged M. de Bragadin to give them to me.
+
+"Why, my dear son, do you not ask M. de l'Abbadie to render you that
+service?"
+
+"I should not dare to do so, dear father."
+
+"Try him; I am certain that he will be glad to lend you that sum."
+
+"I doubt it, but I will try."
+
+I called upon L'Abbadie on the following day, and after a short exchange
+of compliments I told him the service I expected from his friendship. He
+excused himself in a very polite manner, drowning his refusal in that sea
+of commonplaces which people are sure to repeat when they cannot or will
+not oblige a friend. Zawoiski came in as he was still apologizing, and I
+left them together. I hurried at once to M. de Bragadin, and told him my
+want of success. He merely remarked that the Frenchman was deficient in
+intelligence.
+
+It just happened that it was the very day on which the appointment of the
+inspectorship was to be brought before the senate. I went out to attend
+to my business (I ought to say to my pleasure), and as I did not return
+home till after midnight I went to bed without seeing my father. In the
+morning I said in his presence that I intended to call upon L'Abbadie to
+congratulate him upon his appointment.
+
+"You may spare yourself that trouble; the senate has rejected his
+nomination."
+
+"How so? Three days ago L'Abbadie felt sure of his success."
+
+"He was right then, for he would have been appointed if I had not made up
+my mind to speak against him. I have proved to the senate that a right
+policy forbade the government to trust such an important post to a
+foreigner."
+
+"I am much surprised, for your excellency was not of that opinion the day
+before yesterday."
+
+"Very true, but then I did not know M. de l'Abbadie. I found out only
+yesterday that the man was not sufficiently intelligent to fill the
+position he was soliciting. Is he likely to possess a sane judgment when
+he refuses to lend you one hundred sequins? That refusal has cost him an
+important appointment and an income of three thousand crowns, which would
+now be his."
+
+When I was taking my walk on the same day I met Zawoiski with L'Abbadie,
+and did not try to avoid them. L'Abbadie was furious, and he had some
+reason to be so.
+
+"If you had told me," he said angrily, "that the one hundred sequins were
+intended as a gag to stop M. de Bragadin's mouth, I would have contrived
+to procure them for you."
+
+"If you had had an inspector's brains you would have easily guessed it."
+
+The Frenchman's resentment proved very useful to me, because he related
+the circumstance to everybody. The result was that from that time those
+who wanted the patronage of the senator applied to me. Comment is
+needless; this sort of thing has long been in existence, and will long
+remain so, because very often, to obtain the highest of favours, all that
+is necessary is to obtain the good-will of a minister's favourite or even
+of his valet. My debts were soon paid.
+
+It was about that time that my brother Jean came to Venice with
+Guarienti, a converted Jew, a great judge of paintings, who was
+travelling at the expense of His Majesty the King of Poland, and Elector
+of Saxony. It was the converted Jew who had purchased for His Majesty the
+gallery of the Duke of Modena for one hundred thousand sequins. Guarienti
+and my brother left Venice for Rome, where Jean remained in the studio of
+the celebrated painter Raphael Mengs, whom we shall meet again hereafter.
+
+Now, as a faithful historian, I must give my readers the story of a
+certain adventure in which were involved the honour and happiness of one
+of the most charming women in Italy, who would have been unhappy if I had
+not been a thoughtless fellow.
+
+In the early part of October, 1746, the theatres being opened, I was
+walking about with my mask on when I perceived a woman, whose head was
+well enveloped in the hood of her mantle, getting out of the Ferrara
+barge which had just arrived. Seeing her alone, and observing her
+uncertain walk, I felt myself drawn towards her as if an unseen hand had
+guided me.
+
+I come up to her, and offer my services if I can be of any use to her.
+She answers timidly that she only wants to make some enquiries.
+
+"We are not here in the right place for conversation," I say to her; "but
+if you would be kind enough to come with me to a cafe, you would be able
+to speak and to explain your wishes."
+
+She hesitates, I insist, and she gives way. The tavern was close at hand;
+we go in, and are alone in a private room. I take off my mask, and out of
+politeness she must put down the hood of her mantle. A large muslin
+head-dress conceals half of her face, but her eyes, her nose, and her
+pretty mouth are enough to let me see on her features beauty, nobleness,
+sorrow, and that candour which gives youth such an undefinable charm. I
+need not say that, with such a good letter of introduction, the unknown
+at once captivated my warmest interest. After wiping away a few tears
+which are flowing, in spite of all her efforts, she tells me that she
+belongs to a noble family, that she has run away from her father's house,
+alone, trusting in God, to meet a Venetian nobleman who had seduced her
+and then deceived her, thus sealing her everlasting misery.
+
+"You have then some hope of recalling him to the path of duty? I suppose
+he has promised you marriage?"
+
+"He has engaged his faith to me in writing. The only favour I claim from
+your kindness is to take me to his house, to leave me there, and to keep
+my secret."
+
+"You may trust, madam, to the feelings of a man of honour. I am worthy of
+your trust. Have entire confidence in me, for I already take a deep
+interest in all your concerns. Tell me his name."
+
+"Alas! sir, I give way to fate."
+
+With these words, she takes out of her bosom a paper which she gives me;
+I recognize the handwriting of Zanetto Steffani. It was a promise of
+marriage by which he engaged his word of honour to marry within a week,
+in Venice, the young countess A---- S----. When I have read the paper, I
+return it to her, saying that I knew the writer quite well, that he was
+connected with the chancellor's office, known as a great libertine, and
+deeply in debt, but that he would be rich after his mother's death.
+
+"For God's sake take me to his house."
+
+"I will do anything you wish; but have entire confidence in me, and be
+good enough to hear me. I advise you not to go to his house. He has
+already done you great injury, and, even supposing that you should happen
+to find him at home, he might be capable of receiving you badly; if he
+should not be at home, it is most likely that his mother would not
+exactly welcome you, if you should tell her who you are and what is your
+errand. Trust to me, and be quite certain that God has sent me on your
+way to assist you. I promise you that to-morrow at the latest you shall
+know whether Steffani is in Venice, what he intends to do with you, and
+what we may compel him to do. Until then my advice is not to let him know
+your arrival in Venice."
+
+"Good God! where shall I go to-night?"
+
+"To a respectable house, of course."
+
+"I will go to yours, if you are married."
+
+"I am a bachelor."
+
+I knew an honest widow who resided in a lane, and who had two furnished
+rooms. I persuade the young countess to follow me, and we take a gondola.
+As we are gliding along, she tells me that, one month before, Steffani
+had stopped in her neighbourhood for necessary repairs to his
+travelling-carriage, and that, on the same day he had made her
+acquaintance at a house where she had gone with her mother for the
+purpose of offering their congratulations to a newly-married lady.
+
+"I was unfortunate enough," she continued, "to inspire him with love, and
+he postponed his departure. He remained one month in C----, never going
+out but in the evening, and spending every night under my windows
+conversing with me. He swore a thousand times that he adored me, that his
+intentions were honourable. I entreated him to present himself to my
+parents to ask me in marriage, but he always excused himself by alleging
+some reason, good or bad, assuring me that he could not be happy unless I
+shewed him entire confidence. He would beg of me to make up my mind to
+run away with him, unknown to everybody, promising that my honour should
+not suffer from such a step, because, three days after my departure,
+everybody should receive notice of my being his wife, and he assured me
+that he would bring me back on a visit to my native place shortly after
+our marriage. Alas, sir! what shall I say now? Love blinded me; I fell
+into the abyss; I believed him; I agreed to everything. He gave me the
+paper which you have read, and the following night I allowed him to come
+into my room through the window under which he was in the habit of
+conversing with me.
+
+"I consented to be guilty of a crime which I believed would be atoned for
+within three days, and he left me, promising that the next night he would
+be again under my window, ready to receive me in his arms. Could I
+possibly entertain any doubt after the fearful crime I had committed for
+him? I prepared a small parcel, and waited for his coming, but in vain.
+Oh! what a cruel long night it was! In the morning I heard that the
+monster had gone away with his servant one hour after sealing my shame.
+You may imagine my despair! I adopted the only plan that despair could
+suggest, and that, of course, was not the right one. One hour before
+midnight I left my father's roof, alone, thus completing my dishonour,
+but resolved on death, if the man who has cruelly robbed me of my most
+precious treasure, and whom a natural instinct told me I could find here,
+does not restore me the honour which he alone can give me back. I walked
+all night and nearly the whole day, without taking any food, until I got
+into the barge, which brought me here in twenty-four hours. I travelled
+in the boat with five men and two women, but no one saw my face or heard
+my voice, I kept constantly sitting down in a corner, holding my head
+down, half asleep, and with this prayer-book in my hands. I was left
+alone, no one spoke to me, and I thanked God for it. When I landed on the
+wharf, you did not give me time to think how I could find out the
+dwelling of my perfidious seducer, but you may imagine the impression
+produced upon me by the sudden apparition of a masked man who, abruptly,
+and as if placed there purposely by Providence, offered me his services;
+it seemed to me that you had guessed my distress, and, far from
+experiencing any repugnance, I felt that I was acting rightly in trusting
+myself in your hands, in spite of all prudence which, perhaps, ought to
+have made me turn a deaf ear to your words, and refuse the invitation to
+enter alone with you the house to which you took me.
+
+"You know all now, sir; but I entreat you not to judge me too severely; I
+have been virtuous all through my life; one month ago I had never
+committed a fault which could call a blush upon my face, and the bitter
+tears which I shed every day will, I hope, wash out my crime in the eyes
+of God. I have been carefully brought up, but love and the want of
+experience have thrown me into the abyss. I am in your hands, and I feel
+certain that I shall have no cause to repent it."
+
+I needed all she had just told' me to confirm me in the interest which I
+had felt in her from the first moment. I told her unsparingly that
+Steffani had seduced and abandoned her of malice aforethought, and that
+she ought to think of him only to be revenged of his perfidy. My words
+made her shudder, and she buried her beautiful face in her hands.
+
+We reached the widow's house. I established her in a pretty, comfortable
+room, and ordered some supper for her, desiring the good landlady to skew
+her every attention and to let her want for nothing. I then took an
+affectionate leave of her, promising to see her early in the morning.
+
+On leaving this interesting but hapless girl, I proceeded to the house of
+Steffani. I heard from one of his mother's gondoliers that he had
+returned to Venice three days before, but that, twenty-four hours after
+his return, he had gone away again without any servant, and nobody knew
+his whereabouts, not even his mother. The same evening, happening to be
+seated next to an abbe from Bologna at the theatre, I asked him several
+questions respecting the family of my unfortunate protegee.
+
+The abbe being intimately acquainted with them, I gathered from him all
+the information I required, and, amongst other things, I heard that the
+young countess had a brother, then an officer in the papal service.
+
+Very early the next morning I called upon her. She was still asleep. The
+widow told me that she had made a pretty good supper, but without
+speaking a single word, and that she had locked herself up in her room
+immediately afterwards. As soon as she had opened her door, I entered her
+room, and, cutting short her apologies for having kept me waiting, I
+informed her of all I had heard.
+
+Her features bore the stamp of deep sorrow, but she looked calmer, and
+her complexion was no longer pale. She thought it unlikely that Steffani
+would have left for any other place but for C----. Admitting the
+possibility that she might be right, I immediately offered to go to
+C---- myself, and to return without loss of time to fetch her, in case
+Steffani should be there. Without giving her time to answer I told her
+all the particulars I had learned concerning her honourable family, which
+caused her real satisfaction.
+
+"I have no objection," she said, "to your going to C----, and I thank you
+for the generosity of your offer, but I beg you will postpone your
+journey. I still hope that Steffani will return, and then I can take a
+decision."
+
+"I think you are quite right," I said. "Will you allow me to have some
+breakfast with you?"
+
+"Do you suppose I could refuse you?"
+
+"I should be very sorry to disturb you in any way. How did you use to
+amuse yourself at home?"
+
+"I am very fond of books and music; my harpsichord was my delight."
+
+I left her after breakfast, and in the evening I came back with a basket
+full of good books and music, and I sent her an excellent harpsichord. My
+kindness confused her, but I surprised her much more when I took out of
+my pocket three pairs of slippers. She blushed, and thanked me with great
+feeling. She had walked a long distance, her shoes were evidently worn
+out, her feet sore, and she appreciated the delicacy of my present. As I
+had no improper design with regard to her, I enjoyed her gratitude, and
+felt pleased at the idea she evidently entertained of my kind attentions.
+I had no other purpose in view but to restore calm to her mind, and to
+obliterate the bad opinion which the unworthy Steffani had given her of
+men in general. I never thought of inspiring her with love for me, and I
+had not the slightest idea that I could fall in love with her. She was
+unhappy, and her unhappiness--a sacred thing in my eyes--called all the
+more for my most honourable sympathy, because, without knowing me, she
+had given me her entire confidence. Situated as she was, I could not
+suppose her heart susceptible of harbouring a new affection, and I would
+have despised myself if I had tried to seduce her by any means in my
+power.
+
+I remained with her only a quarter of an hour, being unwilling that my
+presence should trouble her at such a moment, as she seemed to be at a
+loss how to thank me and to express all her gratitude.
+
+I was thus engaged in a rather delicate adventure, the end of which I
+could not possibly foresee, but my warmth for my protegee did not cool
+down, and having no difficulty in procuring the means to keep her I had
+no wish to see the last scene of the romance. That singular meeting,
+which gave me the useful opportunity of finding myself endowed with
+generous dispositions, stronger even than my love for pleasure, flattered
+my self-love more than I could express. I was then trying a great
+experiment, and conscious that I wanted sadly to study myself, I gave up
+all my energies to acquire the great science of the 'xxxxxxxxxxxx'.
+
+On the third day, in the midst of expressions of gratitude which I could
+not succeed in stopping she told me that she could not conceive why I
+shewed her so much sympathy, because I ought to have formed but a poor
+opinion of her in consequence of the readiness with which she had
+followed me into the cafe. She smiled when I answered that I could not
+understand how I had succeeded in giving her so great a confidence in my
+virtue, when I appeared before her with a mask on my face, in a costume
+which did not indicate a very virtuous character.
+
+"It was easy for me, madam," I continued, "to guess that you were a
+beauty in distress, when I observed your youth, the nobleness of your
+countenance, and, more than all, your candour. The stamp of truth was so
+well affixed to the first words you uttered that I could not have the
+shadow of a doubt left in me as to your being the unhappy victim of the
+most natural of all feelings, and as to your having abandoned your home
+through a sentiment of honour. Your fault was that of a warm heart
+seduced by love, over which reason could have no sway, and your
+flight--the action of a soul crying for reparation or for revenge-fully
+justifies you. Your cowardly seducer must pay with his life the penalty
+due to his crime, and he ought never to receive, by marrying you, an
+unjust reward, for he is not worthy of possessing you after degrading
+himself by the vilest conduct."
+
+"Everything you say is true. My brother, I hope, will avenge me."
+
+"You are greatly mistaken if you imagine that Steffani will fight your
+brother; Steffani is a coward who will never expose himself to an
+honourable death."
+
+As I was speaking, she put her hand in her pocket and drew forth, after a
+few moments' consideration, a stiletto six inches long, which she placed
+on the table.
+
+"What is this?" I exclaimed.
+
+"It is a weapon upon which I reckoned until now to use against myself in
+case I should not succeed in obtaining reparation for the crime I have
+committed. But you have opened my eyes. Take away, I entreat you, this
+stiletto, which henceforth is useless to me. I trust in your friendship,
+and I have an inward certainty that I shall be indebted to you for my
+honour as well as for my life."
+
+I was struck by the words she had just uttered, and I felt that those
+words, as well as her looks, had found their way to my heart, besides
+enlisting my generous sympathy. I took the stiletto, and left her with so
+much agitation that I had to acknowledge the weakness of my heroism,
+which I was very near turning into ridicule; yet I had the wonderful
+strength to perform, at least by halves, the character of a Cato until
+the seventh day.
+
+I must explain how a certain suspicion of the young lady arose in my
+mind. That doubt was heavy on my heart, for, if it had proved true, I
+should have been a dupe, and the idea was humiliating. She had told me
+that she was a musician; I had immediately sent her a harpsichord, and,
+yet, although the instrument had been at her disposal for three days, she
+had not opened it once, for the widow had told me so. It seemed to me
+that the best way to thank me for my attentive kindness would have been
+to give me a specimen of her musical talent. Had she deceived me? If so,
+she would lose my esteem. But, unwilling to form a hasty judgment, I kept
+on my guard, with a firm determination to make good use of the first
+opportunity that might present itself to clear up my doubts.
+
+I called upon her the next day after dinner, which was not my usual time,
+having resolved on creating the opportunity myself. I caught her seated
+before a toilet-glass, while the widow dressed the most beautiful auburn
+hair I had ever seen. I tendered my apologies for my sudden appearance at
+an unusual hour; she excused herself for not having completed her toilet,
+and the widow went on with her work. It was the first time I had seen the
+whole of her face, her neck, and half of her arms, which the graces
+themselves had moulded. I remained in silent contemplation. I praised,
+quite by chance, the perfume of the pomatum, and the widow took the
+opportunity of telling her that she had spent in combs, powder, and
+pomatum the three livres she had received from her. I recollected then
+that she had told me the first day that she had left C---- with ten
+paoli.
+
+I blushed for very shame, for I ought to have thought of that.
+
+As soon as the widow had dressed her hair, she left the room to prepare
+some coffee for us. I took up a ring which had been laid by her on the
+toilet-table, and I saw that it contained a portrait exactly like her; I
+was amused at the singular fancy she had had of having her likeness taken
+in a man's costume, with black hair. "You are mistaken," she said, "it is
+a portrait of my brother. He is two years older than I, and is an officer
+in the papal army."
+
+I begged her permission to put the ring on her finger; she consented, and
+when I tried, out of mere gallantry, to kiss her hand, she drew it back,
+blushing. I feared she might be offended, and I assured her of my
+respect.
+
+"Ah, sir!" she answered, "in the situation in which I am placed, I must
+think of defending myself against my own self much more than against
+you."
+
+The compliment struck me as so fine, and so complimentary to me, that I
+thought it better not to take it up, but she could easily read in my eyes
+that she would never find me ungrateful for whatever feelings she might
+entertain in my favour. Yet I felt my love taking such proportions that I
+did not know how to keep it a mystery any longer.
+
+Soon after that, as she was again thanking me for the books--I had given
+her, saying that I had guessed her taste exactly, because she did not
+like novels, she added, "I owe you an apology for not having sung to you
+yet, knowing that you are fond of music." These words made me breathe
+freely; without waiting for any answer, she sat down before the
+instrument and played several pieces with a facility, with a precision,
+with an expression of which no words could convey any idea. I was in
+ecstacy. I entreated her to sing; after some little ceremony, she took
+one of the music books I had given her, and she sang at sight in a manner
+which fairly ravished me. I begged that she would allow me to kiss her
+hand, and she did not say yes, but when I took it and pressed my lips on
+it, she did not oppose any resistance; I had the courage to smother my
+ardent desires, and the kiss I imprinted on her lovely hand was a mixture
+of tenderness, respect, and admiration.
+
+I took leave of her, smitten, full of love, and almost determined on
+declaring my passion. Reserve becomes silliness when we know that our
+affection is returned by the woman we love, but as yet I was not quite
+sure.
+
+The disappearance of Steffani was the talk of Venice, but I did not
+inform the charming countess of that circumstance. It was generally
+supposed that his mother had refused to pay his debts, and that he had
+run away to avoid his creditors. It was very possible. But, whether he
+returned or not, I could not make up my mind to lose the precious
+treasure I had in my hands. Yet I did not see in what manner, in what
+quality, I could enjoy that treasure, and I found myself in a regular
+maze. Sometimes I had an idea of consulting my kind father, but I would
+soon abandon it with fear, for I had made a trial of his empiric
+treatment in the Rinaldi affair, and still more in the case of l'Abbadie.
+His remedies frightened me to that extent that I would rather remain ill
+than be cured by their means.
+
+One morning I was foolish enough to enquire from the widow whether the
+lady had asked her who I was. What an egregious blunder! I saw it when
+the good woman, instead of answering me, said,
+
+"Does she not know who you are?"
+
+"Answer me, and do not ask questions," I said, in order to hide my
+confusion.
+
+The worthy woman was right; through my stupidity she would now feel
+curious; the tittle-tattle of the neighbourhood would of course take up
+the affair and discuss it; and all through my thoughtlessness! It was an
+unpardonable blunder. One ought never to be more careful than in
+addressing questions to half-educated persons. During the fortnight that
+she had passed under my protection, the countess had shewn me no
+curiosity whatever to know anything about me, but it did not prove that
+she was not curious on the subject. If I had been wise, I should have
+told her the very first day who I was, but I made up for my mistake that
+evening better than anybody else could have done it, and, after having
+told her all about myself, I entreated her forgiveness for not having
+done so sooner. Thanking me for my confidence, she confessed how curious
+she had been to know me better, and she assured me that she would never
+have been imprudent enough to ask any questions about me from her
+landlady. Women have a more delicate, a surer tact than men, and her last
+words were a home-thrust for me.
+
+Our conversation having turned to the extraordinary absence of Steffani,
+she said that her father must necessarily believe her to be hiding with
+him somewhere. "He must have found out," she added, "that I was in the
+habit of conversing with him every night from my window, and he must have
+heard of my having embarked for Venice on board the Ferrara barge. I feel
+certain that my father is now in Venice, making secretly every effort to
+discover me. When he visits this city he always puts up at Boncousin;
+will you ascertain whether he is there?"
+
+She never pronounced Steffani's name without disgust and hatred, and she
+said she would bury herself in a convent, far away from her native place,
+where no one could be acquainted with her shameful history.
+
+I intended to make some enquiries the next day, but it was not necessary
+for me to do so, for in the evening, at supper-time, M. Barbaro said to
+us,
+
+"A nobleman, a subject of the Pope, has been recommended to me, and
+wishes me to assist him with my influence in a rather delicate and
+intricate matter. One of our citizens has, it appears, carried off his
+daughter, and has been hiding somewhere with her for the last fortnight,
+but nobody knows where. The affair ought to be brought before the Council
+of Ten, but the mother of the ravisher claims to be a relative of mine,
+and I do not intend to interfere."
+
+I pretended to take no interest in M. Barbaro's words, and early the next
+morning I went to the young countess to tell her the interesting news.
+She was still asleep; but, being in a hurry, I sent the widow to say that
+I wanted to see her only for two minutes in order to communicate
+something of great importance. She received me, covering herself up to
+the chin with the bed-clothes.
+
+As soon as I had informed her of all I knew, she entreated me to enlist
+M. Barbaro as a mediator between herself and her father, assuring me that
+she would rather die than become the wife of the monster who had
+dishonoured her. I undertook to do it, and she gave me the promise of
+marriage used by the deceiver to seduce her, so that it could be shewn to
+her father.
+
+In order to obtain M. Barbaro's mediation in favour of the young
+countess, it would have been necessary to tell him that she was under my
+protection, and I felt it would injure my protegee. I took no
+determination at first, and most likely one of the reasons for my
+hesitation was that I saw myself on the point of losing her, which was
+particularly repugnant to my feelings.
+
+After dinner Count A---- S---- was announced as wishing to see M. Barbaro.
+He came in with his son, the living portrait of his sister. M. Barbaro
+took them to his study to talk the matter over, and within an hour they
+had taken leave. As soon as they had gone, the excellent M. Barbaro asked
+me, as I had expected, to consult my heavenly spirit, and to ascertain
+whether he would be right in interfering in favour of Count A---S---. He
+wrote the question himself, and I gave the following answer with the
+utmost coolness:
+
+"You ought to interfere, but only to advise the father to forgive his
+daughter and to give up all idea of compelling her to marry her ravisher,
+for Steffani has been sentenced to death by the will of God."
+
+The answer seemed wonderful to the three friends, and I was myself
+surprised at my boldness, but I had a foreboding that Steffani was to
+meet his death at the hands of somebody; love might have given birth to
+that presentiment. M. de Bragadin, who believed my oracle infallible,
+observed that it had never given such a clear answer, and that Steffani
+was certainly dead. He said to M. de Barbaro,
+
+"You had better invite the count and his son to dinner hereto-morrow. You
+must act slowly and prudently; it would be necessary to know where the
+daughter is before you endeavour to make the father forgive her."
+
+M. Barbaro very nearly made me drop my serious countenance by telling me
+that if I would try my oracle I could let them know at once where the
+girl was. I answered that I would certainly ask my spirit on the morrow,
+thus gaining time in order to ascertain before hand the disposition of
+the father and of his son. But I could not help laughing, for I had
+placed myself under the necessity of sending Steffani to the next world,
+if the reputation of my oracle was to be maintained.
+
+I spent the evening with the young countess, who entertained no doubt
+either of her father's indulgence or of the entire confidence she could
+repose in me.
+
+What delight the charming girl experienced when she heard that I would
+dine the next day with her father and brother, and that I would tell her
+every word that would be said about her! But what happiness it was for me
+to see her convinced that she was right in loving me, and that, without
+me, she would certainly have been lost in a town where the policy of the
+government tolerates debauchery as a solitary species of individual
+freedom. We congratulated each other upon our fortuitous meeting and upon
+the conformity in our tastes, which we thought truly wonderful. We were
+greatly pleased that her easy acceptance of my invitation, or my
+promptness in persuading her to follow and to trust me, could not be
+ascribed to the mutual attraction of our features, for I was masked, and
+her hood was then as good as a mask. We entertained no doubt that
+everything had been arranged by Heaven to get us acquainted, and to fire
+us both, even unknown to ourselves, with love for each other.
+
+"Confess," I said to her, in a moment of enthusiasm, and as I was
+covering her hand with kisses, "confess that if you found me to be in
+love with you you would fear me."
+
+"Alas! my only fear is to lose you."
+
+That confession, the truth of which was made evident by her voice and by
+her looks, proved the electric spark which ignited the latent fire.
+Folding her rapidly in my arms, pressing my mouth on her lips, reading in
+her beautiful eyes neither a proud indignation nor the cold compliance
+which might have been the result of a fear of losing me, I gave way
+entirely to the sweet inclination of love, and swimming already in a sea
+of delights I felt my enjoyment increased a hundredfold when I saw, on
+the countenance of the beloved creature who shared it, the expression of
+happiness, of love, of modesty, and of sensibility, which enhances the
+charm of the greatest triumph.
+
+She had scarcely recovered her composure when she cast her eyes down and
+sighed deeply. Thinking that I knew the cause of it, I threw myself on my
+knees before her, and speaking to her words of the warmest affection I
+begged, I entreated her, to forgive me.
+
+"What offence have I to forgive you for, dear friend? You have not
+rightly interpreted my thoughts. Your love caused me to think of my
+happiness, and in that moment a cruel recollection drew that sigh from
+me. Pray rise from your knees."
+
+Midnight had struck already; I told her that her good fame made it
+necessary for me to go away; I put my mask on and left the house. I was
+so surprised, so amazed at having obtained a felicity of which I did not
+think myself worthy, that my departure must have appeared rather abrupt
+to her. I could not sleep. I passed one of those disturbed nights during
+which the imagination of an amorous young man is unceasingly running
+after the shadows of reality. I had tasted, but not savoured, that happy
+reality, and all my being was longing for her who alone could make my
+enjoyment complete. In that nocturnal drama love and imagination were the
+two principal actors; hope, in the background, performed only a dumb
+part. People may say what they please on that subject but hope is in fact
+nothing but a deceitful flatterer accepted by reason only because it is
+often in need of palliatives. Happy are those men who, to enjoy life to
+the fullest extent, require neither hope nor foresight.
+
+In the morning, recollecting the sentence of death which I had passed on
+Steffani, I felt somewhat embarrassed about it. I wished I could have
+recalled it, as well for the honour of my oracle, which was seriously
+implicated by it, as for the sake of Steffani himself, whom I did not
+hate half so much since I was indebted to him for the treasure in my
+possession.
+
+The count and his son came to dinner. The father was simple, artless, and
+unceremonious. It was easy to read on his countenance the grief he felt
+at the unpleasant adventure of his daughter, and his anxiety to settle
+the affair honourably, but no anger could be traced on his features or in
+his manners. The son, as handsome as the god of love, had wit and great
+nobility of manner. His easy, unaffected carriage pleased me, and wishing
+to win his friendship I shewed him every attention.
+
+After the dessert, M. Barbaro contrived to persuade the count that we
+were four persons with but one head and one heart, and the worthy
+nobleman spoke to us without any reserve. He praised his daughter very
+highly. He assured us that Steffani had never entered his house, and
+therefore he could not conceive by what spell, speaking to his daughter
+only at night and from the street under the window, he had succeeded in
+seducing her to such an extent as to make her leave her home alone, on
+foot, two days after he had left himself in his post-chaise.
+
+"Then," observed M. Barbaro, "it is impossible to be certain that he
+actually seduced her, or to prove that she went off with him."
+
+"Very true, sir, but although it cannot be proved, there is no doubt of
+it, and now that no one knows where Steffani is, he can be nowhere but
+with her. I only want him to marry her."
+
+"It strikes me that it would be better not to insist upon a compulsory
+marriage which would seal your daughter's misery, for Steffani is, in
+every respect, one of the most worthless young men we have amongst our
+government clerks."
+
+"Were I in your place," said M. de Bragadin, "I would let my daughter's
+repentance disarm my anger, and I would forgive her."
+
+"Where is she? I am ready to fold her in my arms, but how can I believe
+in her repentance when it is evident that she is still with him."
+
+"Is it quite certain that in leaving C---- she proceeded to this city?"
+
+"I have it from the master of the barge himself, and she landed within
+twenty yards of the Roman gate. An individual wearing a mask was waiting
+for her, joined her at once, and they both disappeared without leaving
+any trace of their whereabouts."
+
+"Very likely it was Steffani waiting there for her."
+
+"No, for he is short, and the man with the mask was tall. Besides, I have
+heard that Steffani had left Venice two days before the arrival of my
+daughter. The man must have been some friend of Steffani, and he has
+taken her to him."
+
+"But, my dear count, all this is mere supposition."
+
+"There are four persons who have seen the man with the mask, and pretend
+to know him, only they do not agree. Here is a list of four names, and I
+will accuse these four persons before the Council of Ten, if Steffani
+should deny having my daughter in his possession."
+
+The list, which he handed to M. Barbaro, gave not only the names of the
+four accused persons, but likewise those of their accusers. The last
+name, which M. Barbaro read, was mine. When I heard it, I shrugged my
+shoulders in a manner which caused the three friends to laugh heartily.
+
+M. de Bragadin, seeing the surprise of the count at such uncalled-for
+mirth, said to him,
+
+"This is Casanova my son, and I give you my word of honour that, if your
+daughter is in his hands, she is perfectly safe, although he may not look
+exactly the sort of man to whom young girls should be trusted."
+
+The surprise, the amazement, and the perplexity of the count and his son
+were an amusing picture. The loving father begged me to excuse him, with
+tears in his eyes, telling me to place myself in his position. My only
+answer was to embrace him most affectionately.
+
+The man who had recognized me was a noted pimp whom I had thrashed some
+time before for having deceived me. If I had not been there just in time
+to take care of the young countess, she would not have escaped him, and
+he would have ruined her for ever by taking her to some house of
+ill-fame.
+
+The result of the meeting was that the count agreed to postpone his
+application to the Council of Ten until Steffani's place of refuge should
+be discovered.
+
+"I have not seen Steffani for six months, sir," I said to the count, "but
+I promise you to kill him in a duel as soon as he returns."
+
+"You shall not do it," answered the young count, very coolly, "unless he
+kills me first."
+
+"Gentlemen," exclaimed M. de Bragadin, "I can assure you that you will
+neither of you fight a duel with him, for Steffani is dead."
+
+"Dead!" said the count.
+
+"We must not," observed the prudent Barbaro, "take that word in its
+literal sense, but the wretched man is dead to all honour and
+self-respect."
+
+After that truly dramatic scene, during which I could guess that the
+denouement of the play was near at hand, I went to my charming countess,
+taking care to change my gondola three times--a necessary precaution to
+baffle spies.
+
+I gave my anxious mistress an exact account of all the conversation. She
+was very impatient for my coming, and wept tears of joy when I repeated
+her father's words of forgiveness; but when I told her that nobody knew
+of Steffani having entered her chamber, she fell on her knees and thanked
+God. I then repeated her brother's words, imitating his coolness: "You
+shall not kill him, unless he kills me first." She kissed me tenderly,
+calling me her guardian angel, her saviour, and weeping in my arms. I
+promised to bring her brother on the following day, or the day after that
+at the latest. We had our supper, but we did not talk of Steffani, or of
+revenge, and after that pleasant meal we devoted two hours to the worship
+of the god of love.
+
+I left her at midnight, promising to return early in the morning--my
+reason for not remaining all night with her was that the landlady might,
+if necessary, swear without scruple that I had never spent a night with
+the young girl. It proved a very lucky inspiration of mine, for, when I
+arrived home, I found the three friends waiting impatiently for me in
+order to impart to me wonderful news which M. de Bragadin had heard at
+the sitting of the senate.
+
+"Steffani," said M. de Bragadin to me, "is dead, as our angel Paralis
+revealed it to us; he is dead to the world, for he has become a Capuchin
+friar. The senate, as a matter of course, has been informed of it. We
+alone are aware that it is a punishment which God has visited upon him.
+Let us worship the Author of all things, and the heavenly hierarchy which
+renders us worthy of knowing what remains a mystery to all men. Now we
+must achieve our undertaking, and console the poor father. We must
+enquire from Paralis where the girl is. She cannot now be with Steffani.
+Of course, God has not condemned her to become a Capuchin nun."
+
+"I need not consult my angel, dearest father, for it is by his express
+orders that I have been compelled until now to make a mystery of the
+refuge found by the young countess."
+
+I related the whole story, except what they had no business to know, for,
+in the opinion of the worthy men, who had paid heavy tribute to Love, all
+intrigues were fearful crimes. M. Dandolo and M. Barbaro expressed their
+surprise when they heard that the young girl had been under my protection
+for a fortnight, but M. de Bragadin said that he was not astonished, that
+it was according to cabalistic science, and that he knew it.
+
+"We must only," he added, "keep up the mystery of his daughter's place of
+refuge for the count, until we know for a certainty that he will forgive
+her, and that he will take her with him to C----, or to any other place
+where he may wish to live hereafter."
+
+"He cannot refuse to forgive her," I said, "when he finds that the
+amiable girl would never have left C---- if her seducer had not given her
+this promise of marriage in his own handwriting. She walked as far as the
+barge, and she landed at the very moment I was passing the Roman gate. An
+inspiration from above told me to accost her and to invite her to follow
+me. She obeyed, as if she was fulfilling the decree of Heaven, I took her
+to a refuge impossible to discover, and placed her under the care of a
+God-fearing woman."
+
+My three friends listened to me so attentively that they looked like
+three statues. I advised them to invite the count to dinner for the day
+after next, because I needed some time to consult 'Paralis de modo
+tenendi'. I then told M. Barbaro to let the count know in what sense he
+was to understand Steffani's death. He undertook to do it, and we retired
+to rest.
+
+I slept only four or five hours, and, dressing myself quickly, hurried to
+my beloved mistress. I told the widow not to serve the coffee until we
+called for it, because we wanted to remain quiet and undisturbed for some
+hours, having several important letters to write.
+
+I found the lovely countess in bed, but awake, and her eyes beaming with
+happiness and contentment. For a fortnight I had only seen her sad,
+melancholy, and thoughtful. Her pleased countenance, which I naturally
+ascribed to my influence, filled me with joy. We commenced as all happy
+lovers always do, and we were both unsparing of the mutual proofs of our
+love, tenderness, and gratitude.
+
+After our delightful amorous sport, I told her the news, but love had so
+completely taken possession of her pure and sensitive soul, that what had
+been important was now only an accessory. But the news of her seducer
+having turned a Capuchin friar filled her with amazement, and, passing
+very sensible remarks on the extraordinary event, she pitied Steffani.
+When we can feel pity, we love no longer, but a feeling of pity
+succeeding love is the characteristic only of a great and generous mind.
+She was much pleased with me for having informed my three friends of her
+being under my protection, and she left to my care all the necessary
+arrangements for obtaining a reconciliation with her father.
+
+Now and then we recollected that the time of our separation was near at
+hand, our grief was bitter, but we contrived to forget it in the ecstacy
+of our amorous enjoyment.
+
+"Ah! why can we not belong for ever to each other?" the charming girl
+would exclaim. "It is not my acquaintance with Steffani, it is your loss
+which will seal my eternal misery."
+
+But it was necessary to bring our delightful interview to a close, for
+the hours were flying with fearful rapidity. I left her happy, her eyes
+wet with tears of intense felicity.
+
+At the dinner-table M. Barbaro told me that he had paid a visit to his
+relative, Steffani's mother, and that she had not appeared sorry at the
+decision taken by her son, although he was her only child.
+
+"He had the choice," she said, "between killing himself and turning
+friar, and he took the wiser course."
+
+The woman spoke like a good Christian, and she professed to be one; but
+she spoke like an unfeeling mother, and she was truly one, for she was
+wealthy, and if she had not been cruelly avaricious her son would not
+have been reduced to the fearful alternative of committing suicide or of
+becoming a Capuchin friar.
+
+The last and most serious motive which caused the despair of Steffani,
+who is still alive, remained a mystery for everybody. My Memoirs will
+raise the veil when no one will care anything about it.
+
+The count and his son were, of course, greatly surprised, and the event
+made them still more desirous of discovering the young lady. In order to
+obtain a clue to her place of refuge, the count had resolved on summoning
+before the Council of Ten all the parties, accused and accusing, whose
+names he had on his list, with the exception of myself. His determination
+made it necessary for us to inform him that his daughter was in my hands,
+and M. de Bragadin undertook to let him know the truth.
+
+We were all invited to supper by the count, and we went to his hostelry,
+with the exception of M. de Bragadin, who had declined the invitation. I
+was thus prevented from seeing my divinity that evening, but early the
+next morning I made up for lost time, and as it had been decided that her
+father would on that very day be informed of her being under my care, we
+remained together until noon. We had no hope of contriving another
+meeting, for I had promised to bring her brother in the afternoon.
+
+The count and his son dined with us, and after dinner M. de Bragadin
+said,
+
+"I have joyful news for you, count; your beloved daughter has been
+found!"
+
+What an agreeable surprise for the father and son! M. de Bragadin handed
+them the promise of marriage written by Steffani, and said,
+
+"This, gentlemen, evidently brought your lovely young lady to the verge
+of madness when she found that he had gone from C---- without her. She
+left your house alone on foot, and as she landed in Venice Providence
+threw her in the way of this young man, who induced her to follow him,
+and has placed her under the care of an honest woman, whom she has not
+left since, whom she will leave only to fall in your arms as soon as she
+is certain of your forgiveness for the folly she has committed."
+
+"Oh! let her have no doubt of my forgiving her," exclaimed the father, in
+the ecstacy of joy, and turning to me, "Dear sir, I beg of you not to
+delay the fortunate moment on which the whole happiness of my life
+depends."
+
+I embraced him warmly, saying that his daughter would be restored to him
+on the following day, and that I would let his son see her that very
+afternoon, so as to give him an opportunity of preparing her by degrees
+for that happy reconciliation. M. Barbaro desired to accompany us, and
+the young man, approving all my arrangements, embraced me, swearing
+everlasting friendship and gratitude.
+
+We went out all three together, and a gondola carried us in a few minutes
+to the place where I was guarding a treasure more precious than the
+golden apples of the Hesperides. But, alas! I was on the point of losing
+that treasure, the remembrance of which causes me, even now, a delicious
+trembling.
+
+I preceded my two companions in order to prepare my lovely young friend
+for the visit, and when I told her that, according to my arrangements,
+her father would not see her till on the following day:
+
+"Ah!" she exclaimed with the accent of true happiness, "then we can spend
+a few more hours together! Go, dearest, go and bring my brother."
+
+I returned with my companions, but how can I paint that truly dramatic
+situation? Oh! how inferior art must ever be to nature! The fraternal
+love, the delight beaming upon those two beautiful faces, with a slight
+shade of confusion on that of the sister, the pure joy shining in the
+midst of their tender caresses, the most eloquent exclamations followed
+by a still more eloquent silence, their loving looks which seem like
+flashes of lightning in the midst of a dew of tears, a thought of
+politeness which brings blushes on her countenance, when she recollects
+that she has forgotten her duty towards a nobleman whom she sees for the
+first time, and finally there was my part, not a speaking one, but yet
+the most important of all. The whole formed a living picture to which the
+most skilful painter could not have rendered full justice.
+
+We sat down at last, the young countess between her brother and M.
+Barbaro, on the sofa, I, opposite to her, on a low foot-stool.
+
+"To whom, dear sister, are we indebted for the happiness of having found
+you again?"
+
+"To my guardian angel," she answered, giving me her hand, "to this
+generous man who was waiting for me, as if Heaven had sent him with the
+special mission of watching over your sister; it is he who has saved me,
+who has prevented me from falling into the gulf which yawned under my
+feet, who has rescued me from the shame threatening me, of which I had
+then no conception; it is to him I am indebted for all, to him who, as
+you see, kisses my hand now for the first time."
+
+And she pressed her handkerchief to her beautiful eyes to dry her tears,
+but ours were flowing at the same time.
+
+Such is true virtue, which never loses its nobleness, even when modesty
+compels it to utter some innocent falsehood. But the charming girl had no
+idea of being guilty of an untruth. It was a pure, virtuous soul which
+was then speaking through her lips, and she allowed it to speak. Her
+virtue seemed to whisper to her that, in spite of her errors, it had
+never deserted her. A young girl who gives way to a real feeling of love
+cannot be guilty of a crime, or be exposed to remorse.
+
+Towards the end of our friendly visit, she said that she longed to throw
+herself at her father's feet, but that she wished to see him only in the
+evening, so as not to give any opportunity to the gossips of the place,
+and it was agreed that the meeting, which was to be the last scene of the
+drama, should take place the next day towards the evening.
+
+We returned to the count's hostelry for supper, and the excellent man,
+fully persuaded that he was indebted to me for his honour as well as for
+his daughter's, looked at me with admiration, and spoke to me with
+gratitude. Yet he was not sorry to have ascertained himself, and before I
+had said so, that I had been the first man who had spoken to her after
+landing. Before parting in the evening, M. Barbaro invited them to dinner
+for the next day.
+
+I went to my charming mistress very early the following morning, and,
+although there was some danger in protracting our interview, we did not
+give it a thought, or, if we did, it only caused us to make good use of
+the short time that we could still devote to love.
+
+After having enjoyed, until our strength was almost expiring, the most
+delightful, the most intense voluptuousness in which mutual ardour can
+enfold two young, vigorous, and passionate lovers, the young countess
+dressed herself, and, kissing her slippers, said she would never part
+with them as long as she lived. I asked her to give me a lock of her
+hair, which she did at once. I meant to have it made into a chain like
+the one woven with the hair of Madame F----, which I still wore round my
+neck.
+
+Towards dusk, the count and his son, M. Dandolo, M. Barbaro, and myself,
+proceeded together to the abode of the young countess. The moment she saw
+her father, she threw herself on her knees before him, but the count,
+bursting into tears, took her in his arms, covered her with kisses, and
+breathed over her words of forgiveness, of love and blessing. What a
+scene for a man of sensibility! An hour later we escorted the family to
+the inn, and, after wishing them a pleasant journey, I went back with my
+two friends to M. de Bragadin, to whom I gave a faithful account of what
+had taken place.
+
+We thought that they had left Venice, but the next morning they called at
+the place in a peotta with six rowers. The count said that they could not
+leave the city without seeing us once more; without thanking us again,
+and me particularly, for all we had done for them. M. de Bragadin, who
+had not seen the young countess before, was struck by her extraordinary
+likeness to her brother.
+
+They partook of some refreshments, and embarked in their peotta, which
+was to carry them, in twenty-four hours, to Ponte di Lago Oscuro, on the
+River Po, near the frontiers of the papal states. It was only with my
+eyes that I could express to the lovely girl all the feelings which
+filled my heart, but she understood the language, and I had no difficulty
+in interpreting the meaning of her looks.
+
+Never did an introduction occur in better season than that of the count
+to M. Barbaro. It saved the honour of a respectable family; and it saved
+me from the unpleasant consequences of an interrogatory in the presence
+of the Council of Ten, during which I should have been convicted of
+having taken the young girl with me, and compelled to say what I had done
+with her.
+
+A few days afterwards we all proceeded to Padua to remain in that city
+until the end of autumn. I was grieved not to find Doctor Gozzi in Padua;
+he had been appointed to a benefice in the country, and he was living
+there with Bettina; she had not been able to remain with the scoundrel
+who had married her only for the sake of her small dowry, and had treated
+her very ill.
+
+I did not like the quiet life of Padua, and to avoid dying from ennui I
+fell in love with a celebrated Venetian courtesan. Her name was Ancilla;
+sometime after, the well-known dancer, Campioni, married her and took her
+to London, where she caused the death of a very worthy Englishman. I
+shall have to mention her again in four years; now I have only to speak
+of a certain circumstance which brought my love adventure with her to a
+close after three or four weeks.
+
+Count Medini, a young, thoughtless fellow like myself, and with
+inclinations of much the same cast, had introduced me to Ancilla. The
+count was a confirmed gambler and a thorough enemy of fortune. There was
+a good deal of gambling going on at Ancilla's, whose favourite lover he
+was, and the fellow had presented me to his mistress only to give her the
+opportunity of making a dupe of me at the card-table.
+
+And, to tell the truth, I was a dupe at first; not thinking of any foul
+play, I accepted ill luck without complaining; but one day I caught them
+cheating. I took a pistol out of my pocket, and, aiming at Medini's
+breast, I threatened to kill him on the spot unless he refunded at once
+all the gold they had won from me. Ancilla fainted away, and the count,
+after refunding the money, challenged me to follow him out and measure
+swords. I placed my pistols on the table, and we went out. Reaching a
+convenient spot, we fought by the bright light of the moon, and I was
+fortunate enough to give him a gash across the shoulder. He could not
+move his arm, and he had to cry for mercy.
+
+After that meeting, I went to bed and slept quietly, but in the morning I
+related the whole affair to my father, and he advised me to leave Padua
+immediately, which I did.
+
+Count Medini remained my enemy through all his life. I shall have
+occasion to speak of him again when I reach Naples.
+
+The remainder of the year 1746 passed off quietly, without any events of
+importance. Fortune was now favourable to me and now adverse.
+
+Towards the end of January, 1747, I received a letter from the young
+countess A---- S----, who had married the Marquis of----. She entreated me
+not to appear to know her, if by chance I visited the town in which she
+resided, for she had the happiness of having linked her destiny to that
+of a man who had won her heart after he had obtained her hand.
+
+I had already heard from her brother that, after their return to C----,
+her mother had taken her to the city from which her letter was written,
+and there, in the house of a relative with whom she was residing, she had
+made the acquaintance of the man who had taken upon himself the charge of
+her future welfare and happiness. I saw her one year afterwards, and if
+it had not been for her letter, I should certainly have solicited an
+introduction to her husband. Yet, peace of mind has greater charms even
+than love; but, when love is in the way, we do not think so.
+
+For a fortnight I was the lover of a young Venetian girl, very handsome,
+whom her father, a certain Ramon, exposed to public admiration as a
+dancer at the theatre. I might have remained longer her captive, if
+marriage had not forcibly broken my chains. Her protectress, Madame
+Cecilia Valmarano, found her a very proper husband in the person of a
+French dancer, called Binet, who had assumed the name of Binetti, and
+thus his young wife had not to become a French woman; she soon won great
+fame in more ways than one. She was strangely privileged; time with its
+heavy hand seemed to have no power over her. She always appeared young,
+even in the eyes of the best judges of faded, bygone female beauty. Men,
+as a general rule, do not ask for anything more, and they are right in
+not racking their brain for the sake of being convinced that they are the
+dupes of external appearance. The last lover that the wonderful Binetti
+killed by excess of amorous enjoyment was a certain Mosciuski, a Pole,
+whom fate brought to Venice seven or eight years ago; she had then
+reached her sixty-third year!
+
+My life in Venice would have been pleasant and happy, if I could have
+abstained from punting at basset. The ridotti were only open to noblemen
+who had to appear without masks, in their patrician robes, and wearing
+the immense wig which had become indispensable since the beginning of the
+century. I would play, and I was wrong, for I had neither prudence enough
+to leave off when fortune was adverse, nor sufficient control over myself
+to stop when I had won. I was then gambling through a feeling of avarice.
+I was extravagant by taste, and I always regretted the money I had spent,
+unless it had been won at the gaming-table, for it was only in that case
+that the money had, in my opinion, cost me nothing.
+
+At the end of January, finding myself under the necessity of procuring
+two hundred sequins, Madame Manzoni contrived to obtain for me from
+another woman the loan of a diamond ring worth five hundred. I made up my
+mind to go to Treviso, fifteen miles distant from Venice, to pawn the
+ring at the Mont-de-piete, which there lends money upon valuables at the
+rate of five per cent. That useful establishment does not exist in
+Venice, where the Jews have always managed to keep the monopoly in their
+hands.
+
+I got up early one morning, and walked to the end of the canale regio,
+intending to engage a gondola to take me as far as Mestra, where I could
+take post horses, reach Treviso in less than two hours, pledge my diamond
+ring, and return to Venice the same evening.
+
+As I passed along St. Job's Quay, I saw in a two-oared gondola a country
+girl beautifully dressed. I stopped to look at her; the gondoliers,
+supposing that I wanted an opportunity of reaching Mestra at a cheap
+rate, rowed back to the shore.
+
+Observing the lovely face of the young girl, I do not hesitate, but jump
+into the gondola, and pay double fare, on condition that no more
+passengers are taken. An elderly priest was seated near the young girl,
+he rises to let me take his place, but I politely insist upon his keeping
+it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+I Fall in Love with Christine, and Find a Husband Worthy of
+Her--Christine's Wedding
+
+"Those gondoliers," said the elderly priest, ad dressing me in order to
+begin the conversation, "are very fortunate. They took us up at the
+Rialto for thirty soldi, on condition that they would be allowed to
+embark other passengers, and here is one already; they will certainly
+find more."
+
+"When I am in a gondola, reverend sir, there is no room left for any more
+passengers."
+
+So saying, I give forty more soldi to the gondoliers, who, highly pleased
+with my generosity, thank me and call me excellency. The good priest,
+accepting that title as truly belonging to me, entreats my pardon for not
+having addressed me as such.
+
+"I am not a Venetian nobleman, reverend sir, and I have no right to the
+title of Excellenza."
+
+"Ah!" says the young lady, "I am very glad of it."
+
+"Why so, signora?"
+
+"Because when I find myself near a nobleman I am afraid. But I suppose
+that you are an illustrissimo."
+
+"Not even that, signora; I am only an advocate's clerk."
+
+"So much the better, for I like to be in the company of persons who do
+not think themselves above me. My father was a farmer, brother of my
+uncle here, rector of P----, where I was born and bred. As I am an only
+daughter I inherited my father's property after his death, and I shall
+likewise be heiress to my mother, who has been ill a long time and cannot
+live much longer, which causes me a great deal of sorrow; but it is the
+doctor who says it. Now, to return to my subject, I do not suppose that
+there is much difference between an advocate's clerk and the daughter of
+a rich farmer. I only say so for the sake of saying something, for I know
+very well that, in travelling, one must accept all sorts of companions:
+is it not so, uncle?"
+
+"Yes, my dear Christine, and as a proof you see that this gentleman has
+accepted our company without knowing who or what we are."
+
+"But do you think I would have come if I had not been attracted by the
+beauty of your lovely niece?"
+
+At these words the good people burst out laughing. As I did not think
+that there was anything very comic in what I had said, I judged that my
+travelling companions were rather simple, and I was not sorry to find
+them so.
+
+"Why do you laugh so heartily, beautiful 'demigella'? Is it to shew me
+your fine teeth? I confess that I have never seen such a splendid set in
+Venice."
+
+"Oh! it is not for that, sir, although everyone in Venice has paid me the
+same compliment. I can assure you that in P---- all the 'girls have teeth
+as fine as mine. Is it not a fact, uncle?"
+
+"Yes, my dear niece."
+
+"I was laughing, sir, at a thing which I will never tell you."
+
+"Oh! tell me, I entreat you."
+
+"Oh! certainly not, never."
+
+"I will tell you myself," says the curate.
+
+"You will not," she exclaims, knitting her beautiful eyebrows. "If you do
+I will go away."
+
+"I defy you to do it, my dear. Do you know what she said, sir, when she
+saw you on the wharf? 'Here is a very handsome young man who is looking
+at me, and would not be sorry to be with us.' And when she saw that the
+gondoliers were putting back for you to embark she was delighted."
+
+While the uncle was speaking to me, the indignant niece was slapping him
+on the shoulder.
+
+"Why are you angry, lovely Christine, at my hearing that you liked my
+appearance, when I am so glad to let you know how truly charming I think
+you?"
+
+"You are glad for a moment. Oh! I know the Venetians thoroughly now. They
+have all told me that they were charmed with me, and not one of those I
+would have liked ever made a declaration to me."
+
+"What sort of declaration did you want?"
+
+"There's only one sort for me, sir; the declaration leading to a good
+marriage in church, in the sight of all men. Yet we remained a fortnight
+in Venice; did we not, uncle?"
+
+"This girl," said the uncle, "is a good match, for she possesses three
+thousand crowns. She has always said that she would marry only a
+Venetian, and I have accompanied her to Venice to give her an opportunity
+of being known. A worthy woman gave us hospitality for a fortnight, and
+has presented my niece in several houses where she made the acquaintance
+of marriageable young men, but those who pleased her would not hear of
+marriage, and those who would have been glad to marry her did not take
+her fancy."
+
+"But do you imagine, reverend sir, that marriages can be made like
+omelets? A fortnight in Venice, that is nothing; you ought to live there
+at least six months. Now, for instance, I think your niece sweetly
+pretty, and I should consider myself fortunate if the wife whom God
+intends for me were like her, but, even if she offered me now a dowry of
+fifty thousand crowns on condition that our wedding takes place
+immediately, I would refuse her. A prudent young man wants to know the
+character of a girl before he marries her, for it is neither money nor
+beauty which can ensure happiness in married life."
+
+"What do you mean by character?" asked Christine; "is it a beautiful
+hand-writing?"
+
+"No, my dear. I mean the qualities of the mind and the heart. I shall
+most likely get married sometime, and I have been looking for a wife for
+the last three years, but I am still looking in vain. I have known
+several young girls almost as lovely as you are, and all with a good
+marriage portion, but after an acquaintance of two or three months I
+found out that they could not make me happy."
+
+"In what were they deficient?"
+
+"Well, I will tell you, because you are not acquainted with them, and
+there can be no indiscretion on my part. One whom I certainly would have
+married, for I loved her dearly, was extremely vain. She would have
+ruined me in fashionable clothes and by her love for luxuries. Fancy! she
+was in the habit of paying one sequin every month to the hair-dresser,
+and as much at least for pomatum and perfumes."
+
+"She was a giddy, foolish girl. Now, I spend only ten soldi in one year
+on wax which I mix with goat's grease, and there I have an excellent
+pomatum."
+
+"Another, whom I would have married two years ago, laboured under a
+disease which would have made me unhappy; as soon as I knew of it, I
+ceased my visits."
+
+"What disease was it?"
+
+"A disease which would have prevented her from being a mother, and, if I
+get married, I wish to have children."
+
+"All that is in God's hands, but I know that my health is excellent. Is
+it not, uncle?"
+
+"Another was too devout, and that does not suit me. She was so
+over-scrupulous that she was in the habit of going to her confessor twice
+a week, and every time her confession lasted at least one hour. I want my
+wife to be a good Christian, but not bigoted."
+
+"She must have been a great sinner, or else she was very foolish. I
+confess only once a month, and get through everything in two minutes. Is
+it not true, uncle? and if you were to ask me any questions, uncle, I
+should not know what more to say."
+
+"One young lady thought herself more learned than I, although she would,
+every minute, utter some absurdity. Another was always low-spirited, and
+my wife must be cheerful."
+
+"Hark to that, uncle! You and my mother are always chiding me for my
+cheerfulness."
+
+"Another, whom I did not court long, was always afraid of being alone
+with me, and if I gave her a kiss she would run and tell her mother."
+
+"How silly she must have been! I have never yet listened to a lover, for
+we have only rude peasants in P----, but I know very well that there are
+some things which I would not tell my mother."
+
+"One had a rank breath; another painted her face, and, indeed, almost
+every young girl is guilty of that fault. I am afraid marriage is out of
+the question for me, because I want, for instance, my wife to have black
+eyes, and in our days almost every woman colours them by art; but I
+cannot be deceived, for I am a good judge."
+
+"Are mine black?"
+
+"You are laughing?"
+
+"I laugh because your eyes certainly appear to be black, but they are not
+so in reality. Never mind, you are very charming in spite of that."
+
+"Now, that is amusing. You pretend to be a good judge, yet you say that
+my eyes are dyed black. My eyes, sir, whether beautiful or ugly, are now
+the same as God made them. Is it not so, uncle?"
+
+"I never had any doubt of it, my dear niece."
+
+"And you do not believe me, sir?"
+
+"No, they are too beautiful for me to believe them natural."
+
+"Oh, dear me! I cannot bear it."
+
+"Excuse me, my lovely damigella, I am afraid I have been too sincere."
+
+After that quarrel we remained silent. The good curate smiled now and
+then, but his niece found it very hard to keep down her sorrow.
+
+At intervals I stole a look at her face, and could see that she was very
+near crying. I felt sorry, for she was a charming girl. In her hair,
+dressed in the fashion of wealthy countrywomen, she had more than one
+hundred sequins' worth of gold pins and arrows which fastened the plaits
+of her long locks as dark as ebony. Heavy gold ear-rings, and a long
+chain, which was wound twenty times round her snowy neck, made a fine
+contrast to her complexion, on which the lilies and the roses were
+admirably blended. It was the first time that I had seen a country beauty
+in such splendid apparel. Six years before, Lucie at Pasean had
+captivated me, but in a different manner.
+
+Christine did not utter a single word, she was in despair, for her eyes
+were truly of the greatest beauty, and I was cruel enough to attack them.
+She evidently hated me, and her anger alone kept back her tears. Yet I
+would not undeceive her, for I wanted her to bring matters to a climax.
+
+When the gondola had entered the long canal of Marghera, I asked the
+clergyman whether he had a carriage to go to Treviso, through which place
+he had to pass to reach P----.
+
+"I intended to walk," said the worthy man, "for my parish is poor and I
+am the same, but I will try to obtain a place for Christine in some
+carriage travelling that way."
+
+"You would confer a real kindness on me if you would both accept a seat
+in my chaise; it holds four persons, and there is plenty of room."
+
+"It is a good fortune which we were far from expecting"
+
+"Not at all, uncle; I will not go with this gentleman."
+
+"Why not, my dear niece?"
+
+"Because I will not."
+
+"Such is the way," I remarked, without looking at her, "that sincerity is
+generally rewarded."
+
+"Sincerity, sir! nothing of the sort," she exclaimed, angrily, "it is
+sheer wickedness. There can be no true black eyes now for you in the
+world, but, as you like them, I am very glad of it."
+
+"You are mistaken, lovely Christine, for I have the means of ascertaining
+the truth."
+
+"What means?"
+
+"Only to wash the eyes with a little lukewarm rose-water; or if the lady
+cries, the artificial colour is certain to be washed off."
+
+At those words, the scene changed as if by the wand of a conjuror. The
+face of the charming girl, which had expressed nothing but indignation,
+spite and disdain, took an air of contentment and of placidity delightful
+to witness. She smiled at her uncle who was much pleased with the change
+in her countenance, for the offer of the carriage had gone to his heart.
+
+"Now you had better cry a little, my dear niece, and 'il signore' will
+render full justice to your eyes."
+
+Christine cried in reality, but it was immoderate laughter that made her
+tears flow.
+
+That species of natural originality pleased me greatly, and as we were
+going up the steps at the landing-place, I offered her my full apologies;
+she accepted the carriage. I ordered breakfast, and told a 'vetturino' to
+get a very handsome chaise ready while we had our meal, but the curate
+said that he must first of all go and say his mass.
+
+"Very well, reverend sir, we will hear it, and you must say it for my
+intention."
+
+I put a silver ducat in his hand.
+
+"It is what I am in the habit of giving," I observed.
+
+My generosity surprised him so much that he wanted to kiss my hand. We
+proceeded towards the church, and I offered my arm to the niece who, not
+knowing whether she ought to accept it or not, said to me,
+
+"Do you suppose that I cannot walk alone?"
+
+"I have no such idea, but if I do not give you my arm, people will think
+me wanting in politeness."
+
+"Well, I will take it. But now that I have your arm, what will people
+think?"
+
+"Perhaps that we love each other and that we make a very nice couple."
+
+"And if anyone should inform your mistress that we are in love with each
+other, or even that you have given your arm to a young girl?"
+
+"I have no mistress, and I shall have none in future, because I could not
+find a girl as pretty as you in all Venice."
+
+"I am very sorry for you, for we cannot go again to Venice; and even if
+we could, how could we remain there six months? You said that six months
+were necessary to know a girl well."
+
+"I would willingly defray all your expenses."
+
+"Indeed? Then say so to my uncle, and he will think it over, for I could
+not go alone."
+
+"In six months you would know me likewise."
+
+"Oh! I know-you very well already."
+
+"Could you accept a man like me?"
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"And will you love me?"
+
+"Yes, very much, when you are my husband."
+
+I looked at the young girl with astonishment. She seemed to me a princess
+in the disguise of a peasant girl. Her dress, made of 'gros de Tours' and
+all embroidered in gold, was very handsome, and cost certainly twice as
+much as the finest dress of a Venetian lady. Her bracelets, matching the
+neckchain, completed her rich toilet. She had the figure of a nymph, and
+the new fashion of wearing a mantle not having yet reached her village, I
+could see the most magnificent bosom, although her dress was fastened up
+to the neck. The end of the richly-embroidered skirt did not go lower
+than the ankles, which allowed me to admire the neatest little foot and
+the lower part of an exquisitely moulded leg. Her firm and easy walk, the
+natural freedom of all her movements, a charming look which seemed to
+say, "I am very glad that you think me pretty," everything, in short,
+caused the ardent fire of amorous desires to circulate through my veins.
+I could not conceive how such a lovely girl could have spent a fortnight
+in Venice without finding a man to marry or to deceive her. I was
+particularly delighted with her simple, artless way of talking, which in
+the city might have been taken for silliness.
+
+Absorbed in my thoughts, and having resolved in my own mind on rendering
+brilliant homage to her charms, I waited impatiently for the end of the
+mass.
+
+After breakfast I had great difficulty in convincing the curate that my
+seat in the carriage was the last one, but I found it easier to persuade
+him on our arrival in Treviso to remain for dinner and for supper at a
+small, unfrequented inn, as I took all the expense upon myself. He
+accepted very willingly when I added that immediately after supper a
+carriage would be in readiness to convey him to P----, where he would
+arrive in an hour after a peasant journey by moonlight. He had nothing to
+hurry him on, except his wish to say mass in his own church the next
+morning.
+
+I ordered a fire and a good dinner, and the idea struck me that the
+curate himself might pledge the ring for me, and thus give me the
+opportunity of a short interview with his niece. I proposed it to him,
+saying that I could not very well go myself, as I did not wish to be
+known. He undertook the commission at once, expressing his pleasure at
+doing something to oblige me.
+
+He left us, and I remained alone with Christine. I spent an hour with her
+without trying to give her even a kiss, although I was dying to do so,
+but I prepared her heart to burn with the same desires which were already
+burning in me by those words which so easily inflame the imagination of a
+young 'girl.
+
+The curate came back and returned me the ring, saying that it could not
+be pledged until the day after the morrow, in consequence of the Festival
+of the Holy Virgin. He had spoken to the cashier, who had stated that if
+I liked the bank would lend double the sum I had asked.
+
+"My dear sir," I said, "you would greatly oblige me if you would come
+back here from P---- to pledge the ring yourself. Now that it has been
+offered once by you, it might look very strange if it were brought by
+another person. Of course I will pay all your expenses."
+
+"I promise you to come back."
+
+I hoped he would bring his niece with him.
+
+I was seated opposite to Christine during the dinner, and discovered
+fresh charms in her every minute, but, fearing I might lose her
+confidence if I tried to obtain some slight favour, I made up my mind not
+to go to work too quickly, and to contrive that the curate should take
+her again to Venice. I thought that there only I could manage to bring
+love into play and to give it the food it requires.
+
+"Reverend sir," I said, "let me advise you to take your niece again to
+Venice. I undertake to defray all expenses, and to find an honest woman
+with whom your Christine will be as safe as with her own mother. I want
+to know her well in order to make her my wife, and if she comes to Venice
+our marriage is certain."
+
+"Sir, I will bring my niece myself to Venice as soon as you inform me
+that you have found a worthy woman with whom I can leave her in safety."
+
+While we were talking I kept looking at Christine, and I could see her
+smile with contentment.
+
+"My dear Christine," I said, "within a week I shall have arranged the
+affair. In the meantime, I will write to you. I hope that you have no
+objection to correspond with me."
+
+"My uncle will write for me, for I have never been taught writing."
+
+"What, my dear child! you wish to become the wife of a Venetian, and you
+cannot write."
+
+"Is it then necessary to know how to write in order to become a wife? I
+can read well."
+
+"That is not enough, and although a girl can be a wife and a mother
+without knowing how to trace one letter, it is generally admitted that a
+young girl ought to be able to write. I wonder you never learned."
+
+"There is no wonder in that, for not one girl in our village can do it.
+Ask my uncle."
+
+"It is perfectly true, but there is not one who thinks of getting married
+in Venice, and as you wish for a Venetian husband you must learn."
+
+"Certainly," I said, "and before you come to Venice, for everybody would
+laugh at you, if you could not write. I see that it makes you sad, my
+dear, but it cannot be helped."
+
+"I am sad, because I cannot learn writing in a week."
+
+"I undertake," said her uncle, "to teach you in a fortnight, if you will
+only practice diligently. You will then know enough to be able to improve
+by your own exertions."
+
+"It is a great undertaking, but I accept it; I promise you to work night
+and day, and to begin to-morrow."
+
+After dinner, I advised the priest not to leave that evening, to rest
+during the night, and I observed that, by going away before day-break, he
+would reach P---- in good time, and feel all the better for it. I made the
+same proposal to him in the evening, and when he saw that his niece was
+sleepy, he was easily persuaded to remain. I called for the innkeeper,
+ordered a carriage for the clergyman, and desired that a fire might be
+lit for me in the next room where I would sleep, but the good priest said
+that it was unnecessary, because there were two large beds in our room,
+that one would be for me and the other for him and his niece.
+
+"We need not undress," he added, "as we mean to leave very early, but you
+can take off your clothes, sir, because you are not going with us, and
+you will like to remain in bed to-morrow morning."
+
+"Oh!" remarked Christine, "I must undress myself, otherwise I could not
+sleep, but I only want a few minutes to get ready in the morning."
+
+I said nothing, but I was amazed. Christine then, lovely and charming
+enough to wreck the chastity of a Xenocrates, would sleep naked with her
+uncle! True, he was old, devout, and without any of the ideas which might
+render such a position dangerous, yet the priest was a man, he had
+evidently felt like all men, and he ought to have known the danger he was
+exposing himself to. My carnal-mindedness could not realize such a state
+of innocence. But it was truly innocent, so much so that he did it
+openly, and did not suppose that anyone could see anything wrong in it. I
+saw it all plainly, but I was not accustomed to such things, and felt
+lost in wonderment. As I advanced in age and in experience, I have seen
+the same custom established in many countries amongst honest people whose
+good morals were in no way debased by it, but it was amongst good people,
+and I do not pretend to belong to that worthy class.
+
+We had had no meat for dinner, and my delicate palate was not
+over-satisfied. I went down to the kitchen myself, and I told the
+landlady that I wanted the best that could be procured in Treviso for
+supper, particularly in wines.
+
+"If you do not mind the expense, sir, trust to me, and I undertake to
+please you. I will give you some Gatta wine."
+
+"All right, but let us have supper early."
+
+When I returned to our room, I found Christine caressing the cheeks of
+her old uncle, who was laughing; the good man was seventy-five years old.
+
+"Do you know what is the matter?" he said to me; "my niece is caressing
+me because she wants me to leave her here until my return. She tells me
+that you were like brother and sister during the hour you have spent
+alone together this morning, and I believe it, but she does not consider
+that she would be a great trouble to you."
+
+"Not at all, quite the reverse, she will afford me great pleasure, for I
+think her very charming. As to our mutual behaviour, I believe you can
+trust us both to do our duty."
+
+"I have no doubt of it. Well, I will leave her under your care until the
+day after to-morrow. I will come back early in the morning so as to
+attend to your business."
+
+This extraordinary and unexpected arrangement caused the blood to rush to
+my head with such violence that my nose bled profusely for a quarter of
+an hour. It did not frighten me, because I was used to such accidents,
+but the good priest was in a great fright, thinking that it was a serious
+haemorrhage.
+
+When I had allayed his anxiety, he left us on some business of his own,
+saying that he would return at night-fall. I remained alone with the
+charming, artless Christine, and lost no time in thanking her for the
+confidence she placed in me.
+
+"I can assure you," she said, "that I wish you to have a thorough
+knowledge of me; you will see that I have none of the faults which have
+displeased you so much in the young ladies you have known in Venice, and
+I promise to learn writing immediately."
+
+"You are charming and true; but you must be discreet in P----, and
+confide to no one that we have entered into an agreement with each other.
+You must act according to your uncle's instructions, for it is to him
+that I intend to write to make all arrangements."
+
+"You may rely upon my discretion. I will not say anything even to my
+mother, until you give me permission to do so."
+
+I passed the afternoon, in denying myself even the slightest liberties
+with my lovely companion, but falling every minute deeper in love with
+her. I told her a few love stories which I veiled sufficiently not to
+shock her modesty. She felt interested, and I could see that, although
+she did not always understand, she pretended to do so, in order not to
+appear ignorant.
+
+When her uncle returned, I had arranged everything in my mind to make her
+my wife, and I resolved on placing her, during her stay in Venice, in the
+house of the same honest widow with whom I had found a lodging for my
+beautiful Countess A---- S----.
+
+We had a delicious supper. I had to teach Christine how to eat oysters
+and truffles, which she then saw for the first time. Gatta wine is like
+champagne, it causes merriment without intoxicating, but it cannot be
+kept for more than one year. We went to bed before midnight, and it was
+broad daylight when I awoke. The curate had left the room so quietly that
+I had not heard him.
+
+I looked towards the other bed, Christine was asleep. I wished her good
+morning, she opened her eyes, and leaning on her elbow, she smiled
+sweetly.
+
+"My uncle has gone. I did not hear him."
+
+"Dearest Christine, you are as lovely as one of God's angels. I have a
+great longing to give you a kiss."
+
+"If you long for a kiss, my dear friend, come and give me one."
+
+I jump out of my bed, decency makes her hide her face. It was cold, and I
+was in love. I find myself in her arms by one of those spontaneous
+movements which sentiment alone can cause, and we belong to each other
+without having thought of it, she happy and rather confused, I delighted,
+yet unable to realize the truth of a victory won without any contest.
+
+An hour passed in the midst of happiness, during which we forgot the
+whole world. Calm followed the stormy gusts of passionate love, and we
+gazed at each other without speaking.
+
+Christine was the first to break the silence
+
+"What have we done?" she said, softly and lovingly.
+
+"We have become husband and wife."
+
+"What will my uncle say to-morrow?"
+
+"He need not know anything about it until he gives us the nuptial
+benediction in his own church."
+
+"And when will he do so?"
+
+"As soon as we have completed all the arrangements necessary for a
+public marriage."
+
+"How long will that be?"
+
+"About a month."
+
+"We cannot be married during Lent."
+
+"I will obtain permission."
+
+"You are not deceiving me?"
+
+"No, for I adore you."
+
+"Then, you no longer want to know me better?"
+
+"No; I know you thoroughly now, and I feel certain that you will make me
+happy."
+
+"And will you make me happy, too?"
+
+"I hope so."
+
+"Let us get up and go to church. Who could have believed that, to get a
+husband, it was necessary not to go to Venice, but to come back from that
+city!"
+
+We got up, and, after partaking of some breakfast, we went to hear mass.
+The morning passed off quickly, but towards dinner-time I thought that
+Christine looked different to what she did the day before, and I asked
+her the reason of that change.
+
+"It must be," she said, "the same reason which causes you to be
+thoughtful."
+
+"An air of thoughtfulness, my dear, is proper to love when it finds
+itself in consultation with honour. This affair has become serious, and
+love is now compelled to think and consider. We want to be married in the
+church, and we cannot do it before Lent, now that we are in the last days
+of carnival; yet we cannot wait until Easter, it would be too long. We
+must therefore obtain a dispensation in order to be married. Have I not
+reason to be thoughtful?"
+
+Her only answer was to come and kiss me tenderly. I had spoken the truth,
+yet I had not told her all my reasons for being so pensive. I found
+myself drawn into an engagement which was not disagreeable to me, but I
+wished it had not been so very pressing. I could not conceal from myself
+that repentance was beginning to creep into my amorous and well-disposed
+mind, and I was grieved at it. I felt certain, however, that the charming
+girl would never have any cause to reproach me for her misery.
+
+We had the whole evening before us, and as she had told me that she had
+never gone to a theatre, I resolved on affording her that pleasure. I
+sent for a Jew from whom I procured everything necessary to disguise her,
+and we went to the theatre. A man in love enjoys no pleasure but that
+which he gives to the woman he loves. After the performance was over, I
+took her to the Casino, and her astonishment made me laugh when she saw
+for the first time a faro bank. I had not money enough to play myself,
+but I had more than enough to amuse her and to let her play a reasonable
+game. I gave her ten sequins, and explained what she had to do. She did
+not even know the cards, yet in less than an hour she had won one hundred
+sequins. I made her leave off playing, and we returned to the inn. When
+we were in our room, I told her to see how much money she had, and when I
+assured her that all that gold belonged to her, she thought it was a
+dream.
+
+"Oh! what will my uncle say?" she exclaimed.
+
+We had a light supper, and spent a delightful night, taking good care to
+part by day-break, so as not to be caught in the same bed by the worthy
+ecclesiastic. He arrived early and found us sleeping soundly in our
+respective beds. He woke me, and I gave him the ring which he went to
+pledge immediately. When he returned two hours later, he saw us dressed
+and talking quietly near the fire. As soon as he came in, Christine
+rushed to embrace him, and she shewed him all the gold she had in her
+possession. What a pleasant surprise for the good old priest! He did not
+know how to express his wonder! He thanked God for what he called a
+miracle, and he concluded by saying that we were made to insure each
+other's happiness.
+
+The time to part had come. I promised to pay them a visit in the first
+days of Lent, but on condition that on my arrival in P---- I would not
+find anyone informed of my name or of my concerns. The curate gave me the
+certificate of birth of his niece and the account of her possessions. As
+soon as they had gone I took my departure for Venice, full of love for
+the charming girl, and determined on keeping my engagement with her. I
+knew how easy it would be for me to convince my three friends that my
+marriage had been irrevocably written in the great book of fate.
+
+My return caused the greatest joy to the three excellent men, because,
+not being accustomed to see me three days absent, M. Dandolo and M.
+Barbaro were afraid of some accident having befallen me; but M. de
+Bragadin's faith was stronger, and he allayed their fears, saying to them
+that, with Paralis watching over me, I could not be in any danger.
+
+The very next day I resolved on insuring Christine's happiness without
+making her my wife. I had thought of marrying her when I loved her better
+than myself, but after obtaining possession the balance was so much on my
+side that my self-love proved stronger than my love for Christine. I
+could not make up my mind to renounce the advantages, the hopes which I
+thought were attached to my happy independence. Yet I was the slave of
+sentiment. To abandon the artless, innocent girl seemed to me an awful
+crime of which I could not be guilty, and the mere idea of it made me
+shudder. I was aware that she was, perhaps, bearing in her womb a living
+token of our mutual love, and I shivered at the bare possibility that her
+confidence in me might be repaid by shame and everlasting misery.
+
+I bethought myself of finding her a husband in every way better than
+myself; a husband so good that she would not only forgive me for the
+insult I should thus be guilty of towards her, but also thank me at the
+end, and like me all the better for my deceit.
+
+To find such a husband could not be very difficult, for Christine was not
+only blessed with wonderful beauty, and with a well-established
+reputation for virtue, but she was also the possessor of a fortune
+amounting to four thousand Venetian ducats.
+
+Shut up in a room with the three worshippers of my oracle, I consulted
+Paralis upon the affair which I had so much at heart. The answer was:
+
+"Serenus must attend to it."
+
+Serenus was the cabalistic name of M. de Bragadin, and the excellent man
+immediately expressed himself ready to execute all the orders of Paralis.
+It was my duty to inform him of those orders.
+
+"You must," I said to him, "obtain from the Holy Father a dispensation
+for a worthy and virtuous girl, so as to give her the privilege of
+marrying during Lent in the church of her village; she is a young country
+girl. Here is her certificate of birth. The husband is not yet known; but
+it does not matter, Paralis undertakes to find one."
+
+"Trust to me," said my father, "I will write at once to our ambassador in
+Rome, and I will contrive to have my letter sent by special express. You
+need not be anxious, leave it all to me, I will make it a business of
+state, and I must obey Paralis all the more readily that I foresee that
+the intended husband is one of us four. Indeed, we must prepare ourselves
+to obey."
+
+I had some trouble in keeping my laughter down, for it was in my power to
+metamorphose Christine into a grand Venetian lady, the wife of a senator;
+but that was not my intention. I again consulted the oracle in order to
+ascertain who would be the husband of the young girl, and the answer was
+that M. Dandolo was entrusted with the care of finding one, young,
+handsome, virtuous, and able to serve the Republic, either at home or
+abroad. M. Dandolo was to consult me before concluding any arrangements.
+I gave him courage for his task by informing him that the girl had a
+dowry of four thousand ducats, but I added that his choice was to be made
+within a fortnight. M. de Bragadin, delighted at not being entrusted with
+the commission, laughed heartily.
+
+Those arrangements made me feel at peace with myself. I was certain that
+the husband I wanted would be found, and I only thought of finishing the
+carnival gaily, and of contriving to find my purse ready for a case of
+emergency.
+
+Fortune soon rendered me possessor of a thousand sequins. I paid my
+debts, and the licence for the marriage having arrived from Rome ten days
+after M. de Bragadin had applied for it, I gave him one hundred ducats,
+that being the sum it had cost. The dispensation gave Christine the right
+of being married in any church in Christendom, she would only have to
+obtain the seal of the episcopal court of the diocese in which the
+marriage was to take place, and no publication of banns was required. We
+wanted, therefore, but one thing--a trifling one, namely, the husband. M.
+Dandolo had already proposed three or four to me, but I had refused them
+for excellent reasons. At last he offered one who suited me exactly.
+
+I had to take the diamond ring out of pledge, and not wishing to do it
+myself, I wrote to the priest making an appointment in Treviso. I was
+not, of course, surprised when I found that he was accompanied by his
+lovely niece, who, thinking that I had come to complete all arrangements
+for our marriage, embraced me without ceremony, and I did the same. If
+the uncle had not been present, I am afraid that those kisses would have
+caused all my heroism to vanish. I gave the curate the dispensation, and
+the handsome features of Christine shone with joy. She certainly could
+not imagine that I had been working so actively for others, and, as I was
+not yet certain of anything, I did not undeceive her then. I promised to
+be in P---- within eight or ten days, when we would complete all necessary
+arrangements. After dinner, I gave the curate the ticket for the ring and
+the money to take it out of pledge, and we retired to rest. This time,
+very fortunately, there was but one bed in the room, and I had to take
+another chamber for myself.
+
+The next morning, I went into Christine's room, and found her in bed. Her
+uncle had gone out for my diamond ring, and alone with that lovely girl,
+I found that I had, when necessary, complete control over my passions.
+Thinking that she was not to be my wife, and that she would belong to
+another, I considered it my duty to silence my desires. I kissed her, but
+nothing more.
+
+I spent one hour with her, fighting like Saint Anthony against the carnal
+desires of my nature. I could see the charming girl full of love and of
+wonder at my reserve, and I admired her virtue in the natural modesty
+which prevented her from making the first advances. She got out of bed
+and dressed herself without shewing any disappointment. She would, of
+course, have felt mortified if she had had the slightest idea that I
+despised her, or that I did not value her charms.
+
+Her uncle returned, gave me the ring, and we had dinner, after which he
+treated me to a wonderful exhibition. Christine had learned how to write,
+and, to give me a proof of her talent, she wrote very fluently and very
+prettily in my presence.
+
+We parted, after my promising to come back again within ten days, and I
+returned to Venice.
+
+On the second Sunday in Lent, M. Dandolo told me with an air of triumph
+that the fortunate husband had been found, and that there was no doubt of
+my approval of the new candidate. He named Charles---- whom I knew by
+sight--very handsome young man, of irreproachable conduct, and about
+twenty-two years of age. He was clerk to M. Ragionato and god-son of
+Count Algarotti, a sister of whom had married M. Dandolo's brother.
+
+"Charles," said M. Dandolo to me, "has lost his father and his mother,
+and I feel satisfied that his godfather will guarantee the dowry brought
+by his wife. I have spoken to him, and I believe him disposed to marry an
+honest girl whose dowry would enable him to purchase M. Ragionato's
+office."
+
+"It seems to promise very well, but I cannot decide until I have seen
+him."
+
+"I have invited him to dine with us to-morrow."
+
+The young man came, and I found him worthy of all M. Dandolo's praise. We
+became friends at once; he had some taste for poetry, I read some of my
+productions to him, and having paid him a visit the following day, he
+shewed me several pieces of his own composition which were well written.
+He introduced me to his aunt, in whose house he lived with his sister,
+and I was much pleased with their friendly welcome. Being alone with him
+in his room, I asked him what he thought of love.
+
+"I do not care for love," he answered: "but I should like to get married
+in order to have a house of my own."
+
+When I returned to the palace, I told M. Dandolo that he might open the
+affair with Count Algarotti, and the count mentioned it to Charles, who
+said that he could not give any answer, either one way or the other,
+until he should have seen the young girl, talked with her, and enquired
+about her reputation. As for Count Algarotti, he was ready to be
+answerable for his god-son, that is to guarantee four thousand ducats to
+the wife, provided her dowry was worth that amount. Those were only the
+preliminaries; the rest belonged to my province.
+
+Dandolo having informed Charles that the matter was entirely in my hands,
+he called on me and enquired when I would be kind enough to introduce him
+to the young person. I named the day, adding that it was necessary to
+devote a whole day to the visit, as she resided at a distance of twenty
+miles from Venice, that we would dine with her and return the same
+evening. He promised to be ready for me by day-break. I immediately sent
+an express to the curate to inform him of the day on which I would call
+with a friend of mine whom I wished to introduce to his niece.
+
+On the appointed day, Charles was punctual. I took care to let him know
+along the road that I had made the acquaintance of the young girl and of
+her uncle as travelling companions from Venice to Mestra about one month
+before, and that I would have offered myself as a husband, if I had been
+in a position to guarantee the dowry of four thousand ducats. I did not
+think it necessary to go any further in my confidences.
+
+We arrived at the good priest's house two hours before mid-day, and soon
+after our arrival, Christine came in with an air of great ease,
+expressing all her pleasure at seeing me. She only bowed to Charles,
+enquiring from me whether he was likewise a clerk.
+
+Charles answered that he was clerk at Ragionato.
+
+She pretended to understand, in order not to appear ignorant.
+
+"I want you to look at my writing," she said to me, "and afterwards we
+will go and see my mother."
+
+Delighted at the praise bestowed upon her writing by Charles, when he
+heard that she had learned only one month, she invited us to follow her.
+Charles asked her why she had waited until the age of nineteen to study
+writing.
+
+"Well, sir, what does it matter to you? Besides, I must tell you that I
+am seventeen, and not nineteen years of age."
+
+Charles entreated her to excuse him, smiling at the quickness of her
+answer.
+
+She was dressed like a simple country girl, yet very neatly, and she wore
+her handsome gold chains round her neck and on her arms. I told her to
+take my arm and that of Charles, which she did, casting towards me a look
+of loving obedience. We went to her mother's house; the good woman was
+compelled to keep her bed owing to sciatica. As we entered the room, a
+respectable-looking man, who was seated near the patient, rose at the
+sight of Charles, and embraced him affectionately. I heard that he was
+the family physician, and the circumstance pleased me much.
+
+After we had paid our compliments to the good woman, the doctor enquired
+after Charles's aunt and sister; and alluding to the sister who was
+suffering from a secret disease, Charles desired to say a few words to
+him in private; they left the room together. Being alone with the mother
+and Christine, I praised Charles, his excellent conduct, his high
+character, his business abilities, and extolled the happiness of the
+woman who would be his wife. They both confirmed my praises by saying
+that everything I said of him could be read on his features. I had no
+time to lose, so I told Christine to be on her guard during dinner, as
+Charles might possibly be the husband whom God had intended for her.
+
+"For me?"
+
+"Yes, for you. Charles is one of a thousand; you would be much happier
+with him than you could be with me; the doctor knows him, and you could
+ascertain from him everything which I cannot find time to tell you now
+about my friend."
+
+The reader can imagine all I suffered in making this declaration, and my
+surprise when I saw the young girl calm and perfectly composed! Her
+composure dried the tears already gathering in my eyes. After a short
+silence, she asked me whether I was certain that such a handsome young
+man would have her. That question gave me an insight into Christine's
+heart and feelings, and quieted all my sorrow, for I saw that I had not
+known her well. I answered that, beautiful as she was, there was no doubt
+of her being loved by everybody.
+
+"It will be at dinner, my dear Christine, that my friend will examine and
+study you; do not fail to shew all the charms and qualities with which
+God has endowed you, but do not let him suspect our intimacy."
+
+"It is all very strange. Is my uncle informed of this wonderful change?"
+
+"No."
+
+"If your friend should feel pleased with me, when would he marry me?"
+
+"Within ten days. I will take care of everything, and you will see me
+again in the course of the week:"
+
+Charles came back with the doctor, and Christine, leaving her mother's
+bedside, took a chair opposite to us. She answered very sensibly all the
+questions addressed to her by Charles, often exciting his mirth by her
+artlessness, but not shewing any silliness.
+
+Oh! charming simplicity! offspring of wit and of ignorance! thy charm is
+delightful, and thou alone hast the privilege of saying anything without
+ever giving offence! But how unpleasant thou art when thou art not
+natural! and thou art the masterpiece of art when thou art imitated with
+perfection!
+
+We dined rather late, and I took care not to speak to Christine, not even
+to look at her, so as not to engross her attention, which she devoted
+entirely to Charles, and I was delighted to see with what ease and
+interest she kept up the conversation. After dinner, and as we were
+taking leave, I heard the following words uttered by Charles, which went
+to my very heart:
+
+"You are made, lovely Christine, to minister to the happiness of a
+prince."
+
+And Christine? This was her answer:
+
+"I should esteem myself fortunate, sir, if you should judge me worthy of
+ministering to yours."
+
+These words excited Charles so much that he embraced me!
+
+Christine was simple, but her artlessness did not come from her mind,
+only from her heart. The simplicity of mind is nothing but silliness,
+that of the heart is only ignorance and innocence; it is a quality which
+subsists even when the cause has ceased to be. This young girl, almost a
+child of nature, was simple in her manners, but graceful in a thousand
+trifling ways which cannot be described. She was sincere, because she did
+not know that to conceal some of our impressions is one of the precepts
+of propriety, and as her intentions were pure, she was a stranger to that
+false shame and mock modesty which cause pretended innocence to blush at
+a word, or at a movement said or made very often without any wicked
+purpose.
+
+During our journey back to Venice Charles spoke of nothing but of his
+happiness. He had decidedly fallen in love.
+
+"I will call to-morrow morning upon Count Algarotti," he said to me, "and
+you may write to the priest to come with all the necessary documents to
+make the contract of marriage which I long to sign."
+
+His delight and his surprise were intense when I told him that my wedding
+present to Christine was a dispensation from the Pope for her to be
+married in Lent.
+
+"Then," he exclaimed, "we must go full speed ahead!"
+
+In the conference which was held the next day between my young
+substitute, his god-father, and M. Dandolo, it was decided that the
+parson should be invited to come with his niece. I undertook to carry the
+message, and leaving Venice two hours before morning I reached
+P---- early. The priest said he would be ready to start immediately after
+mass. I then called on Christine, and I treated her to a fatherly and
+sentimental sermon, every word of which was intended to point out to her
+the true road to happiness in the new condition which she was on the
+point of adopting. I told her how she ought to behave towards her
+husband, towards his aunt and his sister, in order to captivate their
+esteem and their love. The last part of my discourse was pathetic and
+rather disparaging to myself, for, as I enforced upon her the necessity
+of being faithful to her husband, I was necessarily led to entreat her
+pardon for having seduced her. "When you promised to marry me, after we
+had both been weak enough to give way to our love, did you intend to
+deceive me?"
+
+"Certainly not."
+
+"Then you have not deceived me. On the contrary, I owe you some gratitude
+for having thought that, if our union should prove unhappy, it was better
+to find another husband for me, and I thank God that you have succeeded
+so well. Tell me, now, what I can answer to your friend in case he should
+ask me, during the first night, why I am so different to what a virgin
+ought to be?"
+
+"It is not likely that Charles, who is full of reserve and propriety,
+would ask you such a thing, but if he should, tell him positively that
+you never had a lover, and that you do not suppose yourself to be
+different to any other girl."
+
+"Will he believe me?"
+
+"He would deserve your contempt, and entail punishment on himself if he
+did not. But dismiss all anxiety; that will not occur. A sensible man, my
+dear Christine, when he has been rightly brought up, never ventures upon
+such a question, because he is not only certain to displease, but also
+sure that he will never know the truth, for if the truth is likely to
+injure a woman in the opinion of her husband, she would be very foolish,
+indeed, to confess it."
+
+"I understand your meaning perfectly, my dear friend; let us, then,
+embrace each other for the last time."
+
+"No, for we are alone and I am very weak. I adore thee as much as ever."
+
+"Do not cry, dear friend, for, truly speaking, I have no wish for it."
+
+That simple and candid answer changed my disposition suddenly, and,
+instead of crying, I began to laugh. Christine dressed herself
+splendidly, and after breakfast we left P----. We reached Venice in four
+hours. I lodged them at a good inn, and going to the palace, I told M.
+Dandolo that our people had arrived, that it would be his province to
+bring them and Charles together on the following day, and to attend to
+the matter altogether, because the honour of the future husband and wife,
+the respect due to their parents and to propriety, forbade any further
+interference on my part.
+
+He understood my reasons, and acted accordingly. He brought Charles to
+me, I presented both of them to the curate and his niece, and then left
+them to complete their business.
+
+I heard afterwards from M. Dandolo that they all called upon Count
+Algarotti, and at the office of a notary, where the contract of marriage
+was signed, and that, after fixing a day for the wedding, Charles had
+escorted his intended back to P----.
+
+On his return, Charles paid me a visit. He told me that Christine had won
+by her beauty and pleasing manners the affection of his aunt, of his
+sister, and of his god-father, and that they had taken upon themselves
+all the expense of the wedding.
+
+"We intend to be married," he added, "on such a day at P----, and I trust
+that you will crown your work of kindness by being present at the
+ceremony."
+
+I tried to excuse myself, but he insisted with such a feeling of
+gratitude, and with so much earnestness, that I was compelled to accept.
+I listened with real pleasure to the account he gave me of the impression
+produced upon all his family and upon Count Algarotti by the beauty, the
+artlessness, the rich toilet, and especially by the simple talk of the
+lovely country girl.
+
+"I am deeply in love with her," Charles said to me, "and I feel that it
+is to you that I shall be indebted for the happiness I am sure to enjoy
+with my charming wife. She will soon get rid of her country way of
+talking in Venice, because here envy and slander will but too easily shew
+her the absurdity of it."
+
+His enthusiasm and happiness delighted me, and I congratulated myself
+upon my own work. Yet I felt inwardly some jealousy, and I could not help
+envying a lot which I might have kept for myself.
+
+M. Daridolo and M. Barbaro having been also invited by Charles, I went
+with them to P----. We found the dinner-table laid out in the rector's
+house by the servants of Count Algarotti, who was acting as Charles's
+father, and having taken upon himself all the expense of the wedding, had
+sent his cook and his major-domo to P----.
+
+When I saw Christine, the tears filled my eyes, and I had to leave the
+room. She was dressed as a country girl, but looked as lovely as a nymph.
+Her husband, her uncle, and Count Algarotti had vainly tried to make her
+adopt the Venetian costume, but she had very wisely refused.
+
+"As soon as I am your wife," she had said to Charles, "I will dress as
+you please, but here I will not appear before my young companions in any
+other costume than the one in which they have always seen me. I shall
+thus avoid being laughed at, and accused of pride, by the girls among
+whom I have been brought up."
+
+There was in these words something so noble, so just, and so generous,
+that Charles thought his sweetheart a supernatural being. He told me that
+he had enquired, from the woman with whom Christine had spent a
+fortnight, about the offers of marriage she had refused at that time, and
+that he had been much surprised, for two of those offers were excellent
+ones.
+
+"Christine," he added, "was evidently destined by Heaven for my
+happiness, and to you I am indebted for the precious possession of that
+treasure."
+
+His gratitude pleased me, and I must render myself the justice of saying
+that I entertained no thought of abusing it. I felt happy in the
+happiness I had thus given.
+
+We repaired to the church towards eleven o'clock, and were very much
+astonished at the difficulty we experienced in getting in. A large number
+of the nobility of Treviso, curious to ascertain whether it was true that
+the marriage ceremony of a country girl would be publicly performed
+during Lent when, by waiting only one month, a dispensation would have
+been useless, had come to P----. Everyone wondered at the permission
+having been obtained from the Pope, everyone imagined that there was some
+extraordinary reason for it, and was in despair because it was impossible
+to guess that reason. In spite of all feelings of envy, every face beamed
+with pleasure and satisfaction when the young couple made their
+appearance, and no one could deny that they deserved that extraordinary
+distinction, that exception to all established rules.
+
+A certain Countess of Tos,... from Treviso, Christine's god-mother, went
+up to her after the ceremony, and embraced her most tenderly, complaining
+that the happy event had not been communicated to her in Treviso.
+Christine, in her artless way, answered with as much modesty as
+sweetness, that the countess ought to forgive her if she had failed in
+her duty towards her, on account of the marriage having been decided on
+so hastily. She presented her husband, and begged Count Algarotti to
+atone for her error towards her god-mother by inviting her to join the
+wedding repast, an invitation which the countess accepted with great
+pleasure. That behaviour, which is usually the result of a good education
+and a long experience of society, was in the lovely peasant-girl due only
+to a candid and well-balanced mind which shone all the more because it
+was all nature and not art.
+
+As they returned from the church, Charles and Christine knelt down before
+the young wife's mother, who gave them her blessing with tears of joy.
+
+Dinner was served, and, of course, Christine and her happy spouse took
+the seats of honour. Mine was the last, and I was very glad of it, but
+although everything was delicious, I ate very little, and scarcely opened
+my lips.
+
+Christine was constantly busy, saying pretty things to every one of her
+guests, and looking at her husband to make sure that he was pleased with
+her.
+
+Once or twice she addressed his aunt and sister in such a gracious manner
+that they could not help leaving their places and kissing her tenderly,
+congratulating Charles upon his good fortune. I was seated not very far
+from Count Algarotti, and I heard him say several times to Christine's
+god-mother that he had never felt so delighted in his life.
+
+When four o'clock struck, Charles whispered a few words to his lovely
+wife, she bowed to her god-mother, and everybody rose from the table.
+After the usual compliments--and in this case they bore the stamp of
+sincerity--the bride distributed among all the girls of the village, who
+were in the adjoining room, packets full of sugar-plums which had been
+prepared before hand, and she took leave of them, kissing them all
+without any pride. Count Algarotti invited all the guests to sleep at a
+house he had in Treviso, and to partake there of the dinner usually given
+the day after the wedding. The uncle alone excused himself, and the
+mother could not come, owing to her disease which prevented her from
+moving. The good woman died three months after Christine's marriage.
+
+Christine therefore left her village to follow her husband, and for the
+remainder of their lives they lived together in mutual happiness.
+
+Count Algarotti, Christine's god-mother and my two noble friends, went
+away together. The bride and bridegroom had, of course, a carriage to
+themselves, and I kept the aunt and the sister of Charles company in
+another. I could not help envying the happy man somewhat, although in my
+inmost heart I felt pleased with his happiness.
+
+The sister was not without merit. She was a young widow of twenty-five,
+and still deserved the homage of men, but I gave the preference to the
+aunt, who told me that her new niece was a treasure, a jewel which was
+worthy of everybody's admiration, but that she would not let her go into
+society until she could speak the Venetian dialect well.
+
+"Her cheerful spirits," she added, "her artless simplicity, her natural
+wit, are like her beauty, they must be dressed in the Venetian fashion.
+We are highly pleased with my nephew's choice, and he has incurred
+everlasting obligations towards you. I hope that for the future you will
+consider our house as your own."
+
+The invitation was polite, perhaps it was sincere, yet I did not avail
+myself of it, and they were glad of it. At the end of one year Christine
+presented her husband with a living token of their mutual love, and that
+circumstance increased their conjugal felicity.
+
+We all found comfortable quarters in the count's house in Treviso, where,
+after partaking of some refreshments, the guests retired to rest.
+
+The next morning I was with Count Algarotti and my two friends when
+Charles came in, handsome, bright, and radiant. While he was answering
+with much wit some jokes of the count, I kept looking at him with some
+anxiety, but he came up to me and embraced me warmly. I confess that a
+kiss never made me happier.
+
+People wonder at the devout scoundrels who call upon their saint when
+they think themselves in need of heavenly assistance, or who thank him
+when they imagine that they have obtained some favour from him, but
+people are wrong, for it is a good and right feeling, which preaches
+against Atheism.
+
+At the invitation of Charles, his aunt and his sister had gone to pay a
+morning visit to the young wife, and they returned with her. Happiness
+never shone on a more lovely face!
+
+M. Algarotti, going towards her, enquired from her affectionately whether
+she had had a good night. Her only answer was to rush to her husband's
+arms. It was the most artless, and at the same time the most eloquent,
+answer she could possible give. Then turning her beautiful eyes towards
+me, and offering me her hand, she said,
+
+"M. Casanova, I am happy, and I love to be indebted to you for my
+happiness."
+
+The tears which were flowing from my eyes, as I kissed her hand, told her
+better than words how truly happy I was myself.
+
+The dinner passed off delightfully. We then left for Mestra and Venice.
+We escorted the married couple to their house, and returned home to amuse
+M. Bragadin with the relation of our expedition. This worthy and
+particularly learned man said a thousand things about the marriage, some
+of great profundity and others of great absurdity.
+
+I laughed inwardly. I was the only one who had the key to the mystery,
+and could realize the secret of the comedy.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Venetian Years: Return to Venice
+by Jacques Casanova de Seingalt
+
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