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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Eternal Quest: Return to 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: The Eternal Quest: Return to Paris
+       The Memoirs Of Jacques Casanova De Seingalt 1725-1798
+
+Author: Jacques Casanova de Seingalt
+
+Release Date: October 31, 2006 [EBook #2962]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ETERNAL QUEST: RETURN TO PARIS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Widger
+
+
+
+
+
+MEMOIRS OF JACQUES CASANOVA de SEINGALT 1725-1798
+
+THE ETERNAL QUEST, Volume 3b--RETURN TO PARIS
+
+THE RARE UNABRIDGED LONDON EDITION OF 1894 TRANSLATED BY ARTHUR MACHEN TO
+WHICH HAS BEEN ADDED THE CHAPTERS DISCOVERED BY ARTHUR SYMONS.
+THE ETERNAL QUEST
+RETURN TO PARIS
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+My Fortune in Holland--My Return to Paris with Young Pompeati
+
+Amongst the letters which were waiting for me was one from the
+comptroller-general, which advised me that twenty millions in Government
+securities had been placed in the hands of M. d'Afri, who was not to go
+beyond a loss of eight per cent.; and another letter from my good patron,
+M. de Bernis, telling me to do the best I could, and to be assured that
+the ambassador would be instructed to consent to whatever bargain might
+be made, provided the rate was not more disadvantageous than that of the
+exchange at Paris. Boaz, who was astonished at the bargain I had made
+with my shares, wanted to discount the Government securities for me, and
+I should very likely have agreed to his terms if he had not required me
+to give him three months, and the promise that the agreement should hold
+even in the case of peace being concluded in the meanwhile. It was not
+long before I saw that I should do well to get back to Amsterdam, but I
+did not care to break my word to Therese, whom I had promised to meet at
+the Hague. I received a letter from her while I was at the play, and the
+servant who brought it told me he was waiting to conduct me to her. I
+sent my own servant home, and set out on my quest.
+
+My guide made me climb to the fourth floor of a somewhat wretched house,
+and there I found this strange woman in a small room, attended by her son
+and daughter. The table stood in the midst of the room, and was covered
+with a black cloth, and the two candles standing upon it made it look
+like some sort of sepulchral altar. The Hague was a Court town. I was
+richly dressed; my elaborate attire made the saddest possible contrast
+with the gloom of my surroundings. Therese, dressed in black and seated
+between her children at that black table, reminded me of Medea. To see
+these two fair young creatures vowed to a lot of misery and disgrace was
+a sad and touching sight. I took the boy between my arms, and pressing
+him to my breast called him my son. His mother told him to look upon me
+as his father from henceforth. The lad recognized me; he remembered, much
+to my delight, seeing me in the May of 1753, in Venice, at Madame
+Manzoni's. He was slight but strong; his limbs were well proportioned,
+and his features intellectual. He was thirteen years old.
+
+His sister sat perfectly still, apparently waiting for her turn to come.
+I took her on my knee, and as I embraced her, nature herself seemed to
+tell me that she was my daughter. She took my kisses in silence, but it
+was easy to see that she thought herself preferred to her brother, and
+was charmed with the idea. All her clothing was a slight frock, and I was
+able to feel every limb and to kiss her pretty little body all over,
+delighted that so sweet a being owed her existence to me.
+
+"Mamma, dear," said she, "is not this fine gentleman the same we saw at
+Amsterdam, and who was taken for my papa because I am like him? But that
+cannot be, for my papa is dead."
+
+"So he is, sweetheart; but I may be your dear friend, mayn't I? Would you
+like to have me for a friend?"
+
+"Yes, yes!" she cried, and throwing her arms about my neck gave me a
+thousand kisses, which I returned with delight.
+
+After we had talked and laughed together we sat down at table, and the
+heroine Therese gave me a delicate supper accompanied by exquisite wines.
+"I have never given the margrave better fare," said she, "at those nice
+little suppers we used to take together."
+
+Wishing to probe the disposition of her son, whom I had engaged to take
+away with me, I addressed several remarks to him, and soon discovered
+that he was of a false and deceitful nature, always on his guard, taking
+care of what he said, and consequently speaking only from his head and
+not from his heart. Every word was delivered with a quiet politeness
+which, no doubt, was intended to please me.
+
+I told him that this sort of thing was all very well on occasion; but
+that there were times when a man's happiness depended on his freedom from
+constraint; then and only then was his amiability, if he had any,
+displayed. His mother, thinking to praise him, told me that reserve was
+his chief characteristic, that she had trained him to keep his counsel at
+all times and places, and that she was thus used to his being reserved
+with her as with everyone else.
+
+"All I can say is," said I, "your system is an abominable one. You may
+have strangled in their infancy all the finer qualities with which nature
+has endowed your son, and have fairly set him on the way to become a
+monster instead of an angel. I don't see how the most devoted father can
+possibly have any affection for a son who keeps all his emotions under
+lock and key."
+
+This outburst, which proceeded from the tenderness I would fain have felt
+for the boy, seemed to strike his mother dumb.
+
+"Tell me, my dear, if you feel yourself capable of shewing me that
+confidence which a father has a right to expect of a good son, and if you
+can promise to be perfectly open and unreserved towards me?"
+
+"I promise that I will die rather than tell you a falsehood."
+
+"That's just like him," said the mother. "I have succeeded in inspiring
+him with the utmost horror of untruthfulness."
+
+"That's all very well, my dear madam, but you might have pursued a still
+better course, and one which would have been still more conducive to his
+happiness."
+
+"What is that?"
+
+"I will tell you. It was necessary to make him detest a lie; you should
+have rather endeavoured to make him a lover of the truth by displaying it
+to him in all its native beauty. This is the only way to make him
+lovable, and love is the sole bestower of happiness in this world."
+
+"But isn't it the same thing not to lie and to tell the truth," said the
+boy, with a smile which charmed his mother and displeased me.
+
+"Certainly not; there is a great difference--for to avoid lying you have
+only to hold your tongue; and do you think that comes to the same thing
+as speaking the truth?  You must open your mind to me, my son, and tell
+me all your thoughts, even if you blush in the recital. I will teach you
+how to blush, and soon you will have nothing to fear in laying open all
+your thoughts and deeds. When we know each other a little longer we shall
+see how we agree together. You must understand that I cannot look upon
+you as my son until I see cause to love you, and I cannot have you call
+me father till you treat me as the best friend you have. You may be quite
+sure that I shall find a way to discover your thoughts, however cleverly
+you try to hide them. If I find you deceitful and suspicious I shall
+certainly entertain no regard for you. As soon as I have finished my
+business at Amsterdam we will set out for Paris. I am leaving the Hague
+to-morrow, and on my return I hope to find you instructed by your mother
+in a system of morality more consonant with my views, and more likely to
+lead to your happiness."
+
+On glancing at my little daughter, who had been listening to me with the
+greatest attention, I saw that her eyes were swimming with tears, which
+she could hardly retain.
+
+"Why are you crying?" said the mother; "it is silly to cry." And with
+that the child ran to her mother and threw her arms round her neck.
+
+"Would you like to come to Paris, too?" said I to her.
+
+"Oh, yes! But mamma must come too, as she would die without me."
+
+"What would you do if I told you to go?" said the mother.
+
+"I would obey you, mamma, but how could I exist away from you?"
+
+Thereupon my little daughter pretended to cry. I say pretended, as it was
+quite evident that the child did not mean what she said, and I am sure
+that her mother knew it as well as I.
+
+It was really a melancholy thing to see the effects of a bad education on
+this young child, to whom nature had given intelligence and feeling. I
+took the mother on one side, and said that if she had intended to make
+actors of her children she had succeeded to admiration; but if she wished
+them to become useful members of society her system had failed
+lamentably, as they were in a fair way to become monsters of deceit. I
+continued making her the most pointed remonstrances until, in spite of
+her efforts to control herself, she burst into tears. However, she soon
+recovered her composure, and begged me to stay at the Hague a day longer,
+but I told her it was out of the question, and left the room. I came in
+again a few minutes after, and Sophie came up to me and said, in a loving
+little voice,
+
+"If you are really my friend, you will give me some proof of your
+friendship."
+
+"And what proof do you want, my dear?"
+
+"I want you to come and sup with me to-morrow."
+
+"I can't, Sophie dear, for I have just said no to your mother, and she
+would be offended if I granted you what I had refused her."
+
+"Oh, no! she wouldn't; it was she who told me to ask you just now."
+
+I naturally began to laugh, but on her mother calling the girl a little
+fool, and the brother adding that he had never committed such an
+indiscretion, the poor child began to tremble all over, and looked
+abashed. I reassured her as best I could, not caring whether what I said
+displeased her mother or not, and I endeavoured to instill into her
+principles of a very different nature to those in which she had been
+reared, while she listened with an eagerness which proved that her heart
+was still ready to learn the right way. Little by little her face
+cleared, and I saw that I had made an impression, and though I could not
+flatter myself that any good I might do her would be lasting in its
+effects as long as she remained under the bad influence of her mother, I
+promised to come and sup with her next evening, "but on the condition," I
+said, "that you give me a plain meal, and one bottle of chambertin only,
+for you are not too well off."
+
+"I know that, but mamma says that you pay for everything."
+
+This reply made me go off into a roar of laughter; and in spite of her
+vexation the mother was obliged to follow my example. The poor woman,
+hardened by the life she led, took the child's simplicity for stupidity,
+but I saw in her a rough diamond which only wanted polishing.
+
+Therese told me that the wine did not cost her anything, as the son of
+the Rotterdam burgomaster furnished her with it, and that he would sup
+with us the next day if I would allow him to be present. I answered
+smilingly that I should be delighted to see him, and I went away after
+giving my daughter, of whom I felt fond, a tender embrace. I would have
+done anything to be entrusted with her, but I saw it would be no good
+trying to get possession of her, as the mother was evidently keeping her
+as a resource for her old age. This is a common way for adventuresses to
+look upon their daughters, and Therese was an adventuress in the widest
+acceptation of the term. I gave her twenty ducats to get clothes for my
+adopted son and Sophie, who, with spontaneous gratitude, and her eyes
+filled with tears, came and gave me a kiss. Joseph was going to kiss my
+hand, but I told him that it was degrading for one man to kiss another's
+hand, and that for the future he was to shew his gratitude by embracing
+me as a son embraces his father.
+
+Just as I was leaving, Therese took me to the closet where the two
+children were sleeping. I knew what she was thinking of; but all that was
+over long ago; I could think of no one but Esther.
+
+The next day I found the burgomaster's son at my actress's house. He was
+a fine young fellow of twenty or twenty-one, but totally devoid of
+manner. He was Therese's lover, but he should have regulated his
+behaviour in my presence. Therese, seeing that he was posing as master of
+the field, and that his manners disgusted me, began to snub him, much to
+his displeasure, and after sneering at the poorness of the dishes, and
+praising the wine which he had supplied, he went out leaving us to finish
+our dessert by ourselves. I left myself at eleven, telling Therese that I
+should see her again before I went away. The Princesse de Galitzin, a
+Cantimir by birth, had asked me to dinner, and this made me lose another
+day.
+
+Next day I heard from Madame d'Urfe, who enclosed a bill of exchange on
+Boaz for twelve thousand francs. She said that she had bought her shares
+for sixty thousand, that she did not wish to make anything of them, and
+that she hoped I would accept the overplus as my broker's fee. She worded
+her offer with too much courtesy for me to refuse it. The remainder of
+the letter was devoted to the wildest fancies. She said that her genius
+had revealed to her that I should bring back to Paris a boy born of the
+Mystical Marriage, and she hoped I would take pity on her. It was a
+strange coincidence, and seemed likely to attach the woman still more
+closely to her visionary theories. I laughed when I though how she would
+be impressed by Therese's son, who was certainly not born of the Mystical
+Marriage.
+
+Boaz paid me my twelve thousand francs in ducats, and I made him my
+friend, as he thanked me for receiving the moneys in ducats, and he
+doubtless made a profit on the transaction, gold being a commodity in
+Holland, and all payments being made in silver or paper money.
+
+At that time gold was at a low rate, and nobody would take ducats.
+
+After having an excellent dinner with the Princesse de Galitzin, I put on
+my cloak and went to the cafe. I found there the burgomaster's son, who
+was just beginning a game of billiards. He whispered to me that I might
+back him with advantage, and thinking he was sure of his stroke I thanked
+him and followed his advice. However, after losing three games one after
+the other, I took his measure and began to lay against him without his
+knowledge. After playing for three hours and losing all the time, he
+stopped play and came to condole with me on my heavy loss. It is
+impossible to describe his amazed expression when I shewed him a handful
+of ducats, and assured him that I had spent a very profitable evening in
+laying against him. Everybody in the room began to laugh at him, but he
+was the sort of young man who doesn't understand a joke, and he went out
+in a rage. Soon after I left the billiard-room myself, and, according to
+my promise went to see Therese, as I was leaving for Amsterdam the next
+day.
+
+Therese was waiting for her young wine merchant, but on my recounting his
+adventures she expected him no longer. I took my little daughter on my
+knee and lavished my caresses on her, and so left them, telling them that
+we should see each other again in the course of three weeks or a month at
+latest.
+
+As I was going home in the moonlight by myself, my sword under my arm, I
+was encountered all of a sudden by the poor dupe of a burgomaster's son.
+
+"I want to know," said he, "if your sword has as sharp a point as your
+tongue."
+
+I tried to quiet him by speaking common sense, and I kept my sword
+wrapped in my cloak, though his was bared and directed against me.
+
+"You are wrong to take my jests in such bad part," said I; "however, I
+apologize to you."
+
+"No apologies; look to yourself."
+
+"Wait till to-morrow, you will be cooler then, but if you still wish it I
+will give you satisfaction in the midst of the billiard-room."
+
+"The only satisfaction you can give me is to fight; I want to kill you."
+
+As evidence of his determination, and to provoke me beyond recall, he
+struck me with the flat of his sword, the first and last time in my life
+in which I have received such and insult. I drew my sword, but still
+hoping to bring him to his senses I kept strictly on the defensive and
+endeavoured to make him leave off. This conduct the Dutchman mistook for
+fear, and pushed hard on me, lunging in a manner that made me look to
+myself. His sword passed through my necktie; a quarter of an inch farther
+in would have done my business.
+
+I leapt to one side, and, my danger no longer admitting of my fighting on
+the defensive, I lunged out and wounded him in the chest. I thought this
+would have been enough for him, so I proposed we should terminate our
+engagement.
+
+"I'm not dead yet," said he; "I want to kill you."
+
+This was his watchword; and, as he leapt on me in a paroxysm of rage,
+more like a madman than a sensible being, I hit him four times. At the
+fourth wound he stepped back, and, saying he had had enough, begged me to
+leave him.
+
+I went off as fast as I could, and was very glad to see from the look of
+my sword that his wounds were slight. I found Boaz still up, and on
+hearing what had taken place he advised me to go to Amsterdam at once,
+though I assured him that the wounds were not mortal. I gave in to his
+advice, and as my carriage was at the saddler's he lent me his, and I set
+out, bidding my servant to come on the next day with my luggage, and to
+rejoin me at the "Old Bible," in Amsterdam. I reached Amsterdam at noon
+and my man arrived in the evening.
+
+I was curious to hear if my duel had made any noise, but as my servant
+had left at an early hour he had heard nothing about it. Fortunately for
+me nothing whatever was known about it at Amsterdam for a week after;
+otherwise, things might not have gone well with me, as the reputation of
+being a duellist is not a recommendation to financiers with whom one is
+about to transact business of importance.
+
+The reader will not be surprised when I tell him that my first call was
+on M. d'O, or rather on his charming daughter Esther, for she it was on
+whom I waited. It will be remembered that the way in which we parted did
+a good deal towards augmenting the warmth of my affection for her. On
+entering the room I found Esther writing at a table.
+
+"What are you doing Esther, dear?"
+
+"An arithmetical problem."
+
+"Do you like problems?"
+
+"I am passionately fond of anything which contains difficulties and
+offers curious results."
+
+"I will give you something which will please you."
+
+I made her, by way of jest, two magic squares, which delighted her. In
+return, she spewed me some trifles with which I was well acquainted, but
+which I pretended to think very astonishing. My good genius then inspired
+me with the idea of trying divination by the cabala. I told her to ask a
+question in writing, and assured her that by a certain kind of
+calculation a satisfactory answer would be obtained. She smiled, and
+asked why I had returned to Amsterdam so soon. I shewed her how to make
+the pyramid with the proper numbers and the other ceremonies, then I made
+her extract the answer in numbers, translating it into French, and
+greatly was she surprised to find that the cause which had made me return
+to Amsterdam so soon was--love.
+
+Quite confounded, she said it was very wonderful, even though the answer
+might not be true, and she wished to know what masters could teach this
+mode of calculation.
+
+"Those who know it cannot teach it to anyone."
+
+"How did you learn it, then?"
+
+"From a precious manuscript I inherited from my father."
+
+"Sell it me."
+
+"I have burnt it; and I am not empowered to communicate the secret to
+anyone before I reach the age of fifty."
+
+"Why fifty?"
+
+"I don't know; but I do know that if I communicated it to anyone before
+that age I should run the risk of losing it myself. The elementary spirit
+who is attached to the oracle would leave it."
+
+"How do you know that?"
+
+"I saw it so stated in the manuscript I have spoken of."
+
+"Then you are able to discover all secrets?"
+
+"Yes, or I should be if the replies were not sometimes too obscure to be
+understood."
+
+"As it does not take much time, will you be kind enough to get me an
+answer to another question?"
+
+"With pleasure; you can command me in anything not forbidden by my
+familiar spirit."
+
+She asked what her destiny would be, and the oracle replied that she had
+not yet taken the first step towards it. Esther was astonished and called
+her governess to see the two answers, but the good woman saw nothing
+wonderful in them whatever. Esther impatiently called her a blockhead,
+and entreated me to let her ask another question. I begged her to do so,
+and she asked,
+
+"Who loves me most in Amsterdam?" The oracle replied that no one loved
+her as well as he who had given her being: Poor Esther then told me that
+I had made her miserable, and that she would die of grief if she could
+not succeed in learning the method of calculation. I gave no answer, and
+pretended to feel sad at heart. She began to write down another question,
+putting her hand in front so as to screen the paper. I rose as if to get
+out of her way, but while she was arranging the pyramid I cast my eyes on
+the paper whilst walking up and down the room, and read her question.
+After she had gone as far as I had taught her, she asked me to extract
+the answer, saying that I could do so without reading the question. I
+agreed to do so on the condition that she would not ask a second time.
+
+As I had seen her question, it was easy for me to answer it. She had
+asked the oracle if she might shew the questions she had propounded to
+her father, and the answer was that she would be happy as long as she had
+no secrets from her father.
+
+When she read these words she gave a cry of surprise, and could find no
+words wherewith to express her gratitude to me. I left her for the
+Exchange, where I had a long business conversation with M. Pels.
+
+Next morning a handsome and gentlemanly man came with a letter of
+introduction from Therese, who told me that he would be useful in case I
+wanted any assistance in business. His name was Rigerboos. She informed
+me that the burgomaster's son was only slightly wounded, and that I had
+nothing to fear as the matter was not generally known, and that if I had
+business at the Hague I might return there in perfect safety. She said
+that my little Sophie talked of me all day, and that I should find my son
+much improved on my return. I asked M. Rigerboos to give me his address,
+assuring him that at the proper time I should rely on his services.
+
+A moment after Rigerboos had gone, I got a short note from Esther, who
+begged me, in her father's name, to spend the day with her--at least, if
+I had no important engagement. I answered that, excepting a certain
+matter of which her father knew, I had no chiefer aim than to convince
+her that I desired a place in her heart, and that she might be quite sure
+that I would not refuse her invitation.
+
+I went to M. d'O---- at dinner time. I found Esther and her father
+puzzling over the method which drew reasonable answers out of a pyramid
+of numbers. As soon as her father saw me, he embraced me, saying how
+happy he was to possess a daughter capable of attracting me.
+
+"She will attract any man who has sufficient sense to appreciate her."
+
+"You appreciate her, then?"
+
+"I worship her."
+
+"Then embrace her."
+
+Esther opened her arms, and with a cry of delight threw them round my
+neck, and gave the back all my caresses, kiss for kiss.
+
+"I have got through all my business," said M. d'O----, "and the rest of
+my day is at your disposal. I have known from my childhood that there is
+such a science as the one you profess, and I was acquainted with a Jew
+who by its aid made an immense fortune. He, like you, said that, under
+pain of losing the secret, it could only be communicated to one person,
+but he put off doing so so long that at last it was too late, for a high
+fever carried him off in a few days. I hope you will not do as the Jew
+did; but in the meanwhile allow me to say that if You do not draw a
+profit from this treasure, you do not know what it really is."
+
+"You call this knowledge of mine a treasure, and yet you possess one far
+more excellent," looking at Esther as I spoke.
+
+"We will discuss that again. Yes, sir, I call your science a treasure."
+
+"But the answers of the oracle are often very obscure."
+
+"Obscure! The answers my daughter received are as clear as day."
+
+"Apparently, she is fortunate in the way she frames her questions; for on
+this the reply depends."
+
+"After dinner we will try if I am so fortunate--at least, if you will be
+so kind as to help me."
+
+"I can refuse you nothing, as I consider father and daughter as one
+being."
+
+At table we discussed other subjects, as the chief clerks were
+present--notably the manager, a vulgar-looking fellow, who had very
+evident aspirations in the direction of my fair Esther. After dinner we
+went into M. d'O 's private closet, and thereupon he drew two long
+questions out of his pocket. In the first he desired to know how to
+obtain a favourable decision from the States-General in an important
+matter, the details of which he explained. I replied in terms, the
+obscurity of which would have done credit to a professed Pythoness, and I
+left Esther to translate the answer into common sense, and find a meaning
+in it.
+
+With regard to the second answer I acted in a different manner; I was
+impelled to answer clearly, and did so. M. d'O asked what had become of a
+vessel belonging to the India Company of which nothing had been heard. It
+was known to have started on the return voyage, and should have arrived
+two months ago, and this delay gave rise to the supposition that it had
+gone down. M. d'O---- wished to know if it were still above water, or
+whether it were lost, etc. As no tidings of it had come to hand, the
+company were on the look-out for someone to insure it, and offered ten
+per cent., but nobody cared to run so great a risk, especially as a
+letter had been received from an English sea captain who said he had seen
+her sink.
+
+I may confess to my readers, though I did not do so to M. d'O----. that
+with inexplicable folly I composed an answer that left no doubt as to the
+safety of the vessel, pronouncing it safe and sound, and that we should
+hear of it in a few days. No doubt I felt the need of exalting my oracle,
+but this method was likely to destroy its credit for ever. In truth, if I
+had guessed M. d'O----'s design, I would have curbed my vanity, for I had
+no wish to make him lose a large sum without profiting myself.
+
+The answer made him turn pale, and tremble with joy. He told us that
+secrecy in the matter was of the last importance, as he had determined to
+insure the vessel and drive a good bargain. At this, dreading the
+consequences, I hastened to tell him that for all I knew there might not
+be a word of truth in the oracle's reply, and that I should die of grief
+if I were the involuntary cause of his losing an enormous sum of money
+through relying on an oracle, the hidden sense of which might be
+completely opposed to the literal translation.
+
+"Have you ever been deceived by it?"
+
+"Often."
+
+Seeing my distress, Esther begged her father to take no further steps in
+the matter. For some moments nobody spoke.
+
+M. d'O---- looked thoughtful and full of the project which his fancy had
+painted in such gay colours. He said a good deal about it, dwelling on
+the mystic virtues of numbers, and told his daughter to read out all the
+questions she had addressed to the oracle with the answers she had
+received. There were six or seven of them, all briefly worded, some
+direct and some equivocal. Esther, who had constructed the pyramids, had
+shone, with my potent assistance, in extracting the answers, which I had
+really invented, and her father, in the joy of his heart, seeing her so
+clever, imagined that she would become an adept in the science by the
+force of intelligence. The lovely Esther, who was much taken with the
+trifle; was quite ready to be of the same opinion.
+
+After passing several hours in the discussion of the answers, which my
+host thought divine, we had supper, and at parting M. d'O---- said that as
+Sunday was a day for pleasure and not business he hoped I would honour
+them by passing the day at their pretty house on the Amstel, and they
+were delighted at my accepting their invitation.
+
+I could not help pondering over the mysteries of the commercial mind,
+which narrows itself down to considerations of profit and loss. M.
+d'O---- was decidedly an honest man; but although he was rich, he was by
+no means devoid of the greed incident to his profession. I asked myself
+the question, how a man, who would consider it dishonourable to steal a
+ducat, or to pick one up in the street and keep it, knowing to whom it
+belonged, could reconcile it with his conscience to make an enormous
+profit by insuring a vessel of the safety of which he was perfectly
+certain, as he believed the oracle infallible. Such a transaction was
+certainly fraudulent, as it is dishonest to play when one is certain of
+winning.
+
+As I was going home I passed a tea-garden, and seeing a good many people
+going in and coming out I went in curious to know how these places were
+managed in Holland. Great heavens! I found myself the witness of an orgy,
+the scene a sort of cellar, a perfect cesspool of vice and debauchery.
+The discordant noise of the two or three instruments which formed the
+orchestra struck gloom to the soul and added to the horrors of the
+cavern. The air was dense with the fumes of bad tobacco, and vapours
+reeking of beer and garlic issued from every mouth. The company consisted
+of sailors, men of the lowest-class, and a number of vile women. The
+sailors and the dregs of the people thought this den a garden of delight,
+and considered its pleasures compensation for the toils of the sea and
+the miseries of daily labour. There was not a single woman there whose
+aspect had anything redeeming about it. I was looking at the repulsive
+sight in silence, when a great hulking fellow, whose appearance suggested
+the blacksmith, and his voice the blackguard, came up to me and asked me
+in bad Italian if I would like to dance. I answered in the negative, but
+before leaving me he pointed out a Venetian woman who, he said, would
+oblige me if I gave her some drink.
+
+Wishing to discover if she was anyone I knew I looked at her attentively,
+and seemed to recollect her features, although I could not decide who she
+could be. Feeling rather curious on the subject I sat down next to her,
+and asked if she came from Venice, and if she had left that country some
+time ago.
+
+"Nearly eighteen years," she replied.
+
+I ordered a bottle of wine, and asked if she would take any; she said
+yes, and added, if I liked, she would oblige me.
+
+"I haven't time," I said; and I gave the poor wretch the change I
+received from the waiter. She was full of gratitude, and would have
+embraced me if I had allowed her.
+
+"Do you like being at Amsterdam better than Venice?" I asked.
+
+"Alas, no! for if I were in my own country I should not be following this
+dreadful trade."
+
+"How old were you when you left Venice."
+
+"I was only fourteen and lived happily with my father and mother, who now
+may have died of grief."
+
+"Who seduced you?"
+
+"A rascally footman."
+
+"In what part of Venice did you live?"
+
+"I did not live in Venice, but at Friuli, not far off."
+
+Friuli . . . eighteen years ago . . . a footman . . . I felt moved, and
+looking at the wretched woman more closely I soon recognized in her Lucie
+of Pasean. I cannot describe my sorrow, which I concealed as best I
+could, and tried hard to keep up my indifferent air. A life of debauchery
+rather than the flight of time had tarnished her beauty, and ruined the
+once exquisite outlines of her form. Lucie, that innocent and pretty
+maiden, grown ugly, vile, a common prostitute! It was a dreadful thought.
+She drank like a sailor, without looking at me, and without caring who I
+was. I took a few ducats from my purse, and slipped them into her hand,
+and without waiting for her to find out how much I had given her I left
+that horrible den.
+
+I went to bed full of saddening thoughts. Not even under the Leads did I
+pass so wretched a day. I thought I must have risen under some unhappy
+star! I loathed myself. With regard to Lucie I felt the sting of remorse,
+but at the thought of M. d'O---- I hated myself. I considered that I
+should cause him a loss of three or four hundred thousand florins; and
+the thought was a bitter drop in the cup of my affection for Esther. I
+fancied, she, as well as her father, would become my implacable foe; and
+love that is not returned is no love at all.
+
+I spent a dreadful night. Lucie, Esther, her father, their hatred of me,
+and my hatred of myself, were the groundwork of my dreams. I saw Esther
+and her father, if not ruined, at all events impoverished by my fault,
+and Lucie only thirty-two years old, and already deep in the abyss of
+vice, with an infinite prospect of misery and shame before her. The dawn
+was welcome indeed, for with its appearance a calm came to my spirit; it
+is, the darkness which is terrible to a heart full of remorse.
+
+I got up and dressed myself in my best, and went in a coach to do my suit
+to the Princesse de Galitzin, who, was staying at the "Etoile d'Orient."
+I found her out; she had gone to the Admiralty. I went there, and found
+her accompanied by M. de Reissak and the Count de Tot, who had just
+received news of my friend Pesselier, at whose house I made his
+acquaintance, and who was dangerously ill when I left Paris.
+
+I sent away my coach and began to walk towards M. d'O----'s house on the
+Amsel. The extreme elegance of my costume was displeasing in the eyes of
+the Dutch populace, and they hissed and hooted me, after the manner of
+the mob all the world over, Esther saw me coming from the window, drew
+the rope, and opened the door. I ran in, shut the door behind me, and as
+I was going up the wooden staircase, on the fourth or fifth step my foot
+struck against some yielding substance. I looked down and saw a green
+pocket-book. I stooped down to pick it up, but was awkward enough to send
+it through an opening in the stairs, which had been doubtless made for
+the purpose of giving light to a stair below. I did not stop, but went up
+the steps and was received with the usual hospitality, and on their
+expressing some wonder as to the unusual brilliance of my attire I
+explained the circumstances of the case. Esther smiled and said I looked
+quite another person, but I saw that both father and daughter were sad at
+heart. Esther's governess came in and said something to her in Dutch, at
+which, in evident distress, she ran and embraced her father.
+
+"I see, my friends, that something has happened to you. If my presence is
+a restraint, treat me without ceremony, and bid me go."
+
+"It's not so great an ill-hap after all; I have enough money left to bear
+the loss patiently."
+
+"If I may ask the question, what is the nature of your loss?"
+
+"I have lost a green pocket-book containing a good deal of money, which
+if I had been wise I would have left behind, as I did not require it till
+to-morrow."
+
+"And you don't know where you lost it?"
+
+"It must have been in the street, but I can't imagine how it can have
+happened. It contained bills of exchange for large amounts, and of course
+they don't matter, as I can stop payment of them, but there were also
+notes of the Bank of England for heavy sums, and they are gone, as they
+are payable to the bearer. Let us give thanks to God, my dear child, that
+it is no worse, and pray to Him to preserve to us what remains, and above
+all to keep us in good health. I have had much heavier losses than this,
+and I have been enabled not only to bear the misfortune but to make up
+the loss. Let us say no more about the matter."
+
+While he was speaking my heart was full of joy, but I kept up the sadness
+befitting the scene. I had not the slightest doubt that the pocket-book
+in question was the one I had unluckily sent through the staircase, but
+which could not be lost irretrievably. My first point was how to make
+capital of my grand discovery in the interests of my cabalistic science.
+It was too fine an opportunity to be lost, especially as I still felt the
+sting of having been the cause of an enormous loss to the worthy man. I
+would give them a grand proof of the infallibility of my oracle: how many
+miracles are done in the same way! The thought put me into a good humour.
+I began to crack jokes, and my jests drew peals of laughter from Esther.
+
+We had an excellent dinner and choice wine. After we had taken coffee I
+said that if they liked we would have a game of cards, but Esther said
+that this would be a waste of time, as she would much prefer making the
+oracular pyramids. This was exactly what I wanted.
+
+"With all my heart," I said.
+
+"We will do as you suggest."
+
+"Shall I ask where my father lost his pocket-book?"
+
+"Why not? It's a plain question: write it down."
+
+She made the pyramid, and the reply was that the pocket-book had not been
+found by anyone. She leapt up from her seat, danced for joy, and threw
+her arms round her father's neck, saying,
+
+"We shall find it, we shall find it, papa!"
+
+"I hope so, too, my dear, that answer is really very consoling."
+
+Wherewith Esther gave her father one kiss after another.
+
+"Yes," said I, "there is certainly ground for hope, but the oracle will
+be dumb to all questions."
+
+"Dumb! Why?"
+
+"I was going to say it will be dumb if you do not give me as many kisses
+as you have given your father."
+
+"Oh, then I will soon make it speak!" said she, laughing; and throwing
+her arms about my neck she began to kiss me, and I to give her kisses in
+return.
+
+Ah! what happy days they seem when I recall them; and still I like
+dwelling on these days despite my sad old age, the foe of love. When I
+recall these events I grow young again and feel once more the delights of
+youth, despite the long years which separate me from that happy time.
+
+At last Esther sat down again, and asked, "Where is the pocket-book?" And
+the pyramid told her that the pocket-book had fallen through the opening
+in the fifth step of the staircase.
+
+M. d'O---- said to his daughter,
+
+"Come, my dear Esther, let us go and test the truth of the oracle." And
+full of joy and hope they went to the staircase, I following them, and M.
+d'O shewed her the hole through which the pocket-book must have fallen.
+He lighted a candle and we went down to the cellar, and before long he
+picked up the book, which had fallen into some water. We went up again in
+high spirits, and there we talked for over an hour as seriously as you
+please on the divine powers of the oracle, which, according to them,
+should render its possessor the happiest of mortals.
+
+He opened the pocket-book and shewed us the four thousand pound notes. He
+gave two to his daughter, and made me take the two remaining; but I took
+them with one hand and with the other gave them to Esther begging her to
+keep them for me; but before she would agree to do so I had to threaten
+her with the stoppage of the famous cabalistic oracle. I told M. d'O that
+all I asked was his friendship, and thereon he embraced me, and swore to
+be my friend to the death.
+
+By making the fair Esther the depositary of my two thousand pounds, I was
+sure of winning her affection by an appeal, not to her interest, but to
+her truthfulness. This charming girl had about her so powerful an
+attraction that I felt as if my life was wound up with hers.
+
+I told M. d'O that my chief object was to negotiate the twenty millions
+at a small loss.
+
+"I hope to be of service to you in the matter," he said, "but as I. shall
+often want to speak to you, you must come and live in our house, which
+you must look upon as your own."
+
+"My presence will be a restraint on you. I shall be a trouble."
+
+"Ask Esther."
+
+Esther joined her entreaties to her father's and I gave in, taking good
+care not to let them see how pleased I was. I contented myself with
+expressing my gratitude, to which they answered that it was I who
+conferred a favour.
+
+M. d'O went into his closet, and as soon as I found myself alone with
+Esther I kissed her tenderly, saying that I should not be happy till I
+had won her heart.
+
+"Do you love me?"
+
+"Dearly, and I will do all in my power to shew how well I love you, if
+you will love me in return."
+
+She gave me her hand, which I covered with kisses, and she went on to
+say, "As soon as you come and live with us, you must look out for a good
+opportunity for asking my hand of my father. You need not be afraid he
+will refuse you, but the first thing for you to do is to move into our
+house."
+
+"My dear little wife! I will come to-morrow."
+
+We said many sweet things to one another, talked about the future, and
+told each other our inmost thoughts; and I was undoubtedly truly in love,
+for not a single improper fancy rose in my mind in the presence of my
+dear who loved me so well.
+
+The first thing that M. d'O said on his return was, that there would be a
+piece of news on the Exchange the next day.
+
+"What is that, papa dear?"
+
+"I have decided to take the whole risk--amounting to three hundred
+thousand florins-of the ship which is thought to have gone down. They
+will call me mad, but they themselves will be the madmen; which is what I
+should be if, after the proof we have had, I doubted the oracle any
+more."
+
+"My dear sir, you make me frightened. I have told you that I have been
+often deceived by the oracle."
+
+"That must have been, my dear fellow, when the reply was obscure, and you
+did not get at the real sense of it; but in the present case there is no
+room, for doubt. I shall make three million florins, or, if the worst
+comes to the worse, my loss won't ruin me."
+
+Esther, whom the finding of the pocket-book had made enthusiastic, told
+her father to lose no time. As for me, I could not recall what I had
+done, but I was again overwhelmed with sadness. M. d'O---- saw it, and
+taking my hand said, "If the oracle does lie this time, I shall be none
+the less your friend."
+
+"I am glad to hear it," I answered; "but as this is a matter of the
+utmost importance, let me consult the oracle a second time before you
+risk your three hundred thousand florins." This proposition pleased the
+father and daughter highly; they could not express their gratitude to me
+for being so careful of their interests.
+
+What followed was truly surprising--enough to make one believe in
+fatality. My readers probably will not believe it; but as these Memoirs
+will not be published till I have left this world, it would be of no use
+for me to disguise the truth in any way, especially as the writing of
+them is only the amusement of my leisure hours. Well, let him who will
+believe it; this is absolutely what happened. I wrote down the question
+myself, erected the pyramid, and carried out all the magical ceremonies
+without letting Esther have a hand in it. I was delighted to be able to
+check an act of extreme imprudence, and I was determined to do so. A
+double meaning, which I knew how to get, would abate M. d'O----'s courage
+and annihilate his plans. I had thought over what I wanted to say, and I
+thought I had expressed it properly in the numbers. With that idea, as
+Esther knew the alphabet perfectly well, I let her extract the answer,
+and transfer it into letters. What was my surprise when I heard her read
+these words:
+
+"In a matter of this kind neither fear nor hesitate. Your repentance
+would be too hard for you to bear."
+
+That was enough. Father and daughter ran to embrace me, and M. d'O-said
+that when the vessel was sighted a tithe of the profits should be mine.
+My surprise prevented me giving any answer; I had intended to write trust
+and hazard, and I had written fear and hesitate. But thanks to his
+prejudice, M. d'O---- only saw in my silence confirmation of the
+infallibility of the oracle. In short, I could do nothing more, and I
+took my leave leaving everything to the care of chance, who sometimes is
+kind to us in spite of ourselves.
+
+The next morning I took up my abode in a splendid suite of rooms in
+Esther's house, and the day after I took her to a concert, where she
+joked with me on the grief I should endure on account of the absence of
+Madame Trend and my daughter. Esther was the only mistress of my soul. I
+lived but to adore her, and I should have satisfied my love had not
+Esther been a girl of good principles. I could not gain possession of
+her, and was full of longing and desire.
+
+Four or five days after my installation in my new quarters, M.
+d'O---communicated to me the result of a conference which he had had with
+M. Pels and six other bankers on the twenty millions. They offered ten
+millions in hard cash and seven millions in paper money, bearing interest
+at five or six per cent. with a deduction of one per cent. brokerage.
+Furthermore, they would forgive a sum of twelve hundred thousand florins
+owed by the French India Company to the Dutch Company.
+
+With such conditions I could not venture to decide on my own
+responsibility, although, personally, I thought them reasonable enough,
+the impoverished state of the French treasury being taken into
+consideration. I sent copies of the proposal to M. de Boulogne and M.
+d'Afri, begging from them an immediate reply. At the end of a week I
+received an answer in the writing of M. de Courteil, acting for M. de
+Boulogne, instructing me to refuse absolutely any such proposal, and to
+report myself at Paris if I saw no chance of making a better bargain. I
+was again informed that peace was imminent, though the Dutch were quite
+of another opinion.
+
+In all probability I should have immediately left for Paris, but for a
+circumstance which astonished nobody but myself in the family of which I
+had become a member. The confidence of M. d'O---- increased every day, and
+as if chance was determined to make me a prophet in spite of myself, news
+was received of the ship which was believed to be lost, and which, on the
+faith of my oracle, M. d'O had bought for three hundred thousand florins.
+The vessel was at Madeira. The joy of Esther, and still more my own, may
+be imagined when we saw the worthy man enter the house triumphantly with
+confirmation of the good news.
+
+"I have insured the vessel from Madeira to the mouth of the Texel for a
+trifle," said he, "and so," turning to me, "you may count from this
+moment on the tenth part of the profit, which I owe entirely to you."
+
+The reader may imagine my delight; but there is one thing he will not
+imagine, unless he knows my character better than I do myself, the
+confusion into which I was thrown by the following remarks:
+
+"You are now rich enough," said M. d'O----, "to set up for yourself
+amongst us, and you are positively certain to make an enormous fortune in
+a short time merely by making use of your cabala. I will be your agent;
+let us live together, and if you like my daughter as she likes you, you
+can call yourself my son as soon as you please."
+
+In Esther's face shone forth joy and happiness, and in mine, though I
+adored her, there was to be seen, alas! nothing but surprise. I was
+stupid with happiness and the constraint in which I held myself. I did
+not analyze my feelings, but, though I knew it not, there can be no doubt
+that my insuperable objection to the marriage tie was working within my
+soul. A long silence followed; and last, recovering my powers of speech,
+I succeeded, with an effort, in speaking to them of my gratitude, my
+happiness, my love, and I ended by saying that, in spite of my affection
+for Esther, I must, before settling in Holland, return to Paris, and
+discharge the confidential and responsible duty which the Government had
+placed in my hands. I would then return to Amsterdam perfectly
+independent.
+
+This long peroration won their approval. Esther was quite pleased, and we
+spent the rest of the day in good spirits. Next day M. d'O---gave a
+splendid dinner to several of his friends, who congratulated him on his
+good fortune, being persuaded that his courageous action was to be
+explained by his having had secret information of the safety of the
+vessel, though none of them could see from what source he, and he only,
+had obtained it.
+
+A week after this lucky event he gave me an ultimatum on the matter of
+the twenty millions, in which he guaranteed that France should not lose
+more than nine per cent. in the transaction.
+
+I immediately sent a copy of his proposal to M. d'Afri, begging him to be
+as prompt as possible, and another copy to the comptroller-general, with
+a letter in which I warned him that the thing would certainly fall
+through if he delayed a single day in sending full powers to M. d'Afri to
+give me the necessary authority to act.
+
+I wrote to the same effect to M. de Courteil and the Duc de Choiseul,
+telling them that I was to receive no brokerage; but that I should all
+the same accept a proposal which I thought a profitable one, and saying
+that I had no doubt of obtaining my expenses from the French Government.
+
+As it was a time of rejoicing with us, M. d'O---- thought it would be a
+good plan to give a ball. All the most distinguished people in Amsterdam
+were invited to it. The ball and supper were of the most splendid
+description, and Esther, who was a blaze of diamonds, danced all the
+quadrilles with me, and charmed every beholder by her grace and beauty.
+
+I spent all my time with Esther, and every day we grew more and more in
+love, and more unhappy, for we were tormented by abstinence, which
+irritated while it increased our desires.
+
+Esther was an affectionate mistress, but discreet rather by training than
+disposition the favours she accorded me were of the most insignificant
+description. She was lavish of nothing but her kisses, but kisses are
+rather irritating than soothing. I used to be nearly wild with love. She
+told me, like other virtuous women, that if she agreed to make me happy
+she was sure I would not marry her, and that as soon as I made her my
+wife she would be mine and mine only. She did not think I was married,
+for I had given her too many assurances to the contrary, but she thought
+I had a strong attachment to someone in Paris. I confessed that she was
+right, and said that I was going there to put an end to it that I might
+be bound to her alone. Alas! I lied when I said so, for Esther was
+inseparable from her father, a man of forty, and I could not make up my
+mind to pass the remainder of my days in Holland.
+
+Ten or twelve days after sending the ultimatum, I received a letter from
+M. de Boulogne informing me that M. d'Afri had all necessary instructions
+for effecting the exchange of the twenty millions, and another letter
+from the ambassador was to the same effect. He warned me to take care
+that everything was right, as he should not part with the securities
+before receiving 18,200,000 francs in current money.
+
+The sad time of parting at last drew near, amid many regrets and tears
+from all of us. Esther gave me the two thousand pounds I had won so
+easily, and her father at my request gave me bills of exchange to the
+amount of a hundred thousand florins, with a note of two hundred thousand
+florins authorizing me to draw upon him till the whole sum was exhausted.
+Just as I was going, Esther gave me fifty shirts and fifty handkerchiefs
+of the finest quality.
+
+It was not my love for Manon Baletti, but a foolish vanity and a desire
+to cut a figure in the luxurious city of Paris, which made me leave
+Holland. But such was the disposition that Mother Nature had given me
+that fifteen months under The Leads had not been enough to cure this
+mental malady of mine. But when I reflect upon after events of my life I
+am not astonished that The Leads proved ineffectual, for the numberless
+vicissitudes which I have gone through since have not cured me--my
+disorder, indeed, being of the incurable kind. There is no such thing as
+destiny. We ourselves shape our lives, notwithstanding that saying of the
+Stoics, 'Volentem ducit, nolentem trahit'.
+
+After promising Esther to return before the end of the year, I set out
+with a clerk of the company who had brought the French securities, and I
+reached the Hague, where Boaz received me with a mingled air of wonder
+and admiration. He told me that I had worked a miracle; "but," he added,
+"to succeed thus you must have persuaded them that peace was on the point
+of being concluded."
+
+"By no means," I answered; "so far from my persuading them, they are of
+the opposite opinion; but all the same I may tell you that peace is
+really imminent."
+
+"If you like to give me that assurance in writing," said he, "I will make
+you a present of fifty thousand florins' worth of diamonds."
+
+"Well," I answered, "the French ambassador is of the same opinion as
+myself; but I don't think the certainty is sufficiently great as yet for
+you to risk your diamonds upon it."
+
+Next day I finished my business with the ambassador, and the clerk
+returned to Amsterdam.
+
+I went to supper at Therese's, and found her children very well dressed.
+I told her to go on to Rotterdam the next day and wait for me there with
+her son, as I had no wish to give scandal at the Hague.
+
+At Rotterdam, Therese told me that she knew I had won half a million at
+Amsterdam, and that her fortune would be made if she could leave Holland
+for London. She had instructed Sophie to tell me that my good luck was
+the effect of the prayers she had addressed to Heaven on my behalf. I saw
+where the land lay, and I enjoyed a good laugh at the mother's craft and
+the child's piety, and gave her a hundred ducats, telling her that she
+should have another hundred when she wrote to me from London. It was very
+evident that she thought the sum a very moderate one, but I would not
+give her any more. She waited for the moment when I was getting into my
+carriage to beg me to give her another hundred ducats, and I said, in a
+low tone, that she should have a thousand if she would give me her
+daughter. She thought it over for a minute, and then said that she could
+not part with her.
+
+"I know very well why," I answered; and drawing a watch from my fob I
+gave it to Sophie, embraced her, and went on my way. I arrived at Paris
+on February 10th, and took sumptuous apartments near the Rue Montorgueil.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+I Meet With a Flattering Reception From My Patron--Madame D'Urfe's
+Infatuation--Madame X. C. V. And Her Family--Madame du Rumain
+
+During my journey from the Hague to Paris, short as it was, I had plenty
+of opportunities for seeing that the mental qualities of my adopted son
+were by no means equal to his physical ones.
+
+As I had said, the chief point which his mother had impressed on him was
+reserve, which she had instilled into him out of regard for her own
+interests. My readers will understand what I mean, but the child, in
+following his mother's instructions, had gone beyond the bounds of
+moderation; he possessed reserve, it is true, but he was also full of
+dissimulation, suspicion, and hypocrisy--a fine trio of deceit in one who
+was still a boy. He not only concealed what he knew, but he pretended to
+know that which he did not. His idea of the one quality necessary to
+success in life was an impenetrable reserve, and to obtain this he had
+accustomed himself to silence the dictates of his heart, and to say no
+word that had not been carefully weighed. Giving other people wrong
+impressions passed with him for discretion, and his soul being incapable
+of a generous thought, he seemed likely to pass through life without
+knowing what friendship meant.
+
+Knowing that Madame d'Urfe counted on the boy for the accomplishment of
+her absurd hypostasis, and that the more mystery I made of his birth the
+more extravagant would be her fancies about it, I told the lad that if I
+introduced him to a lady who questioned him by himself about his birth,
+he was to be perfectly open with her.
+
+On my arrival at Paris my first visit was to my patron, whom I found in
+grand company amongst whom I recognized the Venetian ambassador, who
+pretended not to know me.
+
+"How long have you been in Paris?" said the minister, taking me by the
+hand.
+
+"I have only just stepped out of my chaise."
+
+"Then go to Versailles. You will find the Duc de Choiseul and the
+comptroller-general there. You have been wonderfully successful, go and
+get your meed of praise and come and see me afterwards. Tell the duke
+that Voltaire's appointment to be a gentleman-in-ordinary to the king is
+ready."
+
+I was not going to start for Versailles at midday, but ministers in Paris
+are always talking in this style, as if Versailles were at the end of the
+street. Instead of going there, I went to see Madame d'Urfe.
+
+She received me with the words that her genius had informed her that I
+should come to-day, and that she was delighted with the fulfilment of the
+prophecy.
+
+"Corneman tells me that you have been doing wonders in Holland; but I see
+more in the matter than he does, as I am quite certain that you have
+taken over the twenty millions yourself. The funds have risen, and a
+hundred millions at least will be in circulation in the course of the
+next week. You must not be offended at my shabby present, for, of course,
+twelve thousand francs are nothing to you. You must look upon them as a
+little token of friendship."
+
+"I am going to tell my servants to close all the doors, for I am too glad
+to see you not to want to have you all to myself."
+
+A profound bow was the only reply I made to this flattering speech, and I
+saw her tremble with joy when I told her that I had brought a lad of
+twelve with me, whom I intended to place in the best school I could find
+that he might have a good education.
+
+"I will send him myself to Viar, where my nephews are. What is his name?
+Where is he?  I know well what this boy is, I long to see him. Why did
+you not alight from your journey at my house?"
+
+Her questions and replies followed one another in rapid succession. I
+should have found it impossible to get in a word edgeways, even if I had
+wanted to, but I was very glad to let her expend her enthusiasm, and took
+good care not to interrupt her. On the first opportunity, I told her that
+I should have the pleasure of presenting the young gentleman to her the
+day after tomorrow, as on the morrow I had an engagement at Versailles.
+
+"Does the dear lad speak French?  While I am arranging for his going to
+school you must really let him come and live with me."
+
+"We will discuss that question on the day after tomorrow, madam."
+
+"Oh, how I wish the day after to-morrow was here!"
+
+On leaving Madame d'Urfe I went to my lottery office and found everything
+in perfect order. I then went to the Italian play, and found Silvia and
+her daughter in their dressing-room.
+
+"My dear friend," said she when she saw me, "I know that you have
+achieved a wonderful success in Holland, and I congratulate you."
+
+I gave her an agreeable surprise by saying that I had been working for
+her daughter, and Marion herself blushed, and lowered her eyes in a very
+suggestive manner. "I will be with you at supper," I added, "and then we
+can talk at our ease." On leaving them I went to the amphitheatre, and
+what was my surprise to see in one of the first boxes Madame
+X---- C---- V----, with all her family. My readers will be glad to hear
+their history.
+
+Madame X---- C---- V----, by birth a Greek, was the widow of an Englishman,
+by whom she had six children, four of whom were girls. On his death-bed
+he became a Catholic out of deference to the tears of his wife; but as
+his children could not inherit his forty thousand pounds invested in
+England, without conforming to the Church of England, the family returned
+to London, where the widow complied with all the obligations of the law
+of England. What will people not do when their interests are at stake!
+though in a case like this there is no need to blame a person for
+yielding, to prejudices which had the sanction of the law.
+
+It was now the beginning of the year 1758, and five years before, when I
+was at Padua, I fell in love with the eldest daughter, but a few months
+after, when we were at Venice, Madame X. C. V. thought good to exclude me
+from her family circle. The insult which the mother put upon me was
+softened by the daughter, who wrote me a charming letter, which I love to
+read even now. I may as well confess that my grief was the easier to bear
+as my time was taken up by my fair nun, M---- M----, and my dear
+C---- C----. Nevertheless, Mdlle. X. C. V., though only fifteen, was of a
+perfect beauty, and was all the more charming in that to her physical
+advantages she joined those of a cultured mind.
+
+Count Algarotti, the King of Prussia's chamberlain, gave her lessons, and
+several young nobles were among her suitors, her preference apparently
+being given to the heir of the family of Memmo de St. Marcuola. He died a
+year afterwards, while he was procurator.
+
+My surprise at seeing this family at such a time and place may be
+imagined. Mdlle. X. C. V. saw me directly, and pointed me out to her
+mother, who made a sign to me with her fan to come to their box.
+
+She received me in the friendliest manner possible, telling me that we
+were not at Venice now, and that she hoped I would often come and see
+them at the "Hotel de Bretagne," in the Rue St. Andre des Arts. I told
+them that I did not wish to recall any events which might have happened
+at Venice, and her daughter having joined her entreaties to those of her
+mother, I promised to accept their invitation.
+
+Mdlle. X. C. V. struck me as prettier than ever; and my love, after
+sleeping for five years, awoke to fresh strength and vigour. They told me
+that they were going to pass six months at Paris before returning to
+Venice. In return I informed them that I intended making Paris my home,
+that I had just left Holland, that I was going to Versailles the next
+day, so that I could not pay my respects to them till the day after. I
+also begged them to accept my services, in a manner which let them know I
+was a person of some importance.
+
+Mdlle. X. C. V. said that she was aware that the results of my Dutch
+mission should render me dear to France, that she had always lived in
+hopes of seeing me once more, that my famous flight from The Leads had
+delighted them; "for," she added, "we have always been fond of you."
+
+"I fancy your mother has kept her fondness for me very much to herself,"
+I whispered to her.
+
+"We won't say anything about that," said she in the same tone. "We learnt
+all the circumstances of your wonderful flight from a letter of sixteen
+pages you wrote to M. Memmo. We trembled with joy and shuddered with fear
+as we read it."
+
+"How did you know I have been in Holland?"
+
+"M. de la Popeliniere told us about it yesterday."
+
+M. de la Popeliniere, the fermier-general, whom I had known seven years
+ago at Passi, came into the box just as his name was spoken. After
+complimenting me he said that if I could carry through the same operation
+for the India Company my fortune would be made.
+
+"My advice to you is," he said, "to get yourself naturalized before it
+becomes generally known that you have made half a million of money."
+
+"Half a million! I only wish I had!"
+
+"You must have made that at the lowest calculation."
+
+"On the contrary, I give you my assurance, that if my claim for brokerage
+is not allowed, the transaction will prove absolutely ruinous to me."
+
+"Ah! no doubt you are right to take that tone. Meanwhile, everyone wants
+to make your acquaintance, for France is deeply indebted to you. You have
+caused the funds to recover in a very marked degree."
+
+After the play was over I went to Silvia's, where I was received as if I
+had been the favourite child of the family; but on the other hand I gave
+them certain proofs that I wished to be regarded in that light. I was
+impressed with the idea that to their unshaken friendship I owed all my
+good luck, and I made the father, mother, the daughter, and the two sons,
+receive the presents I had got for them. The best was for the mother, who
+handed it on to her daughter. It was a pair of diamond ear-rings of great
+beauty, for which I had given fifteen thousand francs. Three days after I
+sent her a box containing fine linen from Holland, and choice Mechlin and
+Alencon lace. Mario, who liked smoking, got a gold pipe; the father a
+choice gold and enamelled snuff-box, and I gave a repeater to the younger
+son, of whom I was very fond. I shall have occasion later on to speak of
+this lad, whose natural qualities were far superior to his position in
+life. But, you will ask, was I rich enough to make such presents?  No, I
+was not, and I knew it perfectly well; but I gave these presents because
+I was afraid of not being able to do so if I waited.
+
+I set out for Versailles at day-break, and M. de Choiseul received me as
+before, his hair was being dressed, but for a moment he laid down his
+pen, which shewed that I had become a person of greater importance in his
+eyes. After a slight but grateful compliment, he told me that if I
+thought myself capable of negotiating a loan of a hundred millions to
+bear interest at four per cent., he would do all in his power to help me.
+My answer was that I would think it over when I heard how much I was to
+have for what I had done already.
+
+"But everybody says that you have made two hundred thousand florins by
+it."
+
+"That would not be so bad; half a million of francs would be a fair
+foundation on which to build a fortune; but I can assure your excellence
+that there is not a word of truth in the report. I defy anyone to prove
+it; and till some substantial proof is offered, I think I can lay claim
+to brokerage."
+
+"True, true. Go to the comptroller-general and state your views to him."
+
+M. de Boulogne stopped the occupation on which he was engaged to give me
+a most friendly greeting, but when I said that he owed me a hundred
+thousand florins he smiled sardonically.
+
+"I happen to know," he said, "that you have bills of exchange to the
+amount of a hundred thousand crowns payable to yourself."
+
+"Certainly, but that money has no connection with my mission, as I can
+prove to you by referring you to M. d'Afri. I have in my head an
+infallible project for increasing the revenue by twenty millions, in a
+manner which will cause no irritation."
+
+"You don't say so! Communicate your plan, and I promise to get you a
+pension of a hundred thousand francs, and letters of nobility as well, if
+you like to become a Frenchman."
+
+"I will think it over."
+
+On leaving M. de Boulogne I went to the Palace, where a ballet was going
+on before the Marquise de Pompadour.
+
+She bowed to me as soon as she saw me, and on my approaching her she told
+me that I was an able financier, and that the "gentlemen below" could not
+appreciate my merits. She had not forgotten what I had said to her eight
+years before in the theatre at Fontainebleau. I replied that all good
+gifts were from above, whither, with her help, I hoped to attain.
+
+On my return to Paris I went to the "Hotel Bourbon" to inform my patron
+of the result of my journey. His advice to me was to continue to serve
+the Government well, as its good fortune would come to be mine. On my
+telling him of my meeting with the X. C. V.'s, he said that M. de la
+Popeliniere was going to marry the elder daughter.
+
+When I got to my house my son was nowhere to be found. My landlady told
+me that a great lady had come to call on my lord, and that she had taken
+him away with her. Guessing that this was Madame d'Urfe, I went to bed
+without troubling myself any further. Early next morning my clerk brought
+me a letter. It came from the old attorney, uncle to Gaetan's wife, whom
+I had helped to escape from the jealous fury of her brutal husband. The
+attorney begged me to come and speak to him at the courts, or to make an
+appointment at some place where he could see me. I went to the courts and
+found him there.
+
+"My niece," he began, "found herself obliged to go into a convent; and
+from this vantage ground she is pleading against her husband, with the
+aid of a barrister, who will be responsible for the costs. However, to
+win our case, we require the evidence of yourself, Count Tiretta, and
+other servants who witnessed the scene at the inn."
+
+I did all I could, and four months afterwards Gaetan simplified matters
+by a fraudulent bankruptcy, which obliged him to leave France: in due
+time and place, I shall have something more to say about him. As for his
+wife, who was young and pretty, she paid her counsel in love's money, and
+was very happy with him, and may be happy still for all I know, but I
+have entirely lost sight of her.
+
+After my interview with the old attorney I went to Madame---- to see
+Tiretta, who was out. Madame was still in love with him, and he continued
+to make a virtue of necessity. I left my address, and went to the "Hotel
+de Bretagne" to pay my first call on Madame X. C. V. The lady, though she
+was not over fond of me, received me with great politeness. I possibly
+cut a better figure in her eyes when rich, and at Paris, then when we
+were in Venice. We all know that diamonds have the strange power of
+fascination, and that they form an excellent substitute for virtue!
+
+Madame X. C. V. had with her an old Greek named Zandiri, brother to M. de
+Bragadin's major-domo, who was just dead. I uttered some expressions of
+sympathy, and the boor did not take the trouble to answer me, but I was
+avenged for his foolish stiffness by the enthusiasm with which I was
+welcomed by everyone else. The eldest girl, her sisters, and the two
+sons, almost overwhelmed me with friendliness. The eldest son was only
+fourteen, and was a young fellow of charming manners, but evidently
+extremely independent, and sighed for the time when he would be able to
+devote himself to a career of profligacy for which he was well fitted.
+Mdlle. X. C. V. was both beautiful and charming in her manner, and had
+received an excellent education of which, however, she made no parade.
+One could not stay in her presence without loving her, but she was no
+flirt, and I soon saw that she held out no vain hopes to those who had
+the misfortune not to please her. Without being rude she knew how to be
+cold, and it was all the worse for those whom her coldness did not shew
+that their quest was useless.
+
+The first hour I passed in her company chained me a captive to her
+triumphant car. I told her as much, and she replied that she was glad to
+have such a captive. She took the place in my heart where Esther had
+reigned a week before, but I freely confess that Esther yielded only
+because she was away. As to my attachment to Sylvia's daughter, it was of
+such a nature as not to hinder me falling in love with any other woman
+who chanced to take my fancy. In the libertine's heart love cannot exist
+without substantial food, and women who have had some experience of the
+world are well aware of this fact. The youthful Baletti was a beginner,
+and so knew nothing of these things.
+
+M. Farsetti, a Venetian of noble birth, a knight of Malta, a great
+student of the occult sciences, and a good Latin versifier, came in at
+one o'clock. Dinner was just ready and Madame X. C. V. begged him to
+stay. She asked me also to dine with them, but wishing to dine with
+Madame d'Urfe I refused the invitation for the nonce.
+
+M. Farsetti, who had known me very well at Venice, only noticed me by a
+side-glance, and without shewing any vexation I paid him back in the same
+coin. He smiled at Mdlle. X. C. V.'s praise of my courage. She noticed
+his expression, and as if to punish him for it went on to say that I had
+now the admiration of every Venetian, and that the French were anxious to
+have the honour of calling me a fellow-citizen. M. Farsetti asked me if
+my post at the lottery paid well. I replied, coolly,
+
+"Oh, yes, well enough for me to pay my clerks' salaries."
+
+He understood the drift of my reply, and Mdlle. X. C. V. smiled.
+
+I found my supposed son with Madame d'Urfe, or rather in that amiable
+visionary's arms. She hastened to apologize for carrying him off, and I
+turned it off with a jest, having no other course to take.
+
+"I made him sleep with me," she said, "but I shall be obliged to deprive
+myself of this privilege for the future, unless he promises to be more
+discreet."
+
+I thought the idea a grand one, and the little fellow, in spite of his
+blushes, begged her to say how he had offended.
+
+"We shall have the Comte de St. Germain," said Madame d'Urfe, "to dinner.
+I know he amuses you, and I like you to enjoy yourself in my house."
+
+"For that, madam, your presence is all I need; nevertheless, I thank you
+for considering me."
+
+In due course St. Germain arrived, and in his usual manner sat himself
+down, not to eat but to talk. With a face of imperturbable gravity he
+told the most incredible stories, which one had to pretend to believe, as
+he was always either the hero of the tale or an eye witness of the event.
+All the same, I could not help bursting into laughter when he told us of
+something that happened as he was dining with the Fathers of the Council
+of Trent.
+
+Madame d'Urfe wore on her neck a large magnet. She said that it would one
+day happen that this magnet would attract the lightning, and that she
+would consequently soar into the sun. I longed to tell her that when, she
+got there she could be no higher up than on the earth, but I restrained
+myself; and the great charlatan hastened to say that there could be no
+doubt about it, and that he, and he only, could increase the force of the
+magnet a thousand times. I said, dryly, that I would wager twenty
+thousand crowns he would not so much as double its force, but Madame
+d'Urfe would not let us bet, and after dinner she told me in private that
+I should have lost, as St. Germain was a magician. Of course I agreed
+with her.
+
+A few days later, the magician set out for Chambord, where the king had
+given him a suite of rooms and a hundred thousand francs, that he might
+be at liberty to work on the dyes which were to assure the superiority of
+French materials over those of any other country. St. Germain had got
+over the king by arranging a laboratory where he occasionally tried to
+amuse himself, though he knew little about chemistry, but the king was
+the victim of an almost universal weariness. To enjoy a harem recruited
+from amongst the most ravishing beauties, and often from the ranks of
+neophytes, with whom pleasure had its difficulties, one would have needed
+to be a god, and Louis XV. was only a man after all.
+
+It was the famous marquise who had introduced the adept to the king in
+the hope of his distracting the monarch's weariness, by giving him a
+taste for chemistry. Indeed Madame de Pompadour was under the impression
+that St. Germain had given her the water of perpetual youth, and
+therefore felt obliged to make the chemist a good return. This wondrous
+water, taken according to the charlatan's directions, could not indeed
+make old age retire and give way to youth, but according to the marquise
+it would preserve one in statu quo for several centuries.
+
+As a matter of fact, the water, or the giver of it, had worked wonders,
+if not on her body, at least on her mind; she assured the king that she
+was not getting older. The king was as much deluded by this grand
+impostor as she was, for one day he shewed the Duc des Deux-Ponts a
+diamond of the first water, weighing twelve carats, which he fancied he
+had made himself. "I melted down," said Louis XV., "small diamonds
+weighing twenty-four carats, and obtained this one large one weighing
+twelve." Thus it came to pass that the infatuated monarch gave the
+impostor the suite formerly occupied by Marshal Saxe. The Duc des
+Deux-Ponts told me this story with his own lips, one evening, when I was
+supping with him and a Swede, the Comte de Levenhoop, at Metz.
+
+Before I left Madame d'Urfe, I told her that the lad might be he who
+should make her to be born again, but that she would spoil all if she did
+not wait for him to attain the age of puberty. After what she had said
+about his misbehavior, the reader will guess what made me say this. She
+sent him to board with Viar, gave him masters on everything, and
+disguised him under the name of the Comte d'Aranda, although he was born
+at Bayreuth, and though his mother never had anything to do with a
+Spaniard of that name. It was three or four months before I went to see
+him, as I was afraid of being insulted on account of the name which the
+visionary Madame d'Urfe had given him.
+
+One day Tiretta came to see me in a fine coach. He told me that his
+elderly mistress wanted to become his wife, but that he would not hear of
+it, though she offered to endow him with all her worldly goods. I told
+him that if he gave in he might pay his debts, return to Trevisa, and
+live pleasantly there; but his destiny would not allow him to take my
+advice.
+
+I had resolved on taking a country house, and fixed on one called "Little
+Poland," which pleased me better than all the others I had seen. It was
+well furnished, and was a hundred paces distant from the Madeleine Gate.
+It was situated on slightly elevated ground near the royal park, behind
+the Duc de Grammont's garden, and its owner had given it the name of
+"Pleasant Warsaw." It had two gardens, one of which was on a level with
+the first floor, three reception rooms, large stables, coach houses,
+baths, a good cellar, and a splendid kitchen. The master was called "The
+Butter King," and always wrote himself down so; the name had been given
+to him by Louis XV. on the monarch's stopping at the house and liking the
+butter. The "Butter King" let me his house for a hundred Louis per annum,
+and he gave me an excellent cook called "The Pearl," a true blue-ribbon
+of the order of cooks, and to her he gave charge of all his furniture and
+the plate I should want for a dinner of six persons, engaging to get me
+as much plate as I wanted at the hire of a sous an ounce. He also
+promised to let me have what wine I wanted, and said all he had was of
+the best, and, moreover, cheaper than I could get it at Paris, as he had
+no gate-money to pay on it.
+
+Matters having been arranged on these terms, in the course of a week I
+got a good coachman, two fine carriages, five horses, a groom, and two
+footmen. Madame d'Urfe, who was my first guest, was delighted with my new
+abode, and as she imagined that I had done it all for her, I left her in
+that flattering opinion. I never could believe in the morality of
+snatching from poor mortal man the delusions which make them happy. I
+also let her retain the notion that young d'Aranda, the count of her own
+making, was a scion of the nobility, that he was born for a mysterious
+operation unknown to the rest of mankind, that I was only his caretaker
+(here I spoke the truth), and that he must die and yet not cease to live.
+All these whimsical ideas were the products of her brain, which was only
+occupied with the impossible, and I thought the best thing I could do was
+to agree with everything. If I had tried to undeceive her, she would have
+accused me of want of trust in her, for she was convinced that all her
+knowledge was revealed to her by her genius, who spoke to her only by
+night. After she had dined with me I took her back to her house, full of
+happiness.
+
+Camille sent me a lottery ticket, which she had invested in at my office,
+and which proved to be a winning one, I think, for a thousand crowns or
+thereabouts. She asked me to come and sup with her, and bring the money
+with me. I accepted her invitation, and found her surrounded by all the
+girls she knew and their lovers. After supper I was asked to go to the
+opera with them, but we had scarcely got there when I lost my party in
+the crowd. I had no mask on, and I soon found myself attacked by a black
+domino, whom I knew to be a woman, and as she told me a hundred truths
+about myself in a falsetto voice, I was interested, and determined on
+finding out who she was. At last I succeeded in persuading her to come
+with me into a box, and as soon as we were in and I had taken off her
+mask I was astonished to find she was Mdlle. X. C. V.
+
+"I have come to the ball," said she, "with one of my sisters, my elder
+brother, and M. Farsetti. I left them to go into a box and change my
+domino:
+
+"They must feel very uneasy."
+
+"I dare say they do, but I am not going to take pity on them till the end
+of the ball."
+
+Finding myself alone with her, and certain of having her in my company
+for the rest of the night, I began to talk of our old love-making; and I
+took care to say that I was more in love with her than ever. She listened
+to me kindly, did not oppose my embraces, and by the few obstacles she
+placed in my way I judged that the happy moment was not far off.
+Nevertheless I felt that I must practice restraint that evening, and she
+let me see that she was obliged to me.
+
+"I heard at Versailles, my dear mademoiselle, that you are going to marry
+M. de la Popeliniere."
+
+"So they say. My mother wishes me to do so, and the old financier fancies
+he has got me in his talons already; but he makes a mistake, as I will
+never consent to such a thing."
+
+"He is old, but he is very rich."
+
+"He is very rich and very generous, for he promises me a dowry of a
+million if I become a widow without children; and if I had a son he would
+leave me all his property."
+
+"You wouldn't have much difficulty in complying with the second
+alternative."
+
+"I shall never have anything to do with his money, for I should never
+make my life miserable by a marriage with a man whom I do not love, while
+I do love another."
+
+"Another! Who is the fortunate mortal to whom you have given your heart's
+treasure?"
+
+"I do not know if my loved one is fortunate. My lover is a Venetian, and
+my mother knows of it; but she says that I should not be happy, that he
+is not worthy of me."
+
+"Your mother is a strange woman, always crossing your affections."
+
+"I cannot be angry with her. She may possibly be wrong, but she certainly
+loves me. She would rather that I should marry M. Farsetti, who would be
+very glad to have me, but I detest him."
+
+"Has he made a declaration in terms?"
+
+"He has, and all the marks of contempt I have given him seem to have no
+effect."
+
+"He clings hard to hope; but the truth is you have fascinated him."
+
+"Possibly, but I do not think him susceptible of any tender or generous
+feeling. He is a visionary; surly, jealous, and envious in his
+disposition. When he heard me expressing myself about you in the manner
+you deserve, he had the impudence to say to my mother before my face that
+she ought not to receive you."
+
+"He deserves that I should give him a lesson in manners, but there are
+other ways in which he may be punished. I shall be delighted to serve you
+in any way I can."
+
+"Alas! if I could only count on your friendship I should be happy."
+
+The sigh with which she uttered these words sent fire through my veins,
+and I told her that I was her devoted slave; that I had fifty thousand
+crowns which were at her service, and that I would risk my life to win
+her favours. She replied that she was truly grateful to me, and as she
+threw her arms about my neck our lips met, but I saw that she was
+weeping, so I took care that the fire which her kisses raised should be
+kept within bounds. She begged me to come and see her often, promising
+that as often as she could manage it we should be alone. I could ask no
+more, and after I had promised to come and dine with them on the morrow,
+we parted.
+
+I passed an hour in walking behind her, enjoying my new position of
+intimate friend, and I then returned to my Little Poland. It was a short
+distance, for though I lived in the country I could get to any part of
+Paris in a quarter of an hour. I had a clever coachman, and capital
+horses not used to being spared. I got them from the royal stables, and
+as soon as I lost one I got another from the same place, having to pay
+two hundred francs. This happened to me several times, for, to my mind,
+going fast is one of the greatest pleasures which Paris offers.
+
+Having accepted an invitation to dinner at the X. C. V.'s, I did not give
+myself much time for sleep, and I went out on foot with a cloak on. The
+snow was falling in large flakes, and when I got to madame's I was as
+white as a sheet from head to foot. She gave me a hearty welcome,
+laughing, and saying that her daughter had been telling her how she had
+puzzled me, and that she was delighted to see me come to dinner without
+ceremony. "But," added she, "it's Friday today, and you will have to
+fast, though, after all, the fish is very good. Dinner is not ready yet.
+You had better go and see my daughter, who is still a-bed."
+
+As may be imagined, this invitation had not to be repeated, for a pretty
+woman looks better in bed than anywhere else. I found Mdlle. X. C. V.
+sitting up in bed writing, but she stopped as soon as she saw me.
+
+"How is this, sweet lie-a-bed, not up yet?"
+
+"Yes, I am staying in bed partly because I feel lazy, and partly because
+I am freer here."
+
+"I was afraid you were not quite well."
+
+"Nor am I. However, we will say no more about that now. I am just going
+to take some soup, as those who foolishly establish the institution of
+fasting were not polite enough to ask my opinion on the subject. It does
+not agree with my health, and I don't like it, so I am not going to get
+up even to sit at table, though I shall thus deprive myself of your
+society."
+
+I naturally told her that in her absence dinner would have no savour; and
+I spoke the truth.
+
+As the presence of her sister did not disturb us, she took out of her
+pocket-book an epistle in verse which I had addressed to her when her
+mother had forbidden me the house. "This fatal letter," said she, "which
+you called 'The Phoenix,' has shaped my life and may prove the cause of
+my death."
+
+I had called it the Phoenix because, after bewailing my unhappy lot, I
+proceeded to predict how she would afterwards give her heart to a mortal
+whose qualities would make him deserve the name of Phoenix. A hundred
+lines were taken up in the description of these imaginary mental and
+moral characteristics, and certainly the being who should have them all
+would be right worthy of worship, for he would be rather a god than a
+man.
+
+"Alas!" said Mdlle. X. C. V., "I fell in love with this imaginary being,
+and feeling certain that such an one must exist I set myself to look for
+him. After six months I thought I had found him. I gave him my heart, I
+received his, we loved each other fondly. But for the last four months we
+have been separated, and during the whole time I have only had one letter
+from him. Yet I must not blame him, for I know he cannot help it. Such,
+is my sorry fate: I can neither hear from him nor write to him:"
+
+This story was a confirmation of a theory of mine namely, that the most
+important events in our lives proceed often from the most trifling
+causes. My epistle was nothing better than a number of lines of poetry
+more or less well written, and the being I had delineated was certainly
+not to be found, as he surpassed by far all human perfections, but a
+woman's heart travels so quickly and so far! Mdlle. X. C. V. took the
+thing literally, and fell in love with a chimera of goodness, and then
+was fain to turn this into a real lover, not thinking of the vast
+difference between the ideal and the real. For all that, when she thought
+that she had found the original of my fancy portrait, she had no
+difficulty in endowing him with all the good qualities I had pictured. Of
+course Mdlle. X. C. V. would have fallen in love if I had never written
+her a letter in verse, but she would have done so in a different manner,
+and probably with different results.
+
+As soon as dinner was served we were summoned to do justice to the choice
+fish which M. de la Popeliniere had provided. Madame X. C. V. a
+narrowminded Greek, was naturally bigoted and superstitious. In the mind
+of a silly woman the idea of an alliance between the most opposite of
+beings, God and the Devil, seems quite natural. A priest had told her
+that, since she had converted her husband, her salvation was secure, for
+the Scriptures solemnly promised a soul for a soul to every one who would
+lead a heretic or a heathen within the fold of the church. And as Madame
+X. C. V. had converted her husband, she felt no anxiety about the life of
+the world to come, as she had done all that was necessary. However, she
+ate fish on the days appointed; the reason being that she preferred it to
+flesh.
+
+Dinner over, I returned to the lady's bedside, and there stayed till
+nearly nine o'clock, keeping my passions well under control all the time.
+I was foppish enough to think that her feelings were as lively as mine,
+and I did not care to shew myself less self-restrained than she, though I
+knew then, as I know now, that this was a false line of argument. It is
+the same with opportunity as with fortune; one must seize them when they
+come to us, or else they go by, often to return no more.
+
+Not seeing Farsetti at the table, I suspected there had been a quarrel,
+and I asked my sweetheart about it; but she told me I was mistaken in
+supposing they had quarreled with him, and that the reason of his absence
+was that he would never leave his house on a Friday. The deluded man had
+had his horoscope drawn, and learning by it that he would be assassinated
+on a Friday he resolved always to shut himself up on that day. He was
+laughed at, but persisted in the same course till he died four years ago
+at the age of seventy. He thought to prove by the success of his
+precautions that a man's destiny depends on his discretion, and on the
+precautions he takes to avoid the misfortunes of which he has had
+warning. The line of argument holds good in all cases except when the
+misfortunes are predicted in a horoscope; for either the ills predicted
+are avoidable, in which case the horoscope is a useless piece of folly,
+or else the horoscope is the interpreter of destiny, in which case all
+the precautions in the world are of no avail. The Chevalier Farsetti was
+therefore a fool to imagine he had proved anything at all. He would have
+proved a good deal for many people if he had gone out on a Friday, and
+had chanced to have been assassinated. Picas de la Mirandola, who
+believed in astrology, says, "I have no doubt truly, 'Astra influunt, non
+cogunt.'" But would it have been a real proof of the truth of astrology,
+if Farsetti had been assassinated on a Friday? In my opinion, certainly
+not.
+
+The Comte d'Eigreville had introduced me to his sister, the Comtesse du
+Remain, who had been wanting to make my acquaintance ever since she had
+heard of my oracle. It was not long before I made friends with her
+husband and her two daughters, the elder of whom, nicknamed "Cotenfau,"
+married M. de Polignac later on. Madame du Remain was handsome rather
+than pretty, but she won the love of all by her kindness, her frank
+courtesy, and her eagerness to be of service to her friends. She had a
+magnificent figure, and would have awed the whole bench of judges if she
+had pleaded before them.
+
+At her house I got to know Mesdames de Valbelle and de Rancerolles, the
+Princess de Chimai, and many others who were then in the best society of
+Paris. Although Madame du Remain was not a proficient in the occult
+sciences, she had nevertheless consulted my oracle more frequently than
+Madame d'Urfe. She was of the utmost service to me in connection with an
+unhappy circumstance of which I shall speak presently.
+
+The day after my long conversation with Mdlle. X. C. V., my servant told
+me that there was a young man waiting who wanted to give me a letter with
+his own hands. I had him in, and on my asking him from whom the letter
+came, he replied that I should find all particulars in the letter, and
+that he had orders to wait for an answer. The epistle ran as follows:
+
+"I am writing this at two o'clock in the morning. I am weary and in need
+of rest, but a burden on my soul deprives me of sleep. The secret I am
+about to tell you will no longer be so grievous when I have confided in
+you; I shall feel eased by placing it in your breast. I am with child,
+and my situation drives me to despair. I was obliged to write to you
+because I felt I could not say it. Give me a word in reply."
+
+My feelings on reading the above may be guessed. I was petrified with
+astonishment and could only write, "I will be with you at eleven
+o'clock."
+
+No one should say that he has passed through great misfortunes unless
+they have proved too great for his mind to bear. The confidence of Mdlle.
+X. C. V. shewed me that she was in need of support. I congratulated
+myself on having the preference, and I vowed to do my best for her did it
+cost me my life. These were the thoughts of a lover, but for all that I
+could not conceal from myself the imprudence of the step she had taken.
+In such cases as these there is always the choice between speaking or
+writing, and the only feeling which can give the preference to writing is
+false shame, at bottom mere cowardice. If I had not been in love with
+her, I should have found it easier to have refused my aid in writing than
+if she had spoken to me, but I loved her to distraction.
+
+"Yes," said I to myself, "she can count on me. Her mishap makes her all
+the dearer to me."
+
+And below this there was another voice, a voice which whispered to me
+that if I succeeded in saving her my reward was sure. I am well aware
+that more than one grave moralist will fling stones at me for this
+avowal, but my answer is that such men cannot be in love as I was.
+
+I was punctual to my appointment, and found the fair unfortunate at the
+door of the hotel.
+
+"You are going out, are you? Where are you going?"
+
+"I am going to mass at the Church of the Augustinians."
+
+"Is this a saint's day?"
+
+"No; but my mother makes me go every day."
+
+"I will come with you."
+
+"Yes do, give me your arm; we will go into the cloisters and talk there."
+
+Mdlle. X. C. V. was accompanied by her maid, but she knew better than to
+be in the way, so we left her in the cloisters. As soon as we were alone
+she said to me,
+
+"Have you read my letter?"
+
+"Yes, of course; here it is, burn it yourself."
+
+"No, keep it, and do so with your own hands."
+
+"I see you trust in me, and I assure you I will not abuse your trust."
+
+"I am sure you will not. I am four months with child; I can doubt it no
+longer, and the thought maddens me!"
+
+"Comfort yourself, we will find some way to get over it."
+
+"Yes; I leave all to you. You must procure an abortion."
+
+"Never, dearest! that is a crime!"
+
+"Alas! I know that well; but it is not a greater crime than suicide, and
+there lies my choice: either to destroy the wretched witness of my shame,
+or to poison myself. For the latter alternative I have everything ready.
+You are my only friend, and it is for you to decide which it shall be.
+Speak to me! Are you angry that I have not gone to the Chevalier Farsetti
+before you?"
+
+She saw my astonishment, and stopped short, and tried to wipe away the
+tears which escaped from her eyes. My heart bled for her.
+
+"Laying the question of crime on one side," said I, "abortion is out of
+our power. If the means employed are not violent they are uncertain, and
+if they are violent they are dangerous to the mother. I will never risk
+becoming your executioner; but reckon on me, I will not forsake you. Your
+honour is as dear to me as your life. Becalm, and henceforth think that
+the peril is mine, not yours. Make up your mind that I shall find some
+way of escape, and that there will be no need to cut short that life, to
+preserve which I would gladly die. And allow me to say that when I read
+your note I felt glad, I could not help it, that at such an emergency you
+chose me before all others to be your helper. You will find that your
+trust was not given in vain, for no one loves you as well as I, and no
+one is so fain to help you. Later you shall begin to take the remedies I
+will get for you, but I warn you to be on your guard, for this is a
+serious matter--one of life and death. Possibly you have already told
+somebody about it--your maid or one of your sisters?"
+
+"I have not told anybody but you, not even the author of my shame. I
+tremble when I think what my mother would do and say if she found out my
+situation. I am afraid she will draw her conclusions from my shape."
+
+"So far there is nothing to be observed in that direction, the beauty of
+the outline still remains intact."
+
+"But every day increases its size, and for that reason we must be quick
+in what we do. You must find a surgeon who does not know my name and take
+me to him to be bled."
+
+"I will not run the risk, it might lead to the discovery of the whole
+affair. I will bleed you myself; it is a simple operation."
+
+"How grateful I am to you! I feel as if you had already brought me from
+death to life. What I should like you to do would be to take me to a
+midwife's. We can easily go without attracting any notice at the first
+ball at the opera."
+
+"Yes, sweetheart, but that step is not necessary, and it might lead to
+our betrayal."
+
+"No, no, in this great town there are midwives in every quarter, and we
+should never be known; we might keep our masks on all the time. Do me
+this kindness. A midwife's opinion is certainly worth having."
+
+I could not refuse her request, but I made her agree to wait till the
+last ball, as the crowd was always greater, and we had a better chance of
+going out free from observation. I promised to be there in a black domino
+with a white mask in the Venetian fashion, and a rose painted beside the
+left eye. As soon as she saw me go out she was to follow me into a
+carriage. All this was carried out, but more of it anon.
+
+I returned with her, and dined with them without taking any notice of
+Farsetti, who was also at the table, and had seen me come back from mass
+with her. We did not speak a word to one another; he did not like me and
+I despised him.
+
+I must here relate a grievous mistake of which I was guilty, and which I
+have not yet forgiven myself.
+
+I had promised to take Mdlle. X. C. V. to a midwife, but I certainly
+ought to have taken her to a respectable woman's, for all we wanted to
+know was how a pregnant woman should regulate her diet and manner of
+living. But my evil genius took me by the Rue St. Louis, and there I saw
+the Montigni entering her house with a pretty girl whom I did not know,
+and so out of curiosity I went in after them. After amusing myself there,
+with Mdlle. X. C. V. running in my head all the time, I asked the woman
+to give me the address of a midwife, as I wanted to consult one. She told
+me of a house in the Marais, where according to her dwelt the pearl of
+midwives, and began telling me some stories of her exploits, which all
+went to prove that the woman was an infamous character. I took her
+address, however, and as I should have to go there by night, I went the
+next day to see where the house was.
+
+Mdlle. X. C. V. began to take the remedies which I brought her, which
+ought to have weakened and destroyed the result of love, but as she did
+not experience any benefit, she was impatient to consult a midwife. On
+the night of the last ball she recognized me as we had agreed, and
+followed me out into the coach she saw me enter, and in less than a
+quarter of an hour we reached the house of shame.
+
+A woman of about fifty received us with great politeness, and asked what
+she could do.
+
+Mdlle. X. C. V. told her that she believed herself pregnant, and that she
+desired some means of concealing her misfortune. The wretch answered with
+a smile that she might as well tell her plainly that it would be easy to
+procure abortion. "I will do your business," said she, "for fifty Louis,
+half to be paid in advance on account of drugs, and the rest when it's
+all over. I will trust in your honesty, and you will have to trust in
+mine. Give me the twenty-five Louis down, and come or send to-morrow for
+the drugs, and instructions for using them."
+
+So saying she turned up her clothes without any ceremony, and as I, at
+Mdlle. X. C. V.'s request, looked away, she felt her and pronounced, as
+she let down her dress, that she was not beyond the fourth month.
+
+"If my drugs," said she, "contrary to my expectation, do not do any good,
+we will try some other ways, and, in any case, if I do not succeed in
+obliging you I will return you your money."
+
+"I don't doubt it for a moment," said I, "but would you tell me what are
+those other ways!"
+
+"I should tell the lady how to destroy the foetus."
+
+I might have told her that to kill the child meant giving a mortal wound
+to the mother, but I did not feel inclined to enter into a argument with
+this vile creature.
+
+"If madame decides on taking your advice," said I, "I will bring you the
+money for drugs to-morrow."
+
+I gave her two Louis and left. Mdlle. X. C. V. told me that she had no
+doubt of the infamy of this woman, as she was sure it was impossible to
+destroy the offspring without the risk of killing the mother also. "My
+only trust," said she, "is in you." I encouraged her in this idea,
+dissuading her from any criminal attempts, and assured her over and over
+again that she should not find her trust in me misplaced. All at once she
+complained of feeling cold, and asked if we had not time to warm
+ourselves in Little Poland, saying that she longed to see my pretty
+house. I was surprised and delighted with the idea. The night was too
+dark for her to see the exterior charms of my abode, she would have to
+satisfy herself with the inside, and leave the rest to her imagination. I
+thought my hour had come. I made the coach stop and we got down and
+walked some way, and then took another at the corner of the Rue de la
+Ferannerie. I promised the coachman six francs beyond his fare, and in a
+quarter of an hour he put us down at my door.
+
+I rang with the touch of the master, the Pearl opened the door, and told
+me that there was nobody within, as I very well knew, but it was her
+habit to do so.
+
+"Quick!" said I, "light us a fire, and bring some glasses and a bottle of
+champagne."
+
+"Would you like an omelette?"
+
+"Very well."
+
+"Oh, I should like an omelette so much!" said Mdlle. X. C. V. She was
+ravishing, and her laughing air seemed to promise me a moment of bliss. I
+sat down before the blazing fire and made her sit on my knee, covering
+her with kisses which she gave me back as lovingly. I had almost won what
+I wanted when she asked me in a sweet voice to stop. I obeyed, thinking
+it would please her, feeling sure that she only delayed my victory to
+make it more complete, and that she would surrender after the champagne.
+I saw love, kindness, trust, and gratitude shining in her face, and I
+should have been sorry for her to think that I claimed her as a mere
+reward. No, I wanted her love, and nothing but her love.
+
+At last we got to our last glass of champagne, we rose from the table,
+and sentimentally but with gentle force I laid her on a couch and held
+her amorously in my arms. But instead of giving herself up to my embraces
+she resisted them, at first by those prayers which usually make lovers
+more enterprising, then by serious remonstrances, and at last by force.
+This was too much, the mere idea of using violence has always shocked me,
+and I am still of opinion that the only pleasure in the amorous embrace
+springs from perfect union and agreement. I pleaded my cause in every
+way, I painted myself as the lover flattered, deceived, despised! At last
+I told her that I had had a cruel awakening, and I saw that the shaft
+went home. I fell on my knees and begged her to forgive me. "Alas!" said
+she, in a voice full of sadness, "I am no longer mistress of my heart,
+and have far greater cause for grief than you." The tears flowed fast
+down her cheeks, her head rested on my shoulder, and our lips met; but
+for all that the piece was over. The idea of renewing the attack never
+came into my head, and if it had I should have scornfully rejected it.
+After a long silence, of which we both stood in need, she to conquer her
+shame, and I to repress my anger, we put on our masks and returned to the
+opera. On our way she dared to tell me that she should be obliged to
+decline my friendship if she had to pay for it so dearly.
+
+"The emotions of love," I replied, "should yield to those of honour, and
+your honour as well as mine require us to continue friends. What I would
+have done for love I will now do for devoted friendship, and for the
+future I will die rather than make another attempt to gain those favours
+of which I thought you deemed me worthy."
+
+We separated at the opera, and the vast crowd made me lose sight of her
+in an instant. Next day she told me that she had danced all night. She
+possibly hoped to find in that exercise the cure which no medicine seemed
+likely to give her.
+
+I returned to my house in a bad humour, trying in vain to justify a
+refusal which seemed humiliating and almost incredible. My good sense
+shewed me, in spite of all sophisms, that I had been grievously insulted.
+I recollected the witty saying of Populia, who was never unfaithful to
+her husband except when she was with child; "Non tollo vectorem," said
+she, "nisi navi plena."
+
+I felt certain that I was not loved, and the thought grieved me; and I
+considered that it would be unworthy of me to love one whom I could no
+longer hope to possess. I resolved to avenge myself by leaving her to her
+fate, feeling that I could not allow myself to be duped as I had been.
+
+The night brought wisdom with it, and when I awoke in the morning my mind
+was calm and I was still in love. I determined to act generously by the
+unfortunate girl. Without my aid she would be ruined; my course, then,
+would be to continue my services and to shew myself indifferent to her
+favours. The part was no easy one, but I played it right well, and at
+last my reward came of itself.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+I Continue My Relations With Mdlle. X. C. V.--Vain Attempts to Procure
+Abortion--The Aroph--She Flies From Home and Takes Refuge in a Convent
+
+The difficulties I encountered only served to increase my love for my
+charming Englishwoman. I went to see her every morning, and as my
+interest in her condition was genuine, she could have no suspicion that I
+was acting a part, or attribute my care of her to anything but the most
+delicate feelings. For her part she seemed well pleased in the alteration
+of my behaviour, though her satisfaction may very probably have been
+assumed. I understood women well enough to know that though she did not
+love me she was probably annoyed at seeing my new character sit upon me
+so easily.
+
+One morning in the midst of an unimportant and disconnected conversation,
+she complimented me upon my strength of mind in subduing my passion,
+adding, with a smile, that my desire could not have pricked me very
+sharply, seeing that I had cured myself so well in the course of a week.
+I quietly replied that I owed my cure not to the weakness of my passion
+but to my self-respect.
+
+"I know my own character," I said, "and without undue presumption, I
+think I may say that I am worthy of a woman's love. Naturally, after your
+convincing me that you think differently, I feel humiliated and
+indignant. Do you know what effect such feelings have on the heart?"
+
+"Alas!" said she, "I know too well. Their effect is to inspire one with
+contempt for her who gave rise to them."
+
+"That is going too far, at least in my case. My indignation was merely
+succeeded by a renewed confidence in myself, and a determination to be
+revenged."
+
+"To be revenged! In what way?"
+
+"I wish to compel you to esteem me, by proving to you that I am lord of
+myself, and can pass by with indifference what I once so ardently
+desired. I do not know whether I have succeeded yet, but I may say that I
+can now contemplate your charms without desiring to possess them."
+
+"You are making a mistake, for I never ceased to esteem you, and I
+esteemed you as much a week ago as I do to-day. Nor for a moment I did
+think you capable of leaving me to my fate as a punishment for having
+refused to give way to your transports, and I am glad that I read your
+character rightly."
+
+We went on to speak of the opiate I made her take, and as she saw no
+change in her condition she wanted me to increase the dose--a request I
+took care not to grant, as I knew that more than half a drachm might kill
+her. I also forbade her to bleed herself again, as she might do herself a
+serious injury without gaining anything by it. Her maid, of whom she had
+been obliged to make a confidante, had had her bled by a student, her
+lover. I told Mdlle. X. C. V. that if she wanted these people to keep her
+counsel she must be liberal with them, and she replied that she had no
+money. I offered her money and she accepted fifty louis, assuring me that
+she would repay me that sum which she needed for her brother Richard. I
+had not as much money about me, but I sent her the same day a packet of
+twelve hundred francs with a note in which I begged her to have recourse
+to me in all her necessities. Her brother got the money, and thought
+himself authorized to apply to me for aid in a much more important
+matter.
+
+He was a young man and a profligate, and had got into a house of
+ill-fame, from which he came out in sorry plight. He complained bitterly
+that M. Farsetti had refused to lend him four louis, and he asked me to
+speak to his mother that she might pay for his cure. I consented, but
+when his mother heard what was the matter with him, she said it would be
+much better to leave him as he was, as this was the third time he had
+been in this condition, and that to have him cured was a waste of money,
+as no sooner was he well than he began his dissipated life afresh. She
+was quite right, for I had him cured at my expense by an able surgeon,
+and he was in the same way a month after. This young man seemed intended
+by nature for shameful excesses, for at the age of fourteen he was an
+accomplished profligate.
+
+His sister was now six months with child, and as her figure grew great so
+did her despair. She resolved not to leave her bed, and it grieved me to
+see her thus cast down. Thinking me perfectly cured of my passion for
+her, she treated me purely as a friend, making me touch her all over to
+convince me that she dare not shew herself any longer. I played in short
+the part of a midwife, but with what a struggle! I had to pretend to be
+calm and unconcerned when I was consumed with passion. She spoke of
+killing herself in a manner that made me shudder, as I saw that she had
+reflected on what she was saying. I was in a difficult position when
+fortune came to my assistance in a strange and amusing manner.
+
+One day, as I was dining with Madame d'Urfe, I asked her if she knew of
+any way by which a girl, who had allowed her lover to go too far, might
+be protected from shame. "I know of an infallible method," she replied,
+"the aroph of Paracelsus to wit, and it is easy of application. Do you
+wish to know more about it?" she added; and without waiting for me to
+answer she brought a manuscript, and put it in my hands. This powerful
+emmenagogue was a kind of unguent composed of several drugs, such as
+saffron, myrrh, etc., compounded with virgin honey. To obtain the
+necessary result one had to employ a cylindrical machine covered with
+extremely soft skin, thick enough to fill the opening of the vagina, and
+long enough to reach the opening of the reservoir or case containing the
+foetus. The end of this apparatus was to be well anointed with aroph, and
+as it only acted at a moment of uterine excitement it was necessary to
+apply it with the same movement as that of coition. The dose had to be
+repeated five or six times a day for a whole week.
+
+This nostrum, and the manner of administering it, struck me in so
+laughable a light that I could not keep my countenance. I laughed with
+all my heart, but for all that I spent the next two hours in reading the
+dreams of Paracelsus, in which Madame d'Urfe put more trust than in the
+truths of the Gospel; I afterwards referred to Boerhaave, who speaks of
+the aroph in more reasonable terms.
+
+Seeing, as I have remarked, the charming X. C. V. several hours a day
+without any kind of constraint, feeling in love with her all the time,
+and always restraining my feelings, it is no wonder if the hidden fire
+threatened at every moment to leap up from the ashes of its concealment.
+Her image pursued me unceasingly, of her I always thought, and every day
+made it more evident that I should know rest no more till I succeeded in
+extinguishing my passion by obtaining possession of all her charms.
+
+As I was thinking of her by myself I resolved to tell her of my
+discovery, hoping she would need my help in the introduction of the
+cylinder. I went to see her at ten o'clock, and found her, as usual, in
+bed; she was weeping because the opiate I gave her did not take effect. I
+thought the time a good one for introducing the aroph of Paracelsus,
+which I assured her was an infallible means of attaining the end she
+desired; but whilst I was singing the praises of this application the
+idea came into my head to say that, to be absolutely certain, it was
+necessary for the aroph to be mingled with semen which had not lost its
+natural heat.
+
+"This mixture," said I, "moistening several times a day the opening of
+the womb, weakens it to such a degree that the foetus is expelled by its
+own weight:"
+
+To these details I added lengthy arguments to persuade her of the
+efficacy of this cure, and then, seeing that she was absorbed in thought,
+I said that as her lover was away she would want a sure friend to live in
+the same house with her, and give her the dose according to the
+directions of Paracelsus.
+
+All at once she burst into a peal of laughter, and asked me if I had been
+jesting all the time.
+
+I thought the game was up. The remedy was an absurd one, on the face of
+it; and if her common sense told her as much it would also make her guess
+my motive. But what limits are there to the credulity of a woman in her
+condition?
+
+"If you wish," said I, persuasively, "I will give you the manuscript
+where all that I have said is set down plainly. I will also shew you what
+Boerhaeve thinks about it."
+
+I saw that these words convinced her; they had acted on her as if by
+magic, and I went on while the iron was hot.
+
+"The aroph," said I, "is the most powerful agent for bringing on
+menstruation."
+
+"And that is incompatible with the state I am now in; so the aroph should
+procure me a secret deliverance. Do you know its composition?"
+
+"Certainly; it is quite a simple preparation composed of certain
+ingredients which are well known to me, and which have to be made into a
+paste with butter or virgin honey. But this composition must touch the
+orifice of the uterus at a moment of extreme excitement."
+
+"But in that case it seems to me that the person who gives the dose must
+be in love."
+
+"Certainly, unless he is a mere animal requiring only physical
+incentives."
+
+She was silent for some time, for though she was quick-witted enough, a
+woman's natural modesty and her own frankness, prevented her from
+guessing at my artifice. I, too, astonished at my success in making her
+believe this fable, remained silent.
+
+At last, breaking the silence, she said, sadly,
+
+"The method seems to me an excellent one, but I do not think I ought to
+make use of it."
+
+Then she asked me if the aroph took much time to make.
+
+"Two hours at most," I answered, "if I succeed in procuring English
+saffron, which Paracelsus prefers to the Oriental saffron."
+
+At that moment her mother and the Chevalier Farsetti came in, and after
+some talk of no consequence she asked me to stay to dinner. I was going
+to decline, when Mdlle. X. C. V. said she would sit at table, on which I
+accepted; and we all left the room to give her time to dress. She was not
+long in dressing, and when she appeared her figure seemed to me quite
+nymph-like. I was astonished, and could scarcely believe my eyes, and I
+was on the point of thinking that I had been imposed on, for I could not
+imagine how she could manage to conceal the fulness I had felt with my
+own hands.
+
+M. Farsetti sat by her, and I by the mother. Mdlle. X. C. V., whose head
+was full of the aroph, asked her neighbour, who gave himself out for a
+great chemist, if he knew it.
+
+"I fancy I know it better than anyone," answered Farsetti, in a
+self-satisfied manner.
+
+"What is it good for?"
+
+"That is too vague a question."
+
+"What does the word mean?"
+
+"It is an Arabic word, of which I do not know the meaning; but no doubt
+Paracelsus would tell us."
+
+"The word," said I, "is neither Arabic nor Hebrew, nor, indeed, of any
+language at all. It is a contraction which conceals two other words."
+
+"Can you tell us what they are?" said the chevalier.
+
+"Certainly; aro comes from aroma, and ph is the initial of
+philosophorum:"
+
+"Did you get that out of Paracelsus?" said Farsetti, evidently annoyed.
+
+"No, sir; I saw it in Boerhaave."
+
+"That's good," said he, sarcastically; "Boerhaave says nothing of the
+sort, but I like a man who quotes readily."
+
+"Laugh, sir, if you like," said I, proudly, "but here is the test of what
+I say; accept the wager if you dare. I don't quote falsely, like persons
+who talk of words being Arabic."
+
+So saying I flung a purse of gold on the table, but Farsetti, who was by
+no means sure of what he was saying, answered disdainfully that he never
+betted.
+
+However, Mdlle. X. C. V., enjoying his confusion, told him that was the
+best way never to lose, and began to joke him on his Arabic derivation.
+But, for my part, I replaced my purse in my pocket, and on some trifling
+pretext went out and sent my servant to Madame d'Urfe's to get me
+Boerhaave.
+
+On my return to the room I sat down again at table, and joined gaily in
+the conversation till the return of my messenger with the book. I opened
+it, and as I had been reading it the evening before I soon found the
+place I wanted, and giving it to him begged him to satisfy himself that I
+had quoted not readily but exactly. Instead of taking the book, he got up
+and went out without saying a word.
+
+"He has gone away in a rage," said the mother; "and I would wager
+anything that he will not come back again."
+
+"I wager he will," said the daughter, "he will honour us with his
+agreeable company before to-morrow's sun has set."
+
+She was right. From that day Farsetti became my determined enemy, and let
+no opportunity slip of convincing me of his hatred.
+
+After dinner we all went to Passy to be present at a concert given by M.
+de la Popeliniere, who made us stay to supper. I found there Silvia and
+her charming daughter, who pouted at me and not without cause, as I had
+neglected her. The famous adept, St. Germain, enlivened the table with
+his wild tirades so finely delivered. I have never seen a more
+intellectual or amusing charlatan than he.
+
+Next day I shut myself up to answer a host of questions that Esther had
+sent me. I took care to answer all those bearing on business matters as
+obscurely as possible, not only for the credit of the oracle, but also
+for fear of misleading the father and making him lose money. The worthy
+man was the most honest of Dutch millionaires, but he might easily make a
+large hole in his fortune, if he did not absolutely ruin himself, by
+putting an implicit trust in my infallibility. As for Esther, I confess
+that she was now no more to me than a pleasant memory.
+
+In spite of my pretence of indifference, my whole heart was given to
+Mdlle. X. C. V., and I dreaded the moment when she would be no longer
+able to hide her condition from her family. I was sorry for having spoken
+about the aroph, as three days had gone by without her mentioning it, and
+I could not very well reopen the question myself. I was afraid that she
+suspected my motives, and that the esteem she professed for me had been
+replaced by a much less friendly sentiment. I felt that her scorn would
+be too much for me to bear. So humiliated was I that I could not visit
+her, and I doubt if I should have seen her again if she had not
+intervened. She wrote me a note, in which she said I was her only friend,
+and that the only mark of friendship she wanted was that I should come
+and see her every day, if it were but for a moment. I hasted to take her
+my reply in my own person, and promised not to neglect her, assuring her
+that at all hazards she might rely on me. I flattered myself that she
+would mention the aroph, but she did not do so. I concluded that, after
+thinking it over, she had resolved to think no more about it.
+
+"Would you like me," I said, "to invite your mother and the rest of you
+to dine with me?"
+
+"I shall be delighted," she replied. "It will be a forbidden pleasure to
+me before long."
+
+I gave them a dinner both sumptuous and delicate. I had spared no expense
+to have everything of the best. I had asked Silvia, her charming
+daughter, an Italian musician named Magali, with whom a sister of Mdlle.
+X. C. V.'s was taken, and the famous bass La Garde. Mdlle. X. C. V. was
+in the highest spirits all the time. Sallies of wit, jests, good stories
+and enjoyment, were the soul of the banquet. We did not separate till
+midnight, and before leaving Mdlle. X. C. V. found a moment to whisper to
+me to come and see her early next morning, as she wanted to speak to me
+on matters of importance.
+
+It will be guessed that I accepted the invitation. I waited on her before
+eight o'clock. She was very melancholy, and told me that she was in
+despair, that la Popeliniere pressed on the marriage, and that her mother
+persecuted her.
+
+"She tells me that I must sign the contract, and that the dressmaker will
+soon be coming to take my measure for my wedding dress. To that I cannot
+consent, for a dressmaker would certainly see my situation. I will die
+rather than confide in my mother, or marry before I am delivered."
+
+"There is always time enough to talk about dying," said I, "when all
+other means have failed. I think you could easily get rid of la
+Popeliniere, who is a man of honour. Tell him how you are situated, and
+he will act without compromising you, as his own interest is sufficiently
+involved to make him keep the secret."
+
+"But should I be much better off then?  And how about my mother?"
+
+"Your mother?  Oh! I will make her listen to reason."
+
+"You know not what she is like. The honour of the family would oblige her
+to get me out of the way, but before that she would make me suffer
+torments to which death is preferable by far. But why have you said no
+more about the aroph?  Is it not all a jest?  It would be a very cruel
+one."
+
+"On the contrary, I believe it to be infallible, though I have never been
+a witness of its effects; but what good is it for me to speak to you?
+You can guess that a delicacy of feeling has made me keep silence.
+Confide in your lover, who is at Venice; write him a letter, and I will
+take care that it is given into his hands, in five or six days, by a sure
+messenger. If he is not well off I will give you whatever money may be
+needed for him to come without delay, and save your honour and life by
+giving you the aroph."
+
+"This idea is a good one and the offer generous on your part, but it is
+not feasible, as you would see if you knew more about my circumstances.
+Do not think any more of my lover; but supposing I made up my mind to
+receive the aroph from another, tell me how it could be done. Even if my
+lover were in Paris, how could he spend an entire week with me, as he
+would have to?  And how could he give me the dose five or six times a day
+for a week? You see yourself that this remedy is out of the question."
+
+"So you would give yourself to another, if you thought that would save
+your honour?"
+
+"Certainly, if I were sure that the thing would be kept secret. But where
+shall I find such a person?  Do you think he would be easy to find, or
+that I can go and look for him?"
+
+I did not know what to make of this speech; for she knew I loved her, and
+I did not see why she should put herself to the trouble of going far when
+what she wanted was to her hand. I was inclined to think that she wanted
+me to ask her to make choice of myself as the administrator of the
+remedy, either to spare her modesty, or to have the merit of yielding to
+my love and thus obliging me to be grateful; but I might be wrong, and I
+did not care to expose myself to the humiliation of a refusal. On the
+other hand I could hardly think she wanted to insult me. Not knowing what
+to say or which way to turn, and wanting to draw an explanation from her,
+I sighed profoundly, took up my hat, and made as if I were going,
+exclaiming, "Cruel girl, my lot is more wretched than yours."
+
+She raised herself in the bed and begged me with tears in her eyes to
+remain, and asked me how I could call myself more wretched than her.
+Pretending to be annoyed and yet full of love for her, I told her that
+the contempt in which she held me had affected me deeply, since in her
+necessity she preferred the offices of one who was unknown to her rather
+than make use of me.
+
+"You are cruel and unjust," she said, weeping. "I see, for my part, that
+you love me no longer since you wish to take advantage of my cruel
+necessity to gain a triumph over me. This is an act of revenge not worthy
+of a man of feeling."
+
+Her tears softened me, and I fell on my knees before her.
+
+"Since you know, dearest, that I worship you, how can you think me
+capable of revenging myself on you? Do you think that I can bear to hear
+you say that since your lover cannot help you you do not know where to
+look for help?"
+
+"But after refusing you my favours, could I ask this office of you with
+any decency?  Have I not good reason to be afraid that as I refused to
+take pity on your love so you would refuse to take pity on my necessity?"
+
+"Do you think that a passionate lover ceases to love on account of a
+refusal which may be dictated by virtue?  Let me tell you all I think. I
+confess I once thought you did not love me, but now I am sure of the
+contrary; and that your heart would have led you to satisfy my love, even
+if you had not been thus situated. I may add that you no doubt feel vexed
+at my having any doubts of your love."
+
+"You have interpreted my feelings admirably. But how we are to be
+together with the necessary freedom from observation remains to be seen."
+
+"Do not be afraid. Now I am sure of your consent, it will not be long
+before I contrive some plan. In the meanwhile I will go and make the
+aroph."
+
+I had resolved that if ever I succeeded in persuading Mdlle. X. C. V. to
+make use of my specific I would use nothing but honey, so the composition
+of the aroph would not be a very complicated process. But if one point
+was then plain and simple, another remained to be solved, and its
+solution gave me some difficulty. I should have to pass several nights in
+continual toils. I feared I had promised more than I could perform, and I
+should not be able to make any abatement without hazarding, not the
+success of the aroph, but the bliss I had taken such pains to win. Again,
+as her younger sister slept in the same room with her and close to her,
+the operation could not be performed there. At last chance--a divinity
+which often helps lovers--came to my aid.
+
+I was obliged to climb up to the fourth floor and met the scullion on my
+way, who guessed where I was going, and begged me not to go any farther
+as the place was taken.
+
+"But," said I, "you have just come out of it."
+
+"Yes, but I only went in and came out again."
+
+"Then I will wait till the coast is clear."
+
+"For goodness' sake, sir, do not wait!"
+
+"Ah, you rascal! I see what is going on. Well I will say nothing about
+it, but I must see her."
+
+"She won't come out, for she heard your steps and shut herself in."
+
+"She knows me, does she?"
+
+"Yes, and you know her."
+
+"All right, get along with you! I won't say anything about it."
+
+He went down, and the idea immediately struck me that the adventure might
+be useful to me. I went up to the top, and through a chink I saw
+Madelaine, Mdlle. X. C. V.'s maid. I reassured her, and promised to keep
+the secret, whereon she opened the door, and after I had given her a
+louis, fled in some confusion. Soon after, I came down, and the scullion
+who was waiting for me on the landing begged me to make Madelaine give
+him half the louis.
+
+"I will give you one all to yourself," said I, "if you will tell me the
+story"--an offer which pleased the rogue well enough. He told me the tale
+of his loves, and said he always spent the night with her in the garret,
+but that for three days they had been deprived of their pleasures, as
+madam had locked the door and taken away the key. I made him shew me the
+place, and looking through the keyhole I saw that there was plenty of
+room for a mattress. I gave the scullion a Louis, and went away to ripen
+my plans.
+
+It seemed to me that there was no reason why the mistress should not
+sleep in the garret as well as the maid. I got a picklock and several
+skeleton keys, I put in a tin box several doses of the aroph-that is,
+some honey mixed with pounded stag's horn to make it thick enough, and
+the next morning I went to the "Hotel de Bretagne," and immediately tried
+my picklock. I could have done without it, as the first skeleton key I
+tried opened the wornout lock.
+
+Proud of my idea, I went down to see Mdlle. X. C. V., and in a few words
+told her the plan.
+
+"But," said she, "I should have to go through Madelaine's room to get to
+the garret."
+
+"In that case, dearest, we must win the girl over."
+
+"Tell her my secret?"
+
+"Just so."
+
+"Oh, I couldn't!"
+
+"I will see to it; the golden key opens all doors."
+
+The girl consented to all I asked her, but the scullion troubled me, for
+if he found us out he might be dangerous. I thought, however, that I
+might trust to Madelaine, who was a girl of wit, to look after him.
+
+Before going I told the girl that I wanted to discuss some important
+matters with her, and I told her to meet me in the cloisters of the
+Augustinian Church. She came at the appointed time and I explained to her
+the whole plan in all its details. She soon understood me, and after
+telling me that she would take care to put her own bed in the new kind of
+boudoir, she added that, to be quite safe, we must make sure of the
+scullion.
+
+"He is a sharp lad," said Madelaine, "and I think I can answer for him.
+However, you may leave that to me."
+
+I gave her the key and six louis, bidding her inform her mistress of what
+we had agreed upon, and get the garret ready to receive us. She went away
+quite merry. A maid who is in love is never so happy as when she can make
+her mistress protect her intrigues.
+
+Next morning the scullion called on me at my house. The first thing I
+told him was to take care not to betray himself to my servants, and never
+to come and see me except in a case of necessity. He promised discretion,
+and assured me of his devotion to my service. He gave me the key of the
+garret and told me that he had got another. I admired his forethought,
+and gave him a present of six louis, which had more effect on him than
+the finest words.
+
+Next morning I only saw Mdlle. X. C. V. for a moment to warn her that I
+should be at the appointed place at ten that evening. I went there early
+without being seen by anybody. I was in a cloak, and carried in my pocket
+the aroph, flint and steel, and a candle. I found a good bed, pillows,
+and a thick coverlet--a very useful provision, as the nights were cold,
+and we should require some sleep in the intervals of the operation.
+
+At eleven a slight noise made my heart begin to beat--always a good sign.
+I went out, and found my mistress by feeling for her, and reassured her
+by a tender kiss. I brought her in, barricaded the door, and took care to
+cover up the keyhole to baffle the curious, and, if the worse happened,
+to avoid a surprise.
+
+On my lighting the candle she seemed uneasy, and said that the light
+might discover us if anybody came up to the fourth floor.
+
+"That's not likely," I said; "and besides, we can't do without it, for
+how am I to give you the aroph in the dark?"
+
+"Very good," she replied, "we can put it out afterwards."
+
+Without staying for those preliminary dallyings which are so sweet when
+one is at ease, we undressed ourselves, and began with all seriousness to
+play our part, which we did to perfection. We looked like a medical
+student about to perform an operation, and she like a patient, with this
+difference that it was the patient who arranged the dressing. When she
+was ready--that is, when she had placed the aroph as neatly as a
+skull-cap fits a parson--she put herself in the proper position for the
+preparation to mix with the semen.
+
+The most laughable part of it all was that we were both as serious as two
+doctors of divinity.
+
+When the introduction of the aroph was perfect the timid lady put out the
+candle, but a few minutes after it had to be lighted again. I told her
+politely that I was delighted to begin again, and the voice in which I
+paid her this compliment made us both burst into laughter.
+
+I didn't take so short a time over my second operation as my first, and
+my sweetheart, who had been a little put out, was now quite at her ease.
+
+Her modesty had now been replaced by confidence, and as she was looking
+at the aroph fitted in its place, she shewed me with her pretty finger
+very evident signs of her co-operation in the work. Then with an
+affectionate air, she asked me if I would not like to rest, as we had
+still a good deal to do before our work was at an end.
+
+"You see," said I, "that I do not need rest, and I think we had better
+set to again."
+
+No doubt she found my reason a good one, for, without saying anything,
+she put herself ready to begin again, and afterwards we took a good long
+sleep. When I woke up, feeling as fresh as ever, I asked her to try
+another operation; and after carrying this through successfully, I
+determined to be guided by her and take care of myself, for we had to
+reserve our energies for the following nights. So, about four o'clock in
+the morning she left me, and softly made her way to her room, and at
+daybreak I left the hotel under the protection of the scullion, who took
+me by a private door I did not know of.
+
+About noon, after taking an aromatic bath, I went to call on Mdlle. X. C.
+V., whom I found sitting up in bed as usual, elegantly attired, and with
+a happy smile on her lips. She spoke at such length on her gratitude, and
+thanked me so often, that, believing myself, and with good cause, to be
+her debtor, I began to get impatient.
+
+"Is it possible," I said, "that you do not see how degrading your thanks
+are to me?  They prove that you do not love me, or that if you love me,
+you think my love less strong than yours."
+
+Our conversation then took a tender turn, and we were about to seal our
+mutual ardours without troubling about the aroph, when prudence bade us
+beware. It would not have been safe, and we had plenty of time before us.
+We contented ourselves with a tender embrace till the night should come.
+
+My situation was a peculiar one, for though I was in love with this
+charming girl I did not feel in the least ashamed of having deceived her,
+especially as what I did could have no effect, the place being taken. It
+was my self-esteem which made me congratulate myself on the sharp
+practice which had procured me such pleasures. She told me that she was
+sorry she had denied me when I had asked her before, and said that she
+felt now that I had good reason to suspect the reality of her love. I did
+my best to reassure her, and indeed all suspicions on my part would have
+been but idle thoughts, as I had succeeded beyond all expectation.
+However, there is one point upon which I congratulate myself to this
+day--namely, that during those nightly toils of mine, which did so little
+towards the object of her desires, I succeeded in inspiring her with such
+a feeling of resignation that she promised, of her own accord, not to
+despair any more, but to trust in and be guided by me. She often told me
+during our nocturnal conversations that she was happy and would continue
+to be so, even though the aroph had no effect. Not that she had ceased to
+believe in it, for she continued the application of the harmless
+preparation till our last assaults, in which we wanted in those sweet
+combats to exhaust all the gifts of pleasure.
+
+"Sweetheart," said she, just before we parted finally, "it seems to me
+that what we have been about is much more likely to create than to
+destroy, and if the aperture had not been hermetically closed we should
+doubtless have given the little prisoner a companion."
+
+A doctor of the Sorbonne could not have reasoned better.
+
+Three or four days afterwards I found her thoughtful but quiet. She told
+me that she had lost all hope of getting rid of her burden before the
+proper time. All the while, however, her mother persecuted her, and she
+would have to choose in a few days between making a declaration as to her
+state and signing the marriage contract. She would accept neither of
+these alternatives, and had decided on escaping from her home, and asked
+me to help her in doing so.
+
+I had determined to help her, but I desired to save my reputation, for it
+might have been troublesome if it had been absolutely known that I had
+carried her off or furnished her with the means to escape. And as for any
+other alternative, neither of us had any idea of matrimony.
+
+I left her and went to the Tuileries, where a sacred concert was being
+given. The piece was a motet composed by Moudonville, the words by the
+Abbe de Voisenon, whom I had furnished with the idea, "The Israelites on
+Mount Horeb."
+
+As I was getting out of my carriage, I saw Madame du Remain descending
+alone from hers. I ran up to her, and received a hearty welcome. "I am
+delighted," said she, "to find you here, it is quite a piece of luck. I
+am going to hear this novel composition, and have two reserved seats.
+Will you do me the honour of accepting one?"
+
+Although I had my ticket in my pocket I could not refuse so honourable an
+offer, so, giving her my arm, we walked up to two of the best places in
+the house.
+
+At Paris no talking is allowed during the performance of sacred music,
+especially when the piece is heard for the first time; so Madame du
+Remain could draw no conclusions from my silence throughout the
+performance, but she guessed that something was the matter from the
+troubled and absent expression of my face, which was by no means natural
+to me.
+
+"M. Casanova," said she, "be good enough to give me your company for an
+hour. I want to ask you-two or three questions which can only be solved
+by your cabala. I hope you will oblige me, as I am, very anxious to know
+the answers, but we must be quick as I have an engagement to sup in
+Paris."
+
+It may be imagined that I did not wait to be asked twice, and as soon as
+we got to her house I went to work on the questions, and solved them all
+in less than half an hour.
+
+When I had finished, "M. Casanova;" said she, in the kindest manner
+possible, "what is the matter with you?  You are not in your usual state
+of equanimity, and if I am not mistaken you are dreading some dire event.
+Or perhaps you are on the eve of taking some important resolution?  I am
+not inquisitive, but if I can be of any service to you at Court, make use
+of me, and be sure that I will do my best. If necessary, I will go to
+Versailles to-morrow morning. I know all the ministers. Confide in me
+your troubles, if I cannot lighten them I can at least share them, and be
+sure I will keep your counsel."
+
+Her words seemed to me a voice from heaven, a warning from my good genius
+to open my heart to this lady, who had almost read my thoughts, and had
+so plainly expressed her interest in my welfare.
+
+After gazing at her for some seconds without speaking, but with a manner
+that shewed her how grateful I was, "Yes madam," I said, "I am indeed
+critically situated, may be on the serge of ruin, but your kindness has
+calmed my soul and made me once more acquainted with hope. You shall hear
+how I am placed. I am going to trust you with a secret of the most
+delicate description, but I can rely on your being as discreet as you are
+good. And if after hearing my story you deign to give me your advice, I
+promise to follow it and never to divulge its author."
+
+After this beginning, which gained her close attention, I told her all
+the circumstances of the case, neither concealing the young lady's name
+nor any of the circumstances which made it my duty to watch over her
+welfare. All the same I said nothing about the aroph or the share I had
+taken in its exhibition. The incident appeared to me too farcical for a
+serious drama, but I confessed that I had procured the girl drugs in the
+hope of relieving her of her burden.
+
+After this weighty communication I stopped, and Madame du Rumain remained
+silent, as if lost in thought, for nearly a quarter of an hour. At last
+she rose, saying,
+
+"I am expected at Madame de la Marque's, and I must go, as I am to meet
+the Bishop of Montrouge, to whom I want to speak, but I hope I shall
+eventually be able to help you. Come here the day after tomorrow, you
+will find me alone; above all, do nothing before you see me. Farewell."
+
+I left her full of hope, and resolved to follow her advice and hers only
+in the troublesome affair in which I was involved.
+
+The Bishop of Montrouge whom she was going to address on an important
+matter, the nature of which was well known to me, was the Abbe de
+Voisenon, who was thus named because he often went there. Montrouge is an
+estate near Paris, belonging to the Duc de la Valiere.
+
+I saw Mdlle. X. C. V. the following day, and contented myself with
+telling her that in a couple of days I hope to give her some good news. I
+was pleased with her manner, which was full of resignation and trust in
+my endeavours.
+
+The day after, I went to Madame du Rumain's punctually at eight. The
+porter told me that I should find the doctor with my lady, but I went
+upstairs all the same, and as soon as the doctor saw me he took his
+leave. His name was Herrenschwand, and all the ladies in Paris ran after
+him. Poor Poinsinet put him in a little one-act play called Le Cercle,
+which, though of very ordinary merit, was a great success.
+
+"My dear sir," said Madame du Rumain, as soon as we were alone, "I have
+succeeded in my endeavours on your behalf, and it is now for you to keep
+secret my share in the matter. After I had pondered over the case of
+conscience you submitted to me, I went to the convent of C---where the
+abbess is a friend of mine, and I entrusted her with the secret, relying
+on her discretion. We agreed that she should receive the young lady in
+her convent, and give her a good lay-sister to nurse her through her
+confinement. Now you will not deny," said she, with a smile, "that the
+cloisters are of some use. Your young friend must go by herself to the
+convent with a letter for the abbess, which I will give her, and which
+she must deliver to the porter. She will then be admitted and lodged in a
+suitable chamber. She will receive no visitors nor any letters that have
+not passed through my hands. The abbess will bring her answers to me, and
+I will pass them on to you. You must see that her only correspondent must
+be yourself, and you must receive news of her welfare only through me. On
+your hand in writing to her you must leave the address to be filled in by
+me. I had to tell the abbess the lady's name, but not yours as she did
+not require it.
+
+"Tell your young friend all about our plans, and when she is ready come
+and tell me, and I will give you the letter to the abbess. Tell her to
+bring nothing but what is strictly necessary, above all no diamonds or
+trinkets of any value. You may assure her that the abbess will be
+friendly, will come and see her every now and then, will give her proper
+books--in a word, that she will be well looked after. Warn her not to
+confide in the laysister who will attend on her. I have no doubt she is
+an excellent woman, but she is a nun, and the secret might leak out.
+After she is safely delivered, she must go to confession and perform her
+Easter duties, and the abbess will give her a certificate of good
+behaviour; and she can then return to her mother, who will be too happy
+to see her to say anything more about the marriage, which, of course, she
+ought to give as her reason of her leaving home."
+
+After many expressions of my gratitude to her, and of my admiration of
+her plan, I begged her to give me the letter on the spot, as there was no
+time to be lost. She was good enough to go at once to her desk, where she
+wrote as follows:
+
+"My dear abbess--The young lady who will give you this letter is the same
+of whom we have spoken. She wishes to spend three of four months under
+your protection, to recover her peace of mind, to perform her devotions,
+and to make sure that when she returns to her mother nothing more will be
+said about the marriage, which is partly the cause of her temporary
+separation from her family."
+
+After reading it to me, she put it into my hands unsealed that Mdlle. X.
+C. V. might be able to read it. The abbess in question was a princess,
+and her convent was consequently a place above all suspicion. As Madame
+du Rumain gave me the letter, I felt such an impulse of gratitude that I
+fell on my knees before her. This generous woman was useful to me on
+another occasion, of which I shall speak later on.
+
+After leaving Madame du Rumain I went straight to the "Hotel de
+Bretagne," where I saw Mdlle. X. C. V., who had only time to tell me that
+she was engaged for the rest of the day, but that she would come to the
+garret at eleven o'clock that night, and that then we could talk matters
+over. I was overjoyed at this arrangement, as I foresaw that after this
+would come the awakening from a happy dream, and that I should be alone
+with her no more.
+
+Before leaving the hotel I gave the word to Madelaine, who in turn got
+the scullion to have everything in readiness.
+
+I kept the appointment, and had not long to wait for my mistress. After
+making her read the letter written by Madame du Rumain (whose name I
+withheld from her without her taking offence thereat) I put out the
+candle, and without troubling about the aroph, we set ourselves to the
+pleasant task of proving that we truly loved each other.
+
+In the morning, before we separated, I gave her all the instructions I
+had received from Madame du Rumain; and we agreed that she should leave
+the house at eight o'clock with such things as she absolutely required,
+that she should take a coach to the Place Maubert, then send it away, and
+take another to the Place Antoine, and again, farther on, a third coach,
+in which she was to go to the convent named. I begged her not to forget
+to burn all the letters she had received from me, and to write to me from
+the convent as often as she could, to seal her letters but to leave the
+address blank. She promised to carry out my instructions, and I then made
+her accept a packet of two hundred louis, of which she might chance to be
+in need. She wept, more for my situation than her own, but I consoled her
+by saying that I had plenty of money and powerful patrons.
+
+"I will set out," said she, "the day after to-morrow, at the hour agreed
+on." And thereupon, I having promised to come to the house the day after
+her departure, as if I knew nothing about it, and to let her know what
+passed, we embraced each other tenderly, and I left her.
+
+I was troubled in thinking about her fate. She had wit and courage, but
+when experience is wanting wit often leads men to commit acts of great
+folly.
+
+The day after the morrow I took a coach, and posted myself in a corner of
+the street by which she had to pass. I saw her come, get out of the
+coach, pay the coachman, go down a narrow street, and a few minutes after
+reappear again, veiled and hooded, carrying a small parcel in her hand.
+She then took another conveyance which went off in the direction we had
+agreed upon.
+
+The day following being Low Sunday, I felt that I must present myself at
+the "Hotel de Bretagne," for as I went there every day before the
+daughter's flight I could not stop going there without strengthening any
+suspicions which might be entertained about me. But it was a painful
+task. I had to appear at my ease and cheerful in a place where I was
+quite sure all would be sadness and confusion. I must say that it was an
+affair requiring higher powers of impudence than fall to the lot of most
+men.
+
+I chose a time when all the family would be together at table, and I
+walked straight into the dining-room. I entered with my usual cheerful
+manner, and sat down by madame, a little behind her, pretending not to
+see her surprise, which, however, was plainly to be seen, her whole face
+being flushed with rage and astonishment. I had not been long in the room
+before I asked where her daughter was. She turned round, looked me
+through and through, and said not a word.
+
+"Is she ill?" said I.
+
+"I know nothing about her."
+
+This remark, which was pronounced in a dry manner, put me at my ease, as
+I now felt at liberty to look concerned. I sat there for a quarter of an
+hour, playing the part of grave and astonished silence, and then, rising,
+I asked if I could do anything, for which all my reward was a cold
+expression of thanks. I then left the room and went to Mdlle. X. C. V.'s
+chamber as if I had thought she was there, but found only Madelaine. I
+asked her with a meaning look where her mistress was. She replied by
+begging me to tell her, if I knew.
+
+"Has she gone by herself?"
+
+"I know nothing at all about it, sir, but they say you know all. I beg of
+you to leave me."
+
+Pretending to be in the greatest astonishment, I slowly walked away and
+took a coach, glad to have accomplished this painful duty. After the
+reception I had met with I could without affectation pose as offended,
+and visit the family no more, for whether I were guilty or innocent,
+Madame X. C. V. must see that her manner had been plain enough for me to
+know what it meant.
+
+I was looking out of my window at an early hour two or three days
+afterwards, when a coach stopped before my door, and Madame X C V-,
+escorted by M. Farsetti got out. I made haste to meet them on the stair,
+and welcomed them, saying I was glad they had done me the honour to come
+and take breakfast with me, pretending not to know of any other reason. I
+asked them to sit down before the fire, and enquired after the lady's
+health; but without noticing my question she said that she had not come
+to take breakfast, but to have some serious conversation.
+
+"Madam," said I, "I am your humble servant; but first of all pray be
+seated."
+
+She sat down, while Farsetti continued standing. I did not press him, but
+turning towards the lady begged her to command me.
+
+"I am come here," she said, "to ask you to give me my daughter if she be
+in your power, or to tell me where she is."
+
+"Your daughter, madam? I know nothing about her! Do you think me capable
+of a crime?"
+
+"I do not accuse you of abducting her; I have not come here to reproach
+you nor to utter threats, I have only come to ask you to shew yourself my
+friend. Help me to get my daughter again this very day; you will give me
+my life. I am certain that you know all. You were her only confidant and
+her only friend; you passed hours with her every day; she must have told
+you of her secret. Pity a bereaved mother! So far no one knows of the
+facts; give her back to me and all shall be forgotten, and her honour
+saved."
+
+"Madam, I feel for you acutely, but I repeat that I know nothing of your
+daughter."
+
+The poor woman, whose grief touched me, fell at my feet and burst into
+tears. I was going to lift her from the ground, when Farsetti told her,
+in a voice full of indignation, that she should blush to humble herself
+in such a manner before a man of my description. I drew myself up, and
+looking at him scornfully said,
+
+"You insolent scoundrel! What do you mean by talking of me like that?"
+
+"Everybody is certain that you know all about it."
+
+"Then they are impudent fools, like you. Get out of my house this instant
+and wait for me, I will be with you in a quarter of an hour."
+
+So saying, I took the poor chevalier by the shoulders, and giving him
+sundry shakes I turned him out of the room. He came back and called to
+the lady to come, too, but she rose and tried to quiet me.
+
+"You ought to be more considerate towards a lover," said she, "for he
+would marry my daughter now, even after what she has done."
+
+"I am aware of the fact, madam, and I have no doubt that his courtship
+was one of the chief reasons which made your daughter resolve to leave
+her home, for she hated him even more than she hated the
+fermier-general."
+
+"She has behaved very badly, but I promise not to say anything more about
+marrying her. But I am sure you know all about it, as you gave her fifty
+louis, without which she could not have done anything."
+
+"Nay, not so."
+
+"Do not deny it, sir; here is the evidence--a small piece of your letter
+to her."
+
+She gave me a scrap of the letter I had sent the daughter, with the fifty
+louis for her brother. It contained the following lines,
+
+"I hope that these wretched louis will convince you that I am ready to
+sacrifice everything, my life if need be, to assure you of my affection."
+
+"I am far from disavowing this evidence of my esteem for your daughter,
+but to justify myself I am obliged to tell you a fact which I should have
+otherwise kept secret--namely, that I furnished your daughter with this
+sum to enable her to pay your son's debts, for which he thanked me in a
+letter which I can shew you."
+
+"My son?"
+
+"Your son, madam."
+
+"I will make you an ample atonement for my suspicions."
+
+Before I had time to make any objection, she ran down to fetch Farsetti,
+who was waiting in the courtyard, and made him come up and hear what I
+had just told her.
+
+"That's not a likely tale," said the insolent fellow.
+
+I looked at him contemptuously, and told him he was not worth convincing,
+but that I would beg the lady to ask her son and see whether I told the
+truth.
+
+"I assure you," I added, "that I always urged your daughter to marry M.
+de la Popeliniere."
+
+"How can you have the face to say that," said Farsetti, "when you talk in
+the letter of your affection?"
+
+"I do not deny it," said I. "I loved her, and I was proud of my affection
+for her. This affection, of whatever sort it may have been (and that is
+not this gentleman's business), was the ordinary topic of conversation
+between us. If she had told me that she was going to leave her home, I
+should either have dissuaded her or gone with her, for I loved her as I
+do at this moment; but I would never have given her money to go alone."
+
+"My dear Casanova," said the mother, "if you will help me to find her I
+shall believe in your innocence."
+
+"I shall be delighted to aid you, and I promise to commence the quest
+to-day."
+
+"As soon as you have any news, come and tell me."
+
+"You may trust me to do so," said I, and we parted.
+
+I had to play my part carefully; especially it was essential that I
+should behave in public in a manner consistent with my professions.
+Accordingly, the next day I went to M. Chaban, first commissary of
+police, requesting him to institute enquiries respecting the flight of
+Mdlle. X. C. V. I was sure that in this way the real part I had taken in
+the matter would be the better concealed; but the commissary, who had the
+true spirit of his profession, and had liked me when he first saw me six
+years before, began to laugh when he heard what I wanted him to do.
+
+"Do you really want the police to discover," said he, "where the pretty
+Englishwoman is to be found?"
+
+"Certainly."
+
+It then struck me that he was trying to make me talk and to catch me
+tripping, and I had no doubt of it when I met Farsetti going in as I was
+coming out.
+
+Next day I went to acquaint Madame X. C. V. with the steps I had taken,
+though as yet my efforts had not been crowned with success.
+
+"I have been more fortunate than you," said she, "and if you will come
+with me to the place where my daughter has gone, and will join me in
+persuading her to return, all will be well."
+
+"Certainly," said I, "I shall be most happy to accompany you."
+
+Taking me at my word, she put on her cloak, and leaning on my arm walked
+along till we came to a coach. She then gave me a slip of paper, begging
+me to tell the coachman to drive us to the address thereon.
+
+I was on thorns, and my heart beat fast, for I thought I should have to
+read out the address of the convent. I do not know what I should have
+done if my fears had been well grounded, but I should certainly not have
+gone to the convent. At last I read what was written; it was "Place
+Maubert," and I grew calm once more.
+
+I told the coachman to drive us to the Place Maubert. We set off, and in
+a short time stopped at the opening of an obscure back street before a
+dirty-looking house, which did not give one a high idea of the character
+of its occupants. I gave Madame X. C. V. my arm, and she had the
+satisfaction of looking into every room in the five floors of the house,
+but what she sought for was not there, and I expected to see her
+overwhelmed with grief. I was mistaken, however. She looked distressed
+but satisfied, and her eyes seemed to ask pardon of me. She had found out
+from the coachman, who had taken her daughter on the first stage of her
+journey, that she had alighted in front of the house in question, and had
+gone down the back street. She told me that the scullion had confessed
+that he had taken me letters twice from his young mistress, and that
+Madelaine said all the time that she was sure her mistress and I were in
+love with each other. They played their parts well.
+
+As soon as I had seen Madame X. C. V. safely home, I went to Madame du
+Rumain to tell her what had happened; and I then wrote to my fair
+recluse, telling her what had gone on in the world since her
+disappearance.
+
+Three or four days after this date, Madame du Rumain gave me the first
+letter I received from Mdlle. X. C. V. She spoke in it of the quiet life
+she was leading, and her gratitude to me, praised the abbess and the
+lay-sister, and gave me the titles of the books they lent her, which she
+liked reading. She also informed me what money she had spent, and said
+she was happy in everything, almost in being forbidden to leave her room.
+
+I was delighted with her letter, but much more with the abbess's epistle
+to Madame du Rumain. She was evidently fond of the girl, and could not
+say too much in her praise, saying how sweet-tempered, clever, and
+lady-like she was; winding up by assuring her friend that she went to see
+her every day.
+
+I was charmed to see the pleasure this letter afforded Madame du
+Rumain--pleasure which was increased by the perusal of the letter I had
+received. The only persons who were displeased were the poor mother, the
+frightful Farsetti, and the old fermier, whose misfortune was talked
+about in the clubs, the Palais-Royal, and the coffee-houses. Everybody
+put me down for some share in the business, but I laughed at their
+gossip, believing that I was quite safe.
+
+All the same, la Popeliniere took the adventure philosophically and made
+a one-act play out of it, which he had acted at his little theatre in
+Paris. Three months afterwards he got married to a very pretty girl, the
+daughter of a Bordeaux alderman. He died in the course of two years,
+leaving his widow pregnant with a son, who came into the world six months
+after the father's death. The unworthy heir to the rich man had the face
+to accuse the widow of adultery, and got the child declared illegitimate
+to the eternal shame of the court which gave this iniquitous judgment and
+to the grief of every honest Frenchman. The iniquitous nature of the
+judgment was afterwards more clearly demonstrated--putting aside the fact
+that nothing could be said against the mother's character--by the same
+court having the face to declare a child born eleven months after the
+father's death legitimate.
+
+I continued for ten days to call upon Madame X. C. V., but finding myself
+coldly welcomed, decided to go there no more.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+Fresh Adventures--J. J. Rousseau--I set Up A Business--Castel--Bajac--A
+Lawsuit is Commenced Against Me--M. de Sartine
+
+Mdlle. X. C. V. had now been in the convent for a month, and her affair
+had ceased to be a common topic of conversation. I thought I should hear
+no more of it, but I was mistaken. I continued, however, to amuse myself,
+and my pleasure in spending freely quite prevented me from thinking about
+the future. The Abbe de Bernis, whom I went to see regularly once a week,
+told me one day that the comptroller-general often enquired how I was
+getting on. "You are wrong," said the abbe, "to neglect him." He advised
+me to say no more about my claims, but to communicate to him the means I
+had spoken of for increasing the revenues of the state. I laid too great
+store by the advice of the man who had made my fortune not to follow it.
+I went to the comptroller, and trusting in his probity I explained my
+scheme to him. This was to pass a law by which every estate, except that
+left by father to son, should furnish the treasury with one year's
+income; every deed of gift formally drawn up being subject to the same
+provision. It seemed to me that the law could not give offence to anyone;
+the heir had only to imagine that he had inherited a year later than was
+actually the case. The minister was of the same opinion as myself, told
+me that there would not be the slightest difficulty involved, and assured
+me that my fortune was made. In a week afterwards his place was taken by
+M. de Silhouette, and when I called on the new minister he told me coldly
+that when my scheme became law he would tell me. It became law two years
+afterwards, and when, as the originator of the scheme, I attempted to get
+my just reward, they laughed in my face.
+
+Shortly after, the Pope died, and he was succeeded by the Venetian
+Rezzonico, who created my patron, the Abby de Bernis, a cardinal.
+However, he had to go into exile by order of the king two days after his
+gracious majesty had presented him with the red cap: so good a thing it
+is to be the friend of kings!
+
+The disgrace of my delightful abbe left me without a patron, but I had
+plenty of money, and so was enabled to bear this misfortune with
+resignation.
+
+For having undone all the work of Cardinal Richelieu, for having changed
+the old enmity between France and Austria into friendship, for delivering
+Italy from the horrors of war which befell her whenever these countries
+had a bone to pick, although he was the first cardinal made by a pope who
+had had plenty of opportunities for discovering his character, merely
+because, on being asked, he had given it as his opinion that the Prince
+de Soubise was not a fit person to command the French armies, this great
+ecclesiastic was driven into exile. The moment the Pompadour heard of
+this opinion of his, she decreed his banishment--a sentence which was
+unpopular with all classes of society; but they consoled themselves with
+epigrams, and the new cardinal was soon forgotten. Such is the character
+of the French people; it cares neither for its own misfortunes nor for
+those of others, if only it can extract laughter from them.
+
+In my time epigrammatists and poetasters who assailed ministers or even
+the king's mistresses were sent to the Bastille, but the wits still
+persisted in being amusing, and there were some who considered a jest
+incomplete that was not followed by a prosecution. A man whose name I
+have forgotten--a great lover of notoriety--appropriated the following
+verses by the younger Crebellon and went to the Bastille rather than
+disown them.
+
+   "All the world's upside down!
+   Jupiter has donned the gown--the King.
+   Venus mounts the council stair--the Pompadour.
+   Plutus trifles with the fair--M. de Boulogne.
+   Mercury in mail is drest--Marechal de Richelieu.
+   Mighty Mars has turned a priest--the Duc de Clermont, abbe of
+   St. Germain-des-pres."
+
+Crebillon, who was not the sort of man to conceal his writings, told the
+Duc de Choiseul that he had written some verses exactly like these, but
+that it was possible the prisoner had been inspired with precisely the
+same ideas. This jest was applauded, and the author of "The Sofa" was let
+alone.
+
+Cardinal de Bernis passed ten years in exile, 'procul negotiis', but he
+was not happy, as he told me himself when I knew him in Rome fifteen
+years afterwards. It is said that it is better to be a minister than a
+king--an opinion which seems ridiculous when it is analyzed. The
+question is, which is the better, independence or its contrary. The axiom
+may possibly be verified in a despotic government under an absurd, weak,
+or careless king who serves as a mere mask for his master the minister;
+but in all other cases it is an absurdity.
+
+Cardinal de Bernis was never recalled; there is no instance of Louis XV.
+having ever recalled a minister whom he had disgraced; but on the death
+of Rezzonico he had to go to Rome to be present at the conclave, and
+there he remained as French ambassador.
+
+About this time Madame d'Urfe conceived a wish to make the acquaintance
+of J. J. Rousseau, and we went to call upon him at Montmorenci, on the
+pretext of giving him music to copy--an occupation in which he was very
+skilled. He was paid twice the sum given to any other copyist, but he
+guaranteed that the work should be faultlessly done. At that period of
+his life copying music was the great writer's sole means of subsistence.
+
+We found him to be a man of a simple and modest demeanour, who talked
+well, but who was not otherwise distinguished either intellectually or
+physically. We did not think him what would be called a good-natured man,
+and as he was far from having the manners of good society Madame d'Urfe
+did not hesitate to pronounce him vulgar. We saw the woman with whom he
+lived, and of whom we had heard, but she scarcely looked at us. On our
+way home we amused ourselves by talking about Rousseau's eccentric
+habits.
+
+I will here note down the visit of the Prince of Conti (father of the
+gentleman who is now known as the Comte de la March) to Rousseau.
+
+The prince--a good-natured man-went by himself to Montmorenci, on purpose
+to spend a day in conversation with the philosopher, who was even then
+famous. He found him in the park, accosted him, and said that he had come
+to dine with him and to talk without restraint.
+
+"Your highness will fare but badly," said Rousseau: "however, I will tell
+them to lay another knife and fork."
+
+The philosopher gave his instructions, and came out and rejoined the
+prince, with whom he walked up and down for two or three hours. When it
+was dinner-time he took the prince into his dining-room, where the table
+was laid for three.
+
+"Who is going to dine with us?" said the prince. "I thought we were to be
+alone."
+
+"The third party," said Rousseau, "is my other self--a being who is
+neither my wife, nor my mistress, nor my servant-maid, nor my mother, nor
+my daughter, but yet personates all these characters at once."
+
+"I daresay, my dear fellow, I daresay; but as I came to dine with you
+alone, I will not dine with your--other self, but will leave you with all
+the rest of you to keep your company."
+
+So saying the prince bade him farewell and went out. Rousseau did not try
+to keep him.
+
+About this time I witnessed the failure of a play called 'Aristides'
+Daughter', written by the ingenious Madame de Graffini, who died of
+vexation five days after her play was damned. The Abbe de Voisenon was
+horrified, as he had advised the lady to produce it, and was thought to
+have had some hand in its composition, as well as in that of the 'Lettres
+Peruviennes' and 'Cenie'. By a curious coincidence, just about the same
+date, Rezzonico's mother died of joy because her son had become pope.
+Grief and joy kill many more women than men, which proves that if women
+have mere feeling than men they have also less strength.
+
+When Madame d'Urfe thought that my adopted son was comfortably settled in
+Viar's house, she made me go with her and pay him a visit. I found him
+lodged like a prince, well dressed, made much of, and almost looked up
+to. I was astonished, for this was more than I had bargained for. Madame
+d'Urfe had given him masters of all sorts, and a pretty little pony for
+him to learn riding on. He was styled M. le Comte d'Aranda. A girl of
+sixteen, Viar's daughter, a fine-looking young woman, was appointed to
+look after him, and she was quite proud to call herself my lord's
+governess. She assured Madame d'Urfe that she took special care of him;
+that as soon as he woke she brought him his breakfast in bed; that she
+then dressed him, and did not leave his side the whole day. Madame d'Urfe
+approved of everything, told the girl to take even greater care of the
+count, and promised that she should not go unrewarded. As for the young
+gentleman, he was evidently quite happy, as he told me himself again and
+again, but I suspected a mystery somewhere, and determined that I would
+go and see him by myself another time and solve it.
+
+On our journey home I told Madame d'Urfe how grateful I was for all her
+goodness to the boy, and that I approved of all the arrangements that had
+been made with the exception of the name Aranda, "which," said I, "may
+some day prove a thorn in his side." She answered that the lad had said
+enough to convince her that he had a right to bear that name. "I had,"
+she said, "in my desk a seal with the arms of the house of Aranda, and
+happening to take it up I shewed it him as we shew trinkets to children
+to amuse them, but as soon as he saw it he burst out,
+
+"'How came you to have my arms?'
+
+"Your arms!" I answered. "I got this seal from the Comte d'Aranda; how
+can you prove that you are a scion of that race?"
+
+"'Do not ask me, madam; my birth is a secret I can reveal to no one.'"
+
+The imposition and above all the impudence of the young knave astounded
+me. I should not have thought him capable of it, and a week after I went
+to see him by myself to get at the bottom of all this mystery.
+
+I found my young count with Viar, who, judging by the awe the child
+shewed of me, must have thought he belonged to me. He was unsparing in
+his praises of his pupil, saying that he played the flute capitally,
+danced and fenced admirably, rode well, and wrote a good hand. He shewed
+me the pens he had cut himself with three, five, and even nine points,
+and begged to be examined on heraldry, which, as the master observed, was
+so necessary a science for a young nobleman.
+
+The young gentleman then commenced in the jargon of heraldry to blazon
+his own pretended arms, and I felt much inclined to burst into laughter,
+partly because I did not understand a word he said, and partly because he
+seemed to think the matter as important as would a country squire with
+his thirty-two quarters. However, I was delighted to see his dexterity in
+penmanship, which was undoubtedly very great, and I expressed my
+satisfaction to Viar, who soon left us to ourselves. We proceeded into
+the garden.
+
+"Will you kindly inform me," I said, "how you can be so foolish as to
+call yourself the Comte d'Aranda?"
+
+He replied, with the utmost calmness, "I know it is foolish, but leave me
+my title; it is of service to me here and gains me respect."
+
+"It is an imposition I cannot wink at, as it may be fraught with serious
+results, and may do harm to both of us. I should not have thought that at
+your age you would be capable of such a knavish trick. I know you did it
+out of stupidity, but after a certain limit stupidity becomes criminal;
+and I cannot see how I am to remedy your fault without disgracing you in
+the eyes of Madame d'Urfe."
+
+I kept on scolding him till he burst into tears, saying,
+
+"I had rather the shame of being sent back to my mother than the shame of
+confessing to Madame d'Urfe that I had imposed on her; and I could not
+bear to stay here if I had to give up my name."
+
+Seeing that I could do nothing with him, unless, indeed, I sent him to
+some place far removed from Paris under his proper name, I told him to
+take comfort as I would try and do the best I could for both of us.
+
+"And now tell me--and take care to tell the truth--what sort of feelings
+does Viar's daughter entertain for you?"
+
+"I think, papa, that this is a case in which the reserve commended by
+yourself, as well as by mother, would be appropriate."
+
+"Yes, that sort of answer tells me a good deal, but I think you are
+rather too knowing for your age. And you may as well observe that when
+you are called upon for a confession, reserve is out of place, and it's a
+confession I require from you."
+
+"Well, papa, Viar's daughter is very fond of me, and she shews her love
+in all sorts of ways."
+
+"And do you love her?"
+
+"Oh, yes!"
+
+"Is she much with you in the morning?"
+
+"She is with me the whole day."
+
+"She is present when you go to bed?"
+
+"Yes, she helps me to undress."
+
+"Nothing else?"
+
+"I do not care to tell you."
+
+I was astonished at the measured way in which he answered me, and as I
+had heard enough to guess that the boy and girl were very good friends
+indeed, I contented myself with warning him to take care of his health,
+and with this I left him.
+
+Some time after, my thoughts were occupied with a business speculation
+which all my calculations assured me would be extremely profitable. The
+plan was to produce on silks, by means of printing, the exquisite designs
+which are produced at Lyons by the tedious process of weaving, and thus
+to give customers excellent value at much lower prices. I had the
+requisite knowledge of chemistry, and enough capital to make the thing a
+success. I obtained the assistance of a man with the necessary technical
+skill and knowledge, intending to make him my manager.
+
+I told my plan to the Prince de Conti, who encouraged me to persevere,
+promising me his patronage, and all the privileges I could wish for. That
+decided me to begin.
+
+I rented a very large house near the Temple for a thousand crowns per
+annum. The house contained a spacious hall, in which I meant to put my
+workmen; another hall which was to be the shop; numerous rooms for my
+workpeople to live in; and a nice room for myself in case I cared to live
+on the premises.
+
+I made the scheme into a company with thirty shares, of which I gave five
+to my designer, keeping the remaining twenty-five to distribute to those
+who were inclined to join the company. I gave one to a doctor who, on
+giving surety, became the storekeeper, and came to live in the house with
+his whole family; and I engaged four servants, a waiting-maid, and a
+porter. I had to give another share to an accountant, who furnished me
+with two clerks, who also took up their abode in the house. The
+carpenters, blacksmiths, and painters worked hard from morning to night,
+and in less than three weeks the place was ready. I told the manager to
+engage twenty girls to paint, who were to be paid every Saturday. I
+stocked the warehouse with three hundred pieces of sarcenet and camlet of
+different shades and colours to receive the designs, and I paid for
+everything in ready money.
+
+I had made an approximate calculation with my manager that I should have
+to spend three hundred thousand francs, and that would not break me. If
+the worst happened I could fall back on my shares, which produced a good
+income, but I hoped I should not be compelled to do so, as I wanted to
+have an income of two hundred thousand francs a year.
+
+All the while I did not conceal from myself that the speculation might be
+my ruin, if custom did not come in, but on looking at my beautiful
+materials these fears were dispelled, especially as I heard everybody
+saying that I sold them much too cheap.
+
+To set up the business I spent in the course of a month about sixty
+thousand francs, and my weekly expenses amounted to twelve hundred
+francs.
+
+As for Madame d'Urfe she laughed every time she saw me, for she was quite
+certain that this business was only meant to put the curious off the
+scent and to preserve my incognito: so persuaded was she of my
+omnipotence.
+
+The sight of twenty girls, all more or less pretty, the eldest of whom
+was not twenty-five, far from making me tremble as it ought, delighted
+me. I fancied myself in the midst of a seraglio, and I amused myself by
+watching their meek and modest looks as they did their work under the
+direction of the foreman. The best paid did not get more than twenty-four
+sous a day, and all of them had excellent reputations, for they had been
+selected at her own request by the manager's wife, a devout woman of ripe
+age, whom I hoped to find obliging if the fancy seized me to test her
+choice. Manon Baletti did not share my satisfaction in them. She trembled
+to see me the owner of a harem, well knowing that sooner or later the
+barque of my virtue would run on the rocks. She scolded me well about
+these girls, though I assured her that none of them slept in the house.
+
+This business increased my own ideas of my importance; partly from the
+thought that I was on the high road to fortune, and partly because I
+furnished so many people with the means of subsistence. Alas! I was too
+fortunate; and my evil genius soon crossed my career.
+
+It was now three months since Mdlle. X. C. V. had gone into the convent,
+and the time of her delivery drew near. We wrote to each other twice a
+week, and I considered the matter happily settled; M. de la Popeliniere
+had married, and when Mdlle. X. C. V. returned to her mother there would
+be nothing more to be said But just at this period, when my happiness
+seemed assured, the hidden fire leapt forth and threatened to consume me;
+how, the reader will see.
+
+One day after leaving Madame d'Urfe's I went to walk in the Tuileries. I
+had taken a couple of turns in the chief walk when I saw that an old
+woman, accompanied by a man dressed in black, was looking at me closely
+and communicating her observations to her companion. There was nothing
+very astonishing in this in a public place, and I continued my walk, and
+on turning again saw the same couple still watching me. In my turn I
+looked at them, and remembered seeing the man in a gaming-house, where he
+was known by the name of Castel-Bajac. On scrutinizing the features of
+the hag, I at last succeeded in recollecting who she was; she was the
+woman to whom I had taken Mdlle. X. C. V. I felt certain that she had
+recognized me, but not troubling myself about the matter I left the
+gardens to walk elsewhere. The day after next, just as I was going to get
+into my carriage, a man of evil aspect gave me a paper and asked me to
+read it. I opened it, but finding it covered with an illegible scrawl I
+gave it him back, telling him to read it himself. He did so, and I found
+myself summoned to appear before the commissary of police to answer to
+the plea which the midwife (whose name I forget) brought against me.
+
+Although I could guess what the charge would be, and was certain that the
+midwife could furnish no proofs of her accusation, I went to an attorney
+I knew and told him to appear for me. I instructed him that I did not
+know any midwife in Paris whatsoever. The attorney waited on the
+commissary, and on the day after brought me a copy of the pleas.
+
+The midwife said that I came to her one night, accompanied by a young
+lady about five months with child, and that, holding a pistol in one hand
+and a packet of fifty Louis in the other, I made her promise to procure
+abortion. We both of us (so she said) had masks on, thus shewing that we
+had been at the opera ball. Fear, said she, had prevented her from flatly
+refusing to grant my request; but she had enough presence of mind to say
+that the necessary drugs were not ready, that she would have all in order
+by the next night; whereupon we left, promising to return. In the belief
+that we would not fail to keep the appointment, she went in to M.
+Castel-Bajac to ask him to hide in the next room that she might be
+protected from my fury, and that he might be a witness of what I said,
+but she had not seen me again. She added that she would have given
+information the day after the event if she had known who I was, but since
+M. Castel-Bajac had told her my name on her recognizing me in the
+Tuileries, she had thought it her bounden duty to deliver me to the law
+that she might be compensated for the violence I had used to her. And
+this document was signed by the said Castel-Bajac as a witness.
+
+"This is an evident case of libel," said my attorney, "at least, if she
+can't prove the truth of her allegations. My advice to you is to take the
+matter before the criminal lieutenant, who will be able to give you the
+satisfaction you require."
+
+I authorized him to do what he thought advisable, and three or four days
+after he told me that the lieutenant wished to speak to me in private,
+and would expect me the same day at three o'clock in the afternoon.
+
+As will be expected, I was punctual to the appointment. I found the
+magistrate to be a polite and good-hearted gentleman. He was, in fact,
+the well-known M. de Sartine, who was the chief of police two years
+later. His office of criminal lieutenant was saleable, and M. de Sartine
+sold it when he was appointed head of the police.
+
+As soon as I had made my bow, he asked me to sit down by him, and
+addressed me as follows:
+
+"I have asked you to call upon me in the interests of both of us, as in
+your position our interests are inseparable. If you are innocent of the
+charge which has been brought against you, you are quite right to appeal
+to me; but before proceedings begin, you should tell me the whole truth.
+I am ready to forget my position as judge, and to give you my help, but
+you must see yourself that to prove the other side guilty of slander, you
+must prove yourself innocent. What I want from you is an informal and
+strictly confidential declaration, for the case against you is a serious
+one, and of such a kind as to require all your efforts to wipe off this
+blot upon your honour. Your enemies will not respect your delicacy of
+feeling. They will press you so hard that you will either be obliged to
+submit to a shameful sentence, or to wound your feelings of honour in
+proving your innocence. You see I am confiding in you, for in certain
+cases honour seems so precious a thing to me that I am ready to defend it
+with all the power of the law. Pay me back, then, in the same coin, trust
+in me entirely, tell me the whole story without any reserves, and you may
+rely upon my good offices. All will be well if you are innocent, for I
+shall not be the less a judge because I am your friend; but if you are
+guilty I am sorry for you, for I warn you that I shall be just."
+
+After doing my best to express my gratitude to him, I said that my
+position did not oblige me to make any reservations on account of honour,
+and that I had, consequently, no informal statement to make him.
+
+"The midwife," I added, "is absolutely unknown to me. She is most likely
+an abandoned woman, who with her worthy companion wants to cheat me of my
+money."
+
+"I should be delighted to think so," he answered, "but admitting the
+fact, see how chance favours her, and makes it a most difficult thing for
+you to prove your innocence.
+
+"The young lady disappeared three months ago. She was known to be your
+intimate friend, you called upon her at all hours; you spent a
+considerable time with her the day before she disappeared, and no one
+knows what has become of her; but everyone's suspicions point at you, and
+paid spies are continually dogging your steps. The midwife sent me a
+requisition yesterday by her counsel, Vauversin. She says that the
+pregnant lady you brought to her house is the same whom Madame X. C. V.
+is searching for. She also says that you both wore black dominoes, and
+the police have ascertained that you were both at the ball in black
+dominoes on the same night as that on which the midwife says you came to
+her house; you are also known to have left the ball-room together. All
+this, it is true, does not constitute full proof of your guilt, but it
+makes one tremble for your innocence."
+
+"What cause have I to tremble?"
+
+"What cause! Why a false witness, easily enough hired for a little money,
+might swear with impunity that he saw you come from the opera together;
+and a coachman in the same way might swear he had taken you to the
+midwife's. In that case I should be compelled to order your arrest and
+examination, with a view to ascertain the name of the person whom you
+took with you. Do you realize that you are accused of procuring abortion;
+that three months have gone by without the lady's retreat having been
+discovered; that she is said to be dead. Do you realize, in short, what a
+very serious charge murder is?"
+
+"Certainly; but if I die innocent, you will have condemned me wrongly,
+and will be more to be pitied than I."
+
+"Yes, yes, but that wouldn't make your case any better. You may be sure,
+however, that I will not condemn an innocent man; but I am afraid that
+you will be a long time in prison before you succeed in proving your
+innocence. To be brief, you see that in twenty-four hours the case looks
+very bad, and in the course of a week it might look very much worse. My
+interest was aroused in your favour by the evident absurdity of the
+accusations, but it is the other circumstances about the case which make
+it a serious one for you. I can partly understand the circumstances, and
+the feelings of love and honour which bid you be silent. I have spoken to
+you, and I hope you will have no reserves with me. I will spare you all
+the unpleasant circumstances which threaten you, believing, as I do, that
+you are innocent. Tell me all, and be sure that the lady's honour will
+not suffer; but if, on the other hand, you are unfortunately guilty of
+the crimes laid to your charge, I advise you to be prudent, and to take
+steps which it is not my business to suggest. I warn you that in three or
+four days I shall cite you to the bar of the court, and that you will
+then find in me only the judge--just, certainly, but severe and
+impartial."
+
+I was petrified; for these words shewed me my danger in all its
+nakedness. I saw how I should esteem this worthy man's good offices, and
+said to him in quite another tone, that innocent as I was, I saw that my
+best course was to throw myself on his kindness respecting Mdlle. X. C.
+V., who had committed no crime, but would lose her reputation by this
+unhappy business.
+
+"I know where she is," I added, "and I may tell you that she would never
+have left her mother if she had not endeavoured to force her into a
+marriage she abhorred."
+
+"Well, but the man is now married; let her return to her mother's house,
+and you will be safe, unless the midwife persists in maintaining that you
+incited her to procure abortion."
+
+"There is no abortion in the matter; but other reasons prevent her
+returning to her family. I can tell you no more without obtaining the
+consent of another party. If I succeed in doing so I shall be able to
+throw the desired light on the question. Be kind enough to give me a
+second hearing on the day after to-morrow."
+
+"I understand. I shall be delighted to hear what you have to say. I thank
+and congratulate you. Farewell!"
+
+I was on the brink of the precipice, but I was determined to leave the
+kingdom rather than betray the honour of my poor dear sweetheart. If it
+had been possible, I would gladly have put an end to the case with money;
+but it was too late. I was sure that Farsetti had the chief hand in all
+this trouble, that he was continually on my track, and that he paid the
+spies mentioned by M. de Sartine. He it was who had set Vauversin, the
+barrister, after me, and I had no doubt that he would do all in his power
+to ruin me.
+
+I felt that my only course was to tell the whole story to M. de Sartine,
+but to do that I required Madame du Rumain's permission.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+My Examination I Give the Clerk Three Hundred Louis--The Midwife and
+Cartel-Bajac Imprisoned--Mdlle. X. C. V. Is Brought to Bed of a Son and
+Obliges Her Mother to Make Me Amends--The Suit Against Me Is
+Quashed--Mdlle. X. C. V. Goes With Her Mother to Brussels and From Thence
+to Venice, Where She Becomes a Great Lady--My Work-girls--Madame Baret--I
+Am Robbed, Put in Prison, and Set at Liberty Again--I Go to
+Holland--Helvetius' "Esprit"--Piccolomini
+
+The day after my interview with M. de Sartine I waited on Madame du
+Rumain at an early hour. Considering the urgency of the case I took the
+liberty of rousing her from her slumbers, and as soon as she was ready to
+receive me I told her all.
+
+"There can be no hesitation in the matter," said this delightful woman.
+"We must make a confidant of M. de Sartine, and I will speak to him
+myself to-day without fail."
+
+Forthwith she went to her desk and wrote to the criminal lieutenant
+asking him to see her at three o'clock in the afternoon. In less than an
+hour the servant returned with a note in which he said he would expect
+her. We agreed that I should come again in the evening, when she would
+tell me the result of her interview.
+
+I went to the house at five o'clock, and had only a few minutes to wait.
+
+"I have concealed nothing," said she; "he knows that she is on the eve of
+her confinement, and that you are not the father, which speaks highly for
+your generosity. I told him that as soon as the confinement was over, and
+the young lady had recovered her health, she would return to her mother,
+though she would make no confession, and that the child should be well
+looked after. You have now nothing to fear, and can calm yourself; but as
+the case must go on you will be cited before the court the day after
+to-morrow. I advise you to see the clerk of the court on some pretext or
+other, and to make him accept a sum of money."
+
+I was summoned to appear, and I appeared. I saw M. de Sartine, 'sedentem
+pro tribunali'. At the end of the sitting he told me that he was obliged
+to remand me, and that during my remand I must not leave Paris or get
+married, as all my civil rights were in suspense pending the decision. I
+promised to follow his commands.
+
+I acknowledged in my examination that I was at the ball in a black domino
+on the night named in my accusation, but I denied everything else. As for
+Mdlle. X. C. V., I said that neither I nor anyone of her family had any
+suspicion that she was with child.
+
+Recollecting that I was an alien, and that this circumstance might make
+Vauversin call for my arrest, on the plea that I might fly the kingdom, I
+thought the moment opportune for making interest with the clerk of the
+court, and I accordingly paid him a visit. After telling him of my fears,
+I slipped into his hand a packet of three hundred louis, for which I did
+not ask for a receipt, saying that they were to defray expenses if I were
+mulcted in costs. He advised me to require the midwife to give bail for
+her appearance, and I told my attorney to do so; but, four days after,
+the following incident took place:
+
+I was walking in the Temple Gardens, when I was accosted by a Savoyard,
+who gave me a note in which I was informed that somebody in an alley,
+fifty paces off, wanted to speak to me. "Either a love affair or a
+challenge," I said to myself, "let's see." I stopped my carriage, which
+was following me, and went to the place.
+
+I cannot say how surprised I was to see the wretched Cartel-Bajac
+standing before me. "I have only a word to say," said he, when he saw me.
+"We will not be overheard here. The midwife is quite sure that you are
+the man who brought a pregnant lady to her, but she is vexed that you are
+accused of making away with her. Give her a hundred louis; she will then
+declare to the court that she has been mistaken, and your trouble will be
+ended. You need not pay the money till she has made her declaration; we
+will take your word for it. Come with me and talk it over with Vauversin.
+I am sure he will persuade you to do as I suggest. I know where to find
+him, follow me at some distance."
+
+I had listened to him in silence, and I was delighted to see that the
+rascals were betraying themselves. "Very good," said I to the fellow,
+"you go on, and I will follow." I went after him to the third floor of a
+house in the Rue aux Ours, where I found Vauversin the barrister. No
+sooner had I arrived than he went to business without any prefatory
+remarks.
+
+"The midwife," he said, "will call on you with a witness apparently with
+the intention of maintaining to your face that you are her man; but she
+won't be able to recognize you. She will then proceed with the witness to
+the court, and will declare that she has made a mistake, and the criminal
+lieutenant will forthwith put an end to the proceedings. You will thus be
+certain of gaining your case against the lady's mother."
+
+I thought the plan well conceived, and said that they would find me at
+the Temple any day up to noon.
+
+"But the midwife wants a hundred louis badly."
+
+"You mean that the worthy woman rates her perjury at that price. Well,
+never mind, I will pay the money, and you may trust to my word; but I
+can't do so before she has taken oath to her mistake before the court."
+
+"Very good, but you must first give me twenty-five louis to reimburse me
+for my costs and fees."
+
+"Certainly, if you will give me a formal receipt for the money."
+
+He hesitated at first, but after talking it over the money proved too
+strong a bait, and he wrote out the receipt and I gave him the
+twenty-five louis. He thanked me, and said that though Madame X. C. V.
+was his client, he would let me know confidentially how best to put a
+stop to the proceedings. I thanked him with as much gratitude as if I had
+really intended to make use of his services, and I left to write and tell
+M. de Sartine what had taken place.
+
+Three days afterwards I was told that a man and woman wanted to see me. I
+went down and asked the woman what she wanted.
+
+"I want to speak to M. Casanova."
+
+"I am he."
+
+"Then I have made a mistake, for which I hope you will forgive me."
+
+Her companion smiled, and they went off.
+
+The same day Madame du Rumain had a letter from the abbess telling her
+that her young friend had given birth to a fine boy, who had been sent
+away to a place where he would be well looked after. She stated that the
+young lady could not leave the convent for the next six weeks, at the end
+of which time she could return to her mother with a certificate which
+would protect her from all annoyance.
+
+Soon after the midwife was put in solitary confinement, Castel-Bajac was
+sent to The Bicetre, and Vauversin's name was struck off the rolls. The
+suit instituted against me by Madame X. C. V. went on till her daughter
+reappeared, but I knew that I had nothing to fear. The girl returned to
+her mother about the end of August armed with a certificate from the
+abbess, who said she had been under her protection for four months,
+during which time she had never left the convent or seen any persons from
+outside. This was perfectly true, but the abbess added that her only
+reason for her going back to her family was that she had nothing more to
+dread from the attentions of M. de la Popeliniere, and in this the abbess
+lied.
+
+Mdlle. X. C. V. profited by the delight of her mother in seeing her again
+safe and sound, and made her wait on M. de Sartine with the abbess's
+certificate, stop all proceedings against me, and withdraw all the
+charges she had made. Her daughter told her that if I liked I might claim
+damages for libel, and that if she did not wish to injure her reputation
+she would say nothing more about what had happened.
+
+The mother wrote me a letter of the most satisfactory character, which I
+had registered in court, thus putting an end to the prosecution. In my
+turn I wrote to congratulate her on the recovery of her daughter, but I
+never set foot in her house again, to avoid any disagreeable scenes with
+Farsetti.
+
+Mdlle. X. C. V. could not stay any longer in Paris, where her tale was
+known to everyone, and Farsetti took her to Brussels with her sister
+Madelaine. Some time after, her mother followed her, and they then went
+on to Venice, and there in three years' time she became a great lady.
+Fifteen years afterwards I saw her again, and she was a widow, happy
+enough apparently, and enjoying a great reputation on account of her
+rank, wit, and social qualities, but our connection was never renewed.
+
+In four years the reader will hear more of Castel-Bajac. Towards the end
+of the same year (1759), before I went to Holland, I spent several
+hundred francs to obtain the release of the midwife.
+
+I lived like a prince, and men might have thought me happy, but I was
+not. The enormous expenses I incurred, my love of spending money, and
+magnificent pleasures, warned me, in spite of myself, that there were
+rocks ahead. My business would have kept me going for a long time, if
+custom had not been paralyzed by the war; but as it was, I, like
+everybody else, experienced the effect of bad times. My warehouse
+contained four hundred pieces of stuffs with designs on them, but as I
+could not hope to dispose of them before the peace, and as peace seemed a
+long way off, I was threatened with ruin.
+
+With this fear I wrote to Esther to get her father to give me the
+remainder of my money, to send me a sharp clerk, and to join in my
+speculation. M. d'O---- said that if I would set up in Holland he would
+become responsible for everything and give me half profits, but I liked
+Paris too well to agree to so good an offer. I was sorry for it
+afterwards.
+
+I spent a good deal of money at my private house, but the chief expense
+of my life, which was unknown to others but which was ruining me, was
+incurred in connection with the girls who worked in my establishment.
+With my complexion and my pronounced liking for variety, a score of
+girls, nearly all of them pretty and seductive, as most Paris girls are,
+was a reef on which my virtue made shipwreck every day. Curiosity had a
+good deal to do with it, and they profited by my impatience to take
+possession by selling their favours dearly. They all followed the example
+of the first favourite, and everyone claimed in turn an establishment,
+furniture, money, and jewels; and I knew too little of the value of money
+to care how much they asked. My fancy never lasted longer than a week,
+and often waned in three or four days, and the last comer always appeared
+the most worthy of my attentions.
+
+As soon as I had made a new choice I saw no more of my old loves, but I
+continued to provide for them, and that with a good deal of money. Madame
+d'Urfe, who thought I was rich, gave me no trouble. I made her happy by
+using my oracle to second the magical ceremonies of which she grew fonder
+every day, although she never attained her aim. Manon Baletti, however,
+grieved me sorely by her jealousy and her well-founded reproaches. She
+would not understand--and I did not wonder at it--how I could put off
+marrying her if I really loved her. She accused me of deceiving her. Her
+mother died of consumption in our arms. Silvia had won my true
+friendship. I looked upon her as a most worthy woman, whose kindness of
+heart and purity of life deserved the esteem of all. I stayed in the
+family for three days after her death, sincerely sympathizing with them
+in their affliction.
+
+A few days afterwards, my friend Tiretta lost his mistress through a
+grievous illness. Four days before her death, perceiving that she was
+near her end, she willed to consecrate to God that which man could have
+no longer, and dismissed her lover with the gift of a valuable jewel and
+a purse of two hundred louis. Tiretta marched off and came and told me
+the sad news. I got him a lodging near the Temple, and a month after,
+approving his idea to try his fortune in India, I gave him a letter of
+introduction to M. d'O----, of Amsterdam; and in the course of a week
+this gentleman got him a post as clerk, and shipped him aboard one of the
+company's ships which was bound for Batavia. If he had behaved well he
+might have become a rich man, but he got involved in some conspiracy and
+had to fly, and afterwards experienced many vicissitudes of fortune. I
+heard from one of his relations that he was in Bengal in 1788, in good
+circumstances, but unable to realize his property and so return to his
+native country. I do not know what became of him eventually.
+
+In the beginning of November an official belonging to the Duc d'Elbeuf's
+household came to my establishment to buy a wedding dress for his
+daughter. I was dazzled with her beauty. She chose a fine satin, and her
+pretty face lighted up when she heard her father say he did not think it
+was too much; but she looked quite piteous when she heard the clerk tell
+her father that he would have to buy the whole piece, as they could not
+cut it. I felt that I must give in, and to avoid making an exception in
+her favour I beat a hasty retreat into my private room. I wish I had gone
+out of the house, as I should have saved a good deal of money; but what
+pleasure should I have also lost! In her despair the charming girl begged
+the manager to take her to me, and he dared not refuse to do so. She came
+in; two big tears falling down her cheeks and dimming the ardour of her
+gaze.
+
+"Oh, sir!" she began, "you are rich, do you buy the piece and let me have
+enough for a dress, which will make me happy."
+
+I looked at her father and saw he wore an apologetic air, as if
+deprecating the boldness of his child.
+
+"I like your simplicity," I said to her, "and since it will make you
+happy, you shall have the dress."
+
+She ran up to me, threw her arms round my neck and kissed me, while her
+worthy father was dying with laughter. Her kisses put the last stroke to
+my bewitchment. After he had paid for the dress, her father said,
+
+"I am going to get this little madcap married next Sunday; there will be
+a supper and a ball, and we shall be delighted if you will honour us with
+your presence. My name is Gilbert. I am comptroller of the Duc d'Elbeuf's
+household."
+
+I promised to be at the wedding, and the young lady gave a skip of joy
+which made me think her prettier than ever.
+
+On Sunday I repaired to the house, but I could neither eat nor drink. The
+fair Mdlle. Gilbert kept me in a kind of enchantment which lasted while I
+was in company with her friends, for whom I did not care. They were all
+officials in noblemen's houses, with their wives and daughters, who all
+aped the manners of their betters in the most ridiculous way; nobody knew
+me and I was known to nobody, and I cut a sorry figure amongst them all,
+for in a company of this sort the wittiest man is the greatest fool.
+Everybody cracked his joke to the bride, she answered everybody, and
+people laughed at nothing.
+
+Her husband, a thin and melancholy man, with a rather foolish expression,
+was delighted at his wife's keeping everybody amused. Although I was in
+love with her, I pitied rather than envied him. I guessed that he had
+married for monetary considerations, and I knew pretty well what kind of
+a head-dress his handsome, fiery wife would give her husband, who was
+plain-featured, and seemed not to be aware of his wife's beauty. I was
+seized with the desire of asking her some questions, and she gave me the
+opportunity by coming to sit next to me after a quadrille. She thanked me
+again for my kindness, and said that the beautiful dress I had supplied
+had won her many compliments.
+
+"All the same," I said, "I know you are longing to take it off. I know
+what love is and how impatient it makes one."
+
+"It's very funny that everyone persists in thinking that I am in love,
+though I saw M. Baret for the first time only a week ago. Before then I
+was absolutely unconscious of his existence."
+
+"But why are you getting married in such a hurry without waiting till you
+know him better?"
+
+"Because my father does everything in a hurry."
+
+"I suppose your husband is a very rich man?"
+
+"No, but he may become rich. We are going to open a shop for silk
+stockings at the corner of the Rue St. Honore and the Rue des Prouveres,
+and I hope that you will deal with us, as we would serve you with the
+best."
+
+"I shall certainly do so--nay, I will be your first customer, if I have
+to wait at the door."
+
+"You are kind! M. Baret," said she to her husband, who was standing close
+by, "this gentleman promises to be our first customer."
+
+"The gentleman is very good," said the husband, "and I am sure he will be
+satisfied, as my stockings are genuine silk."
+
+Next Tuesday at day-break I began to dance attendance at the corner of
+the Rue des Prouveres, and waited there till the servant came out to take
+down the shutters. I went in and the girl asked me my business.
+
+"I want to buy some stockings," was my answer.
+
+"Master and mistress are still in bed, so you had better come later on."
+
+"No, I will wait here. Stop a minute," said I, giving her six francs, "go
+and get me some coffee; I will drink it in the shop."
+
+"I might go and get you some coffee, but I am not so silly as to leave
+you in the shop by yourself."
+
+"You are afraid I might steal something!"
+
+"Well, one does hear of such things being done, and I don't know you from
+Adam."
+
+"Very good; but I shall stay here all the same."
+
+Before long Baret came down and scolded the poor girl for not having told
+him of my presence. "Go and tell my wife to come," said he, as he began
+opening packets of stockings for me to choose from. He kept stockings,
+vests, and silk drawers, and I turned one packet over after another,
+looking at them all and not fixing on anything till I saw his wife coming
+down as fresh as a rose and as bright as a lily. She smiled at me in the
+most seductive manner, apologized for the disorder of her dress, and
+thanked me for keeping my word.
+
+"I never break my word," I said, "especially when such a charming lady is
+concerned!"
+
+Madame Baret was seventeen, of a moderate height, and an exquisite
+figure; without being classically beautiful, a Raphael could not wish to
+depict a more enticing face. Her eyes were large and brilliant. Her
+drooping eyelids, which gave her so modest and yet so voluptuous an
+appearance, the ever-smiling mouth, her splendid teeth, the dazzling
+whiteness of her complexion, the pleasing air with which she listened to
+what was being said, her silvery voice, the sweetness and sparkling
+vivacity of her manner, her lack of conceit, or rather her
+unconsciousness of the power of her charms-in fine, everything about this
+masterpiece of nature made me wonder and admire; while she, by chance or
+vile monetary considerations, was in the power of Baret, who, pale and
+sickly, thought a good deal more of his stockings than of the treasure
+marriage had given him--a treasure of which he was all unworthy, since he
+could not see its beauty nor taste its sweetness.
+
+I chose stockings and vests to the amount of twenty-five louis, and I
+paid the price without trying to cheapen them. I saw the face of the fair
+shopwoman light up, and I augured well for my success, though I could not
+expect to do much while the honeymoon lasted. I told the servant that I
+would give her six francs if she would bring the packet to my house, and
+so I left them.
+
+Next Sunday Baret came himself with my purchases. I gave him six francs
+to hand over to his servant, but he hinted that he was not too proud to
+keep them himself. I was disgusted at this petty greed, and at his
+meanness in depriving his maid of the six francs after having made a good
+profit in what he had sold me; but I wanted to stand well with him, and I
+was not sorry to find so simple a way of throwing dust into his eyes. So
+while I resolved that the servant should not be a loser I gave the
+husband a good reception that I might the better mould him to my purpose.
+I had breakfast brought to him, asking why he had not brought his wife.
+
+"She wanted me to take her," said he, "but I was afraid you might be
+offended."
+
+"Not at all, I should have been delighted. I think your wife a charming
+woman."
+
+"You are very kind to say so; but she's young, she's young."
+
+"I don't think that's any objection; and if she cares for the walk, bring
+her with you another time." He said he should be very pleased to do so.
+
+When I passed by the shop in my carriage I blew kisses to her with my
+hand, but I did not stop as I did not want any more stockings. Indeed, I
+should have been bored with the crowd of fops with which the shop was
+always full. She began to be a topic of conversation in the town; the
+Palais Royal was full of her; and I was glad to hear that she kept to
+herself as if she had richer prey in view. That told me that no one
+possessed her so far, and I hoped that I might be the prey myself; I was
+quite willing to be captured.
+
+Some days after, she saw my carriage coming, and beckoned to me as I
+passed. I got out, and her husband with many apologies told me that he
+wanted me to be the first to see a new fashion in breeches he had just
+got in. The breeches were parti-coloured, and no man of fashion would be
+seen without them. They were odd-looking things, but became a well-made
+young man. As they had to fit exactly, I told him to measure me for six
+pairs, offering to pay in advance. "We have them in all sizes," said he,
+"go up to my wife's room and try some on."
+
+It was a good opportunity and I accepted, especially when I heard him
+tell his wife to go and help me. I went upstairs, she following, and I
+began to undress, apologizing for doing so before her.
+
+"I will fancy I am your valet," said she, "and I will help you."
+
+I did not make any difficulties, and after taking off my shoes I gave her
+my breeches, taking care, however, to keep on my drawers, lest her
+modesty should receive too severe a shock. This done she took a pair of
+breeches, drew them on me, took them off, and tried on others, and all
+this without any impropriety on either side; for I had determined to
+behave with discretion till the opportunity came to be indiscreet. She
+decided that four pairs fitted me admirably, and, not wishing to
+contradict her, I gave her the sixteen louis she asked, and told her I
+should be delighted if she would bring them herself at any time when she
+was at leisure. She came downstairs quite proud of her knowledge of
+business, and Baret said that next Sunday he and his wife would have the
+honour of bringing me my purchase.
+
+"I shall be charmed, M. Baret," said I, "especially if you will stay to
+dinner."
+
+He answered that having an important engagement for two o'clock he could
+only accept on the condition that I would let him go at that time, and he
+would return at about five to fetch his wife. I found the plan vastly to
+my taste, but I knew how to conceal my joy; and I quietly said that
+though I should lose the pleasure of his society, he was free to go when
+he liked, especially as I had not to go out myself before six.
+
+I looked forward to the Sunday, and the tradesman and his wife did not
+fail me. As soon as they arrived, I told my servant to say "Not at home"
+for the rest of the day, and as I was impatient to know what would happen
+in the afternoon I had dinner served at an early hour. The dishes were
+exquisite, and the wines delicious. The good man ate much and drank
+deeply, indeed to such an extent that in common politeness I was obliged
+to remind him that he had an important appointment at two. His wits being
+sharpened with champagne, the happy thought occurred to him to tell his
+wife to go home by herself, if he were kept later than five; and I
+hastened to add that I would take her home myself in my carriage. He
+thanked me, and I soothed his uneasiness about being punctual to his
+appointment by telling him that a coach was waiting, and that the fare
+had been paid. He went off, and I found myself alone with my jewel, whom
+I was certain of possessing till six o'clock.
+
+As soon as I heard the hall door shut on the kind husband, I said to his
+wife,
+
+"You are to be congratulated on having such a kind husband; with a man
+like that your happiness is assured."
+
+"It is easy to say happiness, but enjoying it is a different thing. My
+husband's health is so delicate that I can only consider myself as his
+nurse; and then he contracted heavy debts to set up in business which
+oblige us to observe the strictest economy. We came here on foot to save
+the twenty-four sons. We could live on the profits of the business, if
+there were no debts, but as it is everything goes to pay the interest,
+and our sales are not large enough to cover everything."
+
+"But you have plenty of customers, for whenever I pass I see the shop
+full of people."
+
+"These customers you see are idlers, crackers of bad jokes, and
+profligates, who come and make my head ache with their jests. They have
+not a penny to bless themselves with, and we dare not let them out of our
+sight for fear of their hands wandering. If we had cared to give them
+credit, our shop would have been emptied long ago. I am rude to them, in
+the hopes that they may leave me alone, but it's of no use. Their
+impudence is astonishing. When my husband is in I retreat to my room, but
+he is often away, and then I am obliged to put up with them. And the
+scarcity of money prevents us from doing much business, but we are
+obliged to pay our workmen all the same. As far as I can see, we shall be
+obliged to dismiss them, as we shall soon have to meet several bills.
+Next Saturday we have got to pay six hundred francs, and we have only got
+two hundred."
+
+"I am surprised at your having all this worry in these early days of your
+marriage. I suppose your father knew about your husband's circumstances;
+how about your dowry?"
+
+"My dowry of six thousand francs has served, most of it, to stock the
+shop and to pay our debts. We have goods which would pay our debts three
+times over; but in bad times capital sunk is capital dead."
+
+"I am sorry to hear all this, as if peace is not made your situation will
+become worse, for as you go on your needs will become greater."
+
+"Yes, for when my husband is better we may have children."
+
+"What! Do you mean to say his health prevents him from making you a
+mother?  I can't believe it."
+
+"I don't see how I can be a mother who am still a maid; not that I care
+much about the matter."
+
+"I shouldn't have believed it! How can a man not in the agony of death
+feel ill beside you?  He must be dead."
+
+"Well, he is not exactly dead, but he doesn't shew many signs of life."
+
+This piece of wit made me laugh, and under cover of my applause I
+embraced her without experiencing much resistance. The first kiss was
+like an electric spark; it fired my imagination and I increased my
+attentions till she became as submissive as a lamb.
+
+"I will help you, dearest, to meet the bill on Saturday;" and so saying I
+drew her gently into a closet where a soft divan formed a suitable altar
+for the completion of an amorous sacrifice.
+
+I was enchanted to find her submissive to my caresses and my
+inquisitiveness, but she surprised me greatly when, as I placed myself in
+readiness for the consummation of the act, and was already in the proper
+posture between the two columns, she moved in such a way as to hinder my
+advance. I thought at first that it was only one of those devices
+intended to make the final victory more sweet by putting difficulties in
+the way; but, finding that her resistance was genuine, I exclaimed,
+
+"How was I to expect a refusal like this at a moment when I thought I saw
+my ardours reflected in your eyes?"
+
+"Your eyes did not deceive you; but what would my husband say if he found
+me otherwise than as God has made me?"
+
+"He can't have left you untouched!"
+
+"He really has done so. You can see for yourself if you like. Can I,
+then, give to you what appertains to the genius of the marriage-bed."
+
+"You are right, my angel; this fruit must be kept for a mouth unworthy to
+taste it. I pity and adore you. Come to my arms, abandon yourself to my
+love, and fear nothing. The fruit shall not be damaged; I will but taste
+the outer surface and leave no trace behind."
+
+We passed three hours in trifling together in a manner calculated to
+inflame our passions despite the libations which we now and again poured
+forth. I was consoled by her swearing to be mine as soon as Baret had
+good grounds for thinking that she was his, and, after taking her on the
+Boulevards, I left her at her door, with a present of twenty-five Louis.
+
+I was in love with her as I had never been before, and I passed the shop
+three or four times a day, going round and round, to the wrath of my
+coachman, who got sick of telling me that I was ruining my horses. I was
+happy to see her watch for the moment that I passed, and waft me a kiss
+by putting her pretty fingers to her mouth.
+
+We had agreed that she should not make me a sign to leave my coach till
+her husband had forced a passage. At last this day, so ardently desired
+and so long waited for, arrived. The sign was given, and I stopped the
+coach and she came out and, standing on the step, told me to go and wait
+for her at the church door of St. Germain l'Auxerrois.
+
+I was curious to know what the results would be, and had not been at the
+place appointed more than a quarter of an hour when she came towards me,
+her head muffled in a hood. She got into the carriage and, saying that
+she wanted to make some purchases, begged me to take her to the shops.
+
+I had business of my own, and pressing business too, but who can refuse
+the Beloved Object anything?  I told the coachman to drive to the Place
+Dauphine, and I prepared to loosen my purse-strings, as I had a feeling
+she was going to treat me as a friend. In point of fact she left few
+shops unvisited, going from jewels to pretty trifles and toys of
+different kinds, and from these to dresses of the latest fashion, which
+they displayed before her, addressing her as princess, and saying that
+this would become her admirably. She looked at me, and said it must be
+confessed that it was very pretty and that she would like it if it were
+not so dear. I was a willing dupe, and assured her that if she liked it
+it could not be too dear, and that I would pay.
+
+While my sweetheart was thus choosing one trifle after another my
+ill-luck brought about an incident which placed me in a fearful situation
+four years afterwards. The chain of events is endless.
+
+I perceived at my left hand a pretty girl of twelve or thirteen, with an
+old and ugly woman who was disparaging a pair of ear-rings which the girl
+had in her hands, and on which she had evidently set her heart: she
+looked sad at not being able to buy them. I heard her say to the old
+woman that they would make her happy, but she snatched them from the
+girl's hands and told her to, come away.
+
+"I can let you have a cheaper pair and almost as fine," said the
+shopwoman, but the young lady said she did not; care about it, and was
+getting ready to go, making a profound reverence to my princess Baret.
+
+She, no doubt flattered by this sign of respect went up to her, called
+her little queen, told her she was as fair as a May morning, and asked
+the old woman her name,
+
+"She is Mdlle. de Boulainvilier, my niece."
+
+"How can you be so hard-hearted," said I to the aunt, "as to refuse your
+charming niece a toy which would make her happy?  Allow me to make her a
+present of them."
+
+So saying I put the ear-rings in the girl's hands, while she blushed and
+looked at her aunt as if to ask her permission.
+
+"You may have the ear-rings," said she, "as this gentleman has been kind
+enough to give you such a present, and you should give him a kiss by way
+of thanks."
+
+"The ear-rings," said the shopwoman, "will be only three louis."
+
+Hereupon the affair took a comic turn; the old woman got into a rage and
+said,
+
+"How can you be such a cheat? You told me they were only two louis."
+
+"Nay, madam, I asked three."
+
+"That's a lie, and I shall not allow you to rob this gentleman. Niece,
+put those ear-rings down; let the shopwoman keep them."
+
+So far all was well enough; but the old aunt spoilt everything by saying
+that if I liked to give her niece the three louis she could get her a
+pair twice as good at another shop. It was all the same to me, so I
+smilingly put the three louis in front of the young lady, who still had
+the ear-rings in her hands. The shop-woman, who was on the look-out,
+pocketed the money, saying that the bargain was made, that the three
+louis belonged to her and the ear-rings to the young lady.
+
+"You are a cheat," cried out the enraged old woman.
+
+"And you are an old b----d," answered the shop-woman, "I know you well."
+A crowd began to gather in front of the shop, hearing the cries of the
+two harpies. Foreseeing a good deal of unpleasantness, I took the aunt by
+the arm and led her gently away. The niece, who was quite content with
+the ear-rings, and did not care whether they cost three louis or two,
+followed her. We shall hear of them again in due course.
+
+My dear Baret having made me waste a score of louis, which her poor
+husband would have regretted much more than myself, we got into the
+carriage again, and I took her to the church door from which we had
+started. On the way she told me she was coming to stop a few days with me
+at Little Poland, and that it was her husband who would ask me for the
+invitation.
+
+"When will he do that?"
+
+"To-morrow, if you go by the shop. Come and buy some stockings; I shall
+have a bad headache, and Baret will speak to you."
+
+It may be imagined that I took care to call the next day, and as I did
+not see his wife in the shop I asked in a friendly way after her health.
+
+"She is ill in bed," he replied; "she wants a little country air."
+
+"If you have not fixed for any place, I shall be happy to put you up at
+Little Poland."
+
+He replied by a smile of delight.
+
+"I will go and urge her to come myself; in the meanwhile, M. Baret, will
+you pack me up a dozen pairs of stockings?"
+
+I went upstairs and found the invalid in bed, and laughing in spite of
+her imaginary headache. "The business is done," said I, "you will soon
+hear of it." As I had said, the husband came upstairs with my stockings
+and told her that I had been good enough to give her a room in my house.
+The crafty little creature thanked me, assuring her husband that the
+fresh air would soon cure her.
+
+"You shall be well looked after," said I, "but you must excuse me if I do
+not keep you company--I have to attend to my business. M. Baret will be
+able to come and sleep with you every night, and start early enough in
+the morning to be in time for the opening of his shop."
+
+After many compliments had been interchanged, Baret decided on having his
+sister stay in the house while his wife was away, and as I took leave I
+said that, I should give orders for their reception that very evening, in
+case I was out when they came.
+
+Next day I stayed out till after midnight, and the cook told me that the
+wedded couple had made a good supper and had gone to bed. I warned her
+that I should be dining at home every day, and that I should not see my
+company.
+
+The following day I was up betimes, and on enquiring if the husband had
+risen I learnt that he had got up at day-break and would not be back till
+supper-time. The wife was still asleep. I thought with reason she was not
+asleep for me, and I went to pay her my first visit. In point of fact she
+was awake, and I took a foretaste of greater joys by a thousand kisses,
+which she returned with interest. We jested at the expense of the worthy
+man who had trusted me with a jewel of which I was about to make such
+good use, and we congratulated each other on the prospect of a week's
+mutual pleasures.
+
+"Come, my dear," said I, "get up and put on a few clothes and we will
+take breakfast in my room."
+
+She did not make an elaborate toilette; a cotton dressing gown, a pretty
+lace cap, a lawn kerchief, that was all, but how the simple dress was
+lighted by the roses of her cheeks! We were quick over our breakfast, we
+were in a hurry, and when we had done I shut the door and we gave
+ourselves over to the enjoyment of our bliss.
+
+Surprised to find her in the same condition in which I had left her, I
+told her I had hoped . . . but she, without giving me time to finish the
+phrase, said,
+
+"My jewel, Baret thinks, or pretends to think, that he has done his duty
+as a husband; but he is no hand at the business, and I am disposed to put
+myself in your hands, and then there will be no doubt of my condition."
+
+"We shall thus, my sweet, be doing him a service, and the service shall
+be well done."
+
+As I said these words I was on the threshold of the temple, and I opened
+the door in a manner that overthrew all obstacles. A little scream and
+then several sighs announced the completion of the sacrifice, and, to
+tell the truth, the altar of love was covered with the blood of the
+victim. After the necessary ablutions the priest once more began his
+pious work, while the victim growing bolder so provoked his rage that it
+was not till the fourth mactation that we rested and put off our joust to
+another season. We swore a thousand times to love each other and to
+remain constant, and we may possibly have been sincere, as we were in our
+ecstasy of pleasure.
+
+We only separated to dress; then after taking a turn in the garden we
+dined together, sure that in a sumptuous repast, washed down by the
+choicest wines, we should find strength to reanimate our desires and to
+lull them to sleep in bliss.
+
+At dessert, as I was pouring champagne into her glass, I asked her how
+with such a fiery temperament she had managed to preserve her virtue?
+
+"Cupid," said I, "might have gathered the fruit that Hymen could not
+taste. You are seventeen, and the pear has been ripe for two years at
+least."
+
+"Very true, but I have never had a lover."
+
+"Never?"
+
+"I have been courted, but to no effect. My heart was ever silent.
+Possibly my father thought otherwise when I begged him, a month ago, to
+get me married soon."
+
+"Very likely, but as you were not in love, why were you in such a hurry?"
+
+"I knew that the Duc d'Elbeuf would soon be coming to town, and that if
+he found me still single he would oblige me to become the wife of a man I
+detest, who would have me at any price."
+
+"Who is this man for whom you have such an aversion?"
+
+"He is one of the duke's pets, a monster who sleeps with his master."
+
+"Really! I did not know the duke had such tastes."
+
+"Oh yes; he is eighty-four, and he thinks himself a woman; he says he
+must have a husband."
+
+"That is very funny. And is this aspirant to your hand a handsome man?"
+
+"I think him horrible; but everybody else thinks he is a fine man."
+
+The charming Baret spent a week with me, and each day we renewed the
+combat in which we were always conquerors and always conquered. I have
+seen few women as pretty and seductive, and none whose skin was more
+exquisitely soft and fair. Her breath was aromatic, and this made her
+kisses most sweet. Her neck was exquisitely shaped, and the two globes,
+tipped with coral, were as hard as marble. The exquisite curves of her
+figure would have defied the skill of the ablest painter. I experienced
+an ineffable joy in contemplating her, and in the midst of my happiness I
+called myself unhappy because I could not satisfy all the desires which
+her charms aroused in me. The frieze which crowned her columns was
+composed of links of pale gold of the utmost fineness, and my fingers
+strove in vain to give them another direction to that which nature had
+given them. She could easily have been taught those lively yet graceful
+movements which double the pleasure; nature had done her part in that
+direction, and I do not think a more expert mistress in the art of love
+could be found.
+
+Each of us looked forward to the day of her departure with equal grief,
+and our only consolation lay in the hope of meeting again, and often.
+Three days after she went away, I went to see her, more in love than
+ever, and I gave her two notes of five thousand francs apiece. Her
+husband might have his suspicions, but he was too happy at being enabled
+to pay his debts and to keep his shop open to say anything unpleasant.
+Many husbands besides himself think themselves lucky to have such
+productive wives.
+
+In the beginning of November I sold shares for fifty thousand francs to a
+man named Gamier, living in the Rue du Mail, giving up to him a third
+part of the materials in my warehouse, and accepting a manager chosen by
+him and paid by the company. Three days after signing the deed I received
+the money; but in the night the doctor, my warehouseman, emptied the till
+and absconded. I have always thought that this robbery could not have
+been effected without the connivance of the painter. This loss was a
+serious blow to me, as my affairs were getting into an embroiled
+condition; and, for a finishing touch to my misfortunes, Gamier had me
+served with a summons to repay him the fifty thousand francs. My answer
+was that I was not liable, that his manager had been appointed, the
+agreement and sale of the shares was valid, and that he being one of the
+company would have to share in the loss. As he persisted in his claim, I
+was advised to go to law, but Gamier declared the agreement null and
+void, accusing me in an indirect manner of having appropriated the money
+which I had said was stolen. I would willingly have given him a good
+thrashing, but he was an old man, and that course would not have mended
+matters, so I kept my temper. The merchant who had given surety for the
+doctor was not to be found; he had become bankrupt. Garnier had all my
+stock seized, and sequestrated my horses, carriages, and all my private
+property.
+
+While these troubles were harassing me, I dismissed all my work-girls,
+who had always been a great expense, and replaced them with workmen and
+some of my servants. The painter still retained his position, which was
+an assured one, as he always paid himself out of the sales.
+
+My attorney was an honest man--a rare bird amongst lawyers--but my
+counsel, who kept telling me that the case would soon be decided, was a
+rascal. While the decision was pending, Garnier served me with a writ to
+pay the sum claimed. I took it to my counsel, who promised to appeal the
+same day, which he did not do, while he appropriated to his own use the
+money assigned by me for the costs of an action which, if there had been
+justice in France, I should certainly have gained. Two other summonses
+were issued against me, and before I knew what was going on a warrant was
+issued for my arrest. I was seized at eight o'clock in the morning, as I
+was driving along the Rue St. Denis. The sergeant of police sat beside
+me, a second got up beside the coachman, and a third stationed himself at
+the back of the coach, and in this state we drove to Fort l'Eveque.
+
+As soon as the police had handed me over to the gaoler, he informed me
+that by payment of the fifty thousand francs, or by giving good bail, I
+might instantly regain my freedom.
+
+"For the moment," said I, "I can neither command money nor bail."
+
+"Very good, then you will stay in prison."
+
+The gaoler took me to a decent-looking room, and I told him I had only
+been served with one writ.
+
+"Very likely," answered he, "it often happens like that; but it is rather
+difficult to prove."
+
+"Bring me writing materials, and have a trusty messenger at my disposal."
+
+I wrote to my counsel, my attorney, to Madame d'Urfe, and to all my
+friends, including my brother, who was just married. The attorney called
+immediately, but the barrister contented himself with writing to the
+effect that as he had put in an appeal my seizure was illegal, and that
+damages might be recovered. He ended by begging me to give him a free
+hand, and to have patience for a few days.
+
+Manon Baletti sent her brother with her diamond earrings. Madame du
+Rumain dispatched her barrister--a man of rare honesty--to me, and wrote
+a friendly note in which she said that if I wanted five hundred louis I
+should have them to-morrow. My brother neither wrote nor came to see me.
+As to dear Madame d'Urfe she sent to say that she would expect me at
+dinner. I thought she had gone mad, as I could not think she was making
+fun of me.
+
+At eleven o'clock my room was full of people. Poor Baret had come
+weeping, and offering me all his shop held. I was touched by the worthy
+man's kindness. At last I was told that a lady in a coach wanted to see
+me. I waited, but nobody came. In my impatience I called the turnkey, who
+told me that, after questioning the clerk of the prison, she had gone
+away again. From the description I was given I had no difficulty in
+identifying the lady with Madame d'Urfe.
+
+To find myself deprived of my liberty was a disagreeable shock to me. I
+thought of The Leads, and though my present situation was not to be
+compared with that, I cursed my fate as I foresaw that my imprisonment
+would damage my reputation. I had thirty thousand francs in hard cash and
+jewels to more than double that amount, but I could not decide on making
+such a sacrifice, in spite of the advice given by Madame du Rumain's
+barrister, who would have me got out of prison at any cost.
+
+"All you have to do," said the barrister, "is to deposit half the sum
+demanded which I will give to the clerk of the court, and in a short time
+I can promise a decision in your favour and the restoration of your
+money."
+
+We were discussing the matter, when the gaoler entered, and said, very
+politely,
+
+"Sir, you are a free man again, and a lady is waiting for you at the door
+in her carriage."
+
+I called Le Duc, my man, and told him to go and see who the lady was. He
+returned with the information that it was Madame d'Urfe. I made my bow to
+everybody, and after four very disagreeable hours of imprisonment, I
+found myself free again and sitting in a splendid coach.
+
+Madame d'Urfe received me with dignified kindness, and a judge who was in
+the carriage apologized for his country, where strangers were exposed to
+such insults. I thanked Madame d'Urfe in a few words, telling her that I
+was glad to become her debtor, but that it was Garnier who benefited by
+her generosity. She replied with a pleasant smile that she was not so
+sure of that, and that we would talk it over at dinner. She wanted me to
+go and walk in the Tuileries and the Palais Royal, to convince people
+that the report of my imprisonment had been false. I thought the advice
+excellent, and as I set out I promised to be with her at two o'clock.
+
+After skewing myself at the two principal walks of Paris, amusing myself
+by the astonishment depicted on certain faces well known to me, I went
+and returned the ear-rings to my dear Manon, who gave an astonished but a
+happy cry when she saw me. I thanked her tenderly for the proof she had
+given me of her attachment, and said that I had been arrested by a plot
+for which I would make the plotters pay dear. After promising to spend
+the evening with them I went to Madame d'Urfe's.
+
+This good lady, whose foible is well known to my readers, made me laugh
+when she said that her genius had told her that I had got myself arrested
+to be talked about, for reasons which were known only to myself.
+
+"As soon as I was informed of your arrest," said she, "I went to the Fort
+l'Eveque, and on learning from the clerk what the affair was about, I
+deposited bonds to bail you out. If you are not in a position to have
+justice done you, Gamier will have to reckon with me before he takes the
+money I have deposited. But your first step should be to commence a
+criminal prosecution against your counsel, who has not only failed to put
+in your appeal but has robbed and deceived you."
+
+I left her in the evening, assuring her that in a few days her bail
+should be returned to her; and went to the French and Italian plays in
+succession, taking care to render myself conspicuous that my reappearance
+might be complete. Afterwards I went to sup with Manon Baletti, who was
+too happy to have had an opportunity of spewing her affection for me; and
+her joy was full when I told her that I was going to give up business,
+for she thought that my seraglio was the only obstacle to my marriage
+with her.
+
+The next day was passed with Madame du Rumain. I felt that my obligations
+to her were great, while she, in the goodness of her heart, was persuaded
+that she could make no adequate return to me for the oracles with which I
+furnished her, and by following which she was safely guided through the
+perplexities of life. I cannot understand how she, whose wit was keen,
+and whose judgment on other subjects was of the soundest kind, could be
+liable to such folly. I was sorry when I reflected that I could not
+undeceive her, and glad when I reflected that to this deceit of mine the
+kindness she had shewn me was chiefly due.
+
+My imprisonment disgusted me with Paris, and made me conceive a hatred of
+the law, which I feel now. I found myself entangled in a double maze of
+knavery--Garnier was my foe, and so was my own counsel. Every time I went
+to plead, to spend my money amongst lawyers, and to waste the time better
+given to pleasure, I felt as if I was going to execution. In this
+perturbed kind of life, so contrary to my inclinations, I resolved to set
+to work in earnest to make my fortune, so that I might become independent
+and free to enjoy life according to my tastes. I decided in the first
+place that I would cut myself free of all that bound me to Paris, make a
+second journey into Holland to replenish my purse and invest my money in
+a yearly income for two lives, and from thenceforth live free from care.
+The two lives were those of my wife and myself; my wife would be Manon
+Baletti, and when I told her my plans she would have thought them
+delightful if I had begun by marrying her.
+
+The first thing I did was to give up Little Poland. I then drew the
+twenty-four thousand francs which were my surety for keeping a lottery
+office in the Rue St. Denis. Thus I got rid of my ridiculous office of
+lottery receiver, and after getting my clerk married I handed over the
+office to him; in short, I made his fortune. A friend of his wife's was
+his surety; such things often happen.
+
+I did not like to leave Madame d'Urfe involved in a troublesome suit with
+Gamier, so I went to Versailles to see the Abbe de la Ville, a great
+friend of his, and begged him to induce Gamier to make a composition.
+
+The abbe saw that his friend was in the wrong, and so was all the more
+willing to help me; and a few days afterwards he wrote to me to go and
+see him, assuring me that I should find him inclined to arrange matters
+in a friendly manner.
+
+Gamier was at Ruelle, where he had a house which cost him four hundred
+thousand francs--a fine estate for a man who had made his money as an
+army contractor during the last war. He was rich, but he was so
+unfortunate as to be still fond of women at the age of seventy, while his
+impotence debarred him from the proper enjoyment of their society. I
+found him in company with three young ladies, all of whom were pretty,
+and (as I heard afterwards) of good families; but they were poor, and
+their necessities forced them to submit to a disgusting intercourse with
+the old profligate. I stayed to dinner and admired the propriety and
+modesty of their behaviour in spite of the humiliation which accompanies
+poverty. After dinner, Gamier went to sleep, and left me to entertain
+these girls whom I would willingly have rescued from their unfortunate
+situation if I had been able. After Gamier woke, we went into his study
+to talk over our business.
+
+At first he maintained his claim tenaciously, and seemed unwilling to
+yield an inch; but when I told him that I was leaving Paris in a few
+days, he saw that as he could not keep me, Madame d'Urfe might take the
+suit over and carry it on to infinity, and that he might lose it at last.
+That made him think it over, and he asked me to stay in his house for the
+night. The next day, after breakfast, he said,--
+
+"I have made up my mind: I will have twenty-five thousand francs, or keep
+the matter before the courts till my dying day."
+
+I answered that he would find the sum in the hands of Madame d'Urfe's
+solicitor, and that he could receive it as soon as he had given replevy
+on the bail at the Fort l'Eveque.
+
+I could not persuade Madame d'Urfe that I had acted wisely in coming to
+an arrangement till I had told her that my genius had commanded me not to
+leave Paris before my affairs were settled, so that no one might be able
+to accuse me of having gone away to avoid creditors whose claims I could
+not satisfy.
+
+Three or four days afterwards I went to take leave of M. de Choiseul, who
+promised to instruct M. d'Afri to aid me in negotiating a loan at five
+per cent. either with the States-General or a private company.
+
+"You can tell everyone," said he, "that peace is certain to be made in
+the course of the winter, and I will take care that you shall have what
+is due to you on your return to France."
+
+M. de Choiseul deceived me, for he knew very well that peace would not be
+made; but I had no definite project, and I repented of having given M. de
+Boulogne my confidence, and also of having done anything for the
+Government, the reward of which was not immediate and certain.
+
+I sold my horses, my carriages, my furniture; I went bail for my brother
+who had contracted debts he was sure of paying, as he had several
+pictures on the easel which he had been ordered to paint by some of his
+rich and noble patrons. I took leave of Manon, whom I left in floods of
+tears, though I swore with the utmost sincerity to come back soon and
+marry her.
+
+At last all my preparations were finished, and I left Paris with a
+hundred thousand francs in bills of exchange and jewels to the same
+amount. I was alone in my post-chaise, Le Duc preceding me on horseback,
+which the rascal preferred to being shut up in a carriage.
+
+This Le Duc of mine was a Spaniard, aged eighteen, a sharp fellow, whom I
+valued highly, especially because he did my hair better than anyone else.
+I never refused him a pleasure which a little money would buy. Besides
+him I had a good Swiss servant, who served as my courier.
+
+It was the 1st of December, 1759, and the air was frosty, but I was
+fortified against the inclemency of the season. I was able to read
+comfortably, and I took Helvetius's "Esprit," which I had never had time
+to read before. After perusing it I was equally astonished at the
+sensation it created and at the stupidity of the High Court which
+condemned it. Of course that exalted body was largely influenced by the
+king and the clergy, and between them all no effort was spared to ruin
+Helvetius, a good-hearted man with more wit than his book. I saw nothing
+novel either in the historical part relating to the morals of nations (in
+which Helvetius dismisses us as triflers), or in the position that
+morality is dependent on the reason. All that he says has been said over
+and over again, and Blaise Pascal went much farther, but he wrote more
+skilfully and better in every way than Helvetius, who, wishing to remain
+in France, was obliged to retract. He preferred a quiet life to his
+honour and his philosophy. His wife had a nobler soul than he, as she
+wanted to sell all they had, and to take refuge in Holland rather than
+submit to the shame of a recantation. Perhaps Helvetius would have
+followed the noble advice of his wife if he had foreseen that this
+monstrous recantation would make his book into a fraud; for he had to
+confess that he had written without due reflection, that he was more in
+jest than earnest, and that his arguments were mere sophisms. But many
+men of keen intellects had not waited for him to recant before exposing
+this wretched system of his. And admitting that whatever man does is done
+for his own interest, does it follow that gratitude is a folly, and
+virtue and vice identical?  Are a villain and a man of honour to be
+weighed in the same balance?  If such a dreadful system were not absurd,
+virtue would be mere hypocrisy; and if by any possibility it were true,
+it ought to be proscribed by general consent, since it would lead to
+general ruin and corruption.
+
+It might have been proved to Helvetius that the propositions that the
+first motive is always self-interest, and that we should always consult
+our own interest first, are fallacious. It is a strange thing that so
+virtuous a man would not admit the existence of virtue. It is an amusing
+suggestion that he only published his book out of modesty, but that would
+have contradicted his own system. But if it were so, was it well done to
+render himself contemptible to escape the imputation of pride?  Modesty
+is only a virtue when it is natural; if it is put on, or merely the
+result of training, it is detestable. The great d'Alembert was the most
+truly modest man I have ever seen.
+
+When I got to Brussels, where I spent two days, I went to the "Hotel de
+l'Imperatrice," and chance sent Mdlle. X. C. V. and Farsetti in my way,
+but I pretended not to see them. From Brussels I went straight to the
+Hague, and got out at the "Prince of Orange." On my asking the host who
+sat down at his table, he told me his company consisted of general
+officers of the Hanoverian army, same English ladies, and a Prince
+Piccolomini and his wife; and this made me make up my mind to join this
+illustrious assemblage.
+
+I was unknown to all, and keeping my eyes about me I gave my chief
+attention to the observation of the supposed Italian princess, who was
+pretty enough, and more especially of her husband whom I seemed to
+recognize. In the course of conversation I heard some talk of the
+celebrated St. Germain, and it seemed that he was stopping in the same
+hotel.
+
+I had returned to my room, and was thinking of going to bed, when Prince
+Piccolomini entered, and embraced me as an old friend.
+
+"A look in your face," said he, "tells me that the recognition has been
+mutual. I knew you directly in spite of the sixteen years that have
+passed since we saw each other at Vicenza. To-morrow you can tell
+everybody that we are friends, and that though I am not a prince I am
+really a count; here is my passport from the King of Naples, pray read
+it."
+
+During this rapid monologue I could not get in a single word, and on
+attentively scanning his features I could only recollect that I had seen
+him before, but when or where or how I knew not. I opened the passport
+and read the name of Ruggero di Rocco, Count Piccolomini. That was
+enough; I remembered an individual of that name who was a fencing-master
+in Vicenza, and on looking at him again his aspect, though much changed
+left no doubt as to the identity of the swordsman and the count.
+
+"I congratulate you," said I, "on your change of employment, your new
+business is doubtless much better than the old."
+
+"I taught fencing," he replied, "to save myself from dying of hunger, for
+my father was so hard a man that he would not give me the wherewithal to
+live, and I disguised my name so as not to disgrace it. On my father's
+death I succeeded to the property, and at Rome I married the lady you
+have seen."
+
+"You had good taste, for she's a pretty woman."
+
+"She is generally thought so, and it was a love match on my side."
+
+He ended by asking me to come and see him in his room the next day, after
+dinner, telling me that I should find good company and a bank at faro,
+which he kept himself. He added, without ceremony, that if I liked we
+could go half shares, and that I should find it profitable. I thanked
+him, and promised to pay him a visit.
+
+I went abroad at an early hour next morning, and after having spent some
+time with the Jew, Boaz, and having given a polite refusal to his offer
+of a bed, I went to pay my respects to M. d'Afri, who since the death of
+the Princess of Orange, the Regent of the Low Countries, was generally
+known as His Most Christian Majesty's ambassador. He gave me an excellent
+reception, but he said that if I had returned to Holland hoping to do
+business on behalf of the Government I should waste my time, since the
+action of the comptroller-general had lowered the credit of the nation,
+which was thought to be on the verge of bankruptcy.
+
+"This M. Silhouette," said he, "has served the king very badly. It is all
+very well to say that payments are only suspended for a year, but it is
+not believed."
+
+He then asked me if I knew a certain Comte de St. Germain, who had lately
+arrived at the Hague.
+
+"He has not called on me," said the ambassador, "though he says he is
+commissioned by the king to negotiate a loan of a hundred millions. When
+I am asked about him, I am obliged to say that I know nothing about him,
+for fear of compromising myself. Such a reply, as you can understand, is
+not likely to increase his chance of success, but that is his fault and
+not mine. Why has he not brought me a letter from the Duc de Choiseul or
+the Marquise de Pompadour?  I take him to be an impostor, but I shall
+know something more about him in the course of ten days."
+
+I told him, in my turn, all I knew of this truly eccentric individual. He
+was not a little surprised to hear that the king had given him an
+apartment at Chambord, but when I told him that the count professed to be
+able to make diamonds he laughed and said that in that case he would no
+doubt make the hundred millions. Just as I was leaving, M. d'Afri asked
+me to dine with him on the following day.
+
+On returning to the hotel I called on the Comte de St. Germain.
+
+"You have anticipated me," said he, on seeing me enter, "I intended to
+have called on you. I suppose, my dear Casanova, that you have come to
+try what you can do for our Court, but you will find your task a
+difficult one, as the Exchange is highly offended at the late doings of
+that fool Silhouette. All the same I hope I shall be able to get my
+hundred millions. I have passed my word to my friend, Louis XV. (I may
+call him so), and I can't disappoint him; the business will be done in
+the next three or four weeks."
+
+"I should think M. d'Afri might assist you."
+
+"I do not require his assistance. Probably I shall not even call upon
+him, as he might say he helped me. No, I shall have all the trouble, and
+I mean to have all the glory, too."
+
+"I presume you will be going to Court, where the Duke of Brunswick may be
+of service to you?"
+
+"Why should I go to Court? As for the Duke of Brunswick, I do not care to
+know him. All I have got to do is to go to Amsterdam, where my credit is
+sufficiently good for anything. I am fond of the King of France; there's
+not a better man in the kingdom."
+
+"Well, come and dine at the high table, the company is of the best and
+will please you."
+
+"You know I never eat; moreover, I never sit down at a table where I may
+meet persons who are unknown to me."
+
+"Then, my lord, farewell; we shall see each other again at Amsterdam."
+
+I went down to the dining-roam, where, while dinner was being served, I
+conversed with some officers. They asked me if I knew Prince Piccolomini,
+to which I answered that he was not a prince but a count, and that it was
+many years since I had seen him.
+
+When the count and his fair wife (who only spoke Italian) came down, I
+shewed them some polite attentions, and we then sat down to dinner.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Eternal Quest: Return to Paris
+by Jacques Casanova de Seingalt
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ETERNAL QUEST: RETURN TO PARIS ***
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