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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of To Paris And Prison: Paris
+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: To Paris And Prison: Paris
+       The Memoirs Of Jacques Casanova De Seingalt 1725-1798
+
+Author: Jacques Casanova de Seingalt
+
+Release Date: October 30, 2006 [EBook #2956]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TO PARIS AND PRISON: PARIS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Widger
+
+
+
+
+
+MEMOIRS OF JACQUES CASANOVA de SEINGALT 1725-1798
+
+TO PARIS AND PRISON, Volume 2a--PARIS
+
+THE RARE UNABRIDGED LONDON EDITION OF 1894 TRANSLATED BY ARTHUR MACHEN TO
+WHICH HAS BEEN ADDED THE CHAPTERS DISCOVERED BY ARTHUR SYMONS.
+
+
+
+
+PARIS
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+Leave Bologna a Happy Man--The Captain Parts from Us in Reggio, where I
+Spend a Delightful Night with Henriette--Our Arrival in Parma--Henriette
+Resumes the Costume of a Woman; Our Mutual Felicity--I Meet Some
+Relatives of Mine, but Do not Discover Myself
+
+The reader can easily guess that there was a change as sudden as a
+transformation in a pantomime, and that the short but magic sentence,
+"Come to Parma," proved a very fortunate catastrophe, thanks to which I
+rapidly changed, passing from the tragic to the gentle mood, from the
+serious to the tender tone. Sooth to say, I fell at her feet, and
+lovingly pressing her knees I kissed them repeatedly with raptures of
+gratitude. No more 'furore', no more bitter words; they do not suit the
+sweetest of all human feelings! Loving, docile, grateful, I swear never
+to beg for any favour, not even to kiss her hand, until I have shewn
+myself worthy of her precious love! The heavenly creature, delighted to
+see me pass so rapidly from despair to the most lively tenderness, tells
+me, with a voice the tone of which breathes of love, to get up from my
+knees.
+
+"I am sure that you love me," says she, "and be quite certain that I
+shall leave nothing undone to secure the constancy of your feelings."
+Even if she had said that she loved me as much as I adored her, she would
+not have been more eloquent, for her words expressed all that can be
+felt. My lips were pressed to her beautiful hands as the captain entered
+the room. He complimented us with perfect good faith, and I told him, my
+face beaming with happiness, that I was going to order the carriage. I
+left them together, and in a short time we were on our road, cheerful,
+pleased, and merry.
+
+Before reaching Reggio the honest captain told me that in his opinion it
+would be better for him to proceed to Parma alone, as, if we arrived in
+that city all together, it might cause some remarks, and people would
+talk about us much less if we were without him. We both thought him quite
+right, and we immediately made up our minds to pass the night in Reggio,
+while the captain would take a post-chaise and go alone to Parma.
+According to that arrangement his trunk was transferred to the vehicle
+which he hired in Reggio, he bade us farewell and went away, after having
+promised to dine with us on the following day in Parma.
+
+The decision taken by the worthy Hungarian was, doubtless, as agreeable
+to my lovely friend as to me, for our delicacy would have condemned us to
+a great reserve in his presence. And truly, under the new circumstances,
+how were we to arrange for our lodgings in Reggio? Henriette could not,
+of course, share the bed of the captain any more, and she could not have
+slept with me as long as he was with us, without being guilty of great
+immodesty. We should all three have laughed at that compulsory reserve
+which we would have felt to be ridiculous, but we should, for all that,
+have submitted to it. Love is the little impudent god, the enemy of
+bashfulness, although he may very often enjoy darkness and mystery, but
+if he gives way to it he feels disgraced; he loses three-fourths of his
+dignity and the greatest portion of his charms.
+
+Evidently there could be no happiness for Henriette or for me unless we
+parted with the person and even with the remembrance of the excellent
+captain.
+
+We supped alone. I was intoxicated with a felicity which seemed too
+immense, and yet I felt melancholy, but Henriette, who looked sad
+likewise, had no reproach to address to me. Our sadness was in reality
+nothing but shyness; we loved each other, but we had had no time to
+become acquainted. We exchanged only a few words, there was nothing
+witty, nothing interesting in our conversation, which struck us both as
+insipid, and we found more pleasure in the thoughts which filled our
+minds. We knew that we were going to pass the night together, but we
+could not have spoken of it openly. What a night! what a delightful
+creature was that Henriette whom I have loved so deeply, who has made me
+so supremely happy!
+
+It was only three or four days later that I ventured on asking her what
+she would have done, without a groat in her possession, having not one
+acquaintance in Parma, if I had been afraid to declare my love, and if I
+had gone to Naples. She answered that she would doubtless have found
+herself in very great difficulties, but that she had all along felt
+certain of my love, and that she had foreseen what had happened. She
+added that, being impatient to know what I thought of her, she had asked
+me to translate to the captain what she had expressed respecting her
+resolution, knowing that he could neither oppose that resolution nor
+continue to live with her, and that, as she had taken care not to include
+me in the prayer which she had addressed to him through me, she had
+thought it impossible that I should fail to ask whether I could be of
+some service to her, waiting to take a decision until she could have
+ascertained the nature of my feelings towards her. She concluded by
+telling me that if she had fallen it was the fault of her husband and of
+her father-in-law, both of whom she characterized as monsters rather than
+men.
+
+When we reached Parma, I gave the police the name of Farusi, the same
+that I had assumed in Cesena; it was the family name of my mother; while
+Henriette wrote down, "Anne D'Arci, from France." While we were answering
+the questions of the officer, a young Frenchman, smart and
+intelligent-looking, offered me his services, and advised me not to put
+up at the posting-inn, but to take lodgings at D'Andremorit's hotel,
+where I should find good apartments, French cooking, and the best French
+wines.
+
+Seeing that Henriette was pleased with the proposal, I told the young man
+to take us there, and we were soon very comfortably lodged. I engaged the
+Frenchman by the day, and carefully settled all my arrangements with
+D'Andremont. After that I attended to the housing of my carriage.
+
+Coming in again for a few minutes, I told Henriette that I would return
+in time for dinner, and, ordering the servant to remain in the ante-room,
+I went out alone.
+
+Parma was then groaning under a new government. I had every reason to
+suppose that there were spies everywhere and under every form. I
+therefore did not want to have at my heels a valet who might have injured
+rather than served me. Though I was in my father's native city, I had no
+acquaintances there, but I knew that I should soon find my way.
+
+When I found myself in the streets, I scarcely could believe that I was
+in Italy, for everything had a tramontane appearance. I heard nothing but
+French and Spanish, and those who did not speak one of those languages
+seemed to be whispering to one another. I was going about at random,
+looking for a hosier, yet unwilling to enquire where I could find one; at
+last I saw what I wanted.
+
+I entered the shop, and addressing myself to a stout, good-looking woman
+seated behind the counter, I said,
+
+"Madam, I wish to make some purchases."
+
+"Sir, shall I send for someone speaking French?"
+
+"You need not do so, I am an Italian."
+
+"God be praised! Italians are scarce in these days."
+
+"Why scarce?"
+
+"Do you not know that Don Philip has arrived, and that his wife, Madame
+de France, is on the road?"
+
+"I congratulate you, for it must make trade very good. I suppose that
+money is plentiful, and that there is abundance of all commodities."
+
+"That is true, but everything is high in price, and we cannot get
+reconciled to these new fashions. They are a bad mixture of French
+freedom and Spanish haughtiness which addles our brains. But, sir, what
+sort of linen do you require?"
+
+"In the first place, I must tell you that I never try to drive a hard
+bargain, therefore be careful. If you charge me too much, I shall not
+come again. I want some fine linen for twenty-four chemises, some dimity
+for stays and petticoats, some muslin, some cambric for
+pocket-handkerchiefs, and many other articles which I should be very glad
+to find in your shop, for I am a stranger here, and God knows in what
+hands I am going to trust myself!"
+
+"You will be in honest ones, if you will give me your confidence."
+
+"I am sure that you deserve it, and I abandon my interests to you. I want
+likewise to find some needlewomen willing to work in the lady's room,
+because she requires everything to be made very rapidly."
+
+"And dresses?"
+
+"Yes, dresses, caps, mantles-in fact, everything, for she is naked."
+
+"With money she will soon have all she wants. Is she young?"
+
+"She is four years younger than I. She is my wife."
+
+"Ah! may God bless you! Any children?"
+
+"Not yet, my good lady; but they will come, for we do all that is
+necessary to have them."
+
+"I have no doubt of it. How pleased I am! Well, sir, I shall send for the
+very phoenix of all dressmakers. In the mean time, choose what you
+require, it will amuse you."
+
+I took the best of everything and paid, and the dressmaker making her
+appearance at that moment I gave my address, requesting that various
+sorts of stuff might be sent at once. I told the dressmaker and her
+daughter, who had come with her, to follow me and to carry the linen. On
+my way to the hotel I bought several pairs of silk stockings, and took
+with me a bootmaker who lived close by.
+
+Oh, what a delightful moment! Henriette, who had not the slightest idea
+of what I had gone out for, looked at everything with great pleasure, yet
+without any of those demonstrations which announce a selfish or
+interested disposition. She shewed her gratitude only by the delicate
+praise which she bestowed upon my taste and upon the quality of the
+articles I had purchased. She was not more cheerful on account of my
+presents, but the tender affection with which she looked at me was the
+best proof of her grateful feelings.
+
+The valet I had hired had entered the room with the shoemaker. Henriette
+told him quietly to withdraw, and not to come unless he was called. The
+dressmaker set to work, the shoemaker took her measure, and I told him to
+bring some slippers. He returned in a short time, and the valet came in
+again with him without having been called. The shoemaker, who spoke
+French, was talking the usual nonsense of dealers, when she interrupted
+him to ask the valet, who was standing familiarly in the room, what he
+wanted.
+
+"Nothing, madam, I am only waiting for your orders."
+
+"Have I not told you that you would be called when your services were
+required?"
+
+"I should like to know who is my master, you or the gentleman?"
+
+"Neither," I replied, laughing. "Here are your day's wages. Be off at
+once."
+
+The shoemaker, seeing that Henriette spoke only French, begged to
+recommend a teacher of languages.
+
+"What country does he belong to?" she enquired.
+
+"To Flanders, madam," answered Crispin, "he is a very learned man, about
+fifty years old. He is said to be a good man. He charges three libbre for
+each lesson of one hour, and six for two hours, but he requires to be
+paid each time."
+
+"My dear," said Henriette to me, "do you wish me to engage that master?"
+
+"Yes, dearest, it will amuse you."
+
+The shoemaker promised to send the Flemish professor the next morning.
+
+The dressmakers were hard at work, the mother cutting and the daughter
+sewing, but, as progress could not be too rapid, I told the mother that
+she would oblige us if she could procure another seamstress who spoke
+French.
+
+"You shall have one this very day, sir," she answered, and she offered me
+the services of her own son as a servant, saying that if I took him I
+should be certain to have neither a thief nor a spy about me, and that he
+spoke French pretty well. Henriette thought we could not do better than
+take the young man. Of course that was enough to make me consent at once,
+for the slightest wish of the woman we love is our supreme law. The
+mother went for him, and she brought back at the same time the
+half-French dressmaker. It all amused my goddess, who looked very happy.
+
+The young man was about eighteen, pleasant, gentle and modest. I enquired
+his name, and he answered that it was Caudagna.
+
+The reader may very likely recollect that my father's native place had
+been Parma, and that one of his sisters had married a Caudagna. "It would
+be a curious coincidence," I thought, "if that dressmaker should be my
+aunt, and my valet my cousin!" but I did not say it aloud.
+
+Henriette asked me if I had any objection to the first dressmaker dining
+at our table.
+
+"I entreat you, my darling," I answered, "never, for the future, to ask
+my consent in such trifling matters. Be quite certain, my beloved, that I
+shall always approve everything you may do."
+
+She smiled and thanked me. I took out my purse, and said to her;
+
+"Take these fifty sequins, dearest, to pay for all your small expenses,
+and to buy the many trifles which I should be sure to forget."
+
+She took the money, assuring me that she was vastly obliged to me.
+
+A short time before dinner the worthy captain made his appearance.
+Henriette ran to meet him and kissed him, calling him her dear father,
+and I followed her example by calling him my friend. My beloved little
+wife invited him to dine with us every day. The excellent fellow, seeing
+all the women working busily for Henriette, was highly pleased at having
+procured such a good position for his young adventuress, and I crowned
+his happiness by telling him that I was indebted to him for my felicity.
+
+Our dinner was delicious, and it proved a cheerful meal. I found out that
+Henriette was dainty, and my old friend a lover of good wines. I was
+both, and felt that I was a match for them. We tasted several excellent
+wines which D'Andremont had recommended, and altogether we had a very
+good dinner.
+
+The young valet pleased me in consequence of the respectful manner in
+which he served everyone, his mother as well as his masters. His sister
+and the other seamstress had dined apart.
+
+We were enjoying our dessert when the hosier was announced, accompanied
+by another woman and a milliner who could speak French. The other woman
+had brought patterns of all sorts of dresses. I let Henriette order caps,
+head-dresses, etc., as she pleased, but I would interfere in the dress
+department although I complied with the excellent taste of my charming
+friend. I made her choose four dresses, and I was indeed grateful for her
+ready acceptance of them, for my own happiness was increased in
+proportion to the pleasure I gave her and the influence I was obtaining
+over her heart.
+
+Thus did we spend the first day, and we could certainly not have
+accomplished more.
+
+In the evening, as we were alone at supper, I fancied that her lovely
+face looked sad. I told her so.
+
+"My darling," she answered, with a voice which went to my heart, "you are
+spending a great deal of money on me, and if you do so in the hope of my
+loving you more dearly I must tell you it is money lost, for I do not
+love you now more than I did yesterday, but I do love you with my whole
+heart. All you may do that is not strictly necessary pleases me only
+because I see more and more how worthy you are of me, but it is not
+needed to make me feel all the deep love which you deserve."
+
+"I believe you, dearest, and my happiness is indeed great if you feel
+that your love for me cannot be increased. But learn also, delight of my
+heart, that I have done it all only to try to love you even more than I
+do, if possible. I wish to see you beautiful and brilliant in the attire
+of your sex, and if there is one drop of bitterness in the fragrant cup
+of my felicity, it is a regret at not being able to surround you with the
+halo which you deserve. Can I be otherwise than delighted, my love, if
+you are pleased?"
+
+"You cannot for one moment doubt my being pleased, and as you have called
+me your wife you are right in one way, but if you are not very rich I
+leave it to you to judge how deeply I ought to reproach myself."
+
+"Ah, my beloved angel! let me, I beg of you, believe myself wealthy, and
+be quite certain that you cannot possibly be the cause of my ruin. You
+were born only for my happiness. All I wish is that you may never leave
+me. Tell me whether I can entertain such a hope."
+
+"I wish it myself, dearest, but who can be sure of the future? Are you
+free? Are you dependent on anyone?"
+
+"I am free in the broadest meaning of that word, I am dependent on no one
+but you, and I love to be so."
+
+"I congratulate you, and I am very glad of it, for no one can tear you
+from my arms, but, alas! you know that I cannot say the same as you. I am
+certain that some persons are, even now, seeking for me, and they will
+not find it very difficult to secure me if they ever discover where I am.
+Alas! I feel how miserable I should be if they ever succeeded in dragging
+me away from you!"
+
+"You make me tremble. Are you afraid of such a dreadful misfortune here?"
+
+"No, unless I should happen to be seen by someone knowing me."
+
+"Are any such persons likely to be here at present?"
+
+"I think not."
+
+"Then do not let our love take alarm, I trust your fears will never be
+verified. Only, my darling one, you must be as cheerful as you were in
+Cesena."
+
+"I shall be more truly so now, dear friend. In Cesena I was miserable;
+while now I am happy. Do not be afraid of my being sad, for I am of a
+naturally cheerful disposition."
+
+"I suppose that in Cesena you were afraid of being caught by the officer
+whom you had left in Rome?"
+
+"Not at all; that officer was my father-in-law, and I am quite certain
+that he never tried to ascertain where I had gone. He was only too glad
+to get rid of me. I felt unhappy because I could not bear to be a charge
+on a man whom I could not love, and with whom I could not even exchange
+one thought. Recollect also that I could not find consolation in the idea
+that I was ministering to his happiness, for I had only inspired him with
+a passing fancy which he had himself valued at ten sequins. I could not
+help feeling that his fancy, once gratified, was not likely at his time
+of life to become a more lasting sentiment, and I could therefore only be
+a burden to him, for he was not wealthy. Besides, there was a miserable
+consideration which increased my secret sorrow. I thought myself bound in
+duty to caress him, and on his side, as he thought that he ought to pay
+me in the same money, I was afraid of his ruining his health for me, and
+that idea made me very unhappy. Having no love for each other, we allowed
+a foolish feeling of regard to make both of us uncomfortable. We
+lavished, for the sake of a well-meaning but false decorum, that which
+belongs to love alone. Another thing troubled me greatly. I was afraid
+lest people might suppose that I was a source of profit to him. That idea
+made me feel the deepest shame, yet, whenever I thought of it, I could
+not help admitting that such a supposition, however false, was not
+wanting in probability. It is owing to that feeling that you found me so
+reserved towards you, for I was afraid that you might harbour that
+fearful idea if I allowed, you to read in my looks the favourable
+impression which you had made on my heart."
+
+"Then it was not owing to a feeling of self-love?"
+
+"No, I confess it, for you could but judge me as I deserved. I had been
+guilty of the folly now known to you because my father-in-law intended to
+bury me in a convent, and that did not suit my taste. But, dearest
+friend, you must forgive me if, I cannot confide even to you the history
+of my life."
+
+"I respect your secret, darling; you need not fear any intrusion from me
+on that subject. All we have to do is to love one another, and not to
+allow any dread of the future to mar our actual felicity."
+
+The next day, after a night of intense enjoyment, I found myself more
+deeply in love than before, and the next three months were spent by us in
+an intoxication of delight.
+
+At nine o'clock the next morning the teacher of Italian was announced. I
+saw a man of respectable appearance, polite, modest, speaking little but
+well, reserved in his answers, and with the manners of olden times. We
+conversed, and I could not help laughing when he said, with an air of
+perfect good faith, that a Christian could only admit the system of
+Copernicus as a clever hypothesis. I answered that it was the system of
+God Himself because it was that of nature, and that it was not in Holy
+Scripture that the laws of science could be learned.
+
+The teacher smiled in a manner which betrayed the Tartufe, and if I had
+consulted only my own feelings I should have dismissed the poor man, but
+I thought that he might amuse Henriette and teach her Italian; after all
+it was what I wanted from him. My dear wife told him that she would give
+him six libbre for a lesson of two hours: the libbra of Parma being worth
+only about threepence, his lessons were not very expensive. She took her
+first lesson immediately and gave him two sequins, asking him to purchase
+her some good novels.
+
+Whilst my dear Henriette was taking her lesson, I had some conversation
+with the dressmaker, in order to ascertain whether she was a relative of
+mine.
+
+"What does your husband do?" I asked her.
+
+"He is steward to the Marquis of Sissa."
+
+"Is your father still alive?"
+
+"No, sir, he is dead."
+
+"What was his family name?"
+
+"Scotti."
+
+"Are your husband's parents still alive?"
+
+"His father is dead, but his mother is still alive, and resides with her
+uncle, Canon Casanova."
+
+That was enough. The good woman was my Welsh cousin, and her children
+were my Welsh nephews. My niece Jeanneton was not pretty; but she
+appeared to be a good girl. I continued my conversation with the mother,
+but I changed the topic.
+
+"Are the Parmesans satisfied with being the subjects of a Spanish
+prince?"
+
+"Satisfied? Well, in that case, we should be easily pleased, for we are
+now in a regular maze. Everything is upset, we do not know where we are.
+Oh! happy times of the house of Farnese, whither have you departed? The
+day before yesterday I went to the theatre, and Harlequin made everybody
+roar with laughter. Well, now, fancy, Don Philipo, our new duke, did all
+he could to remain serious, and when he could not manage it, he would
+hide his face in his hat so that people should not see that he was
+laughing, for it is said that laughter ought never to disturb the grave
+and stiff countenance of an Infante of Spain, and that he would be
+dishonoured in Madrid if he did not conceal his mirth. What do you think
+of that? Can such manners suit us? Here we laugh willingly and heartily!
+Oh! the good Duke Antonio (God rest his soul!) was certainly as great a
+prince as Duke Philipo, but he did not hide himself from his subjects
+when he was pleased, and he would sometimes laugh so heartily that he
+could be heard in the streets. Now we are all in the most fearful
+confusion, and for the last three months no one in Parma knows what's
+o'clock."
+
+"Have all the clocks been destroyed?"
+
+"No, but ever since God created the world, the sun has always gone down
+at half-past five, and at six the bells have always been tolled for the
+Angelus. All respectable people knew that at that time the candle had to
+be lit. Now, it is very strange, the sun has gone mad, for he sets every
+day at a different hour. Our peasants do not know when they are to come
+to market. All that is called a regulation but do you know why? Because
+now everybody knows that dinner is to be eaten at twelve o'clock. A fine
+regulation, indeed! Under the Farnese we used to eat when we were hungry,
+and that was much better."
+
+That way of reasoning was certainly singular, but I did not think it
+sounded foolish in the mouth of a woman of humble rank. It seems to me
+that a government ought never to destroy ancient customs abruptly, and
+that innocent errors ought to be corrected only by degrees.
+
+Henriette had no watch. I felt delighted at the idea of offering her such
+a present, and I went out to purchase one, but after I had bought a very
+fine watch, I thought of ear-rings, of a fan, and of many other pretty
+nicknacks. Of course I bought them all at once. She received all those
+gifts offered by love with a tender delicacy which overjoyed me. She was
+still with the teacher when I came back.
+
+"I should have been able," he said to me, "to teach your lady heraldry,
+geography, history, and the use of the globes, but she knows that
+already. She has received an excellent education."
+
+The teacher's name was Valentin de la Haye. He told me that he was an
+engineer and professor of mathematics. I shall have to speak of him very
+often in these Memoirs, and my readers will make his acquaintance by his
+deeds better than by any portrait I could give of him, so I will merely
+say that he was a true Tartufe, a worthy pupil of Escobar.
+
+We had a pleasant dinner with our Hungarian friend. Henriette was still
+wearing the uniform, and I longed to see her dressed as a woman. She
+expected a dress to be ready for the next day, and she was already
+supplied with petticoats and chemises.
+
+Henriette was full of wit and a mistress of repartee. The milliner, who
+was a native of Lyons, came in one morning, and said in French:
+
+"Madame et Monsieur, j'ai l'honneur de vous souhaiter le bonjour."
+
+"Why," said my friend, "do you not say Monsieur et madame?"
+
+"I have always heard that in society the precedence is given to the
+ladies."
+
+"But from whom do we wish to receive that honour?"
+
+"From gentlemen, of course."
+
+"And do you not see that women would render themselves ridiculous if they
+did not grant to men the same that they expect from them. If we wish them
+never to fail in politeness towards us, we must shew them the example."
+
+"Madam," answered the shrewd milliner, "you have taught me an excellent
+lesson, and I will profit by it. Monsieur et madame, je suis votre
+servante."
+
+This feminine controversy greatly amused me.
+
+Those who do not believe that a woman can make a man happy through the
+twenty-four hours of the day have never possessed a woman like Henriette.
+The happiness which filled me, if I can express it in that manner, was
+much greater when I conversed with her even than when I held her in my
+arms. She had read much, she had great tact, and her taste was naturally
+excellent; her judgment was sane, and, without being learned, she could
+argue like a mathematician, easily and without pretension, and in
+everything she had that natural grace which is so charming. She never
+tried to be witty when she said something of importance, but accompanied
+her words with a smile which imparted to them an appearance of trifling,
+and brought them within the understanding of all. In that way she would
+give intelligence even to those who had none, and she won every heart.
+Beauty without wit offers love nothing but the material enjoyment of its
+physical charms, whilst witty ugliness captivates by the charms of the
+mind, and at last fulfils all the desires of the man it has captivated.
+
+Then what was my position during all the time that I possessed my
+beautiful and witty Henriette? That of a man so supremely happy that I
+could scarcely realize my felicity!
+
+Let anyone ask a beautiful woman without wit whether she would be willing
+to exchange a small portion of her beauty for a sufficient dose of wit.
+If she speaks the truth, she will say, "No, I am satisfied to be as I
+am." But why is she satisfied? Because she is not aware of her own
+deficiency. Let an ugly but witty woman be asked if she would change her
+wit against beauty, and she will not hesitate in saying no. Why?
+Because, knowing the value of her wit, she is well aware that it is
+sufficient by itself to make her a queen in any society.
+
+But a learned woman, a blue-stocking, is not the creature to minister to
+a man's happiness. Positive knowledge is not a woman's province. It is
+antipathetic to the gentleness of her nature, to the amenity, to the
+sweet timidity which are the greatest charms of the fair sex, besides,
+women never carry their learning beyond certain limits, and the
+tittle-tattle of blue-stockings can dazzle no one but fools. There has
+never been one great discovery due to a woman. The fair sex is deficient
+in that vigorous power which the body lends to the mind, but women are
+evidently superior to men in simple reasoning, in delicacy of feelings,
+and in that species of merit which appertains to the heart rather than to
+the mind.
+
+Hurl some idle sophism at a woman of intelligence. She will not unravel
+it, but she will not be deceived by it, and, though she may not say so,
+she will let you guess that she does not accept it. A man, on the
+contrary, if he cannot unravel the sophism, takes it in a literal sense,
+and in that respect the learned woman is exactly the same as man. What a
+burden a Madame Dacier must be to a man! May God save every honest man
+from such!
+
+When the new dress was brought, Henriette told me that she did not want
+me to witness the process of her metamorphosis, and she desired me to go
+out for a walk until she had resumed her original form. I obeyed
+cheerfully, for the slightest wish of the woman we love is a law, and our
+very obedience increases our happiness.
+
+As I had nothing particular to do, I went to a French bookseller in whose
+shop I made the acquaintance of a witty hunchback, and I must say that a
+hunchback without wit is a raga avis; I have found it so in all
+countries. Of course it is not wit which gives the hump, for, thank God,
+all witty men are not humpbacked, but we may well say that as a general
+rule the hump gives wit, for the very small number of hunchbacks who have
+little or no wit only confirms the rule: The one I was alluding to just
+now was called Dubois-Chateleraux. He was a skilful engraver, and
+director of the Mint of Parma for the Infante, although that prince could
+not boast of such an institution.
+
+I spent an hour with the witty hunchback, who shewed me several of his
+engravings, and I returned to the hotel where I found the Hungarian
+waiting to see Henriette. He did not know that she would that morning
+receive us in the attire of her sex. The door was thrown open, and a
+beautiful, charming woman met us with a courtesy full of grace, which no
+longer reminded us of the stiffness or of the too great freedom which
+belong to the military costume. Her sudden appearance certainly
+astonished us, and we did not know what to say or what to do. She invited
+us to be seated, looked at the captain in a friendly manner, and pressed
+my hand with the warmest affection, but without giving way any more to
+that outward familiarity which a young officer can assume, but which does
+not suit a well-educated lady. Her noble and modest bearing soon
+compelled me to put myself in unison with her, and I did so without
+difficulty, for she was not acting a part, and the way in which she had
+resumed her natural character made it easy for me to follow her on that
+ground.
+
+I was gazing at her with admiration, and, urged by a feeling which I did
+not take time to analyze, I took her hand to kiss it with respect, but,
+without giving me an opportunity of raising it to my lips, she offered me
+her lovely mouth. Never did a kiss taste so delicious.
+
+"Am I not then always the same?" said she to me, with deep feeling.
+
+"No, heavenly creature, and it is so true that you are no longer the same
+in my eyes that I could not now use any familiarity towards you. You are
+no longer the witty, free young officer who told Madame Querini about the
+game of Pharaoh, end about the deposits made to your bank by the captain
+in so niggardly a manner that they were hardly worth mentioning."
+
+"It is very true that, wearing the costume of my sex, I should never dare
+to utter such words. Yet, dearest friend, it does not prevent my being
+your Henriette--that Henriette who has in her life been guilty of three
+escapades, the last of which would have utterly ruined me if it had not
+been for you, but which I call a delightful error, since it has been the
+cause of my knowing you."
+
+Those words moved me so deeply that I was on the point of throwing myself
+at her feet, to entreat her to forgive me for not having shewn her more
+respect, but Henriette, who saw the state in which I was, and who wanted
+to put an end to the pathetic scene, began to shake our poor captain, who
+sat as motionless as a statue, and as if he had been petrified. He felt
+ashamed at having treated such a woman as an adventuress, for he knew
+that what he now saw was not an illusion. He kept looking at her with
+great confusion, and bowing most respectfully, as if he wanted to atone
+for his past conduct towards her. As for Henriette, she seemed to say to
+him, but without the shadow of a reproach;
+
+"I am glad that you think me worth more than ten sequins."
+
+We sat down to dinner, and from that moment she did the honours of the
+table with the perfect ease of a person who is accustomed to fulfil that
+difficult duty. She treated me like a beloved husband, and the captain
+like a respected friend. The poor Hungarian begged me to tell her that if
+he had seen her, as she was now, in Civita Vecchia, when she came out of
+the tartan, he should never have dreamed of dispatching his cicerone to
+her room.
+
+"Oh! tell him that I do not doubt it. But is it not strange that a poor
+little female dress should command more respect than the garb of an
+officer?"
+
+"Pray do not abuse the officer's costume, for it is to it that I am
+indebted for my happiness."
+
+"Yes," she said, with a loving smile, "as I owe mine to the sbirri of
+Cesena."
+
+We remained for a long time at the table, and our delightful conversation
+turned upon no other topic than our mutual felicity. If it had not been
+for the uneasiness of the poor captain, which at last struck us, we
+should never have put a stop either to the dinner or to, our charming
+prattle.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+I Engage a Box at the Opera, in Spite of Henriette's Reluctance--M.
+Dubois Pays Us a Visit and Dines with Us; My Darling Plays Him a
+Trick--Henriette Argues on Happiness--We Call on Dubois, and My Wife
+Displays Her Marvellous Talent--M. Dutillot The Court gives a Splendid
+Entertainment in the Ducal Gardens--A Fatal Meeting--I Have an Interview
+with M. D'Antoine, the Favourite of the Infante of Spain
+
+The happiness I was enjoying was too complete to last long. I was fated
+to lose it, but I must not anticipate events. Madame de France, wife of
+the Infante Don Philip, having arrived in Parma, the opera house was
+opened, and I engaged a private box, telling Henriette that I intended to
+take her to the theatre every night. She had several times confessed that
+she had a great passion for music, and I had no doubt that she would be
+pleased with my proposal. She had never yet seen an Italian opera, and I
+felt certain that she wished to ascertain whether the Italian music
+deserved its universal fame. But I was indeed surprised when she
+exclaimed,
+
+"What, dearest! You wish to go every evening to the opera?"
+
+"I think, my love, that, if we did not go, we should give some excuse for
+scandal-mongers to gossip. Yet, should you not like it, you know that
+there is no need for us to go. Do not think of me, for I prefer our
+pleasant chat in this room to the heavenly concert of the seraphs."
+
+"I am passionately fond of music, darling, but I cannot help trembling at
+the idea of going out."
+
+"If you tremble, I must shudder, but we ought to go to the opera or leave
+Parma. Let us go to London or to any other place. Give your orders, I am
+ready to do anything you like."
+
+"Well, take a private box as little exposed as possible."
+
+"How kind you are!"
+
+The box I had engaged was in the second tier, but the theatre being small
+it was difficult for a pretty woman to escape observation.
+
+I told her so.
+
+"I do not think there is any danger," she answered; "for I have not seen
+the name of any person of my acquaintance in the list of foreigners which
+you gave me to read."
+
+Thus did Henriette go to the opera. I had taken care that our box should
+not be lighted up. It was an opera-buffa, the music of Burellano was
+excellent, and the singers were very good.
+
+Henriette made no use of her opera-glass except to look on the stage, and
+nobody paid any attention to us. As she had been greatly pleased with the
+finale of the second act, I promised to get it for her, and I asked
+Dubois to procure it for me. Thinking that she could play the
+harpsichord, I offered to get one, but she told me that she had never
+touched that instrument.
+
+On the night of the fourth or fifth performance M. Dubois came to our
+box, and as I did not wish to introduce him to my friend, I only asked
+what I could do for him. He then handed me the music I had begged him to
+purchase for me, and I paid him what it had cost, offering him my best
+thanks. As we were just opposite the ducal box, I asked him, for the sake
+of saying something, whether he had engraved the portraits of their
+highnesses. He answered that he had already engraved two medals, and I
+gave him an order for both, in gold. He promised to let me have them, and
+left the box. Henriette had not even looked at him, and that was
+according to all established rules, as I had not introduced him, but the
+next morning he was announced as we were at dinner. M. de la Haye, who
+was dining with us, complimented us upon having made the acquaintance of
+Dubois, and introduced him to his pupil the moment he came into the room.
+It was then right for Henriette to welcome him, which she did most
+gracefully.
+
+After she had thanked him for the 'partizione', she begged he would get
+her some other music, and the artist accepted her request as a favour
+granted to him.
+
+"Sir," said Dubois to me, "I have taken the liberty of bringing the
+medals you wished to have; here they are."
+
+On one were the portraits of the Infante and his wife, on the other was
+engraved only the head of Don Philip. They were both beautifully
+engraved, and we expressed our just admiration. "The workmanship is
+beyond all price," said Henriette, "but the gold can be bartered for
+other gold." "Madam," answered the modest artist, "the medals weight
+sixteen sequins." She gave him the amount immediately, and invited him to
+call again at dinner-time. Coffee was just brought in at that moment, and
+she asked him to take it with us. Before sweetening his cup, she enquired
+whether he liked his coffee very sweet.
+
+"Your taste, madam," answered the hunchback, gallantly, "is sure to be
+mine."
+
+"Then you have guessed that I always drink coffee without sugar. I am
+glad we have that taste in common."
+
+And she gracefully offered him the cup of coffee without sugar. She then
+helped De la Haye and me, not forgetting to put plenty of sugar in our
+cups, and she poured out one for herself exactly like the one she handed
+to Dubois. It was much ado for me not to laugh, for my mischievous
+French-woman, who liked her coffee in the Parisian fashion, that is to
+say very sweet, was sipping the bitter beverage with an air of delight
+which compelled the director of the Mint to smile under the infliction.
+But the cunning hunchback was even with her; accepting the penalty of his
+foolish compliment, and praising the good quality of the coffee, he
+boldly declared that it was the only way to taste the delicious aroma of
+the precious berry.
+
+When Dubois and De la Haye had left us, we both laughed at the trick.
+
+"But," said I to Henriette, "you will be the first victim of your
+mischief, for whenever he dines with us, you must keep up the joke, in
+order not to betray yourself."
+
+"Oh! I can easily contrive to drink my coffee well sweetened, and to make
+him drain the bitter cup."
+
+At the end of one month, Henriette could speak Italian fluently, and it
+was owing more to the constant practice she had every day with my cousin
+Jeanneton, who acted as her maid, than to the lessons of Professor de la
+Haye. The lessons only taught her the rules, and practice is necessary to
+acquire a language. I have experienced it myself. I learned more French
+during the too short period that I spent so happily with my charming
+Henriette than in all the lessons I had taken from Dalacqua.
+
+We had attended the opera twenty times without making any acquaintance,
+and our life was indeed supremely happy. I never went out without
+Henriette, and always in a carriage; we never received anyone, and nobody
+knew us. Dubois was the only person, since the departure of the good
+Hungarian, who sometimes dined with us; I do not reckon De la Haye, who
+was a daily guest at our table. Dubois felt great curiosity about us, but
+he was cunning and did not shew his curiosity; we were reserved without
+affectation, and his inquisitiveness was at fault. One day he mentioned
+to us that the court of the Infante of Parma was very brilliant since the
+arrival of Madame de France, and that there were many foreigners of both
+sexes in the city. Then, turning towards Henriette, he said to her;
+
+"Most of the foreign ladies whom we have here are unknown to us."
+
+"Very likely, many of them would not shew themselves if they were known."
+
+"Very likely, madam, as you say, but I can assure you that, even if their
+beauty and the richness of their toilet made them conspicuous, our
+sovereigns wish for freedom. I still hope, madam, that we shall have the
+happiness of seeing you at the court of the duke."
+
+"I do not think so, for, in my opinion, it is superlatively ridiculous
+for a lady to go to the court without being presented, particularly if
+she has a right to be so."
+
+The last words, on which Henriette had laid a little more stress than
+upon the first part of her answer, struck our little hunchback dumb, and
+my friend, improving her opportunity, changed the subject of
+conversation.
+
+When he had gone we enjoyed the check she had thus given to the
+inquisitiveness of our guest, but I told Henriette that, in good
+conscience, she ought to forgive all those whom she rendered curious,
+because.... she cut my words short by covering me with loving kisses.
+
+Thus supremely happy, and finding in one another constant satisfaction,
+we would laugh at those morose philosophers who deny that complete
+happiness can be found on earth.
+
+"What do they mean, darling--those crazy fools--by saying that happiness
+is not lasting, and how do they understand that word? If they mean
+everlasting, immortal, unintermitting, of course they are right, but the
+life of man not being such, happiness, as a natural consequence, cannot
+be such either. Otherwise, every happiness is lasting for the very reason
+that it does exist, and to be lasting it requires only to exist. But if
+by complete felicity they understand a series of varied and
+never-interrupted pleasures, they are wrong, because, by allowing after
+each pleasure the calm which ought to follow the enjoyment of it, we have
+time to realize happiness in its reality. In other words those necessary
+periods of repose are a source of true enjoyment, because, thanks to
+them, we enjoy the delight of recollection which increases twofold the
+reality of happiness. Man can be happy only when in his own mind he
+realizes his happiness, and calm is necessary to give full play to his
+mind; therefore without calm man would truly never be completely happy,
+and pleasure, in order to be felt, must cease to be active. Then what do
+they mean by that word lasting?
+
+"Every day we reach a moment when we long for sleep, and, although it be
+the very likeness of non-existence, can anyone deny that sleep is a
+pleasure? No, at least it seems to me that it cannot be denied with
+consistency, for, the moment it comes to us, we give it the preference
+over all other pleasures, and we are grateful to it only after it has
+left us.
+
+"Those who say that no one can be happy throughout life speak likewise
+frivolously. Philosophy teaches the secret of securing that happiness,
+provided one is free from bodily sufferings. A felicity which would thus
+last throughout life could be compared to a nosegay formed of a thousand
+flowers so beautifully, so skillfully blended together, that it would
+look one single flower. Why should it be impossible for us to spend here
+the whole of our life as we have spent the last month, always in good
+health, always loving one another, without ever feeling any other want or
+any weariness? Then, to crown that happiness, which would certainly be
+immense, all that would be wanted would be to die together, in an
+advanced age, speaking to the last moment of our pleasant recollections.
+Surely that felicity would have been lasting. Death would not interrupt
+it, for death would end it. We could not, even then, suppose ourselves
+unhappy unless we dreaded unhappiness after death, and such an idea
+strikes me as absurd, for it is a contradiction of the idea of an
+almighty and fatherly tenderness."
+
+It was thus that my beloved Henriette would often make me spend
+delightful hours, talking philosophic sentiment. Her logic was better
+than that of Cicero in his Tusculan Disputations, but she admitted that
+such lasting felicity could exist only between two beings who lived
+together, and loved each other with constant affection, healthy in mind
+and in body, enlightened, sufficiently rich, similar in tastes, in
+disposition, and in temperament. Happy are those lovers who, when their
+senses require rest, can fall back upon the intellectual enjoyments
+afforded by the mind! Sweet sleep then comes, and lasts until the body
+has recovered its general harmony. On awaking, the senses are again
+active and always ready to resume their action.
+
+The conditions of existence are exactly the same for man as for the
+universe, I might almost say that between them there is perfect identity,
+for if we take the universe away, mankind no longer exists, and if we
+take mankind away, there is no longer an universe; who could realize the
+idea of the existence of inorganic matter? Now, without that idea, 'nihil
+est', since the idea is the essence of everything, and since man alone
+has ideas. Besides, if we abstract the species, we can no longer imagine
+the existence of matter, and vice versa.
+
+I derived from Henriette as great happiness as that charming woman
+derived from me. We loved one another with all the strength of our
+faculties, and we were everything to each other. She would often repeat
+those pretty lines of the good La, Fontaine:
+
+  'Soyez-vous l'un a l'autre un monde toujours beau,
+   Toujours divers, toujours nouveau;
+   Tenez-vous lieu de tout; comptez pour rien le reste.'
+
+And we did not fail to put the advice into practice, for never did a
+minute of ennui or of weariness, never did the slightest trouble, disturb
+our bliss.
+
+The day after the close of the opera, Dubois, who was dining with us,
+said that on the following day he was entertaining the two first artists,
+'primo cantatore' and 'prima cantatrice', and added that, if we liked to
+come, we would hear some of their best pieces, which they were to sing in
+a lofty hall of his country-house particularly adapted to the display of
+the human voice. Henriette thanked him warmly, but she said that, her
+health being very delicate, she could not engage herself beforehand, and
+she spoke of other things.
+
+When we were alone, I asked her why she had refused the pleasure offered
+by Dubois.
+
+"I should accept his invitation," she answered, "and with delight, if I
+were not afraid of meeting at his house some person who might know me,
+and would destroy the happiness I am now enjoying with you."
+
+"If you have any fresh motive for dreading such an occurrence, you are
+quite right, but if it is only a vague, groundless fear, my love, why
+should you deprive yourself of a real and innocent pleasure? If you knew
+how pleased I am when I see you enjoy yourself, and particularly when I
+witness your ecstacy in listening to fine music!"
+
+"Well, darling, I do not want to shew myself less brave than you. We will
+go immediately after dinner. The artists will not sing before. Besides,
+as he does not expect us, he is not likely to have invited any person
+curious to speak to me. We will go without giving him notice of our
+coming, without being expected, and as if we wanted to pay him a friendly
+visit. He told us that he would be at his country-house, and Caudagna
+knows where it is."
+
+Her reasons were a mixture of prudence and of love, two feelings which
+are seldom blended together. My answer was to kiss her with as much
+admiration as tenderness, and the next day at four o'clock in the
+afternoon we paid our visit to M. Dubois. We were much surprised, for we
+found him alone with a very pretty girl, whom he presented to us as his
+niece.
+
+"I am delighted to see you," he said, "but as I did not expect to see you
+I altered my arrangements, and instead of the dinner I had intended to
+give I have invited my friends to supper. I hope you will not refuse me
+the honour of your company. The two virtuosi will soon be here."
+
+We were compelled to accept his invitation.
+
+"Will there be many guests?" I enquired.
+
+"You will find yourselves in the midst of people worthy of you," he
+answered, triumphantly. "I am only sorry that I have not invited any
+ladies."
+
+This polite remark, which was intended for Henriette, made her drop him a
+curtsy, which she accompanied with a smile. I was pleased to read
+contentment on her countenance, but, alas! she was concealing the painful
+anxiety which she felt acutely. Her noble mind refused to shew any
+uneasiness, and I could not guess her inmost thoughts because I had no
+idea that she had anything to fear.
+
+I should have thought and acted differently if I had known all her
+history. Instead of remaining in Parma I should have gone with her to
+London, and I know now that she would have been delighted to go there.
+
+The two artists arrived soon afterwards; they were the 'primo cantatore'
+Laschi, and the 'prima donna' Baglioni, then a very pretty woman. The
+other guests soon followed; all of them were Frenchmen and Spaniards of a
+certain age. No introductions took place, and I read the tact of the
+witty hunchback in the omission, but as all the guests were men used to
+the manners of the court, that neglect of etiquette did not prevent them
+from paying every honour to my lovely friend, who received their
+compliments with that ease and good breeding which are known only in
+France, and even there only in the highest society, with the exception,
+however, of a few French provinces in which the nobility, wrongly called
+good society, shew rather too openly the haughtiness which is
+characteristic of that class.
+
+The concert began by a magnificent symphony, after which Laschi and
+Baglioni sang a duet with great talent and much taste. They were followed
+by a pupil of the celebrated Vandini, who played a concerto on the
+violoncello, and was warmly applauded.
+
+The applause had not yet ceased when Henriette, leaving her seat, went up
+to the young artist, and told him, with modest confidence, as she took
+the violoncello from him, that she could bring out the beautiful tone of
+the instrument still better. I was struck with amazement. She took the
+young man's seat, placed the violoncello between her knees, and begged
+the leader of the orchestra to begin the concerto again. The deepest
+silence prevailed. I was trembling all over, and almost fainting.
+Fortunately every look was fixed upon Henriette, and nobody thought of
+me. Nor was she looking towards me, she would not have then ventured even
+one glance, for she would have lost courage, if she had raised her
+beautiful eyes to my face. However, not seeing her disposing herself to
+play, I was beginning to imagine that she had only been indulging in a
+jest, when she suddenly made the strings resound. My heart was beating
+with such force that I thought I should drop down dead.
+
+But let the reader imagine my situation when, the concerto being over,
+well-merited applause burst from every part of the room! The rapid change
+from extreme fear to excessive pleasure brought on an excitement which
+was like a violent fever. The applause did not seem to have any effect
+upon Henriette, who, without raising her eyes from the notes which she
+saw for the first time, played six pieces with the greatest perfection.
+As she rose from her seat, she did not thank the guests for their
+applause, but, addressing the young artist with affability, she told him,
+with a sweet smile, that she had never played on a finer instrument.
+Then, curtsying to the audience, she said,
+
+"I entreat your forgiveness for a movement of vanity which has made me
+encroach on your patience for half an hour."
+
+The nobility and grace of this remark completely upset me, and I ran out
+to weep like a child, in the garden where no one could see me.
+
+"Who is she, this Henriette?" I said to myself, my heart beating, and my
+eyes swimming with tears of emotion, "what is this treasure I have in my
+possession?"
+
+My happiness was so immense that I felt myself unworthy of it.
+
+Lost in these thoughts which enhanced the pleasure of any tears, I should
+have stayed for a long time in the garden if Dubois had not come out to
+look for me. He felt anxious about me, owing to my sudden disappearance,
+and I quieted him by saying that a slight giddiness had compelled me to
+come out to breathe the fresh air.
+
+Before re-entering the room, I had time to dry my tears, but my eyelids
+were still red. Henriette, however, was the only one to take notice of
+it, and she said to me,
+
+"I know, my darling, why you went into the garden!"
+
+She knew me so well that she could easily guess the impression made on my
+heart by the evening's occurrence.
+
+Dubois had invited the most amiable noblemen of the court, and his supper
+was dainty and well arranged. I was seated opposite Henriette who was, as
+a matter of course, monopolizing the general attention, but she would
+have met with the same success if she had been surrounded by a circle of
+ladies whom she would certainly have thrown into the shade by her beauty,
+her wit, and the distinction of her manners. She was the charm of that
+supper by the animation she imparted to the conversation. M. Dubois said
+nothing, but he was proud to have such a lovely guest in his house. She
+contrived to say a few gracious words to everyone, and was shrewd enough
+never to utter something witty without making me take a share in it. On
+my side, I openly shewed my submissiveness, my deference, and my respect
+for that divinity, but it was all in vain. She wanted everybody to know
+that I was her lord and master. She might have been taken for my wife,
+but my behaviour to her rendered such a supposition improbable.
+
+The conversation having fallen on the respective merits of the French and
+Spanish nations, Dubois was foolish enough to ask Henriette to which she
+gave preference.
+
+It would have been difficult to ask a more indiscreet question,
+considering that the company was composed almost entirely of Frenchmen
+and Spaniards in about equal proportion. Yet my Henriette turned the
+difficulty so cleverly that the Frenchmen would have liked to be
+Spaniards, and 'vice versa'. Dubois, nothing daunted, begged her to say
+what she thought of the Italians. The question made me tremble. A certain
+M. de la Combe, who was seated near me, shook his head in token of
+disapprobation, but Henriette did not try to elude the question.
+
+"What can I say about the Italians," she answered, "I know only one? If I
+am to judge them all from that one my judgment must certainly be most
+favourable to them, but one single example is not sufficient to establish
+the rule."
+
+It was impossible to give a better answer, but as my readers may well
+imagine, I did not appear to have heard it, and being anxious to prevent
+any more indiscreet questions from Dubois I turned the conversation into
+a different channel.
+
+The subject of music was discussed, and a Spaniard asked Henriette
+whether she could play any other instrument besides the violoncello.
+
+"No," she answered, "I never felt any inclination for any other. I
+learned the violoncello at the convent to please my mother, who can play
+it pretty well, and without an order from my father, sanctioned by the
+bishop, the abbess would never have given me permission to practise it."
+
+"What objection could the abbess make?"
+
+"That devout spouse of our Lord pretended that I could not play that
+instrument without assuming an indecent position."
+
+At this the Spanish guests bit their lips, but the Frenchmen laughed
+heartily, and did not spare their epigrams against the over-particular
+abbess.
+
+After a short silence, Henriette rose, and we all followed her example.
+It was the signal for breaking up the party, and we soon took our leave.
+
+I longed to find myself alone with the idol of my soul. I asked her a
+hundred questions without waiting for the answers.
+
+"Ah! you were right, my own Henriette, when you refused to go to that
+concert, for you knew that you would raise many enemies against me. I am
+certain that all those men hate me, but what do I care? You are my
+universe! Cruel darling, you almost killed me with your violoncello,
+because, having no idea of your being a musician, I thought you had gone
+mad, and when I heard you I was compelled to leave the room in order to
+weep undisturbed. My tears relieved my fearful oppression. Oh! I entreat
+you to tell me what other talents you possess. Tell me candidly, for you
+might kill me if you brought them out unexpectedly, as you have done this
+evening."
+
+"I have no other accomplishments, my best beloved. I have emptied my bag
+all at once. Now you know your Henriette entirely. Had you not chanced to
+tell me about a month ago that you had no taste for music, I would have
+told you that I could play the violoncello remarkably well, but if I had
+mentioned such a thing, I know you well enough to be certain that you
+would have bought an instrument immediately, and I could not, dearest,
+find pleasure in anything that would weary you."
+
+The very next morning she had an excellent violoncello, and, far from
+wearying me, each time she played she caused me a new and greater
+pleasure. I believe that it would be impossible even to a man disliking
+music not to become passionately fond of it, if that art were practised
+to perfection by the woman he adores.
+
+The 'vox humana' of the violoncello; the king of instruments, went to my
+heart every time that my beloved Henriette performed upon it. She knew I
+loved to hear her play, and every day she afforded me that pleasure. Her
+talent delighted me so much that I proposed to her to give some concerts,
+but she was prudent enough to refuse my proposal. But in spite of all her
+prudence we had no power to hinder the decrees of fate.
+
+The fatal hunchback came the day after his fine supper to thank us and to
+receive our well-merited praises of his concert, his supper, and the
+distinction of his guests.
+
+"I foresee, madam," he said to Henriette, "all the difficulty I shall
+have in defending myself against the prayers of all my friends, who will
+beg of me to introduce them to you."
+
+"You need not have much trouble on that score: you know that I never,
+receive anyone."
+
+Dubois did not again venture upon speaking of introducing any friend.
+
+On the same day I received a letter from young Capitani, in which he
+informed me that, being the owner of St. Peter's knife and sheath, he had
+called on Franzia with two learned magicians who had promised to raise
+the treasure out of the earth, and that to his great surprise Franzia had
+refused to receive him: He entreated me to write to the worthy fellow,
+and to go to him myself if I wanted to have my share of the treasure. I
+need not say that I did not comply with his wishes, but I can vouch for
+the real pleasure I felt in finding that I had succeeded in saving that
+honest and simple farmer from the impostors who would have ruined him.
+
+One month was gone since the great supper given by Dubois. We had passed
+it in all the enjoyment which can be derived both from the senses and the
+mind, and never had one single instant of weariness caused either of us
+to be guilty of that sad symptom of misery which is called a yawn. The
+only pleasure we took out of doors was a drive outside of the city when
+the weather was fine. As we never walked in the streets, and never
+frequented any public place, no one had sought to make our acquaintance,
+or at least no one had found an opportunity of doing so, in spite of all
+the curiosity excited by Henriette amongst the persons whom we had
+chanced to meet, particularly at the house of Dubois. Henriette had
+become more courageous, and I more confident, when we found that she had
+not been recognized by any one either at that supper or at the theatre.
+She only dreaded persons belonging to the high nobility.
+
+One day as we were driving outside the Gate of Colorno, we met the duke
+and duchess who were returning to Parma. Immediately after their carriage
+another vehicle drove along, in which was Dubois with a nobleman unknown
+to us. Our carriage had only gone a few yards from theirs when one of our
+horses broke down. The companion of Dubois immediately ordered his
+coachman to stop in order to send to our assistance. Whilst the horse was
+raised again, he came politely to our carriage, and paid some civil
+compliment to Henriette. M. Dubois, always a shrewd courtier and anxious
+to shew off at the expense of others, lost no time in introducing him as
+M. Dutillot, the French ambassador. My sweetheart gave the conventional
+bow. The horse being all right again, we proceeded on our road after
+thanking the gentlemen for their courtesy. Such an every-day occurrence
+could not be expected to have any serious consequences, but alas! the
+most important events are often the result of very trifling
+circumstances!
+
+The next day, Dubois breakfasted with us. He told us frankly that M.
+Dutillot had been delighted at the fortunate chance which had afforded
+him an opportunity of making our acquaintance, and that he had entreated
+him to ask our permission to call on us.
+
+"On madam or on me?" I asked at once.
+
+"On both."
+
+"Very well, but one at a time. Madam, as you know, has her own room and I
+have mine."
+
+"Yes, but they are so near each other!"
+
+"Granted, yet I must tell you that, as far as I am concerned, I should
+have much pleasure in waiting upon his excellency if he should ever wish
+to communicate with me, and you will oblige me by letting him know it. As
+for madam, she is here, speak to her, my dear M. Dubois, for I am only
+her very humble servant."
+
+Henriette assumed an air of cheerful politeness, and said to him,
+
+"Sir, I beg you will offer my thanks to M. Dutillot, and enquire from him
+whether he knows me."
+
+"I am certain, madam," said the hunchback, "that he does not."
+
+"You see he does not know me, and yet he wishes to call on me. You must
+agree with me that if I accepted his visits I should give him a singular
+opinion of my character. Be good enough to tell him that, although known
+to no one and knowing no one, I am not an adventuress, and therefore I
+must decline the honour of his visits."
+
+Dubois felt that he had taken a false step, and remained silent. We never
+asked him how the ambassador had received our refusal.
+
+Three weeks after the last occurrence, the ducal court residing then at
+Colorno, a great entertainment was given in the gardens which were to be
+illuminated all night. Everybody had permission to walk about the
+gardens. Dubois, the fatal hunchback appointed by destiny, spoke so much
+of that festival, that we took a fancy to see it. Always the same story
+of Adam's apple. Dubois accompanied us. We went to Colorno the day before
+the entertainment, and put up at an inn.
+
+In the evening we walked through the gardens, in which we happened to
+meet the ducal family and suite. According to the etiquette of the French
+court, Madame de France was the first to curtsy to Henriette, without
+stopping. My eyes fell upon a gentleman walking by the side of Don Louis,
+who was looking at my friend very attentively. A few minutes after, as we
+were retracing our steps, we came across the same gentleman who, after
+bowing respectfully to us, took Dubois aside. They conversed together for
+a quarter of an hour, following us all the time, and we were passing out
+of the gardens, when the gentleman, coming forward, and politely
+apologizing to me, asked Henriette whether he had the honour to be known
+to her.
+
+"I do not recollect having ever had the honour of seeing you before."
+
+"That is enough, madam, and I entreat you to forgive me."
+
+Dubois informed us that the gentleman was the intimate friend of the
+Infante Don Louis, and that, believing he knew madam, he had begged to be
+introduced. Dubois had answered that her name was D'Arci, and that, if he
+was known to the lady, he required no introduction. M. d'Antoine said
+that the name of D'Arci was unknown to him, and that he was afraid of
+making a mistake. "In that state of doubt," added Dubois, "and wishing to
+clear it, he introduced himself, but now he must see that he was
+mistaken."
+
+After supper, Henriette appeared anxious. I asked her whether she had
+only pretended not to know M. d'Antoine.
+
+"No, dearest, I can assure you. I know his name which belongs to an
+illustrious family of Provence, but I have never seen him before."
+
+"Perhaps he may know you?"
+
+"He might have seen me, but I am certain that he never spoke to me, or I
+would have recollected him."
+
+"That meeting causes me great anxiety, and it seems to have troubled
+you."
+
+"I confess it has disturbed my mind."
+
+"Let us leave Parma at once and proceed to Genoa. We will go to Venice as
+soon as my affairs there are settled."
+
+"Yes, my dear friend, we shall then feel more comfortable. But I do not
+think we need be in any hurry."
+
+We returned to Parma, and two days afterwards my servant handed me a
+letter, saying that the footman who had brought it was waiting in the
+ante-room.
+
+"This letter," I said to Henriette, "troubles me."
+
+She took it, and after she had read it--she gave it back to me, saying,
+
+"I think M. d'Antoine is a man of honour, and I hope that we may have
+nothing to fear."
+
+The letter ran as, follows:
+
+"Either at your hotel or at my residence, or at any other place you may
+wish to appoint, I entreat you, sir, to give me an opportunity of
+conversing with you on a subject which must be of the greatest importance
+to you.
+
+"I have the honour to be, etc.
+
+                    "D'ANTOINE."
+
+It was addressed M. Farusi.
+
+"I think I must see him," I said, "but where?"
+
+"Neither here nor at his residence, but in the ducal gardens. Your answer
+must name only the place and the hour of the meeting."
+
+I wrote to M. d'Antoine that I would see him at half-past eleven in the
+ducal gardens, only requesting him to appoint another hour in case mine
+was not convenient to him.
+
+I dressed myself at once in order to be in good time, and meanwhile we
+both endeavoured, Henriette and I, to keep a cheerful countenance, but we
+could not silence our sad forebodings. I was exact to my appointment and
+found M. d'Antoine waiting for me. As soon as we were together, he said
+to me,
+
+"I have been compelled, sir, to beg from you the favour of an interview,
+because I could not imagine any surer way to get this letter to Madame
+d'Arci's hands. I entreat you to deliver it to her, and to excuse me if I
+give it you sealed. Should I be mistaken, my letter will not even require
+an answer, but should I be right, Madame d'Arci alone can judge whether
+she ought to communicate it to you. That is my reason for giving it to
+you sealed. If you are truly her friend, the contents of that letter must
+be as interesting to you as to her. May I hope, sir, that you will be
+good enough to deliver it to her?"
+
+"Sir, on my honour I will do it."
+
+We bowed respectfully to each other, and parted company. I hurried back
+to the hotel.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+Henriette Receives the Visit of M. d'Antoine I Accompany Her as Far as
+Geneva and Then I Lose Her--I Cross the St. Bernard, and Return to
+Parma--A Letter from Hensiette--My Despair De La Haye Becomes Attached to
+Me--Unpleasant Adventure with an Actress and Its Consequences--I Turn a
+Thorough Bigot--Bavois--I Mystify a Bragging Officer.
+
+As soon as I had reached our apartment, my heart bursting with anxiety, I
+repeated to Henriette every word spoken by M. d'Antoine, and delivered
+his letter which contained four pages of writing. She read it attentively
+with visible emotion, and then she said,
+
+"Dearest friend, do not be offended, but the honour of two families does
+not allow of my imparting to you the contents of this letter. I am
+compelled to receive M. d'Antoine, who represents himself as being one of
+my relatives."
+
+"Ah!" I exclaimed, "this is the beginning of the end! What a dreadful
+thought! I am near the end of a felicity which was too great to last!
+Wretch that I have been! Why did I tarry so long in Parma? What fatal
+blindness! Of all the cities in the whole world, except France, Parma was
+the only one I had to fear, and it is here that I have brought you, when
+I could have taken you anywhere else, for you had no will but mine! I am
+all the more guilty that you never concealed your fears from me. Why did
+I introduce that fatal Dubois here? Ought I not to have guessed that his
+curiosity would sooner or later prove injurious to us? And yet I cannot
+condemn that curiosity, for it is, alas! a natural feeling. I can only
+accuse all the perfections which Heaven has bestowed upon
+you!--perfections which have caused my happiness, and which will plunge
+me in an abyss of despair, for, alas! I foresee a future of fearful
+misery."
+
+"I entreat you, dearest, to foresee nothing, and to calm yourself. Let us
+avail ourselves of all our reason in order to prove ourselves superior to
+circumstances, whatever they may be. I cannot answer this letter, but you
+must write to M. d'Antoine to call here tomorrow and to send up his
+name."
+
+"Alas! you compel me to perform a painful task."
+
+"You are my best, my only friend; I demand nothing, I impose no task upon
+you, but can you refuse me?"
+
+"No, never, no matter what you ask. Dispose of me, I am yours in life and
+death."
+
+"I knew what you would answer. You must be with me when M. d'Antoine
+calls, but after a few minutes given to etiquette, will you find some
+pretext to go to your room, and leave us alone? M. d'Antoine knows all my
+history; he knows in what I have done wrong, in what I have been right;
+as a man of honour, as my relative, he must shelter me from all affront.
+He shall not do anything against my will, and if he attempts to deviate
+from the conditions I will dictate to him, I will refuse to go to France,
+I will follow you anywhere, and devote to you the remainder of my life.
+Yet, my darling, recollect that some fatal circumstances may compel us to
+consider our separation as the wisest course to adopt, that we must
+husband all our courage to adopt it, if necessary, and to endeavour not
+to be too unhappy.
+
+"Have confidence in me, and be quite certain that I shall take care to
+reserve for myself the small portion of happiness which I can be allowed
+to enjoy without the man who alone has won all my devoted love. You will
+have, I trust, and I expect it from your generous soul, the same care of
+your future, and I feel certain that you must succeed. In the mean time,
+let us drive away all the sad forebodings which might darken the hours we
+have yet before us."
+
+"Ah! why did we not go away immediately after we had met that accursed
+favourite of the Infante!"
+
+"We might have made matters much worse; for in that case M. d'Antoine
+might have made up his mind to give my family a proof of his zeal by
+instituting a search to discover our place of residence, and I should
+then have been exposed to violent proceedings which you would not have
+endured. It would have been fatal to both of us."
+
+I did everything she asked me. From that moment our love became sad, and
+sadness is a disease which gives the death-blow to affection. We would
+often remain a whole hour opposite each other without exchanging a single
+word, and our sighs would be heard whatever we did to hush them.
+
+The next day, when M. d'Antoine called, I followed exactly the
+instructions she had given me, and for six mortal hours I remained alone,
+pretending to write.
+
+The door of my room was open, and a large looking-glass allowed us to see
+each other. They spent those six hours in writing, occasionally stopping
+to talk of I do not know what, but their conversation was evidently a
+decisive one. The reader can easily realize how much I suffered during
+that long torture, for I could expect nothing but the total wreck of my
+happiness.
+
+As soon as the terrible M. d'Antoine had taken leave of her, Henriette
+came to me, and observing that her eyes were red I heaved a deep sigh,
+but she tried to smile.
+
+"Shall we go away to-morrow, dearest?"
+
+"Oh! yes, I am ready. Where do you wish me to take you?"
+
+"Anywhere you like, but we must be here in a fortnight."
+
+"Here! Oh, fatal illusion!"
+
+"Alas! it is so. I have promised to be here to receive the answer to a
+letter I have just written. We have no violent proceedings to fear, but I
+cannot bear to remain in Parma."
+
+"Ah! I curse the hour which brought us to this city. Would you like to go
+to Milan?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"As we are unfortunately compelled to come back, we may as well take with
+us Caudagna and his sister."
+
+"As you please."
+
+"Let me arrange everything. I will order a carriage for them, and they
+will take charge of your violoncello. Do you not think that you ought to
+let M. d'Antoine know where we are going?"
+
+"No, it seems to me, on the contrary, that I need not account to him for
+any of my proceedings. So much the worse for him if he should, even for
+one moment, doubt my word."
+
+The next morning, we left Parma, taking only what we wanted for an
+absence of a fortnight. We arrived in Milan without accident, but both
+very sad, and we spent the following fifteen days in constant
+tete-a-tete, without speaking to anyone, except the landlord of the hotel
+and to a dressmaker. I presented my beloved Henriette with a magnificent
+pelisse made of lynx fur--a present which she prized highly.
+
+Out of delicacy, she had never enquired about my means, and I felt
+grateful to her for that reserve. I was very careful to conceal from her
+the fact that my purse was getting very light. When we came back to Parma
+I had only three or four hundred sequins.
+
+The day after our return M. d'Antoine invited himself to dine with us,
+and after we had drunk coffee, I left him alone with Henriette. Their
+interview was as long as the first, and our separation was decided. She
+informed me of it, immediately after the departure of M. d'Antoine, and
+for a long time we remained folded in each other's arms, silent, and
+blending our bitter tears.
+
+"When shall I have to part from you, my beloved, alas! too much beloved
+one?"
+
+"Be calm, dearest, only when we reach Geneva, whither you are going to
+accompany me. Will you try to find me a respectable maid by to-morrow?
+She will accompany me from Geneva to the place where I am bound to go."
+
+"Oh! then, we shall spend a few days more together! I know no one but
+Dubois whom I could trust to procure a good femme-de-chambre; only I do
+not want him to learn from her what you might not wish him to know."
+
+"That will not be the case, for I will take another maid as soon as I am
+in France."
+
+Three days afterwards, Dubois, who had gladly undertaken the commission,
+presented to Henriette a woman already somewhat advanced in years, pretty
+well dressed and respectable-looking, who, being poor, was glad of an
+opportunity of going back to France, her native country. Her husband, an
+old military officer, had died a few months before, leaving her totally
+unprovided for. Henriette engaged her, and told her to keep herself ready
+to start whenever M. Dubois should give her notice. The day before the
+one fixed for our departure, M. d'Antoine dined with us, and, before
+taking leave of us, he gave Henriette a sealed letter for Geneva.
+
+We left Parma late in the evening, and stopped only two hours in Turin,
+in order to engage a manservant whose services we required as far as
+Geneva. The next day we ascended Mont Cenis in sedan-chairs, and we
+descended to the Novalaise in mountain-sledges. On the fifth day we
+reached Geneva, and we put up at the Hotel des Balances. The next
+morning, Henriette gave me a letter for the banker Tronchin, who, when he
+had read it, told me that he would call himself at the hotel, and bring
+me one thousand louis d'or.
+
+I came back and we sat down to dinner. We had not finished our meal when
+the banker was announced. He had brought the thousand louis d'or, and
+told Henriette that he would give her two men whom he could recommend in
+every way.
+
+She answered that she would leave Geneva as soon as she had the carriage
+which he was to provide for her, according to the letter I had delivered
+to him. He promised that everything would be ready for the following day,
+and he left us. It was indeed a terrible moment! Grief almost benumbed us
+both. We remained motionless, speechless, wrapped up in the most profound
+despair.
+
+I broke that sad silence to tell her that the carriage which M. Tronchin
+would provide could not possibly be as comfortable and as safe as mine,
+and I entreated her to take it, assuring her that by accepting it she
+would give me a last proof of her affection.
+
+"I will take in exchange, my dearest love, the carriage sent by the
+banker."
+
+"I accept the change, darling," she answered, "it will be a great
+consolation to possess something which has belonged to you."
+
+As she said these words, she slipped in my pocket five rolls containing
+each one hundred louis d'or--a slight consolation for my heart, which was
+almost broken by our cruel separation! During the last twenty-four hours
+we could boast of no other eloquence but that which finds expression in
+tears, in sobs, and in those hackneyed but energetic exclamations, which
+two happy lovers are sure to address to reason, when in its sternness it
+compels them to part from one another in the very height of their
+felicity. Henriette did not endeavour to lure me with any hope for the
+future, in order to allay my sorrow! Far from that, she said to me,
+
+"Once we are parted by fate, my best and only friend, never enquire after
+me, and, should chance throw you in my way, do not appear to know me."
+
+She gave me a letter for M. d'Antoine, without asking me whether I
+intended to go back to Parma, but, even if such had not been my
+intention, I should have determined at once upon returning to that city.
+She likewise entreated me not to leave Geneva until I had received a
+letter which she promised to, write to me from the first stage on her
+journey. She started at day-break, having with her a maid, a footman on
+the box of the carriage, and being preceded by a courier on horseback. I
+followed her with my eyes as long as I could, see her carriage, and I was
+still standing on the same spot long after my eyes had lost sight of it.
+All my thoughts were wrapped up in the beloved object I had lost for
+ever. The world was a blank!
+
+I went back to my room, ordered the waiter not to disturb me until the
+return of the horses which had drawn Henriette's carriage, and I lay down
+on my bed in the hope that sleep would for a time silence a grief which
+tears could not drown.
+
+The postillion who had driven Henriette did not return till the next day;
+he had gone as far as Chatillon. He brought me a letter in which I found
+one single word: Adieu! He told me that they had reached Chatillon
+without accident, and that the lady had immediately continued her journey
+towards Lyons. As I could not leave Geneva until the following day, I
+spent alone in my room some of the most melancholy hours of my life. I
+saw on one of the panes of glass of a window these words which she had
+traced with the point of a diamond I had given her: "You will forget
+Henriette." That prophecy was not likely to afford me any consolation.
+But had she attached its full meaning to the word "forget?" No; she could
+only mean that time would at last heal the deep wounds of my heart, and
+she ought not to have made it deeper by leaving behind her those words
+which sounded like a reproach. No, I have not forgotten her, for even
+now, when my head is covered with white hair, the recollection of her is
+still a source of happiness for my heart! When I think that in my old age
+I derive happiness only from my recollections of the past, I find that my
+long life must have counted more bright than dark days, and offering my
+thanks to God, the Giver of all, I congratulate myself, and confess that
+life is a great blessing.
+
+The next day I set off again for Italy with a servant recommended by M.
+Tronchin, and although the season was not favourable I took the road over
+Mont St. Bernard, which I crossed in three days, with seven mules
+carrying me, my servant, my luggage, and the carriage sent by the banker
+to the beloved woman now for ever lost to me. One of the advantages of a
+great sorrow is that nothing else seems painful. It is a sort of despair
+which is not without some sweetness. During that journey I never felt
+either hunger or thirst, or the cold which is so intense in that part of
+the Alps that the whole of nature seems to turn to ice, or the fatigue
+inseparable from such a difficult and dangerous journey.
+
+I arrived in Parma in pretty good health, and took up my quarters at a
+small inn, in the hope that in such a place I should not meet any
+acquaintance of mine. But I was much disappointed, for I found in that
+inn M. de la Haye, who had a room next to mine. Surprised at seeing me,
+he paid me a long compliment, trying to make me speak, but I eluded his
+curiosity by telling him that I was tired, and that we would see each
+other again.
+
+On the following day I called upon M. d'Antoine, and delivered the letter
+which Henriette had written to him. He opened it in my presence, and
+finding another to my address enclosed in his, he handed it to me without
+reading it, although it was not sealed. Thinking, however, that it might
+have been Henriette's intention that he should read it because it was
+open, he asked my permission to do so, which I granted with pleasure as
+soon as I had myself perused it. He handed it back to me after he had
+read it, telling me very feelingly that I could in everything rely upon
+him and upon his influence and credit.
+
+Here is Henriette's letter
+
+"It is I, dearest and best friend, who have been compelled to abandon
+you, but do not let your grief be increased by any thought of my sorrow.
+Let us be wise enough to suppose that we have had a happy dream, and not
+to complain of destiny, for never did so beautiful a dream last so long!
+Let us be proud of the consciousness that for three months we gave one
+another the most perfect felicity. Few human beings can boast of so much!
+Let us swear never to forget one another, and to often remember the happy
+hours of our love, in order to renew them in our souls, which, although
+divided, will enjoy them as acutely as if our hearts were beating one
+against the other. Do not make any enquiries about me, and if chance
+should let you know who I am, forget it for ever. I feel certain that you
+will be glad to hear that I have arranged my affairs so well that I
+shall, for the remainder of my life, be as happy as I can possibly be
+without you, dear friend, by my side. I do not know who you are, but I am
+certain that no one in the world knows you better than I do. I shall not
+have another lover as long as I live, but I do not wish you to imitate
+me. On the contrary I hope that you will love again, and I trust that a
+good fairy will bring along your path another Henriette. Farewell . . .
+farewell."
+
+          ......................
+
+I met that adorable woman fifteen years later; the reader will see where
+and how, when we come to that period of my life.
+
+          ......................
+
+I went back to my room, careless of the future, broken down by the
+deepest of sorrows, I locked myself in, and went to bed. I felt so low in
+spirits that I was stunned. Life was not a burden, but only because I did
+not give a thought to life. In fact I was in a state of complete apathy,
+moral and physical. Six years later I found myself in a similar
+predicament, but that time love was not the cause of my sorrow; it was
+the horrible and too famous prison of The Leads, in Venice.
+
+I was not much better either in 1768, when I was lodged in the prison of
+Buen Retiro, in Madrid, but I must not anticipate events. At the end of
+twenty-four hours, my exhaustion was very great, but I did not find the
+sensation disagreeable, and, in the state of mind in which I was then, I
+was pleased with the idea that, by increasing, that weakness would at
+last kill me. I was delighted to see that no one disturbed me to offer me
+some food, and I congratulated myself upon having dismissed my servant.
+Twenty-four more hours passed by, and my weakness became complete
+inanition.
+
+I was in that state when De la Haye knocked at my door. I would not have
+answered if he had not said that someone insisted upon seeing me. I got
+out of bed, and, scarcely able to stand, I opened my door, after which I
+got into bed again.
+
+"There is a stranger here," he said, "who, being in want of a carriage,
+offers to buy yours."
+
+"I do not want to sell it."
+
+"Excuse me if I have disturbed you, but you look ill."
+
+"Yes, I wish to be left alone."
+
+"What is the matter with you?"
+
+Coming nearer my bed, he took my hand, and found my pulse extremely low
+and weak.
+
+"What did you eat yesterday?"
+
+"I have eaten nothing, thank God I for two days."
+
+Guessing the real state of things, De la Haye became anxious, and
+entreated me to take some broth. He threw so much kindness, so much
+unction, into his entreaties that, through weakness and weariness, I
+allowed myself to be persuaded. Then, without ever mentioning the name of
+Henriette, he treated me to a sermon upon the life to come, upon the
+vanity of the things of this life which we are foolish enough to prefer,
+and upon the necessity of respecting our existence, which does not belong
+to us.
+
+I was listening without answering one word, but, after all, I was
+listening, and De la Haye, perceiving his advantage, would not leave me,
+and ordered dinner. I had neither the will nor the strength to resist,
+and when the dinner was served, I ate something. Then De la Have saw that
+he had conquered, and for the remainder of the day devoted himself to
+amusing me by his cheerful conversation.
+
+The next day the tables were turned, for it was I who invited him to keep
+me company and to dine with me. It seemed to me that I had not lost a
+particle of my sadness, but life appeared to me once more preferable to
+death, and, thinking that I was indebted to him for the preservation of
+my life, I made a great friend of him. My readers will see presently that
+my affection for him went very far, and they will, like me, marvel at the
+cause of that friendship, and at the means through which it was brought
+about.
+
+Three or four days afterwards, Dubois, who had been informed of
+everything by De la Haye, called on me, and persuaded me to go out. I
+went to the theatre, where I made the acquaintance of several Corsican
+officers, who had served in France, in the Royal Italian regiment. I also
+met a young man from Sicily, named Paterno, the wildest and most heedless
+fellow it was possible to see. He was in love with an actress who made a
+fool of him. He amused me with the enumeration of all her adorable
+qualities, and of all the cruelties she was practising upon him, for,
+although she received him at all hours, she repulsed him harshly whenever
+he tried to steal the slightest favour. In the mean time, she ruined him
+by making him pay constantly for excellent dinners and suppers, which
+were eaten by her family, but which did not advance him one inch towards
+the fulfilment of his wishes.
+
+He succeeded at last in exciting my curiosity. I examined the actress on
+the stage, and finding that she was not without beauty I expressed a wish
+to know her. Paterno was delighted to introduce me to her.
+
+I found that she was of tolerably easy virtue, and, knowing that she was
+very far from rolling in riches, I had no doubt that fifteen or twenty
+sequins would be quite sufficient to make her compliant. I communicated
+my thoughts to Paterno, but he laughed and told me that, if I dared to
+make such a proposition to her, she would certainly shut her door against
+me. He named several officers whom she had refused to receive again,
+because they had made similar offers.
+
+"Yet," added the young man, "I wish you would make the attempt, and tell
+me the result candidly."
+
+I felt piqued, and promised to do it.
+
+I paid her a visit in her dressing-room at the theatre, and as she
+happened during our conversation to praise the beauty of my watch, I told
+her that she could easily obtain possession of it, and I said at what
+price. She answered, according to the catechism of her profession, that
+an honourable man had no right to make such an offer to a respectable
+girl.
+
+"I offer only one ducat," said I, "to those who are not respectable."
+
+And I left her.
+
+When I told Paterno what had occurred, he fairly jumped for joy, but I
+knew what to think of it all, for 'cosi sono tutte', and in spite of all
+his entreaties, I declined to be present at his suppers, which were far
+from amusing, and gave the family of the actress an opportunity of
+laughing at the poor fool who was paying for them.
+
+Seven or eight days afterwards, Paterno told me that the actress had
+related the affair to him exactly in the same words which I had used, and
+she had added that, if I had ceased my visits, it was only because I was
+afraid of her taking me at my word in case I should renew my proposal. I
+commissioned him to tell her that I would pay her another visit, not to
+renew my offer, but to shew my contempt for any proposal she might make
+me herself.
+
+The heedless fellow fulfilled his commission so well that the actress,
+feeling insulted, told him that she dared me to call on her. Perfectly
+determined to shew that I despised her, I went to her dressing-room the
+same evening, after the second act of a play in which she had not to
+appear again. She dismissed those who were with her, saying that she
+wanted to speak with me, and, after she had bolted the door, she sat down
+gracefully on my knees, asking me whether it was true that I despised her
+so much.
+
+In such a position a man has not the courage to insult a woman, and,
+instead of answering, I set to work at once, without meeting even with
+that show of resistance which sharpens the appetite. In spite of that,
+dupe as I always was of a feeling truly absurd when an intelligent man
+has to deal with such creatures, I gave her twenty sequins, and I confess
+that it was paying dearly for very smarting regrets. We both laughed at
+the stupidity of Paterno, who did not seem to know how such challenges
+generally end.
+
+I saw the unlucky son of Sicily the next morning, and I told him that,
+having found the actress very dull, I would not see her again. Such was
+truly my intention, but a very important reason, which nature took care
+to explain to me three days afterwards, compelled me to keep my word
+through a much more serious motive than a simple dislike for the woman.
+
+However, although I was deeply grieved to find myself in such a
+disgraceful position, I did not think I had any right to complain. On the
+contrary, I considered that my misfortune to be a just and well-deserved
+punishment for having abandoned myself to a Lais, after I had enjoyed the
+felicity of possessing a woman like Henriette.
+
+My disease was not a case within the province of empirics, and I
+bethought myself of confiding in M. de is Haye who was then dining every
+day with me, and made no mystery of his poverty. He placed me in the
+hands of a skilful surgeon, who was at the same time a dentist. He
+recognized certain symptoms which made it a necessity to sacrifice me to
+the god Mercury, and that treatment, owing to the season of the year,
+compelled me to keep my room for six weeks. It was during the winter of
+1749.
+
+While I was thus curing myself of an ugly disease, De la Haye inoculated
+me with another as bad, perhaps even worse, which I should never have
+thought myself susceptible of catching. This Fleming, who left me only
+for one hour in the morning, to go--at least he said so--to church to
+perform his devotions, made a bigot of me! And to such an extent, that I
+agreed with him that I was indeed fortunate to have caught a disease
+which was the origin of the faith now taking possession of my soul. I
+would thank God fervently and with the most complete conviction for
+having employed Mercury to lead my mind, until then wrapped in darkness,
+to the pure light of holy truth! There is no doubt that such an
+extraordinary change in my reasoning system was the result of the
+exhaustion brought on by the mercury. That impure and always injurious
+metal had weakened my mind to such an extent that I had become almost
+besotted, and I fancied that until then my judgment had been insane. The
+result was that, in my newly acquired wisdom, I took the resolution of
+leading a totally different sort of life in future. De la Haye would
+often cry for joy when he saw me shedding tears caused by the contrition
+which he had had the wonderful cleverness to sow in my poor sickly soul.
+He would talk to me of paradise and the other world, just as if he had
+visited them in person, and I never laughed at him! He had accustomed me
+to renounce my reason; now to renounce that divine faculty a man must no
+longer be conscious of its value, he must have become an idiot. The
+reader may judge of the state to which I was reduced by the following
+specimen. One day, De la Haye said to me:
+
+"It is not known whether God created the world during the vernal equinox
+or during the autumnal one."
+
+"Creation being granted," I replied, in spite of the mercury, "such a
+question is childish, for the seasons are relative, and differ in the
+different quarters of the globe."
+
+De la Haye reproached me with the heathenism of my ideas, told me that I
+must abandon such impious reasonings.... and I gave way!
+
+That man had been a Jesuit. He not only, however, refused to admit it,
+but he would not even suffer anyone to mention it to him. This is how he
+completed his work of seduction by telling me the history of his life.
+
+"After I had been educated in a good school," he said, "and had devoted
+myself with some success to the arts and sciences, I was for twenty years
+employed at the University of Paris. Afterwards I served as an engineer
+in the army, and since that time I have published several works
+anonymously, which are now in use in every boys' school. Having given up
+the military service, and being poor, I undertook and completed the
+education of several young men, some of whom shine now in the world even
+more by their excellent conduct than by their talents. My last pupil was
+the Marquis Botta. Now being without employment I live, as you see,
+trusting in God's providence. Four years ago, I made the acquaintance of
+Baron Bavois, from Lausanne, son of General Bavois who commanded a
+regiment in the service of the Duke of Modem, and afterwards was
+unfortunate enough to make himself too conspicuous. The young baron, a
+Calvinist like his father, did not like the idle life he was leading at
+home, and he solicited me to undertake his education in order to fit him
+for a military career. Delighted at the opportunity of cultivating his
+fine natural disposition, I gave up everything to devote myself entirely
+to my task. I soon discovered that, in the question of faith, he knew
+himself to be in error, and that he remained a Calvinist only out of
+respect to his family. When I had found out his secret feelings on that
+head, I had no difficulty in proving to him that his most important
+interests were involved in that question, as his eternal salvation was at
+stake. Struck by the truth of my words, he abandoned himself to my
+affection, and I took him to Rome, where I presented him to the Pope,
+Benedict XIV., who, immediately after the abjuration of my pupil got him
+a lieutenancy in the army of the Duke of Modena. But the dear proselyte,
+who is only twenty-five years of age, cannot live upon his pay of seven
+sequins a month, and since his abjuration he has received nothing from
+his parents, who are highly incensed at what they call his apostacy. He
+would find himself compelled to go back to Lausanne, if I did not assist
+him. But, alas! I am poor, and without employment, so I can only send him
+the trifling sums which I can obtain from the few good Christians with
+whom I am acquainted.
+
+"My pupil, whose heart is full of gratitude, would be very glad to know
+his benefactors, but they refuse to acquaint him with their names, and
+they are right, because charity, in order to be meritorious, must not
+partake of any feeling of vanity. Thank God, I have no cause for such a
+feeling! I am but too happy to act as a father towards a young saint, and
+to have had a share, as the humble instrument of the Almighty, in the
+salvation of his soul. That handsome and good young man trusts no one but
+me, and writes to me regularly twice a week. I am too discreet to
+communicate his letters to you, but, if you were to read them, they would
+make you weep for sympathy. It is to him that I have sent the three gold
+pieces which you gave me yesterday."
+
+As he said the last words my converter rose, and went to the window to
+dry his tears, I felt deeply moved, anal full of admiration for the
+virtue of De la Haye and of his pupil, who, to save his soul, had placed
+himself under the hard necessity of accepting alms. I cried as well as
+the apostle, and in my dawning piety I told him that I insisted not only
+upon remaining unknown to his pupil, but also upon ignoring the amount of
+the sums he might take out of my purse to forward to him, and I therefore
+begged that he would help himself without rendering me any account. De la
+Haye embraced me warmly, saying that, by following the precepts of the
+Gospel so well, I should certainly win the kingdom of heaven.
+
+The mind is sure to follow the body; it is a privilege enjoyed by matter.
+With an empty stomach, I became a fanatic; and the hollow made in my
+brain by the mercury became the home of enthusiasm. Without mentioning it
+to De la Haye, I wrote to my three friends, Messrs. Bragadin and company,
+several letters full of pathos concerning my Tartufe and his pupil, and I
+managed to communicate my fanaticism to them. You are aware, dear reader,
+that nothing is so catching as the plague; now, fanaticism, no matter of
+what nature, is only the plague of the human mind.
+
+I made my friends to understand that the good of our society depended
+upon the admission of these two virtuous individuals. I allowed them to
+guess it, but, having myself became a Jesuit, I took care not to say it
+openly. It would of course be better if such an idea appeared to have
+emanated from those men, so simple, and at the same time so truly
+virtuous. "It is God's will," I wrote to them (for deceit must always
+take refuge under the protection of that sacred name), "that you employ
+all your influence in Venice to find an honourable position for M. de la
+Haye, and to promote the interests of young M. Bavois in his profession."
+
+M. de Bragadin answered that De la Haye could take up his quarters with
+us in his palace, and that Bavois was to write to his protector, the
+Pope, entreating His Holiness to recommend him to the ambassador of
+Venice, who would then forward that recommendation to the Senate, and
+that Bavois could, in that way, feel sure of good employment.
+
+The affair of the Patriarchate of Aquileia was at that time under
+discussion; the Republic of Venice was in possession of it as well as the
+Emperor of Austria, who claimed the 'jus eligendi': the Pope Benedict
+XIV. had been chosen as arbitrator, and as he had not yet given his
+decision it was evident that the Republic would shew very great deference
+to his recommendation.
+
+While that important affair was enlisting all our sympathies, and while
+they were expecting in Venice a letter stating the effect of the Pope's
+recommendation, I was the hero of a comic adventure which, for the sake
+of my readers, must not pass unnoticed.
+
+At the beginning of April I was entirely cured of my last misfortune. I
+had recovered all my usual vigour, and I accompanied my converter to
+church every day, never missing a sermon. We likewise spent the evening
+together at the cafe, where we generally met a great many officers. There
+was among them a Provencal who amused everybody with his boasting and
+with the recital of the military exploits by which he pretended to have
+distinguished himself in the service of several countries, and
+principally in Spain. As he was truly a source of amusement, everybody
+pretended to believe him in order to keep up the game. One day as I was
+staring at him, he asked me whether I knew him.
+
+"By George, sir!"--I exclaimed, "know you! Why, did we not fight side by
+side at the battle of Arbela?"
+
+At those words everybody burst out laughing, but the boaster, nothing
+daunted, said, with animation,
+
+"Well, gentlemen, I do not see anything so very laughable in that. I was
+at that battle, and therefore this gentleman might very well have
+remarked me; in fact, I think I can recollect him."
+
+And, continuing to speak to me, he named the regiment in which we were
+brother officers. Of course we embraced one another, congratulating each
+other upon the pleasure we both felt in meeting again in Parma. After
+that truly comic joke I left the coffee-room in the company of my
+inseparable preacher.
+
+The next morning, as I was at breakfast with De la Haye, the boasting
+Provencal entered my room without taking off his hat, and said,
+
+"M. d'Arbela, I have something of importance to tell you; make haste and
+follow me. If you are afraid, you may take anyone you please with you. I
+am good for half a dozen men."
+
+I left my chair, seized my pistols, and aimed at him.
+
+"No one," I said, with decision, "has the right to come and disturb me in
+my room; be off this minute, or I blow your brains out."
+
+The fellow, drawing his sword, dared me to murder him, but at the same
+moment De la Haye threw himself between us, stamping violently on the
+floor. The landlord came up, and threatened the officer to send for the
+police if he did not withdraw immediately.
+
+He went away, saying that I had insulted him in public, and that he would
+take care that the reparation I owed him should be as public as the
+insult.
+
+When he had gone, seeing that the affair might take a tragic turn, I
+began to examine with De la Haye how it could be avoided, but we had not
+long to puzzle our imagination, for in less than half an hour an officer
+of the Infante of Parma presented himself, and requested me to repair
+immediately to head-quarters, where M. de Bertolan, Commander of Parma,
+wanted to speak to me.
+
+I asked De la Haye to accompany me as a witness of what I had said in the
+coffee-room as well as of what had taken place in my apartment.
+
+I presented myself before the commander, whom I found surrounded by
+several officers, and, among them, the bragging Provencal.
+
+M. de Bertolan, who was a witty man, smiled when he saw me; then, with a
+very serious countenance, he said to me,
+
+"Sir, as you have made a laughing-stock of this officer in a public
+place, it is but right that you should give him publicly the satisfaction
+which he claims, and as commander of this city I find myself bound in
+duty to ask you for that satisfaction in order to settle the affair
+amicably."
+
+"Commander," I answered, "I do not see why a satisfaction should be
+offered to this gentleman, for it is not true that I have insulted him by
+turning him into ridicule. I told him that I had seen him at the battle
+of Arbela, and I could not have any doubt about it when he said that he
+had been present at that battle, and that he knew me again."
+
+"Yes," interrupted the officer, "but I heard Rodela and not Arbela, and
+everybody knows that I fought at Rodela. But you said Arbela, and
+certainly with the intention of laughing at me, since that battle has
+been fought more than two thousand years ago, while the battle of Rodela
+in Africa took place in our time, and I was there under the orders of the
+Duke de Mortemar."
+
+"In the first place, sir, you have no right to judge of my intentions,
+but I do not dispute your having been present at Rodela, since you say
+so; but in that case the tables are turned, and now I demand a reparation
+from you if you dare discredit my having been at Arbela. I certainly did
+not serve under the Duke de Mortemar, because he was not there, at least
+to my knowledge, but I was aid-de-camp of Parmenion, and I was wounded
+under his eyes. If you were to ask me to shew you the scar, I could not
+satisfy you, for you must understand that the body I had at that time
+does not exist any longer, and in my present bodily envelope I am only
+twenty-three years old."
+
+"All this seems to me sheer madness, but, at all events, I have witnesses
+to prove that you have been laughing at me, for you stated that you had
+seen me at that battle, and, by the powers! it is not possible, because I
+was not there. At all events, I demand satisfaction."
+
+"So do I, and we have equal rights, if mine are not even better than
+yours, for your witnesses are likewise mine, and these gentlemen will
+assert that you said that you had seen me at Rodela, and, by the powers!
+it is not possible, for I was not there."
+
+"Well, I may have made a mistake."
+
+"So may I, and therefore we have no longer any claim against one
+another."
+
+The commander, who was biting his lips to restrain his mirth, said to
+him,
+
+"My dear sir, I do not see that you have the slightest right to demand
+satisfaction, since this gentleman confesses, like you, that he might
+have been mistaken."
+
+"But," remarked the officer, "is it credible that he was at the battle of
+Arbela?"
+
+"This gentleman leaves you free to believe or not to believe, and he is
+at liberty to assert that he was there until you can prove the contrary.
+Do you wish to deny it to make him draw his sword?"
+
+"God forbid! I would rather consider the affair ended."
+
+"Well, gentlemen," said the commander, "I have but one more duty to
+perform, and it is to advise you to embrace one another like two honest
+men."
+
+We followed the advice with great pleasure.
+
+The next day, the Provencal, rather crestfallen, came to share my dinner,
+and I gave him a friendly welcome. Thus was ended that comic adventure,
+to the great satisfaction of M. de la Haye.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+I Receive Good News From Venice, to Which City I Return with De la Haye
+and Bavois--My Three Friends Give Me a Warm Welcome; Their Surprise at
+Finding Me a Model of Devotion--Bavois Lures Me Back to My Former Way of
+Living--De la Haye a Thorough Hypocrite--Adventure with the Girl
+Marchetti--I Win a Prize in the Lottery--I Meet Baletti--De la Haye
+Leaves M. de Bragadin's Palace--My Departure for Paris
+
+Whilst De la Haye was every day gaining greater influence over my
+weakened mind, whilst I was every day devoutly attending mass, sermons,
+and every office of the Church, I received from Venice a letter
+containing the pleasant information that my affair had followed its
+natural course, namely, that it was entirely forgotten; and in another
+letter M. de Bragadin informed me that the minister had written to the
+Venetian ambassador in Rome with instructions to assure the Holy Father
+that Baron Bavois would, immediately after his arrival in Venice, receive
+in the army of the Republic an appointment which would enable him to live
+honourably and to gain a high position by his talents.
+
+That letter overcame M. de la Haye with joy, and I completed his
+happiness by telling him that nothing hindered me from going back to my
+native city.
+
+He immediately made up his mind to go to Modena in order to explain to
+his pupil how he was to act in Venice to open for himself the way to a
+brilliant fortune. De la Haye depended on me in every way; he saw my
+fanaticism, and he was well aware that it is a disease which rages as
+long as the causes from which it has sprung are in existence. As he was
+going with me to Venice, he flattered himself that he could easily feed
+the fire he had lighted. Therefore he wrote to Bavois that he would join
+him immediately, and two days after he took leave of me, weeping
+abundantly, praising highly the virtues of my soul, calling me his son,
+his dear son, and assuring me that his great affection for me had been
+caused by the mark of election which he had seen on my countenance. After
+that, I felt my calling and election were sure.
+
+A few days after the departure of De la Haye, I left Parma in my carriage
+with which I parted in Fusina, and from there I proceeded to Venice.
+After an absence of a year, my three friends received me as if I had been
+their guardian angel. They expressed their impatience to welcome the two
+saints announced by my letters. An apartment was ready for De la Haye in
+the palace of M. de Bragadin, and as state reasons did not allow my
+father to receive in his own house a foreigner who had not yet entered
+the service of the Republic, two rooms had been engaged for Bavois in the
+neighbourhood.
+
+They were thoroughly amazed at the wonderful change which had taken place
+in my morals. Every day attending mass, often present at the preaching
+and at the other services, never shewing myself at the casino,
+frequenting only a certain cafe which was the place of meeting for all
+men of acknowledged piety and reserve, and always studying when I was not
+in their company. When they compared my actual mode of living with the
+former one, they marvelled, and they could not sufficiently thank the
+eternal providence of God whose inconceivable ways they admired. They
+blessed the criminal actions which had compelled me to remain one year
+away from my native place. I crowned their delight by paying all my debts
+without asking any money from M. de Bragadin, who, not having given me
+anything for one year, had religiously put together every month the sum
+he had allowed me. I need not say how pleased the worthy friends were,
+when they saw that I had entirely given up gambling.
+
+I had a letter from De la Haye in the beginning of May. He announced that
+he was on the eve of starting with the son so dear to his heart, and that
+he would soon place himself at the disposition of the respectable men to
+whom I had announced him.
+
+Knowing the hour at which the barge arrived from Modena, we all went to
+meet them, except M. de Bragadin, who was engaged at the senate. We
+returned to the palace before him, and when he came back, finding us all
+together, he gave his new guests the most friendly welcome. De la Haye
+spoke to me of a hundred things, but I scarcely heard what he said, so
+much was my attention taken up by Bavois. He was so different to what I
+had fancied him to be from the impression I had received from De la Haye,
+that my ideas were altogether upset. I had to study him; for three days
+before I could make up my mind to like him. I must give his portrait to
+my readers.
+
+Baron Bavois was a young man of about twenty-five, of middle size,
+handsome in features, well made, fair, of an equable temper, speaking
+well and with intelligence, and uttering his words with a tone of modesty
+which suited him exactly. His features were regular and pleasing, his
+teeth were beautiful, his hair was long and fine, always well taken care
+of, and exhaling the perfume of the pomatum with which it was dressed.
+That individual, who was the exact opposite of the man that De la Haye
+had led me to imagine, surprised my friends greatly, but their welcome
+did not in any way betray their astonishment, for their pure and candid
+minds would not admit a judgment contrary to the good opinion they had
+formed of his morals. As soon as we had established De la Haye in his
+beautiful apartment, I accompanied Bavois to the rooms engaged for him,
+where his luggage had been sent by my orders. He found himself in very
+comfortable quarters, and being received with distinction by his worthy
+host, who was already greatly prejudiced in his favour, the young baron
+embraced me warmly, pouring out all his gratitude, and assuring me that
+he felt deeply all I had done for him without knowing him, as De la Haye
+had informed him of all that had occurred. I pretended not to understand
+what he was alluding to, and to change the subject of conversation I
+asked him how he intended to occupy his time in Venice until his military
+appointment gave him serious duties to perform. "I trust," he answered,
+"that we shall enjoy ourselves in an agreeable way, for I have no doubt
+that our inclinations are the same."
+
+Mercury and De la Haye had so completely besotted me that I should have
+found some difficulty in understanding these words, however intelligible
+they were; but if I did not go any further than the outward signification
+of his answer, I could not help remarking that he had already taken the
+fancy of the two daughters of the house. They were neither pretty nor
+ugly, but he shewed himself gracious towards them like a man who
+understands his business. I had, however, already made such great
+progress in my mystical education, that I considered the compliments he
+addressed to the girls as mere forms of politeness.
+
+For the first day, I took my young baron only to the St. Mark's Square
+and to the cafe, where we remained until supper-time, as it had been
+arranged that he would take his meals with us. At the supper-table he
+shewed himself very witty, and M. Dandolo named an hour for the next day,
+when he intended to present him to the secretary for war. In the evening
+I accompanied him to his lodging, where I found that the two young girls
+were delighted because the young Swiss nobleman had no servant, and
+because they hoped to convince him that he would not require one.
+
+The next day, a little earlier than the time appointed, I called upon him
+with M. Dandolo and M. Barbaro, who were both to present him at the war
+office. We found him at his toilet under the delicate hands of the eldest
+girl, who was dressing his hair. His room, was fragrant with the perfumes
+of his pomatums and scents. This did not indicate a sainted man; yet my
+two friends did not feel scandalized, although their astonishment was
+very evident, for they had not expected that show of gallantry from a
+young neophyte. I was nearly bursting into a loud laugh, when I heard M.
+Dandolo remark that, unless we hurried, we would not have time to hear
+mass, whereupon Bavois enquired whether it was a festival. M. Dandolo,
+without passing any remark, answered negatively, and after that, mass was
+not again mentioned. When Bavois was ready, I left them and went a
+different way. I met them again at dinner-time, during which the
+reception given to the young baron by the secretary was discussed, and in
+the evening my friends introduced him to several ladies who were much
+pleased with him. In less than a week he was so well known that there was
+no fear of his time hanging wearily on his hands, but that week was
+likewise enough to give me a perfect insight into his nature and way of
+thinking. I should not have required such a long study, if I had not at
+first begun on a wrong scent, or rather if my intelligence had not been
+stultified by my fanaticism. Bavois was particularly fond of women, of
+gambling, of every luxury, and, as he was poor, women supplied him with
+the best part of his resources. As to religious faith he had none, and as
+he was no hypocrite he confessed as much to me.
+
+"How have you contrived," I said to him one day, "such as you are, to
+deceive De la Haye?"
+
+"God forbid I should deceive anyone. De la Haye is perfectly well aware
+of my system, and of my way of thinking on religious matters, but, being
+himself very devout, he entertains a holy sympathy for my soul, and I do
+not object to it. He has bestowed many kindnesses upon me, and I feel
+grateful to him; my affection for him is all the greater because he never
+teases me with his dogmatic lessons or with sermons respecting my
+salvation, of which I have no doubt that God, in His fatherly goodness,
+will take care. All this is settled between De la Haye and me, and we
+live on the best of terms:"
+
+The best part of the joke is that, while I was studying him, Bavois,
+without knowing it, restored my mind to its original state, and I was
+ashamed of myself when I realized that I had been the dupe of a Jesuit
+who was an arrant hypocrite, in spite of the character of holiness which
+he assumed, and which he could play with such marvellous ability. From
+that moment I fell again into all my former practices. But let us return
+to De la Haye.
+
+That late Jesuit, who in his inmost heart loved nothing but his own
+comfort, already advanced in years, and therefore no longer caring for
+the fair sex, was exactly the sort of man to please my simpleminded trio
+of friends. As he never spoke to them but of God, of His angels, and of
+everlasting glory, and as he was always accompanying them to church, they
+found him a delightful companion. They longed for the time when he would
+discover himself, for they imagined he was at the very least a
+Rosicrucian, or perhaps the hermit of Courpegna, who had taught me the
+cabalistic science and made me a present of the immortal Paralis. They
+felt grieved because the oracle had forbidden them, through my cabalistic
+lips, ever to mention my science in the presence of Tartufe.
+
+As I had foreseen, that interdiction left me to enjoy as I pleased all
+the time that I would have been called upon to devote to their devout
+credulity, and besides, I was naturally afraid lest De la Haye, such as I
+truly believed him to be, would never lend himself to that trifling
+nonsense, and would, for the sake of deserving greater favour at their
+hands, endeavour to undeceive them and to take my place in their
+confidence.
+
+I soon found out that I had acted with prudence, for in less than three
+weeks the cunning fox had obtained so great an influence over the mind of
+my three friends that he was foolish enough, not only to believe that he
+did not want me any more to support his credit with them, but likewise
+that he could supplant me whenever he chose. I could see it clearly in
+his way of addressing me, as well as in the change in his proceedings.
+
+He was beginning to hold with my friends frequent conversations to which
+I was not summoned, and he had contrived to make them introduce him to
+several families which I was not in the habit of visiting. He assumed his
+grand jesuitic airs, and, although with honeyed word he would take the
+liberty of censuring me because I sometimes spent a night out, and, as he
+would say, "God knows where!"
+
+I was particularly vexed at his seeming to accuse me of leading his pupil
+astray. He then would assume the tone of a man speaking jestingly, but I
+was not deceived. I thought it was time to put an end to his game, and
+with that intention I paid him a visit in his bedroom. When I was seated,
+I said,
+
+"I come, as a true worshipper of the Gospel, to tell you in private
+something that, another time, I would say in public."
+
+"What is it, my dear friend?"
+
+"I advise you for the future not to hurl at me the slightest taunt
+respecting the life I am leading with Bavois, when we are in the presence
+of my three worthy friends. I do not object to listen to you when we are
+alone."
+
+"You are wrong in taking my innocent jests seriously."
+
+"Wrong or right, that does not matter. Why do you never attack your
+proselyte? Be careful for the future, or I might on my side, and only in
+jest like you, throw at your head some repartee which you have every
+reason to fear, and thus repay you with interest."
+
+And bowing to him I left his room.
+
+A few days afterwards I spent a few hours with my friends and Paralis,
+and the oracle enjoined them never to accomplish without my advice
+anything that might be recommended or even insinuated by Valentine; that
+was the cabalistic name of the disciple of Escobar. I knew I could rely
+upon their obedience to that order.
+
+De la Haye soon took notice of some slight change; he became more
+reserved, and Bavois, whom I informed of what I had done, gave me his
+full approbation. He felt convinced, as I was, that De la Haye had been
+useful to him only through weak or selfish reasons, that is, that he
+would have cared little for his soul if his face had not been handsome,
+and if he had not known that he would derive important advantages from
+having caused his so-called conversion.
+
+Finding that the Venetian government was postponing his appointment from
+day to day, Bavois entered the service of the French ambassador. The
+decision made it necessary for him not only to cease his visits to M. de
+Bragadin, but even to give up his intercourse with De la Haye, who was
+the guest of that senator.
+
+It is one of the strictest laws of the Republic that the patricians and
+their families shall not hold any intercourse with the foreign
+ambassadors and their suites. But the decision taken by Bavois did not
+prevent my friends speaking in his favour, and they succeeded in
+obtaining employment for him, as will be seen further on.
+
+The husband of Christine, whom I never visited, invited me to go to the
+casino which he was in the habit of frequenting with his aunt and his
+wife, who had already presented him with a token of their mutual
+affection. I accepted his invitation, and I found Christine as lovely as
+ever, and speaking the Venetian dialect like her husband. I made in that
+casino the acquaintance of a chemist, who inspired me with the wish to
+follow a course of chemistry. I went to his house, where I found a young
+girl who greatly pleased me. She was a neighbour, and came every evening
+to keep the chemist's elderly wife company, and at a regular hour a
+servant called to take her home. I had never made love to her but once in
+a trifling sort of way, and in the presence of the old lady, but I was
+surprised not to see her after that for several days, and I expressed my
+astonishment. The good lady told me that very likely the girl's cousin,
+an abbe, with whom she was residing, had heard of my seeing her every
+evening, had become jealous, and would not allow her to come again.
+
+"An abbe jealous?"
+
+"Why not? He never allows her to go out except on Sundays to attend the
+first mass at the Church of Santa Maria Mater Domini, close by his
+dwelling. He did not object to her coming here, because he knew that we
+never had any visitors, and very likely he has heard through the servant
+of your being here every evening."
+
+A great enemy to all jealous persons, and a greater friend to my amorous
+fancies, I wrote to the young girl that, if she would leave her cousin
+for me, I would give her a house in which she should be the mistress, and
+that I would surround her with good society and with every luxury to be
+found in Venice. I added that I would be in the church on the following
+Sunday to receive her answer.
+
+I did not forget my appointment, and her answer was that the abbe being
+her tyrant, she would consider herself happy to escape out of his
+clutches, but that she could not make up her mind to follow me unless I
+consented to marry her. She concluded her letter by saying that, in case
+I entertained honest intentions towards her, I had only to speak to her
+mother, Jeanne Marchetti, who resided in Lusia, a city thirty miles
+distant from Venice.
+
+This letter piqued my curiosity, and I even imagined that she had written
+it in concert with the abbe. Thinking that they wanted to dupe me, and
+besides, finding the proposal of marriage ridiculous, I determined on
+having my revenge. But I wanted to get to the bottom of it, and I made up
+my mind to see the girl's mother. She felt honoured by my visit, and
+greatly pleased when, after I had shewn her her daughter's letter, I told
+her that I wished to marry her, but that I should never think of it as
+long as she resided with the abbe.
+
+"That abbe," she said, "is a distant relative. He used to live alone in
+his house in Venice, and two years ago he told me that he was in want of
+a housekeeper. He asked me to let my daughter go to him in that capacity,
+assuring me that in Venice she would have good opportunities of getting
+married. He offered to give me a deed in writing stating that, on the day
+of her marriage, he would give her all his furniture valued at about one
+thousand ducats, and the inheritance of a small estate, bringing one
+hundred ducats a year, which lie possesses here. It seemed to me a good
+bargain, and, my daughter being pleased with the offer, I accepted. He
+gave me the deed duly drawn by a notary, and my daughter went with him. I
+know that he makes a regular slave of her, but she chose to go.
+Nevertheless, I need not tell you that my most ardent wish is to see her
+married, for, as long as a girl is without a husband, she is too much
+exposed to temptation, and the poor mother cannot rest in peace."
+
+"Then come to Venice with me. You will take your daughter out of the
+abbe's house, and I will make her my wife. Unless that is done I cannot
+marry her, for I should dishonour myself if I received my wife from his
+hands."
+
+"Oh, no! for he is my cousin, although only in the fourth degree, and,
+what is more, he is a priest and says the mass every day."
+
+"You make me laugh, my good woman. Everybody knows that a priest says the
+mass without depriving himself of certain trifling enjoyments. Take your
+daughter with you, or give up all hope of ever seeing her married."
+
+"But if I take her with me, he will not give her his furniture, and
+perhaps he will sell his small estate here."
+
+"I undertake to look to that part of the business. I promise to take her
+out of his hands, and to make her come back to you with all the
+furniture, and to obtain the estate when she is my wife. If you knew me
+better, you would not doubt what I say. Come to Venice, and I assure you
+that you shall return here in four or five days with your daughter."
+
+She read the letter which had been written to me by her daughter again,
+and told me that, being a poor widow, she had not the money necessary to
+pay the expenses of her journey to Venice, or of her return to Louisa.
+
+"In Venice you shall not want for anything," I said; "in the mean time,
+here are ten sequins."
+
+"Ten sequins! Then I can go with my sister-in-law?"
+
+"Come with anyone you like, but let us go soon so as to reach Chiozza,
+where we must sleep. To-morrow we shall dine in Venice, and I undertake
+to defray all expenses."
+
+We arrived in Venice the next day at ten o'clock, and I took the two
+women to Castello, to a house the first floor of which was empty. I left
+them there, and provided with the deed signed by the abbe I went to dine
+with my three friends, to whom I said that I had been to Chiozza on
+important business. After dinner, I called upon the lawyer, Marco de
+Lesse, who told me that if the mother presented a petition to the
+President of the Council of Ten, she would immediately be invested with
+power to take her daughter away with all the furniture in the house,
+which she could send wherever she pleased. I instructed him to have the
+petition ready, saying that I would come the next morning with the
+mother, who would sign it in his presence.
+
+I brought the mother early in the morning, and after she had signed the
+petition we went to the Boussole, where she presented it to the President
+of the Council. In less than a quarter of an hour a bailiff was ordered
+to repair to the house of the priest with the mother, and to put her in
+possession of her daughter, and of all the furniture, which she would
+immediately take away.
+
+The order was carried into execution to the very letter. I was with the
+mother in a gondola as near as possible to the house, and I had provided
+a large boat in which the sbirri stowed all the furniture found on the
+premises. When it was all done, the daughter was brought to the gondola,
+and she was extremely surprised to see me. Her mother kissed her, and
+told her that I would be her husband the very next day. She answered that
+she was delighted, and that nothing had been left in her tyrant's house
+except his bed and his clothes.
+
+When we reached Castello, I ordered the furniture to be brought out of
+the boat; we had dinner, and I told the three women that they must go
+back to Lusia, where I would join them as soon as I had settled all my
+affairs. I spent the afternoon gaily with my intended. She told us that
+the abbe was dressing when the bailiff presented the order of the Council
+of Ten, with injunctions to allow its free execution under penalty of
+death; that the abbe finished his toilet, went out to say his mass, and
+that everything had been done without the slightest opposition. "I was
+told," she added, "that my mother was waiting for me in the gondola, but
+I did not expect to find you, and I never suspected that you were at the
+bottom of the whole affair."
+
+"It is the first proof I give you of my love."
+
+These words made her smile very pleasantly.
+
+I took care to have a good supper and some excellent wines, and after we
+had spent two hours at table in the midst of the joys of Bacchus, I
+devoted four more to a pleasant tete-a-tete with my intended bride.
+
+The next morning, after breakfast, I had the whole of the furniture
+stowed in a peotta, which I had engaged for the purpose and paid for
+beforehand. I gave ten more sequins to the mother, and sent them away all
+three in great delight. The affair was completed to my honour as well as
+to my entire satisfaction, and I returned home.
+
+The case had made so much noise that my friends could not have remained
+ignorant of it; the consequence was that, when they saw me, they shewed
+their surprise and sorrow. De la Haye embraced me with an air of profound
+grief, but it was a feigned feeling--a harlequin's dress, which he had
+the talent of assuming with the greatest facility. M. de Bragadin alone
+laughed heartily, saying to the others that they did not understand the
+affair, and that it was the forerunner of something great which was known
+only to heavenly spirits. On my side, being ignorant of the opinion they
+entertained of the matter, and certain that they were not informed of all
+the circumstances, I laughed like M. de Bragadin, but said nothing. I had
+nothing to fear, and I wanted to amuse myself with all that would be
+said.
+
+We sat down to table, and M. Barbaro was the first to tell me in a
+friendly manner that he hoped at least that this was not the day after my
+wedding.
+
+"Then people say that I am married?"
+
+"It is said everywhere and by everybody. The members of the Council
+themselves believe it, and they have good reason to believe that they are
+right."
+
+"To be right in believing such a thing, they ought to be certain of it,
+and those gentlemen have no such certainty. As they are not infallible
+any more than any one, except God, I tell you that they are mistaken. I
+like to perform good actions and to get pleasure for my money, but not at
+the expense of my liberty: Whenever you want to know my affairs,
+recollect that you can receive information about them only from me, and
+public rumour is only good to amuse fools."
+
+"But," said M. Dandolo, "you spent the night with the person who is
+represented as your wife?"
+
+"Quite true, but I have no account to give to anyone respecting what I
+have done last night. Are you not of my opinion, M. de la Haye?"
+
+"I wish you would not ask my opinion, for I do not know. But I must say
+that public rumour ought not to be despised. The deep affection I have
+for you causes me to grieve for what the public voice says about you."
+
+"How is it that those reports do not grieve M. de Bragadin, who has
+certainly greater affection for me than you have?"
+
+"I respect you, but I have learned at my own expense that slander is to
+be feared. It is said that, in order to get hold of a young girl who was
+residing with her uncle--a worthy priest, you suborned a woman who
+declared herself to be the girl's mother, and thus deceived the Supreme
+Council, through the authority of which she obtained possession of the
+girl for you. The bailiff sent by the Council swears that you were in the
+gondola with the false mother when the young girl joined her. It is said
+that the deed, in virtue of which you caused the worthy ecclesiastic's
+furniture to be carried off, is false, and you are blamed for having made
+the highest body of the State a stepping-stone to crime. In fine, it is
+said that, even if you have married the girl, and no doubt of it is
+entertained, the members of the Council will not be silent as to the
+fraudulent means you have had recourse to in order to carry out your
+intentions successfully."
+
+"That is a very long speech," I said to him, coldly, "but learn from me
+that a wise man who has heard a criminal accusation related with so many
+absurd particulars ceases to be wise when he makes himself the echo of
+what he has heard, for if the accusation should turn out to be a calumny,
+he would himself become the accomplice of the slanderer."
+
+After that sentence, which brought the blood to the face of the Jesuit,
+but which my friends thought very wise, I entreated him, in a meaning
+voice, to spare his anxiety about me, and to be quite certain that I knew
+the laws of honour, and that I had judgment enough to take care of
+myself, and to let foul tongues say what they liked about me, just as I
+did when I heard them speak ill of him.
+
+The adventure was the talk of the city for five or six days, after which
+it was soon forgotten.
+
+But three months having elapsed without my having paid any visit to
+Lusia, or having answered the letters written to me by the damigella
+Marchetti, and without sending her the money she claimed of me, she made
+up her mind to take certain proceedings which might have had serious
+consequences, although they had none whatever in the end.
+
+One day, Ignacio, the bailiff of the dreaded tribunal of the State
+inquisitors, presented himself as I was sitting at table with my friends,
+De la Haye, and two other guests. He informed me that the Cavaliere
+Cantarini dal Zoffo wished to see me, and would wait for me the next
+morning at such an hour at the Madonna de l'Orto. I rose from the table
+and answered, with a bow, that I would not fail to obey the wishes of his
+excellency. The bailiff then left us.
+
+I could not possibly guess what such a high dignitary of State could want
+with my humble person, yet the message made us rather anxious, for
+Cantarini dal Zoffo was one of the Inquisitors, that is to say, a bird of
+very ill omen. M. de Bragadin, who had been Inquisitor while he was
+Councillor, and therefore knew the habits of the tribunal, told me that I
+had nothing to fear.
+
+"Ignacio was dressed in private clothes," he added, "and therefore he did
+not come as the official messenger of the dread tribunal. M. Cantarini
+wishes to speak to you only as a private citizen, as he sends you word to
+call at his palace and not at the court-house. He is an elderly man,
+strict but just, to whom you must speak frankly and without equivocating,
+otherwise you would make matters worse."
+
+I was pleased with M. de Bragadin's advice, which was of great use to me.
+I called at the appointed time.
+
+I was immediately announced, and I had not long to wait. I entered the
+room, and his excellency, seated at a table, examined me from head to
+foot for one minute without speaking to me; he then rang the bell, and
+ordered his servant to introduce the two ladies who were waiting in the
+next room. I guessed at once what was the matter, and felt no surprise
+when I saw the woman Marchetti and her daughter. His excellency asked me
+if I knew them.
+
+"I must know them, monsignor, as one of them will become my wife when she
+has convinced me by her good conduct that she is worthy of that honour."
+
+"Her conduct is good, she lives with her mother at Lusia; you have
+deceived her. Why do you postpone your marriage with her? Why do you not
+visit her? You never answer her letters, and you let her be in want."
+
+"I cannot marry her, your excellency, before I have enough to support
+her. That will come in three or four years, thanks to a situation which
+M. de Bragadin, my only protector, promises to obtain for me. Until then
+she must live honestly, and support herself by working. I will only marry
+her when I am convinced of her honesty, and particularly when I am
+certain that she has given up all intercourse with the abbe, her cousin
+in the fourth degree. I do not visit her because my confessor and my
+conscience forbid me to go to her house."
+
+"She wishes you to give her a legal promise of marriage, and
+sustentation."
+
+"Monsignor, I am under no obligation to give her a promise of marriage,
+and having no means whatever I cannot support her. She must earn her own
+living with her mother."
+
+"When she lived with her cousin," said her mother, "she never wanted
+anything, and she shall go back to him."
+
+"If she returns to his house I shall not take the trouble of taking her
+out of his hands a second time, and your excellency will then see that I
+was right to defer my marriage with her until I was convinced of her
+honesty."
+
+The judge told me that my presence, was no longer necessary. It was the
+end of the affair, and I never heard any more about it. The recital of
+the dialogue greatly amused my friends.
+
+At the beginning of the Carnival of 1750 I won a prize of three thousand
+ducats at the lottery. Fortune made me that present when I did not
+require it, for I had held the bank during the autumn, and had won. It
+was at a casino where no nobleman dared to present himself, because one
+of the partners was an officer in the service of the Duke de Montalegre,
+the Spanish Ambassador. The citizens of Venice felt ill at ease with the
+patricians, and that is always the case under an aristocratic government,
+because equality exists in reality only between the members of such a
+government.
+
+As I intended to take a trip to Paris, I placed one thousand sequins in
+M. de Bragadin's hands, and with that project in view I had the courage
+to pass the carnival without risking my money at the faro-table. I had
+taken a share of one-fourth in the bank of an honest patrician, and early
+in Lent he handed me a large sum.
+
+Towards mid-Lent my friend Baletti returned from Mantua to Venice. He was
+engaged at the St. Moses Theatre as ballet-master during the Fair of the
+Assumption. He was with Marina, but they did not live together. She made
+the conquest of an English Jew, called Mendez, who spent a great deal of
+money for her. That Jew gave me good news of Therese, whom he had known
+in Naples, and in whose hands he had left some of his spoils. The
+information pleased me, and I was very glad to have been prevented by
+Henriette from joining Therese in Naples, as I had intended, for I should
+certainly have fallen in love with her again, and God knows what the
+consequences might have been.
+
+It was at that time that Bavois was appointed captain in the service of
+the Republic; he rose rapidly in his profession, as I shall mention
+hereafter.
+
+De la Haye undertook the education of a young nobleman called Felix
+Calvi, and a short time afterwards he accompanied him to Poland. I met
+him again in Vienna three years later.
+
+I was making my preparations to go to the Fair of Reggio, then to Turin,
+where the whole of Italy was congregating for the marriage of the Duke of
+Savoy with a princess of Spain, daughter of Philip V., and lastly to
+Paris, where, Madame la Dauphine being pregnant, magnificent preparations
+were made in the expectation of the birth of a prince. Baletti was
+likewise on the point of undertaking the same journey. He was recalled by
+his parents, who were dramatic artists: his mother was the celebrated
+Silvia.
+
+Baletti was engaged at the Italian Theatre in Paris as dancer and first
+gentleman. I could not choose a companion more to my taste, more
+agreeable, or in a better position to procure me numerous advantageous
+acquaintances in Paris.
+
+I bade farewell to my three excellent friends, promising to return within
+two years.
+
+I left my brother Francois in the studio of Simonetti, the painter of
+battle pieces, known as the Parmesan. I gave him a promise to think of
+him in Paris, where, at that time particularly, great talent was always
+certain of a high fortune. My readers will see how I kept my word.
+
+I likewise left in Venice my brother Jean, who had returned to that city
+after having travelled through Italy with Guarienti. He was on the point
+of going to Rome, where he remained fourteen years in the studio of
+Raphael Mengs. He left Rome for Dresden in 1764, where he died in the
+year 1795.
+
+Baletti started before me, and I left Venice, to meet him in Reggio, on
+the 1st of June, 1750. I was well fitted out, well supplied with money,
+and sure not to want for any, if I led a proper life. We shall soon see,
+dear reader, what judgment you will pass on my conduct, or rather I shall
+not see it, for I know that when you are able to judge, I shall no longer
+care for your sentence.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+I Stop at Ferrara, Where I Have a Comic Adventure--My Arrival in Paris
+
+Precisely at twelve o'clock the peotta landed me at Ponte di Lago Oscuro,
+and I immediately took a post-chaise to reach Ferrara in time for dinner.
+I put up at St. Mark's Hotel. I was following the waiter up the stairs,
+when a joyful uproar, which suddenly burst from a room the door of which
+was open, made me curious to ascertain the cause of so much mirth. I
+peeped into the room, and saw some twelve persons, men and women, seated
+round a well-supplied table. It was a very natural thing, and I was
+moving on, when I was stopped by the exclamation, "Ah, here he is!"
+uttered by the pretty voice of a woman, and at the same moment, the
+speaker, leaving the table, came to me with open arms and embraced me,
+saying,
+
+"Quick, quick, a seat for him near me; take his luggage to his room."
+
+A young man came up, and she said to him, "Well, I told you he would
+arrive to-day?"
+
+She made me sit near her at the table, after I had been saluted by all
+the guests who had risen to do me honour.
+
+"My dear cousin," she said, addressing me, "you must be hungry;" and as
+she spoke she squeezed my foot under the table. "Here is my intended
+husband whom I beg to introduce to you, as well as my father and
+mother-in-law. The other guests round the table are friends of the
+family. But, my dear cousin, tell me why my mother has not come with
+you?"
+
+At last I had to open my lips!
+
+"Your mother, my dear cousin, will be here in three or four days, at the
+latest."
+
+I thought that my newly-found cousin was unknown to me, but when I looked
+at her with more attention, I fancied I recollected her features. She was
+the Catinella, a dancer of reputation, but I had never spoken to her
+before. I easily guessed that she was giving me an impromptu part in a
+play of her own composition, and I was to be a 'deux ex machina'.
+Whatever is singular and unexpected has always attracted me, and as my
+cousin was pretty, I lent myself most willingly to the joke, entertaining
+no doubt that she would reward me in an agreeable manner. All I had to do
+was to play my part well, but without implicating myself. Therefore,
+pretending to be very hungry, I gave her the opportunity of speaking and
+of informing me by hints of what I had to know, in order not to make
+blunders. Understanding the reason of my reserve, she afforded me the
+proof of her quick intelligence by saying sometimes to one person,
+sometimes to the other, everything it was necessary for me to know. Thus
+I learnt that the wedding could not take place until the arrival of her
+mother, who was to bring the wardrobe and the diamonds of my cousin. I
+was the precentor going to Turin to compose the music of the opera which
+was to be represented at the marriage of the Duke of Savoy. This last
+discovery pleased me greatly, because I saw that I should have no
+difficulty in taking my departure the next morning, and I began to enjoy
+the part I had to play. Yet, if I had not reckoned upon the reward, I
+might very well have informed the honourable company that my false cousin
+was mad, but, although Catinella was very near thirty, she was very
+pretty and celebrated for her intrigues; that was enough, and she could
+turn me round her little finger.
+
+The future mother-in-law was seated opposite, and to do me honour she
+filled a glass and offered it to me. Already identified with my part in
+the comedy, I put forth my hand to take the glass, but seeing that my
+hand was somewhat bent, she said to me,
+
+"What is the matter with your hand, sir?"
+
+"Nothing serious, madam; only a slight sprain which a little rest will
+soon cure."
+
+At these words, Catinella, laughing heartily, said that she regretted the
+accident because it would deprive her friends of the pleasure they would
+have enjoyed in hearing me play the harpsichord.
+
+"I am glad to find it a laughing matter, cousin."
+
+"I laugh, because it reminds me of a sprained ankle which I once feigned
+to have in order not to dance."
+
+After coffee, the mother-in-law, who evidently understood what was
+proper, said that most likely my cousin wanted to talk with me on family
+matters, and that we ought to be left alone.
+
+Every one of the guests left the room.
+
+As soon as I was alone with her in my room, which was next to her own she
+threw herself on a sofa, and gave way to a most immoderate fit of
+laughter.
+
+"Although I only know you by name," she said to me, "I have entire
+confidence in you, but you will do well to go away to-morrow. I have been
+here for two months without any money. I have nothing but a few dresses
+and some linen, which I should have been compelled to sell to defray my
+expenses if I had not been lucky enough to inspire the son of the
+landlord with the deepest love. I have flattered his passion by promising
+to become his wife, and to bring him as a marriage portion twenty
+thousand crowns' worth of diamonds which I am supposed to have in Venice,
+and which my mother is expected to bring with her. But my mother has
+nothing and knows nothing of the affair, therefore she is not likely to
+leave Venice."
+
+"But, tell me, lovely madcap, what will be the end of this extravaganza?
+I am afraid it will take a tragic turn at the last."
+
+"You are mistaken; it will remain a comedy, and a very amusing one, too.
+I am expecting every hour the arrival of Count Holstein, brother of the
+Elector of Mainz. He has written to me from Frankfort; he has left that
+city, and must by this time have reached Venice. He will take me to the
+Fair of Reggio, and if my intended takes it into his head to be angry,
+the count will thrash him and pay my bill, but I am determined that he
+shall be neither thrashed nor paid. As I go away, I have only to whisper
+in his ear that I will certainly return, and it will be all right. I know
+my promise to become his wife as soon as I come back will make him
+happy."
+
+"That's all very well! You are as witty as a cousin of Satan, but I shall
+not wait your return to marry you; our wedding must take place at once."
+
+"What folly! Well, wait until this evening."
+
+"Not a bit of it, for I can almost fancy I hear the count's carriage. If
+he should not arrive, we can continue the sport during the night."
+
+"Do you love me?"
+
+"To distraction! but what does it matter? However, your excellent comedy
+renders you worthy of adoration. Now, suppose we do not waste our time."
+
+"You are right: it is an episode, and all the more agreeable for being
+impromptu."
+
+I can well recollect that I found it a delightful episode. Towards
+evening all the family joined us again, a walk was proposed, and we were
+on the point of going out, when a carriage drawn by six post-horses
+noisily entered the yard. Catinella looked through the window, and
+desired to be left alone, saying that it was a prince who had come to see
+her. Everybody went away, she pushed me into my room and locked me in. I
+went to the window, and saw a nobleman four times as big as myself
+getting out of the carriage. He came upstairs, entered the room of the
+intended bride, and all that was left to me was the consolation of having
+seized fortune by the forelock, the pleasure of hearing their
+conversation, and a convenient view, through a crevice in the partition,
+of what Catinella contrived to do with that heavy lump of flesh. But at
+last the stupid amusement wearied me, for it lasted five hours, which
+were employed in amorous caresses, in packing Catinella's rags, in
+loading them on the carriage, in taking supper, and in drinking numerous
+bumpers of Rhenish wine. At midnight the count left the hotel, carrying
+away with him the beloved mistress of the landlord's son.
+
+No one during those long hours had come to my room, and I had not called.
+I was afraid of being discovered, and I did not know how far the German
+prince would have been pleased if he had found out that he had an
+indiscreet witness of the heavy and powerless demonstrations of his
+tenderness, which were a credit to neither of the actors, and which
+supplied me with ample food for thoughts upon the miseries of mankind.
+
+After the departure of the heroine, catching through the crevice a
+glimpse of the abandoned lover, I called out to him to unlock my door.
+The poor silly fellow told me piteously that, Catinella having taken the
+key with her, it would be necessary to break the door open. I begged him
+to have it done at once, because I was hungry. As soon as I was out of my
+prison I had my supper, and the unfortunate lover kept me company. He
+told me that Catinella had found a moment to promise him that she would
+return within six weeks, that she was shedding tears in giving him that
+assurance, and that she had kissed him with great tenderness.
+
+"Has the prince paid her expenses?"
+
+"Not at all. We would not have allowed him to do it, even if he had
+offered. My future wife would have felt offended, for you can have no
+idea of the delicacy of her feelings."
+
+"What does your father say of her departure?"
+
+"My father always sees the worst side of everything; he says that she
+will never come back, and my mother shares his opinion rather than mine.
+But you, signor maestro, what do you think?"
+
+"That if she has promised to return, she will be sure to keep her word."
+
+"Of course; for if she did not mean to come back, she would not have
+given me her promise."
+
+"Precisely; I call that a good argument."
+
+I had for my supper what was left of the meal prepared by the count's
+cook, and I drank a bottle of excellent Rhenish wine which Catinella had
+juggled away to treat her intended husband, and which the worthy fellow
+thought could not have a better destination than to treat his future
+cousin. After supper I took post-horses and continued my journey,
+assuring the unhappy, forlorn lover that I would do all I could to
+persuade my cousin to come back very soon. I wanted to pay my bill, but
+he refused to receive any money. I reached Bologna a few minutes after
+Catinella, and put up at the same hotel, where I found an opportunity of
+telling her all her lover had said. I arrived in Reggio before her, but I
+could not speak to her in that city, for she was always in the company of
+her potent and impotent lord. After the fair, during which nothing of
+importance occurred to me, I left Reggio with my friend Baletti and we
+proceeded to Turin, which I wanted to see, for the first time I had gone
+to that city with Henriette I had stopped only long enough to change
+horses.
+
+I found everything beautiful in Turin, the city, the court, the theatre,
+and the women, including the Duchess of Savoy, but I could not help
+laughing when I was told that the police of the city was very efficient,
+for the streets were full of beggars. That police, however, was the
+special care of the king, who was very intelligent; if we are to believe
+history, but I confess that I laughed when I saw the ridiculous face of
+that sovereign.
+
+I had never seen a king before in my life, and a foolish idea made me
+suppose that a king must be preeminent--a very rare being--by his beauty
+and the majesty of his appearance, and in everything superior to the rest
+of men. For a young Republican endowed with reason, my idea was not,
+after all, so very foolish, but I very soon got rid of it when I saw that
+King of Sardinia, ugly, hump-backed, morose and vulgar even in his
+manners. I then realized that it was possible to be a king without being
+entirely a man.
+
+I saw L'Astrua and Gafarello, those two magnificent singers on the stage,
+and I admired the dancing of La Geofroi, who married at that time a
+worthy dancer named Bodin.
+
+During my stay in Turin, no amorous fancy disturbed the peace of my soul,
+except an accident which happened to me with the daughter of my
+washerwoman, and which increased my knowledge in physics in a singular
+manner. That girl was very pretty, and, without being what might be
+called in love with her, I wished to obtain her favours. Piqued at my not
+being able to obtain an appointment from her, I contrived one day to
+catch her at the bottom of a back staircase by which she used to come to
+my room, and, I must confess, with the intention of using a little
+violence, if necessary.
+
+Having concealed myself for that purpose at the time I expected her, I
+got hold of her by surprise, and, half by persuasion, half by the
+rapidity of my attack, she was brought to a right position, and I lost no
+time in engaging in action. But at the first movement of the connection a
+loud explosion somewhat cooled my ardour, the more so that the young girl
+covered her face with her hands as if she wished to hide her shame.
+However, encouraging her with a loving kiss, I began again. But, a
+report, louder even than the first, strikes at the same moment my ear and
+my nose. I continue; a third, a fourth report, and, to make a long matter
+short, each movement gives an explosion with as much regularity as a
+conductor making the time for a piece of music!
+
+This extraordinary phenomenon, the confusion of the poor girl, our
+position--everything, in fact, struck me as so comical, that I burst into
+the most immoderate laughter, which compelled me to give up the
+undertaking. Ashamed and confused, the young girl ran away, and I did
+nothing to hinder her. After that she never had the courage to present
+herself before me. I remained seated on the stairs for a quarter of an
+hour after she had left me, amused at the funny character of a scene
+which even now excites my mirth. I suppose that the young girl was
+indebted for her virtue to that singular disease, and most likely, if it
+were common to all the fair sex, there would be fewer gallant women,
+unless we had different organs; for to pay for one moment of enjoyment at
+the expense both of the hearing and of the smell is to give too high a
+price.
+
+Baletti, being in a hurry to reach Paris, where great preparations were
+being made for the birth of a Duke of Burgundy--for the duchess was near
+the time of her delivery--easily persuaded me to shorten my stay in
+Turin. We therefore left that city, and in five days we arrived at Lyons,
+where I stayed about a week.
+
+Lyons is a very fine city in which at that time there were scarcely three
+or four noble houses opened to strangers; but, in compensation, there
+were more than a hundred hospitable ones belonging to merchants,
+manufacturers, and commission agents, amongst whom was to be found an
+excellent society remarkable for easy manners, politeness, frankness, and
+good style, without the absurd pride to be met with amongst the nobility
+in the provinces, with very few honourable exceptions. It is true that
+the standard of good manners is below that of Paris, but one soon gets
+accustomed to it. The wealth of Lyons arises from good taste and low
+prices, and Fashion is the goddess to whom that city owes its prosperity.
+Fashion alters every year, and the stuff, to which the fashion of the day
+gives a value equal, say to thirty, is the next year reduced to fifteen
+or twenty, and then it is sent to foreign countries where it is bought up
+as a novelty.
+
+The manufacturers of Lyons give high salaries to designers of talent; in
+that lies the secret of their success. Low prices come from
+Competition--a fruitful source of wealth, and a daughter of Liberty.
+Therefore, a government wishing to establish on a firm basis the
+prosperity of trade must give commerce full liberty; only being careful
+to prevent the frauds which private interests, often wrongly understood,
+might invent at the expense of public and general interests. In fact, the
+government must hold the scales, and allow the citizens to load them as
+they please.
+
+In Lyons I met the most famous courtezan of Venice. It was generally
+admitted that her equal had never been seen. Her name was Ancilla. Every
+man who saw her coveted her, and she was so kindly disposed that she
+could not refuse her favours to anyone; for if all men loved her one
+after the other, she returned the compliment by loving them all at once,
+and with her pecuniary advantages were only a very secondary
+consideration.
+
+Venice has always been blessed with courtezans more celebrated by their
+beauty than their wit. Those who were most famous in my younger days were
+Ancilla and another called Spina, both the daughters of gondoliers, and
+both killed very young by the excesses of a profession which, in their
+eyes, was a noble one. At the age of twenty-two, Ancilla turned a dancer
+and Spina became a singer. Campioni, a celebrated Venetian dancer,
+imparted to the lovely Ancilla all the graces and the talents of which
+her physical perfections were susceptible, and married her. Spina had for
+her master a castrato who succeeded in making of her only a very ordinary
+singer, and in the absence of talent she was compelled, in order to get a
+living, to make the most of the beauty she had received from nature.
+
+I shall have occasion to speak again of Ancilla before her death. She was
+then in Lyons with her husband; they had just returned from England,
+where they had been greatly applauded at the Haymarket Theatre. She had
+stopped in Lyons only for her pleasure, and, the moment she shewed
+herself, she had at her feet the most brilliant young men of the town,
+who were the slaves of her slightest caprice. Every day parties of
+pleasure, every evening magnificent suppers, and every night a great faro
+bank. The banker at the gaming table was a certain Don Joseph Marratti,
+the same man whom I had known in the Spanish army under the name of Don
+Pepe il Cadetto, and a few years afterwards assumed the name of Afflisio,
+and came to such a bad end. That faro bank won in a few days three
+hundred thousand francs. In a capital that would not have been considered
+a large sum, but in a commercial and industrial city like Lyons it raised
+the alarm amongst the merchants, and the Ultramontanes thought of taking
+their leave.
+
+It was in Lyons that a respectable individual, whose acquaintance I made
+at the house of M. de Rochebaron, obtained for me the favour of being
+initiated in the sublime trifles of Freemasonry. I arrived in Paris a
+simple apprentice; a few months after my arrival I became companion and
+master; the last is certainly the highest degree in Freemasonry, for all
+the other degrees which I took afterwards are only pleasing inventions,
+which, although symbolical, add nothing to the dignity of master.
+
+No one in this world can obtain a knowledge of everything, but every man
+who feels himself endowed with faculties, and can realize the extent of
+his moral strength, should endeavour to obtain the greatest possible
+amount of knowledge. A well-born young man who wishes to travel and know
+not only the world, but also what is called good society, who does not
+want to find himself, under certain circumstances, inferior to his
+equals, and excluded from participating in all their pleasures, must get
+himself initiated in what is called Freemasonry, even if it is only to
+know superficially what Freemasonry is. It is a charitable institution,
+which, at certain times and in certain places, may have been a pretext
+for criminal underplots got up for the overthrow of public order, but is
+there anything under heaven that has not been abused? Have we not seen
+the Jesuits, under the cloak of our holy religion, thrust into the
+parricidal hand of blind enthusiasts the dagger with which kings were to
+be assassinated! All men of importance, I mean those whose social
+existence is marked by intelligence and merit, by learning or by wealth,
+can be (and many of them are) Freemasons: is it possible to suppose that
+such meetings, in which the initiated, making it a law never to speak,
+'intra muros', either of politics, or of religions, or of governments,
+converse only concerning emblems which are either moral or trifling; is
+it possible to suppose, I repeat, that those meetings, in which the
+governments may have their own creatures, can offer dangers sufficiently
+serious to warrant the proscriptions of kings or the excommunications of
+Popes?
+
+In reality such proceedings miss the end for which they are undertaken,
+and the Pope, in spite of his infallibility, will not prevent his
+persecutions from giving Freemasonry an importance which it would perhaps
+have never obtained if it had been left alone. Mystery is the essence of
+man's nature, and whatever presents itself to mankind under a mysterious
+appearance will always excite curiosity and be sought, even when men are
+satisfied that the veil covers nothing but a cypher.
+
+Upon the whole, I would advise all well-born young men, who intend to
+travel, to become Freemasons; but I would likewise advise them to be
+careful in selecting a lodge, because, although bad company cannot have
+any influence while inside of the lodge, the candidate must guard against
+bad acquaintances.
+
+Those who become Freemasons only for the sake of finding out the secret
+of the order, run a very great risk of growing old under the trowel
+without ever realizing their purpose. Yet there is a secret, but it is so
+inviolable that it has never been confided or whispered to anyone. Those
+who stop at the outward crust of things imagine that the secret consists
+in words, in signs, or that the main point of it is to be found only in
+reaching the highest degree. This is a mistaken view: the man who guesses
+the secret of Freemasonry, and to know it you must guess it, reaches that
+point only through long attendance in the lodges, through deep thinking,
+comparison, and deduction. He would not trust that secret to his best
+friend in Freemasonry, because he is aware that if his friend has not
+found it out, he could not make any use of it after it had been whispered
+in his ear. No, he keeps his peace, and the secret remains a secret.
+
+Everything done in a lodge must be secret; but those who have
+unscrupulously revealed what is done in the lodge, have been unable to
+reveal that which is essential; they had no knowledge of it, and had they
+known it, they certainly would not have unveiled the mystery of the
+ceremonies.
+
+The impression felt in our days by the non-initiated is of the same
+nature as that felt in former times by those who were not initiated in
+the mysteries enacted at Eleusis in honour of Ceres. But the mysteries of
+Eleusis interested the whole of Greece, and whoever had attained some
+eminence in the society of those days had an ardent wish to take a part
+in those mysterious ceremonies, while Freemasonry, in the midst of many
+men of the highest merit, reckons a crowd of scoundrels whom no society
+ought to acknowledge, because they are the refuse of mankind as far as
+morality is concerned.
+
+In the mysteries of Ceres, an inscrutable silence was long kept, owing to
+the veneration in which they were held. Besides, what was there in them
+that could be revealed? The three words which the hierophant said to the
+initiated? But what would that revelation have come to? Only to dishonour
+the indiscreet initiate, for they were barbarous words unknown to the
+vulgar. I have read somewhere that the three sacred words of the
+mysteries of Eleusis meant: Watch, and do no evil. The sacred words and
+the secrets of the various masonic degrees are about as criminal.
+
+The initiation in the mysteries of Eleusis lasted nine days. The
+ceremonies were very imposing, and the company of the highest. Plutarch
+informs us that Alcibiades was sentenced to death and his property
+confiscated, because he had dared to turn the mysteries into ridicule in
+his house. He was even sentenced to be cursed by the priests and
+priestesses, but the curse was not pronounced because one of the
+priestesses opposed it, saying:
+
+"I am a priestess to bless and not to curse!"
+
+Sublime words! Lessons of wisdom and of morality which the Pope despises,
+but which the Gospel teaches and which the Saviour prescribes.
+
+In our days nothing is important, and nothing is sacred, for our
+cosmopolitan philosophers.
+
+Botarelli publishes in a pamphlet all the ceremonies of the Freemasons,
+and the only sentence passed on him is:
+
+"He is a scoundrel. We knew that before!"
+
+A prince in Naples, and M. Hamilton in his own house, perform the miracle
+of St. Januarius; they are, most likely, very merry over their
+performance, and many more with them. Yet the king wears on his royal
+breast a star with the following device around the image of St.
+Januarius: 'In sanguine foedus'. In our days everything is inconsistent,
+and nothing has any meaning. Yet it is right to go ahead, for to stop on
+the road would be to go from bad to worse.
+
+We left Lyons in the public diligence, and were five days on our road to
+Paris. Baletti had given notice of his departure to his family; they
+therefore knew when to expect him. We were eight in the coach and our
+seats were very uncomfortable, for it was a large oval in shape, so that
+no one had a corner. If that vehicle had been built in a country where
+equality was a principle hallowed by the laws, it would not have been a
+bad illustration. I thought it was absurd, but I was in a foreign
+country, and I said nothing. Besides, being an Italian, would it have
+been right for me not to admire everything which was French, and
+particularly in France?--Example, an oval diligence: I respected the
+fashion, but I found it detestable, and the singular motion of that
+vehicle had the same effect upon me as the rolling of a ship in a heavy
+sea. Yet it was well hung, but the worst jolting would have disturbed me
+less.
+
+As the diligence undulates in the rapidity of its pace, it has been
+called a gondola, but I was a judge of gondolas, and I thought that there
+was no family likeness between the coach and the Venetian boats which,
+with two hearty rowers, glide along so swiftly and smoothly. The effect
+of the movement was that I had to throw up whatever was on my stomach. My
+travelling companions thought me bad company, but they did not say so. I
+was in France and among Frenchmen, who know what politeness is. They only
+remarked that very likely I had eaten too much at my supper, and a
+Parisian abbe, in order to excuse me, observed that my stomach was weak.
+A discussion arose.
+
+"Gentlemen," I said, in my vexation, and rather angrily, "you are all
+wrong, for my stomach is excellent, and I have not had any supper."
+
+Thereupon an elderly man told me, with a voice full of sweetness, that I
+ought not to say that the gentlemen were wrong, though I might say that
+they were not right, thus imitating Cicero, who, instead of declaring to
+the Romans that Catilina and the other conspirators were dead, only said
+that they had lived.
+
+"Is it not the same thing?"
+
+"I beg your pardon, sir, one way of speaking is polite, the other is
+not." And after treating me to a long dissection on politeness, he
+concluded by saying, with a smile, "I suppose you are an Italian?"
+
+"Yes, I am, but would you oblige me by telling me how you have found it
+out?"
+
+"Oh! I guessed it from the attention with which you have listened to my
+long prattle."
+
+Everybody laughed, and, I, much pleased with his eccentricity, began to
+coax him. He was the tutor of a young boy of twelve or thirteen years who
+was seated near him. I made him give me during the journey lessons in
+French politeness, and when we parted he took me apart in a friendly
+manner, saying that he wished to make me a small present.
+
+"What is it?"
+
+"You must abandon, and, if I may say so, forget, the particle 'non',
+which you use frequently at random. 'Non' is not a French word; instead
+of that unpleasant monosyllable, say, 'Pardon'. 'Non' is equal to giving
+the lie: never say it, or prepare yourself to give and to receive
+sword-stabs every moment."
+
+"I thank you, monsieur, your present is very precious, and I promise you
+never to say non again."
+
+During the first fortnight of my stay in Paris, it seemed to me that I
+had become the most faulty man alive, for I never ceased begging pardon.
+I even thought, one evening at the theatre, that I should have a quarrel
+for having begged somebody's pardon in the wrong place. A young fop,
+coming to the pit, trod on my foot, and I hastened to say,
+
+"Your pardon, sir."
+
+"Sir, pardon me yourself."
+
+"No, yourself."
+
+"Yourself!"
+
+"Well, sir, let us pardon and embrace one another!" The embrace put a
+stop to the discussion.
+
+One day during the journey, having fallen asleep from fatigue in the
+inconvenient gondola, someone pushed my arm.
+
+"Ah, sir! look at that mansion!"
+
+"I see it; what of it?"
+
+"Ah! I pray you, do you not find it...."
+
+"I find nothing particular; and you?"
+
+"Nothing wonderful, if it were not situated at a distance of forty
+leagues from Paris. But here! Ah! would my 'badauds' of Parisians believe
+that such a beautiful mansion can be found forty leagues distant from the
+metropolis? How ignorant a man is when he has never travelled!"
+
+"You are quite right."
+
+That man was a Parisian and a 'badaud' to the backbone, like a Gaul in
+the days of Caesar.
+
+But if the Parisians are lounging about from morning till night, enjoying
+everything around them, a foreigner like myself ought to have been a
+greater 'badaud' than they! The difference between us was that, being
+accustomed to see things such as they are, I was astonished at seeing
+them often covered with a mask which changed their nature, while their
+surprise often arose from their suspecting what the mask concealed.
+
+What delighted me, on my arrival in Paris, was the magnificent road made
+by Louis XV., the cleanliness of the hotels, the excellent fare they
+give, the quickness of the service, the excellent beds, the modest
+appearance of the attendant, who generally is the most accomplished girl
+of the house, and whose decency, modest manners, and neatness, inspire
+the most shameless libertine with respect. Where is the Italian who is
+pleased with the effrontery and the insolence of the hotel-waiters in
+Italy? In my days, people did not know in France what it was to
+overcharge; it was truly the home of foreigners. True, they had the
+unpleasantness of often witnessing acts of odious despotism, 'lettres de
+cachet', etc.; it was the despotism of a king. Since that time the French
+have the despotism of the people. Is it less obnoxious?
+
+We dined at Fontainebleau, a name derived from Fontaine-belle-eau; and
+when we were only two leagues from Paris we saw a berlin advancing
+towards us. As it came near the diligence, my friend Baletti called out
+to the postillions to stop. In the berlin was his mother, who offered me
+the welcome given to an expected friend. His mother was the celebrated
+actress Silvia, and when I had been introduced to her she said to me;
+
+"I hope, sir, that my son's friend will accept a share of our family
+supper this evening."
+
+I accepted gratefully, sat down again in the gondola, Baletti got into
+the berlin with his mother, and we continued our journey.
+
+On reaching Paris, I found a servant of Silvia's waiting for me with a
+coach; he accompanied me to my lodging to leave my luggage, and we
+repaired to Baletti's house, which was only fifty yards distant from my
+dwelling.
+
+Baletti presented me to his father, who was known under the name of
+Mario. Silvia and Mario were the stage names assumed by M. and Madame
+Baletti, and at that time it was the custom in France to call the Italian
+actors by the names they had on the stage. 'Bon jour', Monsieur Arlequin;
+'bon jour', Monsieur Pantalon: such was the manner in which the French
+used to address the actors who personified those characters on the stage.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+My Apprenticeship in Paris--Portraits--Oddities--All Sorts of Things
+
+To celebrate the arrival of her son, Silvia gave a splendid supper to
+which she had invited all her relatives, and it was a good opportunity
+for me to make their acquaintance. Baletti's father, who had just
+recovered from a long illness, was not with us, but we had his father's
+sister, who was older than Mario. She was known, under her theatrical
+name of Flaminia, in the literary world by several translations, but I
+had a great wish to make her acquaintance less on that account than in
+consequence of the story, known throughout Italy, of the stay that three
+literary men of great fame had made in Paris. Those three literati were
+the Marquis Maffei, the Abbe Conti, and Pierre Jacques Martelli, who
+became enemies, according to public rumour, owing to the belief
+entertained by each of them that he possessed the favours of the actress,
+and, being men of learning, they fought with the pen. Martelli composed a
+satire against Maffei, in which he designated him by the anagram of
+Femia.
+
+I had been announced to Flaminia as a candidate for literary fame, and
+she thought she honoured me by addressing me at all, but she was wrong,
+for she displeased me greatly by her face, her manners, her style, even
+by the sound of her voice. Without saying it positively, she made me
+understand that, being herself an illustrious member of the republic of
+letters, she was well aware that she was speaking to an insect. She
+seemed as if she wanted to dictate to everybody around her, and she very
+likely thought that she had the right to do so at the age of sixty,
+particularly towards a young novice only twenty-five years old, who had
+not yet contributed anything to the literary treasury. In order to please
+her, I spoke to her of the Abbe Conti, and I had occasion to quote two
+lines of that profound writer. Madam corrected me with a patronizing air
+for my pronunciation of the word 'scevra', which means divided, saying
+that it ought to be pronounced 'sceura', and she added that I ought to be
+very glad to have learned so much on the first day of my arrival in
+Paris, telling me that it would be an important day in my life.
+
+"Madam, I came here to learn and not to unlearn. You will kindly allow me
+to tell you that the pronunciation of that word 'scevra' with a v, and
+not 'sceura' with a u, because it is a contraction of 'sceverra'."
+
+"It remains to be seen which of us is wrong."
+
+"You, madam, according to Ariosto, who makes 'scevra' rhyme with
+'persevra', and the rhyme would be false with 'sceura', which is not an
+Italian word."
+
+She would have kept up the discussion, but her husband, a man eighty
+years of age, told her that she was wrong. She held her tongue, but from
+that time she told everybody that I was an impostor.
+
+Her husband, Louis Riccoboni, better known as Lelio, was the same who had
+brought the Italian company to Paris in 1716, and placed it at the
+service of the regent: he was a man of great merit. He had been very
+handsome, and justly enjoyed the esteem of the public, in consequence not
+only of his talent but also of the purity of his life.
+
+During supper my principal occupation was to study Silvia, who then
+enjoyed the greatest reputation, and I judged her to be even above it.
+She was then about fifty years old, her figure was elegant, her air
+noble, her manners graceful and easy; she was affable, witty, kind to
+everybody, simple and unpretending. Her face was an enigma, for it
+inspired everyone with the warmest sympathy, and yet if you examined it
+attentively there was not one beautiful feature; she could not be called
+handsome, but no one could have thought her ugly. Yet she was not one of
+those women who are neither handsome nor ugly, for she possessed a
+certain something which struck one at first sight and captivated the
+interest. Then what was she?
+
+Beautiful, certainly, but owing to charms unknown to all those who, not
+being attracted towards her by an irresistible feeling which compelled
+them to love her, had not the courage to study her, or the constancy to
+obtain a thorough knowledge of her.
+
+Silvia was the adoration of France, and her talent was the real support
+of all the comedies which the greatest authors wrote for her, especially
+of, the plays of Marivaux, for without her his comedies would never have
+gone to posterity. Never was an actress found who could replace her, and
+to find one it would be necessary that she should unite in herself all
+the perfections which Silvia possessed for the difficult profession of
+the stage: action, voice, intelligence, wit, countenance, manners, and a
+deep knowledge of the human heart. In Silvia every quality was from
+nature, and the art which gave the last touch of perfection to her
+qualities was never seen.
+
+To the qualities which I have just mentioned, Silvia added another which
+surrounded her with a brilliant halo, and the absence of which would not
+have prevented her from being the shining star of the stage: she led a
+virtuous life. She had been anxious to have friends, but she had
+dismissed all lovers, refusing to avail herself of a privilege which she
+could easily have enjoyed, but which would have rendered her contemptible
+in her own estimation. The irreproachable conduct obtained for her a
+reputation of respectability which, at her age, would have been held as
+ridiculous and even insulting by any other woman belonging to the same
+profession, and many ladies of the highest rank honoured her with her
+friendship more even than with their patronage. Never did the capricious
+audience of a Parisian pit dare to hiss Silvia, not even in her
+performance of characters which the public disliked, and it was the
+general opinion that she was in every way above her profession.
+
+Silvia did not think that her good conduct was a merit, for she knew that
+she was virtuous only because her self-love compelled her to be so, and
+she never exhibited any pride or assumed any superiority towards her
+theatrical sisters, although, satisfied to shine by their talent or their
+beauty, they cared little about rendering themselves conspicuous by their
+virtue. Silvia loved them all, and they all loved her; she always was the
+first to praise, openly and with good faith, the talent of her rivals;
+but she lost nothing by it, because, being their superior in talent and
+enjoying a spotless reputation, her rivals could not rise above her.
+
+Nature deprived that charming woman of ten year of life; she became
+consumptive at the age of sixty, ten years after I had made her
+acquaintance. The climate of Paris often proves fatal to our Italian
+actresses. Two years before her death I saw her perform the character of
+Marianne in the comedy of Marivaux, and in spite of her age and declining
+health the illusion was complete. She died in my presence, holding her
+daughter in her arms, and she was giving her the advice of a tender
+mother five minutes before she breathed her last. She was honourably
+buried in the church of St. Sauveur, without the slightest opposition
+from the venerable priest, who, far from sharing the anti-christain
+intolerancy of the clergy in general, said that her profession as an
+actress had not hindered her from being a good Christian, and that the
+earth was the common mother of all human beings, as Jesus Christ had been
+the Saviour of all mankind.
+
+You will forgive me, dear reader, if I have made you attend the funeral
+of Silvia ten years before her death; believe me I have no intention of
+performing a miracle; you may console yourself with the idea that I shall
+spare you that unpleasant task when poor Silvia dies.
+
+Her only daughter, the object of her adoration, was seated next to her at
+the supper-table. She was then only nine years old, and being entirely
+taken up by her mother I paid no attention to her; my interest in her was
+to come.
+
+After the supper, which was protracted to a late hour, I repaired to the
+house of Madame Quinson, my landlady, where I found myself very
+comfortable. When I woke in the morning, the said Madame Quinson came to
+my room to tell me that a servant was outside and wished to offer me his
+services. I asked her to send him in, and I saw a man of very small
+stature; that did not please me, and I told him so.
+
+"My small stature, your honour, will be a guarantee that I shall never
+borrow your clothes to go to some amorous rendezvous."
+
+"Your name?"
+
+"Any name you please."
+
+"What do you mean? I want the name by which you are known."
+
+"I have none. Every master I serve calls me according to his fancy, and I
+have served more than fifty in my life. You may call me what you like."
+
+"But you must have a family name."
+
+"I never had any family. I had a name, I believe, in my young days, but I
+have forgotten it since I have been in service. My name has changed with
+every new master."
+
+"Well! I shall call you Esprit."
+
+"You do me a great honour."
+
+"Here, go and get me change for a Louis."
+
+"I have it, sir."
+
+"I see you are rich."
+
+"At your service, sir."
+
+"Where can I enquire about you?"
+
+"At the agency for servants. Madame Quinson, besides, can answer your
+enquiries. Everybody in Paris knows me."
+
+"That is enough. I shall give you thirty sous a day; you must find your
+own clothes: you will sleep where you like, and you must be here at seven
+o'clock every morning."
+
+Baletti called on me and entreated me to take my meals every day at his
+house. After his visit I told Esprit to take me to the Palais-Royal, and
+I left him at the gates. I felt the greatest curiosity about that
+renowned garden, and at first I examined everything. I see a rather fine
+garden, walks lined with big trees, fountains, high houses all round the
+garden, a great many men and women walking about, benches here and there
+forming shops for the sale of newspapers, perfumes, tooth-picks, and
+other trifles. I see a quantity of chairs for hire at the rate of one
+sou, men reading the newspaper under the shade of the trees, girls and
+men breakfasting either alone or in company, waiters who were rapidly
+going up and down a narrow staircase hidden under the foliage.
+
+I sit down at a small table: a waiter comes immediately to enquire my
+wishes. I ask for some chocolate made with water; he brings me some, but
+very bad, although served in a splendid silver-gilt cup. I tell him to
+give me some coffee, if it is good.
+
+"Excellent, I made it myself yesterday."
+
+"Yesterday! I do not want it."
+
+"The milk is very good."
+
+"Milk! I never drink any. Make me a cup of fresh coffee without milk."
+
+"Without milk! Well, sir, we never make coffee but in the afternoon.
+Would you like a good bavaroise, or a decanter of orgeat?"
+
+"Yes, give me the orgeat."
+
+I find that beverage delicious, and make up my mind to have it daily for
+my breakfast. I enquire from the waiter whether there is any news; he
+answers that the dauphine has been delivered of a prince. An abbe, seated
+at a table close by, says to him,--
+
+"You are mad, she has given birth to a princess."
+
+A third man comes forward and exclaims,--
+
+"I have just returned from Versailles, and the dauphine has not been
+delivered either of a prince or of a princess."
+
+Then, turning towards me, he says that I look like a foreigner, and when
+I say that I am an Italian he begins to speak to me of the court, of the
+city, of the theatres, and at last he offers to accompany me everywhere.
+I thank him and take my leave. The abbe rises at the same time, walks
+with me, and tells me the names of all the women we meet in the garden.
+
+A young man comes up to him, they embrace one another, and the abbe
+presents him to me as a learned Italian scholar. I address him in
+Italian, and he answers very wittily, but his way of speaking makes me
+smile, and I tell him why. He expressed himself exactly in the style of
+Boccacio. My remark pleases him, but I soon prove to him that it is not
+the right way to speak, however perfect may have been the language of
+that ancient writer. In less than a quarter of an hour we are excellent
+friends, for we find that our tastes are the same.
+
+My new friend was a poet as I was; he was an admirer of Italian
+literature, while I admired the French.
+
+We exchanged addresses, and promise to see one another very often.
+
+I see a crowd in one corner of the garden, everybody standing still and
+looking up. I enquire from my friend whether there is anything wonderful
+going on.
+
+"These persons are watching the meridian; everyone holds his watch in his
+hand in order to regulate it exactly at noon."
+
+"Is there not a meridian everywhere?"
+
+"Yes, but the meridian of the Palais-Royal is the most exact."
+
+I laugh heartily.
+
+"Why do you laugh?"
+
+"Because it is impossible for all meridians not to be the same. That is
+true 'badauderie'."
+
+My friend looks at me for a moment, then he laughs likewise, and supplies
+me with ample food to ridicule the worthy Parisians. We leave the
+Palais-Royal through the main gate, and I observe another crowd of people
+before a shop, on the sign-board of which I read "At the Sign of the
+Civet Cat."
+
+"What is the matter here?"
+
+"Now, indeed, you are going to laugh. All these honest persons are
+waiting their turn to get their snuff-boxes filled."
+
+"Is there no other dealer in snuff?"
+
+"It is sold everywhere, but for the last three weeks nobody will use any
+snuff but that sold at the 'Civet Cat.'"
+
+"Is it better than anywhere else?"
+
+"Perhaps it is not as good, but since it has been brought into fashion by
+the Duchesse de Chartres, nobody will have any other."
+
+"But how did she manage to render it so fashionable?"
+
+"Simply by stopping her carriage two or three times before the shop to
+have her snuff-box filled, and by saying aloud to the young girl who
+handed back the box that her snuff was the very best in Paris. The
+'badauds', who never fail to congregate near the carriage of princes, no
+matter if they have seen them a hundred times, or if they know them to be
+as ugly as monkeys, repeated the words of the duchess everywhere, and
+that was enough to send here all the snuff-takers of the capital in a
+hurry. This woman will make a fortune, for she sells at least one hundred
+crowns' worth of snuff every day."
+
+"Very likely the duchess has no idea of the good she has done."
+
+"Quite the reverse, for it was a cunning artifice on her part. The
+duchess, feeling interested in the newly-married young woman, and wishing
+to serve her in a delicate manner, thought of that expedient which has
+met with complete success. You cannot imagine how kind Parisians are. You
+are now in the only country in the world where wit can make a fortune by
+selling either a genuine or a false article: in the first case, it
+receives the welcome of intelligent and talented people, and in the
+second, fools are always ready to reward it, for silliness is truly a
+characteristic of the people here, and, however wonderful it may appear,
+silliness is the daughter of wit. Therefore it is not a paradox to say
+that the French would be wiser if they were less witty.
+
+"The gods worshipped here although no altars are raised for them--are
+Novelty and Fashion. Let a man run, and everybody will run after him. The
+crowd will not stop, unless the man is proved to be mad; but to prove it
+is indeed a difficult task, because we have a crowd of men who, mad from
+their birth, are still considered wise.
+
+"The snuff of the 'Civet Cat' is but one example of the facility with
+which the crowd can be attracted to one particular spot. The king was one
+day hunting, and found himself at the Neuilly Bridge; being thirsty, he
+wanted a glass of ratafia. He stopped at the door of a drinking-booth,
+and by the most lucky chance the poor keeper of the place happened to
+have a bottle of that liquor. The king, after he had drunk a small glass,
+fancied a second one, and said that he had never tasted such delicious
+ratafia in his life. That was enough to give the ratafia of the good man
+of Neuilly the reputation of being the best in Europe: the king had said
+so. The consequence was that the most brilliant society frequented the
+tavern of the delighted publican, who is now a very wealthy man, and has
+built on the very spot a splendid house on which can be read the
+following rather comic motto: 'Ex liquidis solidum,' which certainly came
+out of the head of one of the forty immortals. Which gods must the worthy
+tavern-keeper worship? Silliness, frivolity, and mirth."
+
+"It seems to me," I replied, "that such approval, such ratification of
+the opinion expressed by the king, the princes of the blood, etc., is
+rather a proof of the affection felt for them by the nation, for the
+French carry that affection to such an extent that they believe them
+infallible."
+
+"It is certain that everything here causes foreigners to believe that the
+French people adore the king, but all thinking men here know well enough
+that there is more show than reality in that adoration, and the court has
+no confidence in it. When the king comes to Paris, everybody calls out,
+'Vive le Roi!' because some idle fellow begins, or because some policeman
+has given the signal from the midst of the crowd, but it is really a cry
+which has no importance, a cry given out of cheerfulness, sometimes out
+of fear, and which the king himself does not accept as gospel. He does
+not feel comfortable in Paris, and he prefers being in Versailles,
+surrounded by twenty-five thousand men who protect him against the fury
+of that same people of Paris, who, if ever they became wiser, might very
+well one day call out, 'Death to the King!' instead of, 'Long life to the
+King!' Louis XIV. was well aware of it, and several councillors of the
+upper chamber lost their lives for having advised the assembling of the
+states-general in order to find some remedy for the misfortunes of the
+country. France never had any love for any kings, with the exception of
+St. Louis, of Louis XII, and of the great and good Henry IV.; and even in
+the last case the love of the nation was not sufficient to defend the
+king against the dagger of the Jesuits, an accursed race, the enemy of
+nations as well as of kings. The present king, who is weak and entirely
+led by his ministers, said candidly at the time he was just recovering
+from illness, 'I am surprised at the rejoicings of the people in
+consequence of my health being restored, for I cannot imagine why they
+should love me so dearly.' Many kings might repeat the same words, at
+least if love is to be measured according to the amount of good actually
+done. That candid remark of Louis XV. has been highly praised, but some
+philosopher of the court ought to have informed him that he was so much
+loved because he had been surnamed 'le bien aime'."
+
+"Surname or nickname; but are there any philosophers at the court of
+France?"
+
+"No, for philosophers and courtiers are as widely different as light and
+darkness; but there are some men of intelligence who champ the bit from
+motives of ambition and interest."
+
+As we were thus conversing, M. Patu (such was the name of my new
+acquaintance) escorted me as far as the door of Silvia's house; he
+congratulated me upon being one of her friends, and we parted company.
+
+I found the amiable actress in good company. She introduced me to all her
+guests, and gave me some particulars respecting every one of them. The
+name of Crebillon struck my ear.
+
+"What, sir!" I said to him, "am I fortunate enough to see you? For eight
+years you have charmed me, for eight years I have longed to know you.
+Listen, I beg 'of you."
+
+I then recited the finest passage of his 'Zenobie et Rhadamiste', which I
+had translated into blank verse. Silvia was delighted to see the pleasure
+enjoyed by Crebillon in hearing, at the age of eighty, his own lines in a
+language which he knew thoroughly and loved as much as his own. He
+himself recited the same passage in French, and politely pointed out the
+parts in which he thought that I had improved on the original. I thanked
+him, but I was not deceived by his compliment.
+
+We sat down to supper, and, being asked what I had already seen in Paris,
+I related everything I had done, omitting only my conversation with Patu.
+After I had spoken for a long time, Crebillon, who had evidently observed
+better than anyone else the road I had chosen in order to learn the good
+as well as the bad qualities by his countrymen, said to me,
+
+"For the first day, sir, I think that what you have done gives great
+hopes of you, and without any doubt you will make rapid progress. You
+tell your story well, and you speak French in such a way as to be
+perfectly understood; yet all you say is only Italian dressed in French.
+That is a novelty which causes you to be listened to with interest, and
+which captivates the attention of your audience; I must even add that
+your Franco-Italian language is just the thing to enlist in your favour
+the sympathy of those who listen to you, because it is singular, new, and
+because you are in a country where everybody worships those two
+divinities--novelty and singularity. Nevertheless, you must begin
+to-morrow and apply yourself in good earnest, in order to acquire a
+thorough knowledge of our language, for the same persons who warmly
+applaud you now, will, in two or three months, laugh at you."
+
+"I believe it, sir, and that is what I fear; therefore the principal
+object of my visit here is to devote myself entirely to the study of the
+French language. But, sir, how shall I find a teacher? I am a very
+unpleasant pupil, always asking questions, curious, troublesome,
+insatiable, and even supposing that I could meet with the teacher I
+require, I am afraid I am not rich enough to pay him."
+
+"For fifty years, sir, I have been looking out for a pupil such as you
+have just described yourself, and I would willingly pay you myself if you
+would come to my house and receive my lessons. I reside in the Marais,
+Rue de Douze Portes. I have the best Italian poets. I will make you
+translate them into French, and you need not be afraid of my finding you
+insatiable."
+
+I accepted with joy. I did not know how to express my gratitude, but both
+his offer and the few words of my answer bore the stamp of truth and
+frankness.
+
+Crebillon was a giant; he was six feet high, and three inches taller than
+I. He had a good appetite, could tell a good story without laughing, was
+celebrated for his witty repartees and his sociable manners, but he spent
+his life at home, seldom going out, and seeing hardly anyone because he
+always had a pipe in his mouth and was surrounded by at least twenty
+cats, with which he would amuse himself all day. He had an old
+housekeeper, a cook, and a man-servant. His housekeeper had the
+management of everything; she never allowed him to be in need of
+anything, and she gave no account of his money, which she kept
+altogether, because he never asked her to render any accounts. The
+expression of Crebillon's face was that of the lion's or of the cat's,
+which is the same thing. He was one of the royal censors, and he told me
+that it was an amusement for him. His housekeeper was in the habit of
+reading him the works brought for his examination, and she would stop
+reading when she came to a passage which, in her opinion, deserved his
+censure, but sometimes they were of a different opinion, and then their
+discussions were truly amusing. I once heard the housekeeper send away an
+author with these words:
+
+"Come again next week; we have had no time to examine your manuscript."
+
+During a whole year I paid M. Crebillon three visits every week, and from
+him I learned all I know of the French language, but I found it
+impossible to get rid of my Italian idioms. I remark that turn easily
+enough when I meet with it in other people, but it flows naturally from
+my pen without my being aware of it. I am satisfied that, whatever I may
+do, I shall never be able to recognize it any more than I can find out in
+what consists the bad Latin style so constantly alleged against Livy.
+
+I composed a stanza of eight verses on some subject which I do not
+recollect, and I gave it to Crebillon, asking him to correct it. He read
+it attentively, and said to me,
+
+"These eight verses are good and regular, the thought is fine and truly
+poetical, the style is perfect, and yet the stanza is bad."
+
+"How so?"
+
+"I do not know. I cannot tell you what is wanting. Imagine that you see a
+man handsome, well made, amiable, witty-in fact, perfect, according to
+your most severe judgment. A woman comes in, sees him, looks at him, and
+goes away telling you that the man does not please her. 'But what fault
+do you find in him, madam?' 'None, only he does not please me.' You look
+again at the man, you examine him a second time, and you find that, in
+order to give him a heavenly voice, he has been deprived of that which
+constitutes a man, and you are compelled to acknowledge that a
+spontaneous feeling has stood the woman in good stead."
+
+It was by that comparison that Crebillon explained to me a thing almost
+inexplicable, for taste and feeling alone can account for a thing which
+is subject to no rule whatever.
+
+We spoke a great deal of Louis XIV., whom Crebillon had known well for
+fifteen years, and he related several very curious anecdotes which were
+generally unknown. Amongst other things he assured me that the Siamese
+ambassadors were cheats paid by Madame de Maintenon. He told us likewise
+that he had never finished his tragedy of Cromwell, because the king had
+told him one day not to wear out his pen on a scoundrel.
+
+Crebillon mentioned likewise his tragedy of Catilina, and he told me
+that, in his opinion, it was the most deficient of his works, but that he
+never would have consented, even to make a good tragedy, to represent
+Caesar as a young man, because he would in that case have made the public
+laugh, as they would do if Madea were to appear previous to her
+acquaintances with Jason.
+
+He praised the talent of Voltaire very highly, but he accused him of
+having stolen from him, Crebillon, the scene of the senate. He, however,
+rendered him full justice, saying that he was a true historian, and able
+to write history as well as tragedies, but that he unfortunately
+adulterated history by mixing with it such a number of light anecdotes
+and tales for the sake of rendering it more attractive. According to
+Crebillon, the Man with the Iron Mask was nothing but an idle tale, and
+he had been assured of it by Louis XIV. himself.
+
+On the day of my first meeting with Crebillon at Silvia's, 'Cenie', a
+play by Madame de Graffigny, was performed at the Italian Theatre, and I
+went away early in order to get a good seat in the pit.
+
+The ladies all covered with diamonds, who were taking possession of the
+private boxes, engrossed all my interest and all my attention. I wore a
+very fine suit, but my open ruffles and the buttons all along my coat
+shewed at once that I was a foreigner, for the fashion was not the same
+in Paris. I was gaping in the air and listlessly looking round, when a
+gentleman, splendidly dressed, and three times stouter than I, came up
+and enquired whether I was a foreigner. I answered affirmatively, and he
+politely asked me how I liked Paris. I praised Paris very warmly. But at
+that moment a very stout lady, brilliant with diamonds, entered the box
+near us. Her enormous size astonished me, and, like a fool, I said to the
+gentleman:
+
+"Who is that fat sow?"
+
+"She is the wife of this fat pig."
+
+"Ah! I beg your pardon a thousand times!"
+
+But my stout gentleman cared nothing for my apologies, and very far from
+being angry he almost choked with laughter. This was the happy result of
+the practical and natural philosophy which Frenchmen cultivate so well,
+and which insures the happiness of their existence under an appearance of
+frivolity!
+
+I was confused, I was in despair, but the stout gentleman continued to
+laugh heartily. At last he left the pit, and a minute afterwards I saw
+him enter the box and speak to his wife. I was keeping an eye on them
+without daring to look at them openly, and suddenly the lady, following
+the example of her husband, burst into a loud laugh. Their mirth making
+me more uncomfortable, I was leaving the pit, when the husband called out
+to me, "Sir! Sir!"
+
+"I could not go away without being guilty of impoliteness, and I went up
+to their box. Then, with a serious countenance and with great affability,
+he begged my pardon for having laughed so much, and very graciously
+invited me to come to his house and sup with them that same evening. I
+thanked him politely, saying that I had a previous engagement. But he
+renewed his entreaties, and his wife pressing me in the most engaging
+manner I told them, in order to prove that I was not trying to elude
+their invitation, that I was expected to sup at Silvia's house.
+
+"In that case I am certain," said the gentleman, "of obtaining your
+release if you do not object. Allow me to go myself to Silvia."
+
+It would have been uncourteous on my part to resist any longer. He left
+the box and returned almost immediately with my friend Baletti, who told
+me that his mother was delighted to see me making such excellent
+acquaintances, and that she would expect to see me at dinner the next
+day. He whispered to me that my new acquaintance was M. de Beauchamp,
+Receiver-General of Taxes.
+
+As soon as the performance was over, I offered my hand to madame, and we
+drove to their mansion in a magnificent carriage. There I found the
+abundance or rather the profusion which in Paris is exhibited by the men
+of finance; numerous society, high play, good cheer, and open
+cheerfulness. The supper was not over till one o'clock in the morning.
+Madame's private carriage drove me to my lodgings. That house offered me
+a kind welcome during the whole of my stay in Paris, and I must add that
+my new friends proved very useful to me. Some persons assert that
+foreigners find the first fortnight in Paris very dull, because a little
+time is necessary to get introduced, but I was fortunate enough to find
+myself established on as good a footing as I could desire within
+twenty-four hours, and the consequence was that I felt delighted with
+Paris, and certain that my stay would prove an agreeable one.
+
+The next morning Patu called and made me a present of his prose panegyric
+on the Marechal de Saxe. We went out together and took a walk in the
+Tuileries, where he introduced me to Madame du Boccage, who made a good
+jest in speaking of the Marechal de Saxe.
+
+"It is singular," she said, "that we cannot have a 'De profundis' for a
+man who makes us sing the 'Te Deum' so often."
+
+As we left the Tuileries, Patu took me to the house of a celebrated
+actress of the opera, Mademoiselle Le Fel, the favourite of all Paris,
+and member of the Royal Academy of Music. She had three very young and
+charming children, who were fluttering around her like butterflies.
+
+"I adore them," she said to me.
+
+"They deserve adoration for their beauty," I answered, "although they
+have all a different cast of countenance."
+
+"No wonder! The eldest is the son of the Duke d'Anneci, the second of
+Count d'Egmont, and the youngest is the offspring of Maison-Rouge, who
+has just married the Romainville."
+
+"Ah! pray excuse me, I thought you were the mother of the three."
+
+"You were not mistaken, I am their mother."
+
+As she said these words she looked at Patu, and both burst into hearty
+laughter which did not make me blush, but which shewed me my blunder.
+
+I was a novice in Paris, and I had not been accustomed to see women
+encroach upon the privilege which men alone generally enjoy. Yet
+mademoiselle Le Fel was not a bold-faced woman; she was even rather
+ladylike, but she was what is called above prejudices. If I had known the
+manners of the time better, I should have been aware that such things
+were every-day occurrences, and that the noblemen who thus sprinkled
+their progeny everywhere were in the habit of leaving their children in
+the hands of their mothers, who were well paid. The more fruitful,
+therefore, these ladies were, the greater was their income.
+
+My want of experience often led me into serious blunders, and
+Mademoiselle Le Fel would, I have no doubt, have laughed at anyone
+telling her that I had some wit, after the stupid mistake of which I had
+been guilty.
+
+Another day, being at the house of Lani, ballet-master of the opera, I
+saw five or six young girls of thirteen or fourteen years of age
+accompanied by their mothers, and all exhibiting that air of modesty
+which is the characteristic of a good education. I addressed a few
+gallant words to them, and they answered me with down-cast eyes. One of
+them having complained of the headache, I offered her my smelling-bottle,
+and one of her companions said to her,
+
+"Very likely you did not sleep well last night."
+
+"Oh! it is not that," answered the modest-looking Agnes, "I think I am in
+the family-way."
+
+On receiving this unexpected reply from a girl I had taken for a maiden,
+I said to her,
+
+"I should never have supposed that you were married, madam."
+
+She looked at me with evident surprise for a moment, then she turned
+towards her friend, and both began to laugh immoderately. Ashamed, but
+for them more than myself, I left the house with a firm resolution never
+again to take virtue for granted in a class of women amongst whom it is
+so scarce. To look for, even to suppose, modesty, amongst the nymphs of
+the green room, is, indeed, to be very foolish; they pride themselves
+upon having none, and laugh at those who are simple enough to suppose
+them better than they are.
+
+Thanks to my friend Patu, I made the acquaintance of all the women who
+enjoyed some reputation in Paris. He was fond of the fair sex, but
+unfortunately for him he had not a constitution like mine, and his love
+of pleasure killed him very early. If he had lived, he would have gone
+down to posterity in the wake of Voltaire, but he paid the debt of nature
+at the age of thirty.
+
+I learned from him the secret which several young French literati employ
+in order to make certain of the perfection of their prose, when they want
+to write anything requiring as perfect a style as they can obtain, such
+as panegyrics, funeral orations, eulogies, dedications, etc. It was by
+surprise that I wrested that secret from Patu.
+
+Being at his house one morning, I observed on his table several sheets of
+paper covered with dode-casyllabic blank verse.
+
+I read a dozen of them, and I told him that, although the verses were
+very fine, the reading caused me more pain than pleasure.
+
+"They express the same ideas as the panegyric of the Marechal de Saxe,
+but I confess that your prose pleases me a great deal more."
+
+"My prose would not have pleased you so much, if it had not been at first
+composed in blank verse."
+
+"Then you take very great trouble for nothing."
+
+"No trouble at all, for I have not the slightest difficulty in writing
+that sort of poetry. I write it as easily as prose."
+
+"Do you think that your prose is better when you compose it from your own
+poetry?"
+
+"No doubt of it, it is much better, and I also secure the advantage that
+my prose is not full of half verses which flow from the pen of the writer
+without his being aware of it."
+
+"Is that a fault?"
+
+"A great one and not to be forgiven. Prose intermixed with occasional
+verses is worse than prosaic poetry."
+
+"Is it true that the verses which, like parasites, steal into a funeral
+oration, must be sadly out of place?"
+
+"Certainly. Take the example of Tacitus, who begins his history of Rome
+by these words: 'Urbem Roman a principio reges habuere'. They form a very
+poor Latin hexameter, which the great historian certainly never made on
+purpose, and which he never remarked when he revised his work, for there
+is no doubt that, if he had observed it, he would have altered that
+sentence. Are not such verses considered a blemish in Italian prose?"
+
+"Decidedly. But I must say that a great many poor writers have purposely
+inserted such verses into their prose, believing that they would make it
+more euphonious. Hence the tawdriness which is justly alleged against
+much Italian literature. But I suppose you are the only writer who takes
+so much pains."
+
+"The only one? Certainly not. All the authors who can compose blank
+verses very easily, as I can, employ them when they intend to make a fair
+copy of their prose. Ask Crebillon, the Abby de Voisenon, La Harpe,
+anyone you like, and they will all tell you the same thing. Voltaire was
+the first to have recourse to that art in the small pieces in which his
+prose is truly charming. For instance, the epistle to Madame du Chatelet,
+which is magnificent. Read it, and if you find a single hemistich in it I
+will confess myself in the wrong."
+
+I felt some curiosity about the matter, and I asked Crebillon about it.
+He told me that Fatu was right, but he added that he had never practised
+that art himself.
+
+Patu wished very much to take me to the opera in order to witness the
+effect produced upon me by the performance, which must truly astonish an
+Italian. 'Les Fetes Venitiennes' was the title of the opera which was in
+vogue just then--a title full of interest for me. We went for our forty
+sous to the pit, in which, although the audience was standing, the
+company was excellent, for the opera was the favourite amusement of the
+Parisians.
+
+After a symphony, very fine in its way and executed by an excellent
+orchestra, the curtain rises, and I see a beautiful scene representing
+the small St. Mark's Square in Venice, taken from the Island of St.
+George, but I am shocked to see the ducal palace on my left, and the tall
+steeple on my right, that is to say the very reverse of reality. I laugh
+at this ridiculous mistake, and Patu, to whom I say why I am laughing,
+cannot help joining me. The music, very fine although in the ancient
+style, at first amused me on account of its novelty, but it soon wearied
+me. The melopaeia fatigued me by its constant and tedious monotony, and
+by the shrieks given out of season. That melopaeia, of the French
+replaces--at least they think so--the Greek melapaeia and our recitative
+which they dislike, but which they would admire if they understood
+Italian.
+
+The action of the opera was limited to a day in the carnival, when the
+Venetians are in the habit of promenading masked in St. Mark's Square.
+The stage was animated by gallants, procuresses, and women amusing
+themselves with all sorts of intrigues. The costumes were whimsical and
+erroneous, but the whole was amusing. I laughed very heartily, and it was
+truly a curious sight for a Venetian, when I saw the Doge followed by
+twelve Councillors appear on the stage, all dressed in the most ludicrous
+style, and dancing a 'pas d'ensemble'. Suddenly the whole of the pit
+burst into loud applause at the appearance of a tall, well-made dancer,
+wearing a mask and an enormous black wig, the hair of which went half-way
+down his back, and dressed in a robe open in front and reaching to his
+heels. Patu said, almost reverently, "It is the inimitable Dupres." I had
+heard of him before, and became attentive. I saw that fine figure coming
+forward with measured steps, and when the dancer had arrived in front of
+the stage, he raised slowly his rounded arms, stretched them gracefully
+backward and forward, moved his feet with precision and lightness, took a
+few small steps, made some battements and pirouettes, and disappeared
+like a butterfly. The whole had not lasted half a minute. The applause
+burst from every part of the house. I was astonished, and asked my friend
+the cause of all those bravos.
+
+"We applaud the grace of Dupres and, the divine harmony of his movements.
+He is now sixty years of age, and those who saw him forty years ago say
+that he is always the same."
+
+"What! Has he never danced in a different style?"
+
+"He could not have danced in a better one, for his style is perfect, and
+what can you want above perfection?"
+
+"Nothing, unless it be a relative perfection."
+
+"But here it is absolute. Dupres always does the same thing, and everyday
+we fancy we see it for the first time. Such is the power of the good and
+beautiful, of the true and sublime, which speak to the soul. His dance is
+true harmony, the real dance, of which you have no idea in Italy."
+
+At the end of the second act, Dupres appeared again, still with a mask,
+and danced to a different tune, but in my opinion doing exactly the same
+as before. He advanced to the very footlights, and stopped one instant in
+a graceful attitude. Patu wanted to force my admiration, and I gave way.
+Suddenly everyone round me exclaimed,--
+
+"Look! look! he is developing himself!"
+
+And in reality he was like an elastic body which, in developing itself,
+would get larger. I made Patu very happy by telling him that Dupres was
+truly very graceful in all his movements. Immediately after him we had a
+female dancer, who jumped about like a fury, cutting to right and left,
+but heavily, yet she was applauded 'con furore'.
+
+"This is," said Patu, "the famous Camargo. I congratulate you, my friend,
+upon having arrived in Paris in time to see her, for she has accomplished
+her twelfth lustre."
+
+I confessed that she was a wonderful dancer.
+
+"She is the first artist," continued my friend, "who has dared to spring
+and jump on a French stage. None ventured upon doing it before her, and,
+what is more extraordinary, she does not wear any drawers."
+
+"I beg your pardon, but I saw...."
+
+"What? Nothing but her skin which, to speak the truth, is not made of
+lilies and roses."
+
+"The Camargo," I said, with an air of repentance, "does not please me. I
+like Dupres much better."
+
+An elderly admirer of Camargo, seated on my left, told me that in her
+youth she could perform the 'saut de basque' and even the 'gargouillade',
+and that nobody had ever seen her thighs, although she always danced
+without drawers.
+
+"But if you never saw her thighs, how do you know that she does not wear
+silk tights?"
+
+"Oh! that is one of those things which can easily be ascertained. I see
+you are a foreigner, sir."
+
+"You are right."
+
+But I was delighted at the French opera, with the rapidity of the scenic
+changes which are done like lightning, at the signal of a whistle--a
+thing entirely unknown in Italy. I likewise admired the start given to
+the orchestra by the baton of the leader, but he disgusted me with the
+movements of his sceptre right and left, as if he thought that he could
+give life to all the instruments by the mere motion of his arm. I admired
+also the silence of the audience, a thing truly wonderful to an Italian,
+for it is with great reason that people complain of the noise made in
+Italy while the artists are singing, and ridicule the silence which
+prevails through the house as soon as the dancers make their appearance
+on the stage. One would imagine that all the intelligence of the Italians
+is in their eyes. At the same time I must observe that there is not one
+country in the world in which extravagance and whimsicalness cannot be
+found, because the foreigner can make comparisons with what he has seen
+elsewhere, whilst the natives are not conscious of their errors.
+Altogether the opera pleased me, but the French comedy captivated me.
+There the French are truly in their element; they perform splendidly, in
+a masterly manner, and other nations cannot refuse them the palm which
+good taste and justice must award to their superiority. I was in the
+habit of going there every day, and although sometimes the audience was
+not composed of two hundred persons, the actors were perfect. I have seen
+'Le Misanthrope', 'L'Avare', 'Tartufe', 'Le Joueur', 'Le Glorieux', and
+many other comedies; and, no matter how often I saw them. I always
+fancied it was the first time. I arrived in Paris to admire Sarrazin, La
+Dangeville, La Dumesnil, La Gaussin, La Clairon, Preville, and several
+actresses who, having retired from the stage, were living upon their
+pension, and delighting their circle of friends. I made, amongst others,
+the acquaintance of the celebrated Le Vasseur. I visited them all with
+pleasure, and they related to me several very curious anecdotes. They
+were generally most kindly disposed in every way.
+
+One evening, being in the box of Le Vasseur, the performance was composed
+of a tragedy in which a very handsome actress had the part of a dumb
+priestess.
+
+"How pretty she is!" I said.
+
+"Yes, charming," answered Le Vasseur, "She is the daughter of the actor
+who plays the confidant. She is very pleasant in company, and is an
+actress of good promise."
+
+"I should be very happy to make her acquaintance."
+
+"Oh! well; that is not difficult. Her father and mother are very worthy
+people, and they will be delighted if you ask them to invite you to
+supper. They will not disturb you; they will go to bed early, and will
+let you talk with their daughter as long as you please. You are in
+France, sir; here we know the value of life, and try to make the best of
+it. We love pleasure, and esteem ourselves fortunate when we can find the
+opportunity of enjoying life."
+
+"That is truly charming, madam; but how could I be so bold as to invite
+myself to supper with worthy persons whom I do not know, and who have not
+the slightest knowledge of me?"
+
+"Oh, dear me! What are you saying? We know everybody. You see how I treat
+you myself. After the performance, I shall be happy to introduce you, and
+the acquaintance will be made at once."
+
+"I certainly must ask you to do me that honour, but another time."
+
+"Whenever you like."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+My Blunders in the French Language, My Success, My Numerous
+Acquaintances--Louis XV.--My Brother Arrives in Paris.
+
+All the Italian actors in Paris insisted upon entertaining me, in order
+to shew me their magnificence, and they all did it in a sumptuous style.
+Carlin Bertinazzi who played Harlequin, and was a great favourite of the
+Parisians, reminded me that he had already seen me thirteen years before
+in Padua, at the time of his return from St. Petersburg with my mother.
+He offered me an excellent dinner at the house of Madame de la Caillerie,
+where he lodged. That lady was in love with him. I complimented her upon
+four charming children whom I saw in the house. Her husband, who was
+present, said to me;
+
+"They are M. Carlin's children."
+
+"That may be, sir, but you take care of them, and as they go by your
+name, of course they will acknowledge you as their father."
+
+"Yes, I should be so legally; but M. Carlin is too honest a man not to
+assume the care of his children whenever I may wish to get rid of them.
+He is well aware that they belong to him, and my wife would be the first
+to complain if he ever denied it."
+
+The man was not what is called a good, easy fellow, far from it; but he
+took the matter in a philosophical way, and spoke of it with calm, and
+even with a sort of dignity. He was attached to Carlin by a warm
+friendship, and such things were then very common in Paris amongst people
+of a certain class. Two noblemen, Boufflers and Luxembourg, had made a
+friendly exchange of each other's wives, and each had children by the
+other's wife. The young Boufflers were called Luxembourg, and the young
+Luxembourg were called Boufflers. The descendants of those tiercelets are
+even now known in France under those names. Well, those who were in the
+secret of that domestic comedy laughed, as a matter of course, and it did
+not prevent the earth from moving according to the laws of gravitation.
+
+The most wealthy of the Italian comedians in Paris was Pantaloon, the
+father of Coraline and Camille, and a well-known usurer. He also invited
+me to dine with his family, and I was delighted with his two daughters.
+The eldest, Coraline, was kept by the Prince of Monaco, son of the Duke
+of Valentinois, who was still alive; and Camille was enamoured of the
+Count of Melfort, the favourite of the Duchess of Chartres, who had just
+become Duchess of Orleans by the death of her father-in-law.
+
+Coraline was not so sprightly as Camille, but she was prettier. I began
+to make love to her as a young man of no consequence, and at hours which
+I thought would not attract attention: but all hours belong by right to
+the established lover, and I therefore found myself sometimes with her
+when the Prince of Monaco called to see her. At first I would bow to the
+prince and withdraw, but afterwards I was asked to remain, for as a
+general thing princes find a tete-a-tete with their mistresses rather
+wearisome. Therefore we used to sup together, and they both listened,
+while it was my province to eat, and to relate stories.
+
+I bethought myself of paying my court to the prince, and he received my
+advances very well. One morning, as I called on Coraline, he said to me,
+
+"Ah! I am very glad to see you, for I have promised the Duchess of Rufe
+to present you to her, and we can go to her immediately."
+
+Again a duchess! My star is decidedly in the ascendant. Well, let us go!
+We got into a 'diable', a sort of vehicle then very fashionable, and at
+eleven o'clock in the morning we were introduced to the duchess.
+
+Dear reader, if I were to paint it with a faithful pen, my portrait of
+that lustful vixen would frighten you. Imagine sixty winters heaped upon
+a face plastered with rouge, a blotched and pimpled complexion, emaciated
+and gaunt features, all the ugliness of libertinism stamped upon the
+countenance of that creature relining upon the sofa. As soon as she sees
+me, she exclaims with rapid joy,
+
+"Ah! this is a good-looking man! Prince, it is very amiable on your part
+to bring him to me. Come and sit near me, my fine fellow!"
+
+I obeyed respectfully, but a noxious smell of musk, which seemed to me
+almost corpse-like, nearly upset me. The infamous duchess had raised
+herself on the sofa and exposed all the nakedness of the most disgusting
+bosom, which would have caused the most courageous man to draw back. The
+prince, pretending to have some engagement, left us, saying that he would
+send his carriage for me in a short time.
+
+As soon as we were alone, the plastered skeleton thrust its arms forward,
+and, without giving me time to know what I was about, the creature gave
+me a horrible kiss, and then one of her hands began to stray with the
+most bare-faced indecency.
+
+"Let me see, my fine cock," she said, "if you have a fine...."
+
+I was shuddering, and resisted the attempt.
+
+"Well, well! What a baby you are!" said the disgusting Messaline; "are
+you such a novice?"
+
+"No, madam; but...."
+
+"But what?"
+
+"I have...."
+
+"Oh, the villain!" she exclaimed, loosing her hold; "what was I going to
+expose myself to!"
+
+I availed myself of the opportunity, snatched my hat, and took to my
+heels, afraid lest the door-keeper should stop me.
+
+I took a coach and drove to Coraline's, where I related the adventure.
+She laughed heartily, and agreed with me that the prince had played me a
+nasty trick. She praised the presence of mind with which I had invented
+an impediment, but she did not give me an opportunity of proving to her
+that I had deceived the duchess.
+
+Yet I was not without hope, and suspected that she did not think me
+sufficiently enamoured of her.
+
+Three or four days afterwards, however, as we had supper together and
+alone, I told her so many things, and I asked her so clearly to make me
+happy or else to dismiss me, that she gave me an appointment for the next
+day.
+
+"To-morrow," she said, "the prince goes to Versailles, and he will not
+return until the day after; we will go together to the warren to hunt
+ferrets, and have no doubt we shall come back to Paris pleased with one
+another."
+
+"That is right."
+
+The next day at ten o'clock we took a coach, but as we were nearing the
+gate of the city a vis-a-vis, with servants in a foreign livery came tip
+to us, and the person who was in it called out, "Stop! Stop!"
+
+The person was the Chevalier de Wurtemburg, who, without deigning to cast
+even one glance on me, began to say sweet words to Coraline, and
+thrusting his head entirely out of his carriage he whispered to her. She
+answered him likewise in a whisper; then taking my hand, she said to me,
+laughingly,
+
+"I have some important business with this prince; go to the warren alone,
+my dear friend, enjoy the hunt, and come to me to-morrow."
+
+And saying those words she got out, took her seat in the vis-a-vis, and I
+found myself very much in the position of Lot's wife, but not motionless.
+
+Dear reader, if you have ever been in such a predicament you will easily
+realize the rage with which I was possessed: if you have never been
+served in that way, so much the better for you, but it is useless for me
+to try to give you an idea of my anger; you would not understand me.
+
+I was disgusted with the coach, and I jumped out of it, telling the
+driver to go to the devil. I took the first hack which happened to pass,
+and drove straight to Patu's house, to whom I related my adventure,
+almost foaming with rage. But very far from pitying me or sharing my
+anger, Patu, much wiser, laughed and said,
+
+"I wish with all my heart that the same thing might happen to me; for you
+are certain of possessing our beautiful Coraline the very first time you
+are with her."
+
+"I would not have her, for now I despise her heartily."
+
+"Your contempt ought to have come sooner. But, now that is too late to
+discuss the matter, I offer you, as a compensation, a dinner at the
+Hotel du Roule."
+
+"Most decidedly yes; it is an excellent idea. Let us go."
+
+The Hotel du Roule was famous in Paris, and I had not been there yet. The
+woman who kept it had furnished the place with great elegance, and she
+always had twelve or fourteen well-chosen nymphs, with all the
+conveniences that could be desired. Good cooking, good beds, cleanliness,
+solitary and beautiful groves. Her cook was an artist, and her
+wine-cellar excellent. Her name was Madame Paris; probably an assumed
+name, but it was good enough for the purpose. Protected by the police,
+she was far enough from Paris to be certain that those who visited her
+liberally appointed establishment were above the middle class. Everything
+was strictly regulated in her house and every pleasure was taxed at a
+reasonable tariff. The prices were six francs for a breakfast with a
+nymph, twelve for dinner, and twice that sum to spend a whole night. I
+found the house even better than its reputation, and by far superior to
+the warren.
+
+We took a coach, and Patu said to the driver,
+
+"To Chaillot."
+
+"I understand, your honour."
+
+After a drive of half an hour, we stopped before a gate on which could be
+read, "Hotel du Roule."
+
+The gate was closed. A porter, sporting long mustachioes, came out
+through a side-door and gravely examined us. He was most likely pleased
+with our appearance, for the gate was opened and we went in. A woman,
+blind of one eye, about forty years old, but with a remnant of beauty,
+came up, saluted us politely, and enquired whether we wished to have
+dinner. Our answer being affirmative, she took us to a fine room in which
+we found fourteen young women, all very handsome, and dressed alike in
+muslin. As we entered the room, they rose and made us a graceful
+reverence; they were all about the same age, some with light hair, some
+with dark; every taste could be satisfied. We passed them in review,
+addressing a few words to each, and made our choice. The two we chose
+screamed for joy, kissed us with a voluptuousness which a novice might
+have mistaken for love, and took us to the garden until dinner would be
+ready. That garden was very large and artistically arranged to minister
+to the pleasures of love. Madame Paris said to us,
+
+"Go, gentlemen, enjoy the fresh air with perfect security in every way;
+my house is the temple of peace and of good health."
+
+The girl I had chosen was something like Coraline, and that made me find
+her delightful. But in the midst of our amorous occupations we were
+called to dinner. We were well served, and the dinner had given us new
+strength, when our single-eyed hostess came, watch in hand, to announce
+that time was up. Pleasure at the "Hotel du Roule" was measured by the
+hour.
+
+I whispered to Patu, and, after a few philosophical considerations,
+addressing himself to madame la gouvernante, he said to her,
+
+"We will have a double dose, and of course pay double."
+
+"You are quite welcome, gentlemen."
+
+We went upstairs, and after we had made our choice a second time, we
+renewed our promenade in the garden. But once more we were disagreeably
+surprised by the strict punctuality of the lady of the house. "Indeed!
+this is too much of a good thing, madam."
+
+"Let us go up for the third time, make a third choice, and pass the whole
+night here."
+
+"A delightful idea which I accept with all my heart."
+
+"Does Madame Paris approve our plan?"
+
+"I could not have devised a better one, gentlemen; it is a masterpiece."
+
+When we were in the room, and after we had made a new choice, the girls
+laughed at the first ones who had not contrived to captivate us, and by
+way of revenge these girls told their companions that we were lanky
+fellows.
+
+This time I was indeed astonished at my own choice. I had taken a true
+Aspasia, and I thanked my stars that I had passed her by the first two
+times, as I had now the certainty of possessing her for fourteen hours.
+That beauty's name was Saint Hilaire; and under that name she became
+famous in England, where she followed a rich lord the year after. At
+first, vexed because I had not remarked her before, she was proud and
+disdainful; but I soon proved to her that it was fortunate that my first
+or second choice had not fallen on her, as she would now remain longer
+with me. She then began to laugh, and shewed herself very agreeable.
+
+That girl had wit, education and talent-everything, in fact, that is
+needful to succeed in the profession she had adopted. During the supper
+Patu told me in Italian that he was on the point of taking her at the
+very moment I chose her, and the next morning he informed me that he had
+slept quietly all night. The Saint Hilaire was highly pleased with me,
+and she boasted of it before her companions. She was the cause of my
+paying several visits to the Hotel du Roule, and all for her; she was
+very proud of my constancy.
+
+Those visits very naturally cooled my ardour for Coraline. A singer from
+Venice, called Guadani, handsome, a thorough musician, and very witty,
+contrived to captivate her affections three weeks after my quarrel with
+her. The handsome fellow, who was a man only in appearance, inflamed her
+with curiosity if not with love, and caused a rupture with the prince,
+who caught her in the very act. But Coraline managed to coax him back,
+and, a short time after, a reconciliation took place between them, and
+such a good one, that a babe was the consequence of it; a girl, whom the
+prince named Adelaide, and to whom he gave a dowry. After the death of
+his father, the Duke of Valentinois, the prince left her altogether and
+married Mlle. de Brignole, from Genoa. Coraline became the mistress of
+Count de la Marche, now Prince de Conti. Coraline is now dead, as well as
+a son whom she had by the count, and whom his father named Count de
+Monreal.
+
+Madame la Dauphine was delivered of a princess, who received the title of
+Madame de France.
+
+In the month of August the Royal Academy had an exhibition at the Louvre,
+and as there was not a single battle piece I conceived the idea of
+summoning my brother to Paris. He was then in Venice, and he had great
+talent in that particular style. Passorelli, the only painter of battles
+known in France, was dead, and I thought that Francois might succeed and
+make a fortune. I therefore wrote to M. Grimani and to my brother; I
+persuaded them both, but Francois did not come to Paris till the
+beginning of the following year.
+
+Louis XV., who was passionately fond of hunting, was in the habit of
+spending six weeks every year at the Chateau of Fontainebleau. He always
+returned to Versailles towards the middle of November. That trip cost
+him, or rather cost France, five millions of francs. He always took with
+him all that could contribute to the amusement of the foreign ambassadors
+and of his numerous court. He was followed by the French and the Italian
+comedians, and by the actors and actresses of the opera.
+
+During those six weeks Fontainebleau was more brilliant than Versailles;
+nevertheless, the artists attached to the theatres were so numerous that
+the Opera, the French and Italian Comedies, remained open in Paris.
+
+Baletti's father, who had recovered his health, was to go to
+Fontainebleau with Silvia and all his family. They invited me to
+accompany them, and to accept a lodging in a house hired by them.
+
+It was a splendid opportunity; they were my friends, and I accepted, for
+I could not have met with a better occasion to see the court and all the
+foreign ministers. I presented myself to M. de Morosini, now Procurator
+at St. Mark's, and then ambassador from the Republic to the French court.
+
+The first night of the opera he gave me permission to accompany him; the
+music was by Lulli. I had a seat in the pit precisely under the private
+box of Madame de Pompadour, whom I did not know. During the first scene
+the celebrated Le Maur gave a scream so shrill and so unexpected that I
+thought she had gone mad. I burst into a genuine laugh, not supposing
+that any one could possibly find fault with it. But a knight of the Order
+of the Holy Ghost, who was near the Marquise de Pompadour, dryly asked me
+what country I came from. I answered, in the same tone,
+
+"From Venice."
+
+"I have been there, and have laughed heartily at the recitative in your
+operas."
+
+"I believe you, sir, and I feel certain that no one ever thought of
+objecting to your laughing."
+
+My answer, rather a sharp one, made Madame de Pompadour laugh, and she
+asked me whether I truly came from down there.
+
+"What do you mean by down there?"
+
+"I mean Venice."
+
+"Venice, madam, is not down there, but up there."
+
+That answer was found more singular than the first, and everybody in the
+box held a consultation in order to ascertain whether Venice was down or
+up. Most likely they thought I was right, for I was left alone.
+Nevertheless, I listened to the opera without laughing; but as I had a
+very bad cold I blew my nose often. The same gentleman addressing himself
+again to me, remarked that very likely the windows of my room did not
+close well. That gentleman, who was unknown to me was the Marechal de
+Richelieu. I told him he was mistaken, for my windows were well
+'calfoutrees'. Everyone in the box burst into a loud laugh, and I felt
+mortified, for I knew my mistake; I ought to have said 'calfeutrees'. But
+these 'eus' and 'ous' cause dire misery to all foreigners.
+
+Half an hour afterwards M. de Richelieu asked me which of the two
+actresses pleased me most by her beauty.
+
+"That one, sir."
+
+"But she has ugly legs."
+
+"They are not seen, sir; besides, whenever I examine the beauty of a
+woman, 'la premiere chose que j'ecarte, ce sont les jambes'."
+
+That word said quite by chance, and the double meaning of which I did not
+understand, made at once an important personage of me, and everybody in
+the box of Madame de Pompadour was curious to know me. The marshal
+learned who I was from M. de Morosini, who told me that the duke would be
+happy to receive me. My 'jeu de mots' became celebrated, and the marshal
+honoured me with a very gracious welcome. Among the foreign ministers,
+the one to whom I attached myself most was Lord Keith, Marshal of
+Scotland and ambassador of the King of Prussia. I shall have occasion to
+speak of him.
+
+The day after my arrival in Fontainebleau I went alone to the court, and
+I saw Louis XV., the handsome king, go to the chapel with the royal
+family and all the ladies of the court, who surprised me by their
+ugliness as much as the ladies of the court of Turin had astonished me by
+their beauty. Yet in the midst of so many ugly ones I found out a regular
+beauty. I enquired who she was.
+
+"She is," answered one of my neighbours, "Madame de Brionne, more
+remarkable by her virtue even than by her beauty. Not only is there no
+scandalous story told about her, but she has never given any opportunity
+to scandal-mongers of inventing any adventure of which she was the
+heroine."
+
+"Perhaps her adventures are not known."
+
+"Ah, monsieur! at the court everything is known."
+
+I went about alone, sauntering through the apartments, when suddenly I
+met a dozen ugly ladies who seemed to be running rather than walking;
+they were standing so badly upon their legs that they appeared as if they
+would fall forward on their faces. Some gentleman happened to be near me,
+curiosity impelled me to enquire where they were coming from, and where
+they were going in such haste.
+
+"They are coming from the apartment of the queen who is going to dine,
+and the reason why they walk so badly is that their shoes have heels six
+inches high, which compel them to walk on their toes and with bent knees
+in order to avoid falling on their faces."
+
+"But why do they not wear lower heels?"
+
+"It is the fashion."
+
+"What a stupid fashion!"
+
+I took a gallery at random, and saw the king passing along, leaning with
+one arm on the shoulder of M. d'Argenson. "Oh, base servility!" I thought
+to myself. "How can a man make up his mind thus to bear the yoke, and how
+can a man believe himself so much above all others as to take such
+unwarrantable liberties!"
+
+Louis XV. had the most magnificent head it was possible to see, and he
+carried it with as much grace as majesty. Never did even the most skilful
+painter succeed in rendering justice to the expression of that beautiful
+head, when the king turned it on one side to look with kindness at
+anyone. His beauty and grace compelled love at once. As I saw him, I
+thought I had found the ideal majesty which I had been so surprised not
+to find in the king of Sardinia, and I could not entertain a doubt of
+Madame de Pompadour having been in love with the king when she sued for
+his royal attention. I was greatly mistaken, perhaps, but such a thought
+was natural in looking at the countenance of Louis XV.
+
+I reached a splendid room in which I saw several courtiers walking about,
+and a table large enough for twelve persons, but laid out only for one.
+
+"For whom is this table?"
+
+"For the queen. Her majesty is now coming in."
+
+It was the queen of France, without rouge, and very simply dressed; her
+head was covered with a large cap; she looked old and devout. When she
+was near the table, she graciously thanked two nuns who were placing a
+plate with fresh butter on it. She sat down, and immediately the
+courtiers formed a semicircle within five yards of the table; I remained
+near them, imitating their respectful silence.
+
+Her majesty began to eat without looking at anyone, keeping her eyes on
+her plate. One of the dishes being to her taste, she desired to be helped
+to it a second time, and she then cast her eyes round the circle of
+courtiers, probably in order to see if among them there was anyone to
+whom she owed an account of her daintiness. She found that person, I
+suppose, for she said,
+
+"Monsieur de Lowendal!"
+
+At that name, a fine-looking man came forward with respectful
+inclination, and said,
+
+"Your majesty?"
+
+"I believe this is a fricassee of chickens."
+
+"I am of the same opinion, madam."
+
+After this answer, given in the most serious tone, the queen continued
+eating, and the marshal retreated backward to his original place. The
+queen finished her dinner without uttering a single word, and retired to
+her apartments the same way as she had come. I thought that if such was
+the way the queen of France took all her meals, I would not sue for the
+honour of being her guest.
+
+I was delighted to have seen the famous captain who had conquered
+Bergen-op-Zoom, but I regretted that such a man should be compelled to
+give an answer about a fricassee of chickens in the serious tone of a
+judge pronouncing a sentence of death.
+
+I made good use of this anecdote at the excellent dinner Silvia gave to
+the elite of polite and agreeable society.
+
+A few days afterwards, as I was forming a line with a crowd of courtiers
+to enjoy the ever new pleasure of seeing the king go to mass, a pleasure
+to which must be added the advantage of looking at the naked and entirely
+exposed arms and bosoms of Mesdames de France, his daughters, I suddenly
+perceived the Cavamacchia, whom I had left in Cesena under the name of
+Madame Querini. If I was astonished to see her, she was as much so in
+meeting me in such a place. The Marquis of Saint Simon, premier
+'gentilhomme' of the Prince de Conde, escorted her.
+
+"Madame Querini in Fontainebleau?"
+
+"You here? It reminds me of Queen Elizabeth saying,
+
+"'Pauper ubique facet.'"
+
+"An excellent comparison, madam."
+
+"I am only joking, my dear friend; I am here to see the king, who does
+not know me; but to-morrow the ambassador will present me to his
+majesty."
+
+She placed herself in the line within a yard or two from me, beside the
+door by which the king was to come. His majesty entered the gallery with
+M. de Richelieu, and looked at the so-called Madame Querini. But she very
+likely did not take his fancy, for, continuing to walk on, he addressed
+to the marshal these remarkable words, which Juliette must have
+overheard,
+
+"We have handsomer women here."
+
+In the afternoon I called upon the Venetian ambassador. I found him in
+numerous company, with Madame Querini sitting on his right. She addressed
+me in the most flattering and friendly manner; it was extraordinary
+conduct on the part of a giddy woman who had no cause to like me, for she
+was aware that I knew her thoroughly, and that I had mastered her vanity;
+but as I understood her manoeuvring I made up my mind not to disoblige
+her, and even to render her all the good offices I could; it was a noble
+revenge.
+
+As she was speaking of M. Querini, the ambassador congratulated her upon
+her marriage with him, saying that he was glad M. Querini had rendered
+justice to her merit, and adding,
+
+"I was not aware of your marriage."
+
+"Yet it took place more than two years since," said Juliette.
+
+"I know it for a fact," I said, in my turn; "for, two years ago, the lady
+was introduced as Madame Querini and with the title of excellency by
+General Spada to all the nobility in Cesena, where I was at that time."
+
+"I have no doubt of it," answered the ambassador, fixing his eyes upon
+me, "for Querini has himself written to me on the subject."
+
+A few minutes afterwards, as I was preparing to take my leave, the
+ambassador, under pretense of some letters the contents of which he
+wished to communicate to me, invited me to come into his private room,
+and he asked me what people generally thought of the marriage in Venice.
+
+"Nobody knows it, and it is even rumoured that the heir of the house of
+Querini is on the point of marrying a daughter of the Grimani family; but
+I shall certainly send the news to Venice."
+
+"What news?"
+
+"That Juliette is truly Madame Querini, since your excellency will
+present her as such to Louis XV."
+
+"Who told you so?"
+
+"She did."
+
+"Perhaps she has altered her mind."
+
+I repeated to the ambassador the words which the king had said to M. de
+Richelieu after looking at Juliette.
+
+"Then I can guess," remarked the ambassador, "why Juliette does not wish
+to be presented to the king."
+
+I was informed some time afterwards that M. de Saint Quentin, the king's
+confidential minister, had called after mass on the handsome Venetian,
+and had told her that the king of France had most certainly very bad
+taste, because he had not thought her beauty superior to that of several
+ladies of his court. Juliette left Fontainebleau the next morning.
+
+In the first part of my Memoirs I have spoken of Juliette's beauty; she
+had a wonderful charm in her countenance, but she had already used her
+advantages too long, and her beauty was beginning to fade when she
+arrived in Fontainebleau.
+
+I met her again in Paris at the ambassador's, and she told me with a
+laugh that she had only been in jest when she called herself Madame
+Querini, and that I should oblige her if for the future I would call her
+by her real name of Countess Preati. She invited me to visit her at the
+Hotel de Luxembourg, where she was staying. I often called on her, for
+her intrigues amused me, but I was wise enough not to meddle with them.
+
+She remained in Paris four months, and contrived to infatuate M. Ranchi,
+secretary of the Venetian Embassy, an amiable and learned man. He was so
+deeply in love that he had made up his mind to marry her; but through a
+caprice which she, perhaps, regretted afterwards, she ill-treated him,
+and the fool died of grief. Count de Canes, ambassador of Maria Theresa,
+had some inclination for her, as well as the Count of Zinzendorf. The
+person who arranged these transient and short-lived intrigues was a
+certain Guasco, an abbe not over-favoured with the gifts of Plutus. He
+was particularly ugly, and had to purchase small favours with great
+services.
+
+But the man whom she really wished to marry was Count Saint Simon. He
+would have married her if she had not given him false addresses to make
+enquiries respecting her birth. The Preati family of Verona denied all
+knowledge of her, as a matter of course, and M. de Saint Simon, who, in
+spite of all his love, had not entirely lost his senses, had the courage
+to abandon her. Altogether, Paris did not prove an 'el dorado' for my
+handsome countrywoman, for she was obliged to pledge her diamonds, and to
+leave them behind her. After her return to Venice she married the son of
+the Uccelli, who sixteen years before had taken her out of her poverty.
+She died ten years ago.
+
+I was still taking my French lessons with my good old Crebillon; yet my
+style, which was full of Italianisms, often expressed the very reverse of
+what I meant to say. But generally my 'quid pro quos' only resulted in
+curious jokes which made my fortune; and the best of it is that my
+gibberish did me no harm on the score of wit: on the contrary, it
+procured me fine acquaintances.
+
+Several ladies of the best society begged me to teach them Italian,
+saying that it would afford them the opportunity of teaching me French;
+in such an exchange I always won more than they did.
+
+Madame Preodot, who was one of my pupils, received me one morning; she
+was still in bed, and told me that she did not feel disposed to have a
+lesson, because she had taken medicine the night previous. Foolishly
+translating an Italian idiom, I asked her, with an air of deep interest,
+whether she had well 'decharge'?
+
+"Sir, what a question! You are unbearable."
+
+I repeated my question; she broke out angrily again.
+
+"Never utter that dreadful word."
+
+"You are wrong in getting angry; it is the proper word."
+
+"A very dirty word, sir, but enough about it. Will you have some
+breakfast?"
+
+"No, I thank you. I have taken a 'cafe' and two 'Savoyards'."
+
+"Dear me! What a ferocious breakfast! Pray, explain yourself."
+
+"I say that I have drunk a cafe and eaten two Savoyards soaked in it, and
+that is what I do every morning."
+
+"You are stupid, my good friend. A cafe is the establishment in which
+coffee is sold, and you ought to say that you have drunk 'use tasse de
+cafe'"
+
+"Good indeed! Do you drink the cup? In Italy we say a 'caffs', and we are
+not foolish enough to suppose that it means the coffee-house."
+
+"He will have the best of it! And the two 'Savoyards', how did you
+swallow them?"
+
+"Soaked in my coffee, for they were not larger than these on your table."
+
+"And you call these 'Savoyards'? Say biscuits."
+
+"In Italy, we call them 'Savoyards' because they were first invented in
+Savoy; and it is not my fault if you imagined that I had swallowed two of
+the porters to be found at the corner of the streets--big fellows whom
+you call in Paris Savoyards, although very often they have never been in
+Savoy."
+
+Her husband came in at that moment, and she lost no time in relating the
+whole of our conversation. He laughed heartily, but he said I was right.
+Her niece arrived a few minutes after; she was a young girl about
+fourteen years of age, reserved, modest, and very intelligent. I had
+given her five or six lessons in Italian, and as she was very fond of
+that language and studied diligently she was beginning to speak.
+
+Wishing to pay me her compliments in Italian, she said to me,
+
+"'Signore, sono in cantata di vi Vader in bona salute'."
+
+"I thank you, mademoiselle; but to translate 'I am enchanted', you must
+say 'ho pacer', and for to see you, you must say 'di vedervi'."
+
+"I thought, sir, that the 'vi' was to be placed before."
+
+"No, mademoiselle, we always put it behind."
+
+Monsieur and Madame Preodot were dying with laughter; the young lady was
+confused, and I in despair at having uttered such a gross absurdity; but
+it could not be helped. I took a book sulkily, in the hope of putting a
+stop to their mirth, but it was of no use: it lasted a week. That uncouth
+blunder soon got known throughout Paris, and gave me a sort of reputation
+which I lost little by little, but only when I understood the double
+meanings of words better. Crebillon was much amused with my blunder, and
+he told me that I ought to have said after instead of behind. Ah! why
+have not all languages the same genius! But if the French laughed at my
+mistakes in speaking their language, I took my revenge amply by turning
+some of their idioms into ridicule.
+
+"Sir," I once said to a gentleman, "how is your wife?"
+
+"You do her great honour, sir."
+
+"Pray tell me, sir, what her honour has to do with her health?"
+
+I meet in the Bois de Boulogne a young man riding a horse which he cannot
+master, and at last he is thrown. I stop the horse, run to the assistance
+of the young man and help him up.
+
+"Did you hurt yourself, sir?"
+
+"Oh, many thanks, sir, au contraire."
+
+"Why au contraire! The deuce! It has done you good? Then begin again,
+sir."
+
+And a thousand similar expressions entirely the reverse of good sense.
+But it is the genius of the language.
+
+I was one day paying my first visit to the wife of President de N----,
+when her nephew, a brilliant butterfly, came in, and she introduced me to
+him, mentioning my name and my country.
+
+"Indeed, sir, you are Italian?" said the young man. "Upon my word, you
+present yourself so gracefully that I would have betted you were French."
+
+"Sir, when I saw you, I was near making the same mistake; I would have
+betted you were Italian."
+
+Another time, I was dining at Lady Lambert's in numerous and brilliant
+company. Someone remarked on my finger a cornelian ring on which was
+engraved very beautifully the head of Louis XV. My ring went round the
+table, and everybody thought that the likeness was striking.
+
+A young marquise, who had the reputation of being a great wit, said to me
+in the most serious tone,
+
+"It is truly an antique?"
+
+"The stone, madam, undoubtedly."
+
+Everyone laughed except the thoughtless young beauty, who did not take
+any notice of it. Towards the end of the dinner, someone spoke of the
+rhinoceros, which was then shewn for twenty-four sous at the St.
+Germain's Fair.
+
+"Let us go and see it!" was the cry.
+
+We got into the carriages, and reached the fair. We took several turns
+before we could find the place. I was the only gentleman; I was taking
+care of two ladies in the midst of the crowd, and the witty marquise was
+walking in front of us. At the end of the alley where we had been told
+that we would find the animal, there was a man placed to receive the
+money of the visitors. It is true that the man, dressed in the African
+fashion, was very dark and enormously stout, yet he had a human and very
+masculine form, and the beautiful marquise had no business to make a
+mistake. Nevertheless, the thoughtless young creature went up straight to
+him and said,
+
+"Are you the rhinoceros, sir?"
+
+"Go in, madam, go in."
+
+We were dying with laughing; and the marquise, when she had seen the
+animal, thought herself bound to apologize to the master; assuring him
+that she had never seen a rhinoceros in her life, and therefore he could
+not feel offended if she had made a mistake.
+
+One evening I was in the foyer of the Italian Comedy, where between the
+acts the highest noblemen were in the habit of coming, in order to
+converse and joke with the actresses who used to sit there waiting for
+their turn to appear on the stage, and I was seated near Camille,
+Coraline's sister, whom I amused by making love to her. A young
+councillor, who objected to my occupying Camille's attention, being a
+very conceited fellow, attacked me upon some remark I made respecting an
+Italian play, and took the liberty of shewing his bad temper by
+criticizing my native country. I was answering him in an indirect way,
+looking all the time at Camille, who was laughing. Everybody had
+congregated around us and was attentive to the discussion, which, being
+carried on as an assault of wit, had nothing to make it unpleasant.
+
+But it seemed to take a serious turn when the young fop, turning the
+conversation on the police of the city, said that for some time it had
+been dangerous to walk alone at night through the streets of Paris.
+
+"During the last month," he added, "the Place de Greve has seen the
+hanging of seven men, among whom there were five Italians. An
+extraordinary circumstance."
+
+"Nothing extraordinary in that," I answered; "honest men generally
+contrive to be hung far away from their native country; and as a proof of
+it, sixty Frenchmen have been hung in the course of last year between
+Naples, Rome, and Venice. Five times twelve are sixty; so you see that it
+is only a fair exchange."
+
+The laughter was all on my side, and the fine councillor went away rather
+crestfallen. One of the gentlemen present at the discussion, finding my
+answer to his taste, came up to Camille, and asked her in a whisper who I
+was. We got acquainted at once.
+
+It was M. de Marigni, whom I was delighted to know for the sake of my
+brother whose arrival in Paris I was expecting every day. M. de Marigni
+was superintendent of the royal buildings, and the Academy of Painting
+was under his jurisdiction. I mentioned my brother to him, and he
+graciously promised to protect him. Another young nobleman, who conversed
+with me, invited me to visit him. It was the Duke de Matalona.
+
+I told him that I had seen him, then only a child, eight years before in
+Naples, and that I was under great obligations to his uncle, Don Lelio.
+The young duke was delighted, and we became intimate friends.
+
+My brother arrived in Paris in the spring of 1751, and he lodged with me
+at Madame Quinson's. He began at once to work with success for private
+individuals; but his main idea being to compose a picture to be submitted
+to the judgment of the Academy, I introduced him to M. de Marigni, who
+received him with great distinction, and encouraged him by assuring him
+of his protection. He immediately set to work with great diligence.
+
+M. de Morosini had been recalled, and M. de Mocenigo had succeeded him as
+ambassador of the Republic. M. de Bragadin had recommended me to him, and
+he tendered a friendly welcome both to me and to my brother, in whose
+favour he felt interested as a Venetian, and as a young artist seeking to
+build up a position by his talent.
+
+M. de Mocenigo was of a very pleasant nature; he liked gambling although
+he was always unlucky at cards; he loved women, and he was not more
+fortunate with them because he did not know how to manage them. Two years
+after his arrival in Paris he fell in love with Madame de Colande, and,
+finding it impossible to win her affections, he killed himself.
+
+Madame la Dauphine was delivered of a prince, the Duke of Burgundy, and
+the rejoicings indulged in at the birth of that child seem to me
+incredible now, when I see what the same nation is doing against the
+king. The people want to be free; it is a noble ambition, for mankind are
+not made to be the slaves of one man; but with a nation populous, great,
+witty, and giddy, what will be the end of that revolution? Time alone can
+tell us.
+
+The Duke de Matalona procured me the acquaintance of the two princes, Don
+Marc Antoine and Don Jean Baptiste Borghese, from Rome, who were enjoying
+themselves in Paris, yet living without display. I had occasion to remark
+that when those Roman princes were presented at the court of France they
+were only styled "marquis:" It was the same with the Russian princes, to
+whom the title of prince was refused when they wanted to be presented;
+they were called "knees," but they did not mind it, because that word
+meant prince. The court of France has always been foolishly particular on
+the question of titles, and is even now sparing of the title of monsieur,
+although it is common enough everywhere every man who was not titled was
+called Sieur. I have remarked that the king never addressed his bishops
+otherwise than as abbes, although they were generally very proud of their
+titles. The king likewise affected to know a nobleman only when his name
+was inscribed amongst those who served him.
+
+Yet the haughtiness of Louis XV. had been innoculated into him by
+education; it was not in his nature. When an ambassador presented someone
+to him, the person thus presented withdrew with the certainty of having
+been seen by the king, but that was all. Nevertheless, Louis XV. was very
+polite, particularly with ladies, even with his mistresses, when in
+public. Whoever failed in respect towards them in the slightest manner
+was sure of disgrace, and no king ever possessed to a greater extent the
+grand royal virtue which is called dissimulation. He kept a secret
+faithfully, and he was delighted when he knew that no one but himself
+possessed it.
+
+The Chevalier d'Eon is a proof of this, for the king alone knew and had
+always known that the chevalier was a woman, and all the long discussions
+which the false chevalier had with the office for foreign affairs was a
+comedy which the king allowed to go on, only because it amused him.
+
+Louis XV. was great in all things, and he would have had no faults if
+flattery had not forced them upon him. But how could he possibly have
+supposed himself faulty in anything when everyone around him repeated
+constantly that he was the best of kings? A king, in the opinion of which
+he was imbued respecting his own person, was a being of a nature by far
+too superior to ordinary men for him not to have the right to consider
+himself akin to a god. Sad destiny of kings! Vile flatterers are
+constantly doing everything necessary to reduce them below the condition
+of man.
+
+The Princess of Ardore was delivered about that time of a young prince.
+Her husband, the Neapolitan ambassador, entreated Louis XV. to be
+god-father to the child; the king consented and presented his god-son
+with a regiment; but the mother, who did not like the military career for
+her son, refused it. The Marshal de Richelieu told me that he had never
+known the king laugh so heartily as when he heard of that singular
+refusal.
+
+At the Duchess de Fulvie's I made the acquaintance of Mdlle. Gaussin, who
+was called Lolotte. She was the mistress of Lord Albemarle, the English
+ambassador, a witty and very generous nobleman. One evening he complained
+of his mistress praising the beauty of the stars which were shining
+brightly over her head, saying that she ought to know he could not give
+them to her. If Lord Albemarle had been ambassador to the court of France
+at the time of the rupture between France and England, he would have
+arranged all difficulties amicably, and the unfortunate war by which
+France lost Canada would not have taken place. There is no doubt that the
+harmony between two nations depends very often upon their respective
+ambassadors, when there is any danger of a rupture.
+
+As to the noble lord's mistress, there was but one opinion respecting
+her. She was fit in every way to become his wife, and the highest
+families of France did not think that she needed the title of Lady
+Albemarle to be received with distinction; no lady considered it debasing
+to sit near her, although she was well known as the mistress of the
+English lord. She had passed from her mother's arms to those of Lord
+Albemarle at the age of thirteen, and her conduct was always of the
+highest respectability. She bore children whom the ambassador
+acknowledged legally, and she died Countess d'Erouville. I shall have to
+mention her again in my Memoirs.
+
+I had likewise occasion to become acquainted at the Venetian Embassy with
+a lady from Venice, the widow of an English baronet named Wynne. She was
+then coming from London with her children, where she had been compelled
+to go in order to insure them the inheritance of their late father, which
+they would have lost if they had not declared themselves members of the
+Church of England. She was on her way back to Venice, much pleased with
+her journey. She was accompanied by her eldest daughter--a young girl of
+twelve years, who, notwithstanding her youth, carried on her beautiful
+face all the signs of perfection.
+
+She is now living in Venice, the widow of Count de Rosenberg, who died in
+Venice ambassador of the Empress-Queen Maria Theresa. She is surrounded
+by the brilliant halo of her excellent conduct and of all her social
+virtues. No one can accuse her of any fault, except that of being poor,
+but she feels it only because it does not allow her to be as charitable
+as she might wish.
+
+The reader will see in the next chapter how I managed to embroil myself
+with the French police.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+My Broil With Parisian Justice--Mdlle. Vesian
+
+The youngest daughter of my landlady, Mdlle. Quinson, a young girl
+between fifteen and sixteen years of age, was in the habit of often
+coming to my room without being called. It was not long before I
+discovered that she was in love with me, and I should have thought myself
+ridiculous if I had been cruel to a young brunette who was piquant,
+lively, amiable, and had a most delightful voice.
+
+During the first four or five months nothing but childish trifles took
+place between us; but one night, coming home very late and finding her
+fast asleep on my bed, I did not see the necessity of waking her up, and
+undressing myself I lay down beside her.... She left me at daybreak.
+
+Mimi had not been gone three hours when a milliner came with a charming
+young girl, to invite herself and her friend to breakfast; I thought the
+young girl well worth a breakfast, but I was tired and wanted rest, and I
+begged them both to withdraw. Soon after they had left me, Madame Quinson
+came with her daughter to make my bed. I put my dressing-gown on, and
+began to write.
+
+"Ah! the nasty hussies!" exclaims the mother.
+
+"What is the matter, madam?"
+
+"The riddle is clear enough, sir; these sheets are spoiled."
+
+"I am very sorry, my dear madam, but change them, and the evil will be
+remedied at once."
+
+She went out of the room, threatening and grumbling,
+
+"Let them come again, and see if I don't take care of them!"
+
+Mimi remained alone with me, and I addressed her some reproaches for her
+imprudence. But she laughed, and answered that Love had sent those women
+on purpose to protect Innocence! After that, Mimi was no longer under any
+restraint, she would come and share my bed whenever she had a fancy to do
+so, unless I sent her back to her own room, and in the morning she always
+left me in good time. But at the end of four months my beauty informed me
+that our secret would soon be discovered.
+
+"I am very sorry," I said to her, "but I cannot help it."
+
+"We ought to think of something."
+
+"Well, do so."
+
+"What can I think of? Well, come what will; the best thing I can do is
+not to think of it."
+
+Towards the sixth month she had become so large, that her mother, no
+longer doubting the truth, got into a violent passion, and by dint of
+blows compelled her to name the father. Mimi said I was the guilty swain,
+and perhaps it was not an untruth.
+
+With that great discovery Madame Quinson burst into my room in high
+dudgeon. She threw herself on a chair, and when she had recovered her
+breath she loaded me with insulting words, and ended by telling me that I
+must marry her daughter. At this intimation, understanding her object and
+wishing to cut the matter short, I told her that I was already married in
+Italy.
+
+"Then why did you come here and get my daughter with child?"
+
+"I can assure you that I did not mean to do so. Besides, how do you know
+that I am the father of the child?"
+
+"Mimi says so, and she is certain of it."
+
+"I congratulate her; but I warn you, madam, that I am ready to swear that
+I have not any certainty about it."
+
+"What then?"
+
+"Then nothing. If she is pregnant, she will be confined."
+
+She went downstairs, uttering curses and threats: the next day I was
+summoned before the commissary of the district. I obeyed the summons, and
+found Madame Quinson fully equipped for the battle. The commissary, after
+the preliminary questions usual in all legal cases, asked me whether I
+admitted myself guilty towards the girl Quinson of the injury of which
+the mother, there present personally, complained.
+
+"Monsieur le Commissaire, I beg of you to write word by word the answer
+which I am going to give you."
+
+"Very well."
+
+"I have caused no injury whatever to Mimi, the plaintiff's daughter, and
+I refer you to the girl herself, who has always had as much friendship
+for me as I have had for her."
+
+"But she declares that she is pregnant from your doings."
+
+"That may be, but it is not certain."
+
+"She says it is certain, and she swears that she has never known any
+other man."
+
+"If it is so, she is unfortunate; for in such a question a man cannot
+trust any woman but his own wife."
+
+"What did you give her in order to seduce her?"
+
+"Nothing; for very far from having seduced her, she has seduced me, and
+we agreed perfectly in one moment; a pretty woman does not find it very
+hard to seduce me."
+
+"Was she a virgin?"
+
+"I never felt any curiosity about it either before or after; therefore,
+sir, I do not know."
+
+"Her mother claims reparation, and the law is against you."
+
+"I can give no reparation to the mother; and as for the law I will obey
+it when it has been explained to me, and when I am convinced that I have
+been guilty against it."
+
+"You are already convinced. Do you imagine that a man who gets an honest
+girl with child in a house of which he is an inmate does not transgress
+the laws of society?"
+
+"I admit that to be the case when the mother is deceived; but when that
+same mother sends her daughter to the room of a young man, are we not
+right in supposing that she is disposed to accept peacefully all the
+accidents which may result from such conduct?"
+
+"She sent her daughter to your room only to wait on you."
+
+"And she has waited on me as I have waited on her if she sends her to my
+room this evening, and if it is agreeable to Mimi, I will certainly serve
+her as well as I can; but I will have nothing to do with her against her
+will or out of my room, the rent of which I have always paid punctually."
+
+"You may say what you like, but you must pay the fine."
+
+"I will say what I believe to be just, and I will pay nothing; for there
+can be no fine where there is no law transgressed. If I am sentenced to
+pay I shall appeal even to the last jurisdiction and until I obtain
+justice, for believe me, sir, I know that I am not such an awkward and
+cowardly fellow as to refuse my caresses to a pretty woman who pleases
+me, and comes to provoke them in my own room, especially when I feel
+myself certain of the mother's agreement."
+
+I signed the interrogatory after I had read it carefully, and went away.
+The next day the lieutenant of police sent for me, and after he had heard
+me, as well as the mother and the daughter, he acquitted me and condemned
+Madame Quinson in costs. But I could not after all resist the tears of
+Mimi, and her entreaties for me to defray the expenses of her
+confinement. She was delivered of a boy, who was sent to the Hotel Dieu
+to be brought up at the nation's expense. Soon afterwards Mimi ran away
+from her mother's house, and she appeared on the stage at St. Laurent's
+Fair. Being unknown, she had no difficulty in finding a lover who took
+her for a maiden. I found her very pretty on the stage.
+
+"I did not know," I said to her, "that you were a musician."
+
+"I am a musician about as much as all my companions, not one of whom
+knows a note of music. The girls at the opera are not much more clever,
+and in spite of that, with a good voice and some taste, one can sing
+delightfully."
+
+I advised her to invite Patu to supper, and he was charmed with her. Some
+time afterwards, however, she came to a bad end, and disappeared.
+
+The Italian comedians obtained at that time permission to perform
+parodies of operas and of tragedies. I made the acquaintance at that
+theatre of the celebrated Chantilly, who had been the mistress of the
+Marechal de Saxe, and was called Favart because the poet of that name had
+married her. She sang in the parody of 'Thetis et Pelee', by M. de
+Fontelle, the part of Tonton, amidst deafening applause. Her grace and
+talent won the love of a man of the greatest merit, the Abbe de Voisenon,
+with whom I was as intimate as with Crebillon. All the plays performed at
+the Italian Comedy, under the name of Madame Favart, were written by the
+abbe, who became member of the Academie after my departure from Paris. I
+cultivated an acquaintance the value of which I could appreciate, and he
+honoured me with his friendship. It was at my suggestions that the Abbe
+de Voisenon conceived the idea of composing oratorios in poetry; they
+were sung for the first time at the Tuileries, when the theatres were
+closed in consequence of some religious festival. That amiable abbe, who
+had written several comedies in secret, had very poor health and a very
+small body; he was all wit and gracefulness, famous for his shrewd
+repartees which, although very cutting, never offended anyone. It was
+impossible for him to have any enemies, for his criticism only grazed the
+skin and never wounded deeply. One day, as he was returning from
+Versailles, I asked him the news of the court.
+
+"The king is yawning," he answered, "because he must come to the
+parliament to-morrow to hold a bed of justice."
+
+"Why is it called a bed of justice?"
+
+"I do not know, unless it is because justice is asleep during the
+proceedings."
+
+I afterwards met in Prague the living portrait of that eminent writer in
+Count Francois Hardig, now plenipotentiary of the emperor at the court of
+Saxony.
+
+The Abbe de Voisenon introduced me to Fontenelle, who was then
+ninety-three years of age. A fine wit, an amiable and learned man,
+celebrated for his quick repartees, Fontenelle could not pay a compliment
+without throwing kindness and wit into it. I told him that I had come
+from Italy on purpose to see him.
+
+"Confess, sir," he said to me, "that you have kept me waiting a very long
+time."
+
+This repartee was obliging and critical at the same time, and pointed out
+in a delicate and witty manner the untruth of my compliment. He made me a
+present of his works, and asked me if I liked the French plays; I told
+him that I had seen 'Thetis et Pelee' at the opera. That play was his own
+composition, and when I had praised it, he told me that it was a 'tete
+pelee'.
+
+"I was at the Theatre Francais last night," I said, "and saw Athalie."
+
+"It is the masterpiece of Racine; Voltaire, has been wrong in accusing me
+of having criticized that tragedy, and in attributing to me an epigram,
+the author of which has never been known, and which ends with two very
+poor lines:
+
+     "Pour avoir fait pis qu'Esther,
+     Comment diable as-to pu faire"
+
+I have been told that M. de Fontenelle had been the tender friend of
+Madame du Tencin, that M. d'Alembert was the offspring of their intimacy,
+and that Le Rond had only been his foster-father. I knew d'Alembert at
+Madame de Graffigny's. That great philosopher had the talent of never
+appearing to be a learned man when he was in the company of amiable
+persons who had no pretension to learning or the sciences, and he always
+seemed to endow with intelligence those who conversed with him.
+
+When I went to Paris for the second time, after my escape from The Leads
+of Venice, I was delighted at the idea of seeing again the amiable,
+venerable Fontenelle, but he died a fortnight after my arrival, at the
+beginning of the year 1757.
+
+When I paid my third visit to Paris with the intention of ending my days
+in that capital, I reckoned upon the friendship of M. d'Alembert, but he
+died, like Fontenelle, a fortnight after my arrival, towards the end of
+1783. Now I feel that I have seen Paris and France for the last time. The
+popular effervescence has disgusted me, and I am too old to hope to see
+the end of it.
+
+Count de Looz, Polish ambassador at the French court, invited me in 1751
+to translate into Italian a French opera susceptible of great
+transformations, and of having a grand ballet annexed to the subject of
+the opera itself. I chose 'Zoroastre', by M. de Cahusac. I had to adapt
+words to the music of the choruses, always a difficult task. The music
+remained very beautiful, of course, but my Italian poetry was very poor.
+In spite of that the generous sovereign sent me a splendid gold
+snuff-box, and I thus contrived at the same time to please my mother very
+highly.
+
+It was about that time that Mdlle. Vesian arrived in Paris with her
+brother. She was quite young, well educated, beautiful, most amiable, and
+a novice; her brother accompanied her. Her father, formerly an officer in
+the French army, had died at Parma, his native city. Left an orphan
+without any means of support, she followed the advice given by her
+friends; she sold the furniture left by her father, with the intention of
+going to Versailles to obtain from the justice and from the generosity of
+the king a small pension to enable her to live. As she got out of the
+diligence, she took a coach, and desired to be taken to some hotel close
+by the Italian Theatre; by the greatest chance she was brought to the
+Hotel de Bourgogne, where I was then staying myself.
+
+In the morning I was told that there were two young Italians, brother and
+sister, who did not appear very wealthy, in the next room to mine.
+Italians, young, poor and newly arrived, my curiosity was excited. I went
+to the door of their room, I knocked, and a young man came to open it in
+his shirt.
+
+"I beg you to excuse me, sir," he said to me, "if I receive you in such a
+state."
+
+"I have to ask your pardon myself. I only come to offer you my services,
+as a countryman and as a neighbour."
+
+A mattress on the floor told me where the young man had slept; a bed
+standing in a recess and hid by curtains made me guess where the sister
+was. I begged of her to excuse me if I had presented myself without
+enquiring whether she was up.
+
+She answered without seeing me, that the journey having greatly tried her
+she had slept a little later than usual, but that she would get up
+immediately if I would excuse her for a short time.
+
+"I am going to my room, mademoiselle, and I will come back when you send
+for me; my room is next door to your own."
+
+A quarter of an hour after, instead of being sent for, I saw a young and
+beautiful person enter my room; she made a modest bow, saying that she
+had come herself to return my visit, and that her brother would follow
+her immediately.
+
+I thanked her for her visit, begged her to be seated, and I expressed all
+the interest I felt for her. Her gratitude shewed itself more by the tone
+of her voice than by her words, and her confidence being already
+captivated she told me artlessly, but not without some dignity, her short
+history or rather her situation, and she concluded by these words:
+
+"I must in the course of the day find a less expensive lodging, for I
+only possess six francs."
+
+I asked her whether she had any letters of recommendation, and she drew
+out of her pocket a parcel of papers containing seven or eight
+testimonials of good conduct and honesty, and a passport.
+
+"Is this all you have, my dear countrywoman?"
+
+"Yes. I intend to call with my brother upon the secretary of war, and I
+hope he will take pity on me."
+
+"You do not know anybody here?"
+
+"Not one person, sir; you are the first man in France to whom I have
+exposed my situation."
+
+"I am a countryman of yours, and you are recommended to me by your
+position as well as by your age; I wish to be your adviser, if you will
+permit me."
+
+"Ah, sir! how grateful I would be!"
+
+"Do not mention it. Give me your papers, I will see what is to be done
+with them. Do not relate your history to anyone, and do not say one word
+about your position. You had better remain at this hotel. Here are two
+Louis which I will lend you until you are in a position to return them to
+me."
+
+She accepted, expressing her heart-felt gratitude.
+
+Mademoiselle Vesian was an interesting brunette of sixteen. She had a
+good knowledge of French and Italian, graceful manners, and a dignity
+which endowed her with a very noble appearance. She informed me of her
+affairs without meanness, yet without that timidity which seems to arise
+from a fear of the person who listens being disposed to take advantage of
+the distressing position confided to his honour. She seemed neither
+humiliated nor bold; she had hope, and she did not boast of her courage.
+Her virtue was by no means ostentatious, but there was in her an air of
+modesty which would certainly have put a restraint upon anyone disposed
+to fail in respect towards her. I felt the effect of it myself, for in
+spite of her beautiful eyes, her fine figure, of the freshness of her
+complexion, her transparent skin, her negligee--in one word, all that can
+tempt a man and which filled me with burning desires, I did not for one
+instant lose control over myself; she had inspired me with a feeling of
+respect which helped me to master my senses, and I promised myself not
+only to attempt nothing against her virtue, but also not to be the first
+man to make her deviate from the right path. I even thought it better to
+postpone to another interview a little speech on that subject, the result
+of which might be to make me follow a different course.
+
+"You are now in a city," I said to her, "in which your destiny must
+unfold itself, and in which all the fine qualities which nature has so
+bountifully bestowed upon you, and which may ultimately cause your
+fortune, may likewise cause your ruin; for here, by dear countrywoman,
+wealthy men despise all libertine women except those who have offered
+them the sacrifice of their virtue. If you are virtuous, and are
+determined upon remaining so, prepare yourself to bear a great deal of
+misery; if you feel yourself sufficiently above what is called prejudice,
+if, in one word, you feel disposed to consent to everything, in order to
+secure a comfortable position, be very careful not to make a mistake.
+Distrust altogether the sweet words which every passionate man will
+address to you for the sake of obtaining your favours, for, his passion
+once satisfied, his ardour will cool down, and you will find yourself
+deceived. Be wary of your adorers; they will give you abundance of
+counterfeit coin, but do not trust them far. As far as I am concerned, I
+feel certain that I shall never injure you, and I hope to be of some use
+to you. To reassure you entirely on my account, I will treat you as if
+you were my sister, for I am too young to play the part of your father,
+and I would not tell you all this if I did not think you a very charming
+person."
+
+Her brother joined us as we were talking together. He was a good-looking
+young man of eighteen, well made, but without any style about him; he
+spoke little, and his expression was devoid of individuality. We
+breakfasted together, and having asked him as we were at table for what
+profession he felt an inclination, he answered that he was disposed to do
+anything to earn an honourable living.
+
+"Have you any peculiar talent?"
+
+"I write pretty well."
+
+"That is something. When you go out, mistrust everybody; do not enter any
+cafe, and never speak to anyone in the streets. Eat your meals in your
+room with your sister, and tell the landlady to give you a small closet
+to sleep in. Write something in French to-day, let me have it to-morrow
+morning, and we will see what can be done. As for you, mademoiselle, my
+books are at your disposal, I have your papers; to-morrow I may have some
+news to tell you; we shall not see each other again to-day, for I
+generally come home very late." She took a few books, made a modest
+reverence, and told me with a charming voice that she had every
+confidence in me.
+
+Feeling disposed to be useful to her, wherever I went during that day I
+spoke of nothing but of her and of her affairs; and everywhere men and
+women told me that if she was pretty she could not fail, but that at all
+events it would be right for her to take all necessary steps. I received
+a promise that the brother should be employed in some office. I thought
+that the best plan would be to find some influential lady who would
+consent to present Mdlle. Vesian to M. d'Argenson, and I knew that in the
+mean time I could support her. I begged Silvia to mention the matter to
+Madame de Montconseil, who had very great influence with the secretary of
+war. She promised to do so, but she wished to be acquainted with the
+young girl.
+
+I returned to the hotel towards eleven o'clock, and seeing that there was
+a light still burning in the room of Mdlle. Vesian I knocked at her door.
+She opened it, and told me that she had sat up in the hope of seeing me.
+I gave her an account of what I had done. I found her disposed to
+undertake all that was necessary, and most grateful for my assistance.
+She spoke of her position with an air of noble indifference which she
+assumed in order to restrain her tears; she succeeded in keeping them
+back, but the moisture in her eyes proved all the efforts she was making
+to prevent them from falling. We had talked for two hours, and going from
+one subject to another I learned that she had never loved, and that she
+was therefore worthy of a lover who would reward her in a proper manner
+for the sacrifice of her virtue. It would have been absurd to think that
+marriage was to be the reward of that sacrifice; the young girl had not
+yet made what is called a false step, but she had none of the prudish
+feelings of those girls who say that they would not take such a step for
+all the gold in the universe, and usually give way before the slightest
+attack; all my young friend wanted was to dispose of herself in a proper
+and advantageous manner.
+
+I could not help sighing as I listened to her very sensible remarks,
+considering the position in which she was placed by an adverse destiny.
+Her sincerity was charming to me; I was burning with desire. Lucie of
+Pasean came back to my memory; I recollected how deeply I had repented
+the injury I had done in neglecting a sweet flower, which another man,
+and a less worthy one, had hastened to pluck; I felt myself near a lamb
+which would perhaps become the prey of some greedy wolf; and she, with
+her noble feelings, her careful education, and a candour which an impure
+breath would perhaps destroy for ever, was surely not destined for a lot
+of shame. I regretted I was not rich enough to make her fortune, and to
+save her honour and her virtue. I felt that I could neither make her mine
+in an illegitimate way nor be her guardian angel, and that by becoming
+her protector I should do her more harm than good; in one word, instead
+of helping her out of the unfortunate position in which she was, I
+should, perhaps, only contribute to her entire ruin. During that time I
+had her near me, speaking to her in a sentimental way, and not uttering
+one single word of love; but I kissed her hand and her arms too often
+without coming to a resolution, without beginning a thing which would
+have too rapidly come to an end, and which would have compelled me to
+keep her for myself; in that case, there would have been no longer any
+hope of a fortune for her, and for me no means of getting rid of her. I
+have loved women even to madness, but I have always loved liberty better;
+and whenever I have been in danger of losing it fate has come to my
+rescue.
+
+I had remained about four hours with Mdlle. Vesian, consumed by the most
+intense desires, and I had had strength enough to conquer them. She could
+not attribute my reserve to a feeling of modesty, and not knowing why I
+did not shew more boldness she must have supposed that I was either ill
+or impotent. I left her, after inviting her to dinner for the next day.
+
+We had a pleasant dinner, and her brother having gone out for a walk
+after our meal we looked together out of the window from which we could
+see all the carriages going to the Italian Comedy. I asked her whether
+she would like to go; she answered me with a smile of delight, and we
+started at once.
+
+I placed her in the amphitheatre where I left her, telling her that we
+would meet at the hotel at eleven o'clock. I would not remain with her,
+in order to avoid the questions which would have been addressed to me,
+for the simpler her toilet was the more interesting she looked.
+
+After I had left the theatre, I went to sup at Silvia's and returned to
+the hotel. I was surprised at the sight of an elegant carriage; I
+enquired to whom it belonged, and I was told that it was the carriage of
+a young nobleman who had supped with Mdlle. Vesian. She was getting on.
+
+The first thing next morning, as I was putting my head out of the window,
+I saw a hackney coach stop at the door of the hotel; a young man, well
+dressed in a morning costume, came out of it, and a minute after I heard
+him enter the room of Mdlle. Vesian. Courage! I had made up my mind; I
+affected a feeling of complete indifference in order to deceive myself.
+
+I dressed myself to go out, and while I was at my toilet Vesian came in
+and told me that he did not like to go into his sister's room because the
+gentleman who had supped with her had just arrived.
+
+"That's a matter of course," I said.
+
+"He is rich and very handsome. He wishes to take us himself to
+Versailles, and promises to procure some employment for me."
+
+"I congratulate you. Who is he?"
+
+"I do not know."
+
+I placed in an envelope the papers she had entrusted to me, and I handed
+them to him to return to his sister. I then went out. When I came home
+towards three o'clock, the landlady gave me a letter which had been left
+for me by Mdlle. Vesian, who had left the hotel.
+
+I went to my room, opened the letter, and read the following lines:
+
+"I return the money you have lent me with my best thanks. The Count de
+Narbonne feels interested in me, and wishes to assist me and my brother.
+I shall inform you of everything, of the house in which he wishes me to
+go and live, where he promises to supply me all I want. Your friendship
+is very dear to me, and I entreat you not to forget me. My brother
+remains at the hotel, and my room belongs to me for the month. I have
+paid everything."
+
+"Here is," said I to myself, "a second Lucie de Pasean, and I am a second
+time the dupe of my foolish delicacy, for I feel certain that the count
+will not make her happy. But I wash my hands of it all."
+
+I went to the Theatre Francais in the evening, and enquired about
+Narbonne. The first person I spoke to told me,
+
+"He is the son of a wealthy man, but a great libertine and up to his neck
+in debts."
+
+Nice references, indeed! For a week I went to all the theatres and public
+places in the hope of making the acquaintance of the count, but I could
+not succeed, and I was beginning to forget the adventure when one
+morning, towards eight o'clock Vesian calling on me, told me that his
+sister was in her room and wished to speak to me. I followed him
+immediately. I found her looking unhappy and with eyes red from crying.
+She told her brother to go out for a walk, and when he had gone she spoke
+to me thus:
+
+"M. de Narbonne, whom I thought an honest man, because I wanted him to be
+such, came to sit by me where you had left me at the theatre; he told me
+that my face had interested him, and he asked me who I was. I told him
+what I had told you. You had promised to think of me, but Narbonne told
+me that he did not want your assistance, as he could act by himself. I
+believed him, and I have been the dupe of my confidence in him; he has
+deceived me; he is a villain."
+
+The tears were choking her: I went to the window so as to let her cry
+without restraint: a few minutes after, I came back and I sat down by
+her.
+
+"Tell me all, my dear Vesian, unburden your heart freely, and do not
+think yourself guilty towards me; in reality I have been wrong more than
+you. Your heart would not now be a prey to sorrow if I had not been so
+imprudent as to leave you alone at the theatre."
+
+"Alas, sir! do not say so; ought I to reproach you because you thought me
+so virtuous? Well, in a few words, the monster promised to shew me every
+care, every attention, on condition of my giving him an undeniable, proof
+of my affection and confidence--namely, to take a lodging without my
+brother in the house of a woman whom he represented as respectable. He
+insisted upon my brother not living with me, saying that evil-minded
+persons might suppose him to be my lover. I allowed myself to be
+persuaded. Unhappy creature! How could I give way without consulting you?
+He told me that the respectable woman to whom he would take me would
+accompany me to Versailles, and that he would send my brother there so
+that we should be both presented to the war secretary. After our first
+supper he told me that he would come and fetch me in a hackney coach the
+next morning. He presented me with two louis and a gold watch, and I
+thought I could accept those presents from a young nobleman who shewed so
+much interest in me. The woman to whom he introduced me did not seem to
+me as respectable as he had represented her to be. I have passed one week
+with her without his doing anything to benefit my position. He would
+come, go out, return as he pleased, telling me every day that it would be
+the morrow, and when the morrow came there was always some impediment. At
+last, at seven o'clock this morning, the woman told me that the count was
+obliged to go into the country, that a hackney coach would bring me back
+to his hotel, and that he would come and see me on his return. Then,
+affecting an air of sadness, she told me that I must give her back the
+watch because the count had forgotten to pay the watchmaker for it. I
+handed it to her immediately without saying a word, and wrapping the
+little I possessed in my handkerchief I came back here, where I arrived
+half an hour since."
+
+"Do you hope to see him on his return from the country?"
+
+"To see him again! Oh, Lord! why have I ever seen him?"
+
+She was crying bitterly, and I must confess that no young girl ever moved
+me so deeply as she did by the expression of her grief. Pity replaced in
+my heart the tenderness I had felt for her a week before. The infamous
+proceedings of Narbonne disgusted me to that extent that, if I had known
+where to find him alone, I would immediately have compelled him to give
+me reparation. Of course, I took good care not to ask the poor girl to
+give me a detailed account of her stay in the house of Narbonne's
+respectable procurers; I could guess even more than I wanted to know, and
+to insist upon that recital would have humiliated Mdlle. Vesian. I could
+see all the infamy of the count in the taking back of the watch which
+belonged to her as a gift, and which the unhappy girl had earned but too
+well. I did all I could to dry her tears, and she begged me to be a
+father to her, assuring me that she would never again do anything to
+render her unworthy of my friendship, and that she would always be guided
+by my advice.
+
+"Well, my dear young friend, what you must do now is not only to forget
+the unworthy count and his criminal conduct towards you, but also the
+fault of which you have been guilty. What is done cannot be undone, and
+the past is beyond remedy; but compose yourself, and recall the air of
+cheerfulness which shone on your countenance a week ago. Then I could
+read on your face honesty, candour, good faith, and the noble assurance
+which arouses sentiment in those who can appreciate its charm. You must
+let all those feelings shine again on your features; for they alone can
+interest honest people, and you require the general sympathy more than
+ever. My friendship is of little importance to you, but you may rely upon
+it all the more because I fancy that you have now a claim upon it which
+you had not a week ago: Be quite certain, I beg, that I will not abandon
+you until your position is properly settled. I cannot at present tell you
+more; but be sure that I will think of you."
+
+"Ah, my friend! if you promise to think of me, I ask for no more. Oh!
+unhappy creature that I am; there is not a soul in the world who thinks
+of me."
+
+She was: so deeply moved that she fainted away. I came to her assistance
+without calling anyone, and when she had recovered her consciousness and
+some calm, I told her a hundred stories, true or purely imaginary, of the
+knavish tricks played in Paris by men who think of nothing but of
+deceiving young girls. I told her a few amusing instances in order to
+make her more cheerful, and at last I told her that she ought to be
+thankful for what had happened to her with Narbonne, because that
+misfortune would give her prudence for the future.
+
+During that long tete-a-tete I had no difficulty in abstaining from
+bestowing any caresses upon her; I did not even take her hand, for what I
+felt for her was a tender pity; and I was very happy when at the end of
+two hours I saw her calm and determined upon bearing misfortune like a
+heroine.
+
+She suddenly rose from her seat, and, looking at me with an air of modest
+trustfulness, she said to me,
+
+"Are, you particularly engaged in any way to-day?"
+
+"No, my dear:"
+
+"Well, then, be good enough to take me somewhere out of Paris; to some
+place where I can breathe the fresh air freely; I shall then recover that
+appearance which you think I must have to interest in my favour those who
+will see me; and if I can enjoy a quiet sleep throughout the next night I
+feel I shall be happy again."
+
+"I am grateful to you for your confidence in me. We will go out as soon
+as I am dressed. Your brother will return in the mean time."
+
+"Oh, never mind my brother!"
+
+"His presence is, on the contrary, of great importance. Recollect, my
+dear Vesian, you must make Narbonne ashamed of his own conduct. You must
+consider that if he should happen to hear that, on the very day he
+abandoned you, you went into the country alone with me, he would triumph,
+and would certainly say that he has only treated you as you deserved. But
+if you go with your brother and me your countryman, you give no occasion
+for slander."
+
+"I blush not to have made that remark myself. We will wait for my
+brother's return."
+
+He was not long in coming back, and having sent for a coach we were on
+the point of going, when Baletti called on me. I introduced him to the
+young lady, and invited him to join our party. He accepted, and we
+started. As my only purpose was to amuse Mdlle. Vesian, I told the
+coachman to drive us to the Gros Caillou, where we made an excellent
+impromptu dinner, the cheerfulness of the guests making up for the
+deficiencies of the servants.
+
+Vesian, feeling his head rather heavy, went out for a walk after dinner,
+and I remained alone with his sister and my friend Baletti. I observed
+with pleasure that Baletti thought her an agreeable girl, and it gave me
+the idea of asking him to teach her dancing. I informed him of her
+position, of the reason which had brought her to Paris, of the little
+hope there was of her obtaining a pension from the king, and of the
+necessity there was for her to do something to earn a living. Baletti
+answered that he would be happy to do anything, and when he had examined
+the figure and the general conformation of the young girl he said to her,
+
+"I will get Lani to take you for the ballet at the opera."
+
+"Then," I said, "you must begin your lessons tomorrow. Mdlle. Vesian
+stops at my hotel."
+
+The young girl, full of wonder at my plan, began to laugh heartily, and
+said,
+
+"But can an opera dancer be extemporized like a minister of state? I can
+dance the minuet, and my ear is good enough to enable me to go through a
+quadrille; but with the exception of that I cannot dance one step."
+
+"Most of the ballet girls," said Baletti, "know no more than you do."
+
+"And how much must I ask from M. Lani? I do not think I can expect much."
+
+"Nothing. The ballet girls are not paid."
+
+"Then where is the advantage for me?" she said, with a sigh; "how shall I
+live?"
+
+"Do not think of that. Such as you are, you will soon find ten wealthy
+noblemen who will dispute amongst themselves for the honour of making up
+for the absence of salary. You have only to make a good choice, and I am
+certain that it will not be long before we see you covered with
+diamonds."
+
+"Now I understand you. You suppose some great lord will keep me?"
+
+"Precisely; and that will be much better than a pension of four hundred
+francs, which you would, perhaps, not obtain without making the same
+sacrifice."
+
+Very much surprised, she looked at me to ascertain whether I was serious
+or only jesting.
+
+Baletti having left us, I told her it was truly the best thing she could
+do, unless she preferred the sad position of waiting-maid to some grand
+lady.
+
+"I would not be the 'femme de chambre' even of the queen."
+
+"And 'figurante' at the opera?"
+
+"Much rather."
+
+"You are smiling?"
+
+"Yes, for it is enough to make me laugh. I the mistress of a rich
+nobleman, who will cover me with diamonds! Well, I mean to choose the
+oldest."
+
+"Quite right, my dear; only do not make him jealous."
+
+"I promise you to be faithful to him. But shall he find a situation for
+my brother? However, until I am at the opera, until I have met with my
+elderly lover, who will give me the means to support myself?"
+
+"I, my dear girl, my friend Baletti, and all my friends, without other
+interest than the pleasure of serving you, but with the hope that you
+will live quietly, and that we shall contribute to your happiness. Are
+you satisfied?"
+
+"Quite so; I have promised myself to be guided entirely by your advice,
+and I entreat you to remain always my best friend."
+
+We returned to Paris at night, I left Mdlle. Vesian at the hotel, and
+accompanied Baletti to his mother's. At supper-time, my friend begged
+Silvia to speak to M. Lani in favour of our 'protegee', Silvia said that
+it was a much better plan than to solicit a miserable pension which,
+perhaps, would not be granted. Then we talked of a project which was then
+spoken of, namely to sell all the appointments of ballet girls and of
+chorus singers at the opera. There was even some idea of asking a high
+price for them, for it was argued that the higher the price the more the
+girls would be esteemed. Such a project, in the midst of the scandalous
+habits and manners of the time, had a sort of apparent wisdom; for it
+would have ennobled in a way a class of women who with very few
+exceptions seem to glory in being contemptible.
+
+There were, at that time at the opera, several figurantes, singers and
+dancers, ugly rather than plain, without any talent, who, in spite of it
+all, lived in great comfort; for it is admitted that at the opera a girl
+must needs renounce all modesty or starve. But if a girl, newly arrived
+there, is clever enough to remain virtuous only for one month, her
+fortune is certainly made, because then the noblemen enjoying a
+reputation of wisdom and virtue are the only ones who seek to get hold of
+her. Those men are delighted to hear their names mentioned in connection
+with the newly-arrived beauty; they even go so far as to allow her a few
+frolics, provided she takes pride in what they give her, and provided her
+infidelities are not too public. Besides, it is the fashion never to go
+to sup with one's mistress without giving her notice of the intended
+visit, and everyone must admit that it is a very wise custom.
+
+I came back to the hotel towards eleven o'clock, and seeing that Mdlle.
+Vesian's room was still open I went in. She was in bed.
+
+"Let me get up," she said, "for I want to speak to you."
+
+"Do not disturb yourself; we can talk all the same, and I think you much
+prettier as you are."
+
+"I am very glad of it."
+
+"What have you got to tell me?"
+
+"Nothing, except to speak of the profession I am going to adopt. I am
+going to practice virtue in order to find a man who loves it only to
+destroy it."
+
+"Quite true; but almost everything is like that in this life. Man always
+refers everything to himself, and everyone is a tyrant in his own way. I
+am pleased to see you becoming a philosopher."
+
+"How can one become a philosopher?"
+
+"By thinking."
+
+"Must one think a long while?"
+
+"Throughout life."
+
+"Then it is never over?"
+
+"Never; but one improves as much as possible, and obtains the sum of
+happiness which one is susceptible of enjoying."
+
+"And how can that happiness be felt?"
+
+"By all the pleasure which the philosopher can procure when he is
+conscious of having obtained them by his own exertions, and especially by
+getting rid of the many prejudices which make of the majority of men a
+troop of grown-up children."
+
+"What is pleasure? What is meant by prejudices?"
+
+"Pleasure is the actual enjoyment of our senses; it is a complete
+satisfaction given to all our natural and sensual appetites; and, when
+our worn-out senses want repose, either to have breathing time, or to
+recover strength, pleasure comes from the imagination, which finds
+enjoyment in thinking of the happiness afforded by rest. The philosopher
+is a person who refuses no pleasures which do not produce greater
+sorrows, and who knows how to create new ones."
+
+"And you say that it is done by getting rid of prejudices? Then tell me
+what prejudices are, and what must be done to get rid of them."
+
+"Your question, my dear girl, is not an easy one to answer, for moral
+philosophy does not know a more important one, or a more difficult one to
+decide; it is a lesson which lasts throughout life. I will tell you in a
+few words that we call prejudice every so-called duty for the existence
+of which we find no reason in nature."
+
+"Then nature must be the philosopher's principal study?"
+
+"Indeed it is; the most learned of philosophers is the one who commits
+the fewest errors."
+
+"What philosopher, in your opinion, has committed the smallest quantity
+of errors?"
+
+"Socrates."
+
+"Yet he was in error sometimes?"
+
+"Yes, in metaphysics."
+
+"Oh! never mind that, for I think he could very well manage without that
+study."
+
+"You are mistaken; morals are only the metaphysics of physics; nature is
+everything, and I give you leave to consider as a madman whoever tells
+you that he has made a new discovery in metaphysics. But if I went on, my
+dear, I might appear rather obscure to you. Proceed slowly, think; let
+your maxims be the consequence of just reasoning, and keep your happiness
+in view; in the end you must be happy."
+
+"I prefer the lesson you have just taught me to the one which M. Baletti
+will give me to-morrow; for I have an idea that it will weary me, and now
+I am much interested."
+
+"How do you know that you are interested?"
+
+"Because I wish you not to leave me."
+
+"Truly, my dear Vesian, never has a philosopher described sympathy better
+than you have just done. How happy I feel! How is it that I wish to prove
+it by kissing you?"
+
+"No doubt because, to be happy, the soul must agree with the senses."
+
+"Indeed, my divine Vesian? Your intelligence is charming."
+
+"It is your work, dear friend; and I am so grateful to you that I share
+your desires."
+
+"What is there to prevent us from satisfying such natural desires? Let us
+embrace one another tenderly."
+
+What a lesson in philosophy! It seemed to us such a sweet one, our
+happiness was so complete, that at daybreak we were still kissing one
+another, and it was only when we parted in the morning that we discovered
+that the door of the room had remained open all night.
+
+Baletti gave her a few lessons, and she was received at the opera; but
+she did not remain there more than two or three months, regulating her
+conduct carefully according to the precepts I had laid out for her. She
+never received Narbonne again, and at last accepted a nobleman who proved
+himself very different from all others, for the first thing he did was to
+make her give up the stage, although it was not a thing according to the
+fashion of those days. I do not recollect his name exactly; it was Count
+of Tressan or Trean. She behaved in a respectable way, and remained with
+him until his death. No one speaks of her now, although she is living in
+very easy circumstances; but she is fifty-six, and in Paris a woman of
+that age is no longer considered as being among the living.
+
+After she left the Hotel de Bourgogne, I never spoke to her. Whenever I
+met her covered with jewels and diamonds, our souls saluted each other
+with joy, but her happiness was too precious for me to make any attempt
+against it. Her brother found a situation, but I lost sight of him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+The Beautiful O-Morphi--The Deceitful Painter--I Practice Cabalism for
+the Duchess de Chartres I Leave Paris--My Stay in Dresden and My
+Departure from that City
+
+I went to St. Lawrence's Fair with my friend Patu, who, taking it into
+his head to sup with a Flemish actress known by the name of Morphi,
+invited me to go with him. I felt no inclination for the girl, but what
+can we refuse to a friend? I did as he wished. After we had supped with
+the actress, Patu fancied a night devoted to a more agreeable occupation,
+and as I did not want to leave him I asked for a sofa on which I could
+sleep quietly during the night.
+
+Morphi had a sister, a slovenly girl of thirteen, who told me that if I
+would give her a crown she would abandon her bed to me. I agreed to her
+proposal, and she took me to a small closet where I found a straw
+palliasse on four pieces of wood.
+
+"Do you call this a bed, my child?"
+
+"I have no other, sir."
+
+"Then I do not want it, and you shall not have the crown."
+
+"Did you intend undressing yourself?"
+
+"Of course."
+
+"What an idea! There are no sheets."
+
+"Do you sleep with your clothes on?"
+
+"Oh, no!"
+
+"Well, then, go to bed as usual, and you shall have the crown."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"I want to see you undressed."
+
+"But you won't do anything to me?"
+
+"Not the slightest thing."
+
+She undressed, laid herself on her miserable straw bed, and covered
+herself with an old curtain. In that state, the impression made by her
+dirty tatters disappeared, and I only saw a perfect beauty. But I wanted
+to see her entirely. I tried to satisfy my wishes, she opposed some
+resistance, but a double crown of six francs made her obedient, and
+finding that her only fault was a complete absence of cleanliness, I
+began to wash her with my own hands.
+
+You will allow me, dear reader, to suppose that you possess a simple and
+natural knowledge, namely, that admiration under such circumstances is
+inseparable from another kind of approbation; luckily, I found the young
+Morphi disposed to let me do all I pleased, except the only thing for
+which I did not care! She told me candidly that she would not allow me to
+do that one thing, because in her sister's estimation it was worth
+twenty-five louis. I answered that we would bargain on that capital point
+another time, but that we would not touch it for the present. Satisfied
+with what I said, all the rest was at my disposal, and I found in her a
+talent which had attained great perfection in spite of her precocity.
+
+The young Helene faithfully handed to her sister the six francs I had
+given her, and she told her the way in which she had earned them. Before
+I left the house she told me that, as she was in want of money, she felt
+disposed to make some abatement on the price of twenty-five louis. I
+answered with a laugh that I would see her about it the next day. I
+related the whole affair to Patu, who accused me of exaggeration; and
+wishing to prove to him that I was a real connoisseur of female beauty I
+insisted upon his seeing Helene as I had seen her. He agreed with me that
+the chisel of Praxiteles had never carved anything more perfect. As white
+as a lily, Helene possessed all the beauties which nature and the art of
+the painter can possibly combine. The loveliness of her features was so
+heavenly that it carried to the soul an indefinable sentiment of ecstacy,
+a delightful calm. She was fair, but her beautiful blue eyes equalled the
+finest black eyes in brilliance.
+
+I went to see her the next evening, and, not agreeing about the price, I
+made a bargain with her sister to give her twelve francs every time I
+paid her a visit, and it was agreed that we would occupy her room until I
+should make up my mind to pay six hundred francs. It was regular usury,
+but the Morphi came from a Greek race, and was above prejudices. I had no
+idea of giving such a large sum, because I felt no wish to obtain what it
+would have procured me; what I obtained was all I cared for.
+
+The elder sister thought I was duped, for in two months I had paid three
+hundred francs without having done anything, and she attributed my
+reserve to avarice. Avarice, indeed! I took a fancy to possess a painting
+of that beautiful body, and a German artist painted it for me splendidly
+for six louis. The position in which he painted it was delightful. She
+was lying on her stomach, her arms and her bosom leaning on a pillow, and
+holding her head sideways as if she were partly on the back. The clever
+and tasteful artist had painted her nether parts with so much skill and
+truth that no one could have wished for anything more beautiful; I was
+delighted with that portrait; it was a speaking likeness, and I wrote
+under it, "O-Morphi," not a Homeric word, but a Greek one after all, and
+meaning beautiful.
+
+But who can anticipate the wonderful and secret decrees of destiny! My
+friend Patu wished to have a copy of that portrait; one cannot refuse
+such a slight service to a friend, and I gave an order for it to the same
+painter. But the artist, having been summoned to Versailles, shewed that
+delightful painting with several others, and M. de St. Quentin found it
+so beautiful that he lost no time in shewing it the king. His Most
+Christian Majesty, a great connoisseur in that line, wished to ascertain
+with his own eyes if the artist had made a faithful copy; and in case the
+original should prove as beautiful as the copy, the son of St. Louis knew
+very well what to do with it.
+
+M. de St. Quentin, the king's trusty friend, had the charge of that
+important affair; it was his province: He enquired from the painter
+whether the original could be brought to Versailles, and the artist, not
+supposing there would be any difficulty, promised to attend to it.
+
+He therefore called on me to communicate the proposal; I thought it was
+delightful, and I immediately told the sister, who jumped for joy. She
+set to work cleaning, washing and clothing the young beauty, and two or
+three days after they went to Versailles with the painter to see what
+could be done. M. de St. Quentin's valet, having received his
+instructions from his master, took the two females to a pavilion in the
+park, and the painter went to the hotel to await the result of his
+negotiation. Half an hour afterwards the king entered the pavilion alone,
+asked the young O-Morphi if she was a Greek woman, took the portrait out
+of his pocket, and after a careful examination exclaimed,
+
+"I have never seen a better likeness."
+
+His majesty then sat down, took the young girl on his knees, bestowed a
+few caresses on her, and having ascertained with his royal hand that the
+fruit had not yet been plucked, he gave her a kiss.
+
+O-Morphi was looking attentively at her master, and smiled.
+
+"What are you laughing at?" said the king.
+
+"I laugh because you and a crown of six francs are as like as two peas."
+
+That naivete made the king laugh heartily, and he asked her whether she
+would like to remain in Versailles.
+
+"That depends upon my sister," answered the child.
+
+But the sister hastened to tell the king that she could not aspire to a
+greater honour. The king locked them up again in the pavilion and went
+away, but in less than a quarter of an hour St. Quentin came to fetch
+them, placed the young girl in an apartment under the care of a female
+attendant, and with the sister he went to meet at the hotel the German
+artist to whom he gave fifty Louis for the portrait, and nothing to
+Morphi. He only took her address, promising her that she would soon hear
+from him; the next day she received one thousand Louis. The worthy German
+gave me twenty-five louis for my portrait, with a promise to make a
+careful copy of the one I had given to Patu, and he offered to paint for
+me gratuitously the likeness of every girl of whom I might wish to keep a
+portrait.
+
+I enjoyed heartily the pleasure of the good Fleeting, when she found
+herself in possession of the thousand gold pieces which she had received.
+Seeing herself rich, and considering me as the author of her fortune, she
+did not know how to shew me her gratitude.
+
+The young and lovely O-Morphi--for the king always called her by that
+name--pleased the sovereign by her simplicity and her pretty ways more
+even than by her rare beauty--the most perfect, the most regular, I
+recollect to have ever seen. He placed her in one of the apartments of
+his Parc-dux-cerfs--the voluptuous monarch's harem, in which no one could
+get admittance except the ladies presented at the court. At the end of
+one year she gave birth to a son who went, like so many others, God knows
+where! for as long as Queen Mary lived no one ever knew what became of
+the natural children of Louis XV.
+
+O-Morphi fell into disgrace at the end of three years, but the king, as
+he sent her away, ordered her to receive a sum of four hundred thousand
+francs which she brought as a dowry to an officer from Britanny. In 1783,
+happening to be in Fontainebleau, I made the acquaintance of a charming
+young man of twenty-five, the offspring of that marriage and the living
+portrait of his mother, of the history of whom he had not the slightest
+knowledge, and I thought it my duty not to enlighten him. I wrote my name
+on his tablets, and I begged him to present my compliments to his mother.
+
+A wicked trick of Madame de Valentinois, sister-in-law of the Prince of
+Monaco, was the cause of O-Morphi's disgrace. That lady, who was well
+known in Paris, told her one day that, if she wished to make the king
+very merry, she had only to ask him how he treated his old wife. Too
+simple to guess the snare thus laid out for her, O-Morphi actually asked
+that impertinent question; but Louis XV. gave her a look of fury, and
+exclaimed,
+
+"Miserable wretch! who taught you to address me that question?"
+
+The poor O-Morphi, almost dead with fright, threw herself on her knees,
+and confessed the truth.
+
+The king left her and never would see her again. The Countess de
+Valentinois was exiled for two years from the court. Louis XV., who knew
+how wrongly he was behaving towards his wife as a husband, would not
+deserve any reproach at her hands as a king, and woe to anyone who forgot
+the respect due to the queen!
+
+The French are undoubtedly the most witty people in Europe, and perhaps
+in the whole world, but Paris is, all the same, the city for impostors
+and quacks to make a fortune. When their knavery is found out people turn
+it into a joke and laugh, but in the midst of the merriment another
+mountebank makes his appearance, who does something more wonderful than
+those who preceded him, and he makes his fortune, whilst the scoffing of
+the people is in abeyance. It is the unquestionable effects of the power
+which fashion has over that amiable, clever, and lively nation. If
+anything is astonishing, no matter how extravagant it may be, the crowd
+is sure to welcome it greedily, for anyone would be afraid of being taken
+for a fool if he should exclaim, "It is impossible!" Physicians are,
+perhaps, the only men in France who know that an infinite gulf yawns
+between the will and the deed, whilst in Italy it is an axiom known to
+everybody; but I do not mean to say that the Italians are superior to the
+French.
+
+A certain painter met with great success for some time by announcing a
+thing which was an impossibility--namely, by pretending that he could
+take a portrait of a person without seeing the individual, and only from
+the description given. But he wanted the description to be thoroughly
+accurate. The result of it was that the portrait did greater honour to
+the person who gave the description than--to the painter himself, but at
+the same time the informer found himself under the obligation of finding
+the likeness very good; otherwise the artist alleged the most legitimate
+excuse, and said that if the likeness was not perfect the fault was to be
+ascribed to the person who had given an imperfect description.
+
+One evening I was taking supper at Silvia's when one of the guests spoke
+of that wonderful new artist, without laughing, and with every appearance
+of believing the whole affair.
+
+"That painter," added he, "has already painted more than one hundred
+portraits, and they are all perfect likenesses."
+
+Everybody was of the same opinion; it was splendid. I was the only one
+who, laughing heartily, took the liberty of saying it was absurd and
+impossible. The gentleman who had brought the wonderful news, feeling
+angry, proposed a wager of one hundred louis. I laughed all the more
+because his offer could not be accepted unless I exposed myself to being
+made a dupe.
+
+"But the portraits are all admirable likenesses."
+
+"I do not believe it, or if they are then there must be cheating
+somewhere."
+
+But the gentleman, being bent upon convincing Silvia and me--for she had
+taken my part proposed to make us dine with the artist; and we accepted.
+
+The next day we called upon the painter, where we saw a quantity of
+portraits, all of which the artist claimed to be speaking likenesses; as
+we did not know the persons whom they represented we could not deny his
+claim.
+
+"Sir," said Silvia to the artist, "could you paint the likeness of my
+daughter without seeing her?"
+
+"Yes, madam, if you are certain of giving me an exact description of the
+expression of her features."
+
+We exchanged a glance, and no more was said about it. The painter told us
+that supper was his favourite meal, and that he would be delighted if we
+would often give him the pleasure of our company. Like all quacks, he
+possessed an immense quantity of letters and testimonials from Bordeaux,
+Toulouse, Lyons, Rouen, etc., which paid the highest compliments to the
+perfection of his portraits, or gave descriptions for new pictures
+ordered from him. His portraits, by the way, had to be paid for in
+advance.
+
+Two or three days afterwards I met his pretty niece, who obligingly
+upbraided me for not having yet availed myself of her uncle's invitation
+to supper; the niece was a dainty morsel worthy of a king, and, her
+reproaches being very flattering to my vanity I promised I would come the
+next day. In less than a week it turned out a serious engagement. I fell
+in love with the interesting niece, who, being full of wit and well
+disposed to enjoy herself, had no love for me, and granted me no favour.
+I hoped, and, feeling that I was caught, I felt it was the only thing I
+could do.
+
+One day that I was alone in my room, drinking my coffee and thinking of
+her, the door was suddenly opened without anyone being announced, and a
+young man came in. I did not recollect him, but, without giving me time
+to ask any questions, he said to me,
+
+"Sir, I have had the honour of meeting you at the supper-table of M.
+Samson, the painter."
+
+"Ah! yes; I beg you to excuse me, sir, I did not at first recollect you."
+
+"It is natural, for your eyes are always on Mdlle. Samson."
+
+"Very likely, but you must admit that she is a charming creature."
+
+"I have no difficulty whatever in agreeing with you; to my misery, I know
+it but too well."
+
+"You are in love with her?"
+
+"Alas, yes! and I say, again, to my misery."
+
+"To your misery? But why, do not you gain her love?"
+
+"That is the very thing I have been striving for since last year, and I
+was beginning to have some hope when your arrival has reduced me to
+despair."
+
+"I have reduced you to despair?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"I am very sorry, but I cannot help it."
+
+"You could easily help it; and, if you would allow me, I could suggest to
+you the way in which you could greatly oblige me."
+
+"Speak candidly."
+
+"You might never put your foot in the house again."
+
+"That is a rather singular proposal, but I agree that it is truly the
+only thing I can do if I have a real wish to oblige you. Do you think,
+however, that in that case you would succeed in gaining her affection?"
+
+"Then it will be my business to succeed. Do not go there again, and I
+will take care of the rest."
+
+"I might render you that very great service; but you must confess that
+you must have a singular opinion of me to suppose that I am a man to do
+such a thing."
+
+"Yes, sir, I admit that it may appear singular; but I take you for a man
+of great sense and sound intellect, and after considering the subject
+deeply I have thought that you would put yourself in my place; that you
+would not wish to make me miserable, or to expose your own life for a
+young girl who can have inspired you with but a passing fancy, whilst my
+only wish is to secure the happiness or the misery of my life, whichever
+it may prove, by uniting her existence with mine."
+
+"But suppose that I should intend, like you, to ask her in marriage?"
+
+"Then we should both be worthy of pity, and one of us would have ceased
+to exist before the other obtained her, for as long as I shall live
+Mdlle. Samson shall not be the wife of another."
+
+This young man, well-made, pale, grave, as cold as a piece of marble,
+madly in love, who, in his reason mixed with utter despair, came to speak
+to me in such a manner with the most surprising calm, made me pause and
+consider. Undoubtedly I was not afraid, but although in love with Mdlle.
+Samson I did not feel my passion sufficiently strong to cut the throat of
+a man for the sake of her beautiful eyes, or to lose my own life to
+defend my budding affection. Without answering the young man, I began to
+pace up and down my room, and for a quarter of an hour I weighed the
+following question which I put to myself: Which decision will appear more
+manly in the eyes of my rival and will win my own esteem to the deeper
+degree, namely-to accept coolly his offer to cut one another's throats,
+or to allay his anxiety by withdrawing from the field with dignity?
+
+Pride whispered, Fight; Reason said, Compel thy rival to acknowledge thee
+a wiser man than he is.
+
+"What would you think of me, sir," I said to him, with an air of
+decision, "if I consented to give up my visits to Mdlle. Samson?"
+
+"I would think that you had pity on a miserable man, and I say that in
+that case you will ever find me ready to shed the last drop of my blood
+to prove my deep gratitude."
+
+"Who are you?"
+
+"My name is Garnier, I am the only son of M. Garnier, wine merchant in
+the Rue de Seine."
+
+"Well, M. Gamier, I will never again call on Mdlle. Samson. Let us be
+friends."
+
+"Until death. Farewell, sir."
+
+"Adieu, be happy!"
+
+Patu came in five minutes after Garnier had left me: I related the
+adventure to him, and he thought I was a hero.
+
+"I would have acted as you have done," he observed, "but I would not have
+acted like Garnier."
+
+It was about that time that the Count de Melfort, colonel of the Orleans
+regiment, entreated me through Camille, Coraline's sister, to answer two
+questions by means of my cabalism. I gave two answers very vague, yet
+meaning a great deal; I put them under a sealed envelope and gave them to
+Camille, who asked me the next day to accompany her to a place which she
+said she could not name to me. I followed her; she took me to the
+Palais-Royal, and then, through a narrow staircase, to the apartments of
+the Duchess de Chartres. I waited about a quarter of an hour, at the end
+of which time the duchess came in and loaded Camille with caresses for
+having brought me. Then addressing herself to me, she told me, with
+dignity yet very graciously, the difficulty she experienced in
+understanding the answers I had sent and which she was holding in her
+hand. At first I expressed some perplexity at the questions having
+emanated from her royal highness, and I told her afterwards that I
+understood cabalism, but that I could not interpret the meaning of the
+answers obtained through it, and that her highness must ask new questions
+likely to render the answers easier to be understood. She wrote down all
+she could not make out and all she wanted to know.
+
+"Madam, you must be kind enough to divide the questions, for the
+cabalistic oracle never answers two questions at the same time."
+
+"Well, then, prepare the questions yourself."
+
+"Your highness will excuse me, but every word must be written with your
+own hand. Recollect, madam, that you will address yourself to a superior
+intelligence knowing all your secrets."
+
+She began to write, and asked seven or eight questions. She read them
+over carefully, and said, with a face beaming with noble confidence,
+
+"Sir, I wish to be certain that no one shall ever know what I have just
+written."
+
+"Your highness may rely on my honour."
+
+I read attentively, and I saw that her wish for secrecy was reasonable,
+and that if I put the questions in my pocket I should run the risk of
+losing them and implicating myself.
+
+"I only require three hours to complete my task," I said to the duchess,
+"and I wish your highness to feel no anxiety. If you have any other
+engagement you can leave me here alone, provided I am not disturbed by
+anybody. When it is completed, I will put it all in a sealed envelope; I
+only want your highness to tell me to whom I must deliver the parcel."
+
+"Either to me or to Madame de Polignac, if you know her."
+
+"Yes, madam, I have the honour to know her."
+
+The duchess handed me a small tinder-box to enable me to light a
+wax-candle, and she went away with Camille. I remained alone locked up in
+the room, and at the end of three hours, just as I had completed my task,
+Madame de Polignac came for the parcel and I left the palace.
+
+The Duchess de Chartres, daughter of the Prince of Conti, was twenty-six
+years of age. She was endowed with that particular sort of wit which
+renders a woman adorable. She was lively, above the prejudices of rank,
+cheerful, full of jest, a lover of pleasure, which she preferred to a
+long life. "Short and sweet," were the words she had constantly on her
+lips. She was pretty but she stood badly, and used to laugh at Marcel,
+the teacher of graceful deportment, who wanted to correct her awkward
+bearing. She kept her head bent forward and her feet turned inside when
+dancing; yet she was a charming dancer. Unfortunately her face was
+covered with pimples, which injured her beauty very greatly. Her
+physicians thought that they were caused by a disease of the liver, but
+they came from impurity of the blood, which at last killed her, and from
+which she suffered throughout her life.
+
+The questions she had asked from my oracle related to affairs connected
+with her heart, and she wished likewise to know how she could get rid of
+the blotches which disfigured her. My answers were rather obscure in such
+matters as I was not specially acquainted with, but they were very clear
+concerning her disease, and my oracle became precious and necessary to
+her highness.
+
+The next day, after dinner, Camille wrote me a note, as I expected,
+requesting me to give up all other engagements in order to present myself
+at five o'clock at the Palais-Royal, in the same room in which the
+duchess had already received me the day before. I was punctual.
+
+An elderly valet de chambre, who was waiting for me, immediately went to
+give notice of my arrival, and five minutes after the charming princess
+made her appearance. After addressing me in a very complimentary manner,
+she drew all my answers from her pocket, and enquired whether I had any
+pressing engagements.
+
+"Your highness may be certain that I shall never have any more important
+business than to attend to your wishes."
+
+"Very well; I do not intend to go out, and we can work."
+
+She then shewed me all the questions which she had already prepared on
+different subjects, and particularly those relating to the cure of her
+pimples. One circumstance had contributed to render my oracle precious to
+her, because nobody could possibly know it, and I had guessed it. Had I
+not done so, I daresay it would have been all the same. I had laboured
+myself under the same disease, and I was enough of a physician to be
+aware that to attempt the cure of a cutaneous disease by active remedies
+might kill the patient.
+
+I had already answered that she could not get rid of the pimples on her
+face in less than a week, but that a year of diet would be necessary to
+effect a radical cure.
+
+We spent three hours in ascertaining what she was to do, and, believing
+implicitly in the power and in the science of the oracle, she undertook
+to follow faithfully everything ordered. Within one week all the ugly
+pimples had entirely disappeared.
+
+I took care to purge her slightly; I prescribed every day what she was to
+eat, and forbade the use of all cosmetics; I only advised her to wash
+herself morning and evening with plantain water. The modest oracle told
+the princess to make use of the same water for her ablutions of every
+part of her body where she desired to obtain the same result, and she
+obeyed the prescription religiously.
+
+I went to the opera on purpose on the day when the duchess shewed herself
+there with a smooth and rosy shin. After the opera, she took a walk in
+the great alley of the Palais-Royal, followed by the ladies of her suite
+and flattered by everybody. She saw me, and honoured me with a smile. I
+was truly happy. Camille, Madame de Polignac, and M. de Melfort were the
+only persons who knew that I was the oracle of the duchess, and I enjoyed
+my success. But the next day a few pimples reappeared on her beautiful
+complexion, and I received an order to repair at once to the
+Palais-Royal.
+
+The valet, who did not know me, shewed me into a delightful boudoir near
+a closet in which there was a bath. The duchess came in; she looked sad,
+for she had several small pimples on the forehead and the chin. She held
+in her hand a question for the oracle, and as it was only a short one I
+thought it would give her the pleasure of finding the answer by herself.
+The numbers translated by the princess reproached her with having
+transgressed the regimen prescribed; she confessed to having drunk some
+liquors and eaten some ham; but she was astounded at having found that
+answer herself, and she could not understand how such an answer could
+result from an agglomeration of numbers. At that moment, one of her women
+came in to whisper a few words to her; she told her to wait outside, and
+turning towards me, she said,
+
+"Have you any objection to seeing one of your friends who is as delicate
+as discreet?"
+
+With these words, she hastily concealed in her pocket all the papers
+which did not relate to her disease; then she called out.
+
+A man entered the room, whom I took for a stableboy; it was M. de
+Melfort.
+
+"See," said the princess to him, "M. Casanova has taught me the
+cabalistic science."
+
+And she shewed him the answer she had obtained herself. The count could
+not believe it.
+
+"Well," said the duchess to me, "we must convince him. What shall I ask?"
+
+"Anything your highness chooses."
+
+She considered for one instant, and, drawing from her pocket a small
+ivory box, she wrote, "Tell me why this pomatum has no longer any effect."
+
+She formed the pyramid, the columns, and the key, as I had taught her,
+and as she was ready to get the answer, I told her how to make the
+additions and subtractions which seem to come from the numbers, but which
+in reality are only arbitrary; then I told her to interpret the numbers
+in letters, and I left the room under some pretext. I came back when I
+thought that she had completed her translation, and I found her wrapped
+in amazement.
+
+"Ah, sir!" she exclaimed, "what an answer!"
+
+"Perhaps it is not the right one; but that will sometimes happen, madam."
+
+"Not the right one, sir? It is divine! Here it is: That pomatum has no
+effect upon the skin of a woman who has been a mother."
+
+"I do not see anything extraordinary in that answer, madam."
+
+"Very likely, sir, but it is because you do not know that the pomatum in
+question was given to me five years ago by the Abbe de Brosses; it cured
+me at that time, but it was ten months before the birth of the Duke de
+Montpensier. I would give anything in the world to be thoroughly
+acquainted with that sublime cabalistic science."
+
+"What!" said the count, "is it the pomatum the history of which I know?"
+
+"Precisely."
+
+"It is astonishing."
+
+"I wish to ask one more question concerning a woman the name of whom I
+would rather not give."
+
+"Say the woman whom I have in my thoughts."
+
+She then asked this question: "What disease is that woman suffering
+from?" She made the calculation, and the answer which I made her bring
+forth was this: "She wants to deceive her husband." This time the duchess
+fairly screamed with astonishment.
+
+It was getting very late, and I was preparing to take leave, when M. de
+Melfort, who was speaking to her highness, told me that we might go
+together. When we were out, he told me that the cabalistic answer
+concerning the pomatum was truly wonderful. This was the history of it:
+
+"The duchess, pretty as you see her now, had her face so fearfully
+covered with pimples that the duke, thoroughly disgusted, had not the
+courage to come near her to enjoy his rights as a husband, and the poor
+princess was pining with useless longing to become a mother. The Abbe de
+Brosses cured her with that pomatum, and her beautiful face having
+entirely recovered it original bloom she made her appearance at the
+Theatre Francais, in the queen's box. The Duke de Chartres, not knowing
+that his wife had gone to the theatre, where she went but very seldom,
+was in the king's box. He did not recognize the duchess, but thinking her
+very handsome he enquired who she was, and when he was told he would not
+believe it; he left the royal box, went to his wife, complimented her,
+and announced his visit for the very same night. The result of that visit
+was, nine months afterwards, the birth of the Duke of Montpensier, who is
+now five years old and enjoys excellent health. During the whole of her
+pregnancy the duchess kept her face smooth and blooming, but immediately
+after her delivery the pimples reappeared, and the pomatum remained
+without any effect."
+
+As he concluded his explanation, the count offered me a tortoise-shell
+box with a very good likeness of her royal highness, and said,
+
+"The duchess begs your acceptance of this portrait, and, in case you
+would like to have it set she wishes you to make use of this for that
+purpose."
+
+It was a purse of one hundred Louis. I accepted both, and entreated the
+count to offer the expressions of my profound gratitude to her highness.
+I never had the portrait mounted, for I was then in want of money for
+some other purpose.
+
+After that, the duchess did me the honour of sending for me several
+times; but her cure remained altogether out of the question; she could
+not make up her mind to follow a regular diet. She would sometimes keep
+me at work for five or six hours, now in one corner, now in another,
+going in and out herself all the time, and having either dinner or supper
+brought to me by the old valet, who never uttered a word.
+
+Her questions to the oracle alluded only to secret affairs which she was
+curious to know, and she often found truths with which I was not myself
+acquainted, through the answers. She wished me to teach her the
+cabalistic science, but she never pressed her wish upon me. She, however,
+commissioned M. de Melfort to tell me that, if I would teach her, she
+would get me an appointment with an income of twenty-five thousand
+francs. Alas! it was impossible! I was madly in love with her, but I
+would not for the world have allowed her to guess my feelings. My pride
+was the corrective of my love. I was afraid of her haughtiness
+humiliating me, and perhaps I was wrong. All I know is that I even now
+repent of having listened to a foolish pride. It is true that I enjoyed
+certain privileges which she might have refused me if she had known my
+love.
+
+One day she wished my oracle to tell her whether it was possible to cure
+a cancer which Madame de la Popeliniere had in the breast; I took it in
+my head to answer that the lady alluded to had no cancer, and was
+enjoying excellent health.
+
+"How is that?" said the duchess; "everyone in Paris believes her to be
+suffering from a cancer, and she has consultation upon consultation. Yet
+I have faith in the oracle."
+
+Soon afterwards, seeing the Duke de Richelieu at the court, she told him
+she was certain that Madame de la Popeliniere was not ill. The marshal,
+who knew the secret, told her that she was mistaken; but she proposed a
+wager of a hundred thousand francs. I trembled when the duchess related
+the conversation to me.
+
+"Has he accepted your wages?" I enquired, anxiously.
+
+"No; he seemed surprised; you are aware that he ought to know the truth."
+
+Three or four days after that conversation, the duchess told me
+triumphantly that M. de Richelieu had confessed to her that the cancer
+was only a ruse to excite the pity of her husband, with whom Madame de la
+Popeliniere wanted to live again on good terms; she added that the
+marshal had expressed his willingness to pay one thousand Louis to know
+how she had discovered the truth.
+
+"If you wish to earn that sum," said the duchess to me, "I will tell him
+all about it."
+
+But I was afraid of a snare; I knew the temper of the marshal, and the
+story of the hole in the wall through which he introduced himself into
+that lady's apartment, was the talk of all Paris. M. de la Popeliniere
+himself had made the adventure more public by refusing to live with his
+wife, to whom he paid an income of twelve thousand francs.
+
+The Duchess de Chartres had written some charming poetry on that amusing
+affair; but out of her own coterie no one knew it except the king, who
+was fond of the princess, although she was in the habit of scoffing at
+him. One day, for instance, she asked him whether it was true that the
+king of Prussia was expected in Paris. Louis XV. having answered that it
+was an idle rumour,
+
+"I am very sorry," she said, "for I am longing to see a king."
+
+My brother had completed several pictures and having decided on
+presenting one to M. de Marigny, we repaired one morning to the apartment
+of that nobleman, who lived in the Louvre, where all the artists were in
+the habit of paying their court to him. We were shewn into a hall
+adjoining his private apartment, and having arrived early we waited for
+M. de Marigny. My brother's picture was exposed there; it was a battle
+piece in the style of Bourguignon.
+
+The first person who passed through the room stopped before the picture,
+examined it attentively, and moved on, evidently thinking that it was a
+poor painting; a moment afterwards two more persons came in, looked at
+the picture, smiled, and said,
+
+"That's the work of a beginner."
+
+I glanced at my brother, who was seated near me; he was in a fever. In
+less than a quarter of an hour the room was full of people, and the
+unfortunate picture was the butt of everybody's laughter. My poor brother
+felt almost dying, and thanked his stars that no one knew him personally.
+
+The state of his mind was such that I heartily pitied him; I rose with
+the intention of going to some other room, and to console him I told him
+that M. de Marigny would soon come, and that his approbation of the
+picture would avenge him for the insults of the crowd. Fortunately, this
+was not my brother's opinion; we left the room hurriedly, took a coach,
+went home, and sent our servant to fetch back the painting. As soon as it
+had been brought back my brother made a battle of it in real earnest, for
+he cut it up with a sword into twenty pieces. He made up his mind to
+settle his affairs in Paris immediately, and to go somewhere else to
+study an art which he loved to idolatry; we resolved on going to Dresden
+together.
+
+Two or three days before leaving the delightful city of Paris I dined
+alone at the house of the gate-keeper of the Tuileries; his name was
+Conde. After dinner his wife, a rather pretty woman, presented me the
+bill, on which every item was reckoned at double its value. I pointed it
+out to her, but she answered very curtly that she could not abate one
+sou. I paid, and as the bill was receipted with the words 'femme Conde',
+I took the pen and to the word 'Conde' I added 'labre', and I went away
+leaving the bill on the table.
+
+I was taking a walk in the Tuileries, not thinking any more of my female
+extortioner, when a small man, with his hat cocked on one side of his
+head and a large nosegay in his button-hole, and sporting a long sword,
+swaggered up to me and informed me, without any further explanation, that
+he had a fancy to cut my throat.
+
+"But, my small specimen of humanity," I said, "you would require to jump
+on a chair to reach my throat. I will cut your ears."
+
+"Sacre bleu, monsieur!"
+
+"No vulgar passion, my dear sir; follow me; you shall soon be satisfied."
+
+I walked rapidly towards the Porte de l'Etoile, where, seeing that the
+place was deserted, I abruptly asked the fellow what he wanted, and why
+he had attacked me.
+
+"I am the Chevalier de Talvis," he answered. "You have insulted an honest
+woman who is under my protection; unsheath!"
+
+With these words he drew his long sword; I unsheathed mine; after a
+minute or two I lunged rapidly, and wounded him in the breast. He jumped
+backward, exclaiming that I had wounded him treacherously.
+
+"You lie, you rascally mannikin! acknowledge it, or I thrust my sword
+through your miserable body."
+
+"You will not do it, for I am wounded; but I insist upon having my
+revenge, and we will leave the decision of this to competent judges."
+
+"Miserable wrangler, wretched fighter, if you are not satisfied, I will
+cut off your ears!"
+
+I left him there, satisfied that I had acted according to the laws of the
+duello, for he had drawn his sword before me, and if he had not been
+skilful enough to cover himself in good time, it was not, of course, my
+business to teach him. Towards the middle of August I left Paris with my
+brother. I had made a stay of two years in that city, the best in the
+world. I had enjoyed myself greatly, and had met with no unpleasantness
+except that I had been now and then short of money. We went through Metz,
+Mayence, and Frankfort, and arrived in Dresden at the end of the same
+month. My mother offered us the most affectionate welcome, and was
+delighted to see us again. My brother remained four years in that
+pleasant city, constantly engaged in the study of his art, and copying
+all the fine paintings of battles by the great masters in the celebrated
+Electoral Gallery.
+
+He went back to Paris only when he felt certain that he could set
+criticism at defiance; I shall say hereafter how it was that we both
+reached that city about the same time. But before that period, dear,
+reader, you will see what good and adverse fortune did for or against me.
+
+My life in Dresden until the end of the carnival in 1753 does not offer
+any extraordinary adventure. To please the actors, and especially my
+mother, I wrote a kind of melodrama, in which I brought out two
+harlequins. It was a parody of the 'Freres Ennemis', by Racine. The king
+was highly amused at the comic fancies which filled my play, and he made
+me a beautiful present. The king was grand and generous, and these
+qualities found a ready echo in the breast of the famous Count de Bruhl.
+I left Dresden soon after that, bidding adieu to my mother, to my brother
+Francois, and to my sister, then the wife of Pierre Auguste, chief player
+of the harpsichord at the Court, who died two years ago, leaving his
+widow and family in comfortable circumstances.
+
+My stay in Dresden was marked by an amorous souvenir of which I got rid,
+as in previous similar circumstances, by a diet of six weeks. I have
+often remarked that the greatest part of my life was spent in trying to
+make myself ill, and when I had succeeded, in trying to recover my
+health. I have met with equal success in both things; and now that I
+enjoy excellent health in that line, I am very sorry to be physically
+unable to make myself ill again; but age, that cruel and unavoidable
+disease, compels me to be in good health in spite of myself. The illness
+I allude to, which the Italians call 'mal francais', although we might
+claim the honour of its first importation, does not shorten life, but it
+leaves indelible marks on the face. Those scars, less honourable perhaps
+than those which are won in the service of Mars, being obtained through
+pleasure, ought not to leave any regret behind.
+
+In Dresden I had frequent opportunities of seeing the king, who was very
+fond of the Count de Bruhl, his minister, because that favourite
+possessed the double secret of shewing himself more extravagant even than
+his master, and of indulging all his whims.
+
+Never was a monarch a greater enemy to economy; he laughed heartily when
+he was plundered and he spent a great deal in order to have occasion to
+laugh often. As he had not sufficient wit to amuse himself with the
+follies of other kings and with the absurdities of humankind, he kept
+four buffoons, who are called fools in Germany, although these degraded
+beings are generally more witty than their masters. The province of those
+jesters is to make their owner laugh by all sorts of jokes which are
+usually nothing but disgusting tricks, or low, impertinent jests.
+
+Yet these professional buffoons sometimes captivate the mind of their
+master to such an extent that they obtain from him very important favours
+in behalf of the persons they protect, and the consequence is that they
+are often courted by the highest families. Where is the man who will not
+debase himself if he be in want? Does not Agamemnon say, in Homer, that
+in such a case man must necessarily be guilty of meanness? And Agamemnon
+and Homer lived long before our time! It evidently proves that men are at
+all times moved by the same motive-namely, self-interest.
+
+It is wrong to say that the Count de Bruhl was the ruin of Saxony, for he
+was only the faithful minister of his royal master's inclinations. His
+children are poor, and justify their father's conduct.
+
+The court at Dresden was at that time the most brilliant in Europe; the
+fine arts flourished, but there was no gallantry, for King Augustus had
+no inclination for the fair sex, and the Saxons were not of a nature to
+be thus inclined unless the example was set by their sovereign.
+
+At my arrival in Prague, where I did not intend to stop, I delivered a
+letter I had for Locatelli, manager of the opera, and went to pay a visit
+to Madame Morelli, an old acquaintance, for whom I had great affection,
+and for two or three days she supplied all the wants of my heart.
+
+As I was on the point of leaving Prague, I met in the street my friend
+Fabris, who had become a colonel, and he insisted upon my dining with
+him. After 'embracing him, I represented to him, but in vain, that I had
+made all my arrangements to go away immediately.
+
+"You will go this evening," he said, "with a friend of mine, and you will
+catch the coach."
+
+I had to give way, and I was delighted to have done so, for the remainder
+of the day passed in the most agreeable manner. Fabris was longing for
+war, and his wishes were gratified two years afterwards; he covered
+himself with glory.
+
+I must say one word about Locatelli, who was an original character well
+worthy to be known. He took his meals every day at a table laid out for
+thirty persons, and the guests were his actors, actresses, dancers of
+both sexes, and a few friends. He did the honours of his well-supplied
+board nobly, and his real passion was good living. I shall have occasion
+to mention him again at the time of my journey to St. Petersburg, where I
+met him, and where he died only lately at the age of ninety.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of To Paris And Prison: Paris
+by Jacques Casanova de Seingalt
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