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+The Project Gutenberg Etext of Back Again to Paris, by Jacques Casanova
+#19 in our series by Jacques Casanova de Seingalt
+
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+Title: Back Again to Paris, Casanova, v19
+
+Author: Jacques Casanova de Seingalt
+
+Release Date: December, 2001 [Etext #2969]
+[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule]
+[Most recently updated: December 10, 2001]
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+The Project Gutenberg Etext of Back Again to Paris, by Casanova
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+
+MEMOIRS OF JACQUES CASANOVA de SEINGALT 1725-1798
+ADVENTURES IN THE SOUTH, Volume 4d--BACK AGAIN TO PARIS
+
+
+THE RARE UNABRIDGED LONDON EDITION OF 1894 TRANSLATED BY ARTHUR
+MACHEN TO WHICH HAS BEEN ADDED THE CHAPTERS DISCOVERED
+BY ARTHUR SYMONS.
+
+
+
+
+BACK AGAIN TO PARIS
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+My Stay at Paris and My Departure for Strasburg, Where I Find the
+Renaud--My Misfortunes at Munich and My Sad Visit to Augsburg
+
+
+At ten o'clock in the morning, cheered by the pleasant feeling of
+being once more in that Paris which is so imperfect, but which is
+the only true town in the world, I called on my dear Madame
+d'Urfe, who received me with open arms.  She told me that the
+young Count d'Aranda was quite well, and if I liked she would ask
+him to dinner the next day.  I told her I should be delighted to
+see him, and then I informed her that the operation by which she
+was to become a man could not be performed till Querilinto, one of
+the three chiefs of the Fraternity of the Rosy Cross, was
+liberated from the dungeons of the Inquisition, at Lisbon.
+
+"This is the reason," I added, "that I am going to Augsburg in the
+course of next month, where I shall confer with the Earl of
+Stormont as to the liberation of the adept, under the pretext of a
+mission from the Portuguese Government.  For these purposes I shall
+require a good letter of credit, and some watches and snuff-boxes
+to make presents with, as we shall have to win over certain of the
+profane."
+
+"I will gladly see to all that, but you need not hurry yourself as
+the Congress will not meet till September."
+
+"Believe me, it will never meet at all, but the ambassadors of the
+belligerent powers will be there all the same.  If, contrary to my
+expectation, the Congress is held, I shall be obliged to go to
+Lisbon.  In any case, I promise to see you again in the ensuing
+winter.  The fortnight that I have to spend here will enable me to
+defeat a plot of St. Germain's."
+
+"St. Germain--he would never dare to return to Paris."
+
+"I am certain that he is here in disguise.  The state messenger
+who ordered him to leave London has convinced him the English
+minister was not duped by the demand for his person to be given
+up, made by the Comte d'Afri in the name of the king to the
+States-General."
+
+All this was mere guess-work, and it will be seen that I guessed
+rightly.
+
+Madame d'Urfe then congratulated me on the charming girl whom I
+had sent from Grenoble to Paris.  Valenglard had told her the
+whole story.
+
+"The king adores her," said she, "and before long she will make
+him a father.  I have been to see her at Passi with the Duchesse
+de l'Oraguais."
+
+"She will give birth to a son who will make France happy, and in
+thirty years time you will see wondrous things, of which,
+unfortunately, I can tell you nothing until your transformation.
+Did you mention my name to her?"
+
+"No, I did not; but I am sure you will be able to see her, if only
+at Madame Varnier's."
+
+She was not mistaken; but shortly afterwards an event happened
+which made the madness of this excellent woman much worse.
+
+Towards four o'clock, as we were talking over my travels and our
+designs, she took a fancy to walk in the Bois du Boulogne.  She
+begged me to accompany her, and I acceded to her request.  We
+walked into the deepest recesses of the wood and sat down under a
+tree.  "It is eighteen years ago," said she, "since I fell asleep
+on the same spot that we now occupy.  During my sleep the divine
+Horosmadis came down from the sun and stayed with me till I awoke.
+As I opened my eyes I saw him leave me and ascend to heaven.  He
+left me with child, and I bore a girl which he took away from me
+years ago, no doubt to punish me for, having so far forgotten
+myself as to love a mortal after him.  My lovely Iriasis was like
+him."
+
+"You are quite sure that M. d'Urfe was not the child's father?"
+
+"M. d'Urfe did not know me after he saw me lying beside the divine
+Anael."
+
+"That's the genius of Venus.  Did he squint?"
+
+"To excess.  You are aware, then, that he squints?"
+
+"Yes, and I know that at the amorous crisis he ceases to squint."
+
+"I did not notice that.  He too, left me on account of my sinning
+with an Arab."
+
+"The Arab was sent to you by an enemy of Anael's, the genius of
+Mercury."
+
+"It must have been so; it was a great misfortune."
+
+"On the contrary, it rendered you more fit for transformation."
+
+We were walking towards the carriage when all at once we saw St.
+Germain, but as soon as he noticed us he turned back and we lost
+sight of him.
+
+"Did you see him?" said I.  "He is working against us, but our
+genie makes him tremble."
+
+"I am quite thunderstruck.  I will go and impart this piece of
+news to the Duc de Choiseul to-morrow morning.  I am curious to
+hear what he will say when I tell him."
+
+As we were going back to Paris I left Madame d'Urfe, and walked to
+the Porte St.  Denis to see my brother.  He and his wife received
+me with cries of joy.  I thought the wife very pretty but very
+wretched, for Providence had not allowed my brother to prove his
+manhood, and she was unhappily in love with him.  I say unhappily,
+because her love kept her faithful to him, and if she had not been
+in love she might easily have found a cure for her misfortune as
+her husband allowed her perfect liberty.  She grieved bitterly,
+for she did not know that my brother was impotent, and fancied
+that the reason of his abstention was that he did not return her
+love; and the mistake was an excusable one, for he was like a
+Hercules, and indeed he was one, except where it was most to be
+desired.  Her grief threw her into a consumption of which she died
+five or six years later.  She did not mean her death to be a
+punishment to her husband, but we shall see that it was so.
+
+The next day I called on Madame Varnier to give her Madame Morin's
+letter.  I was cordially welcomed, and Madame Varnier was kind
+enough to say that she had rather see me than anybody else in the
+world; her niece had told her such strange things about me that
+she had got quite curious.  This, as is well known, is a
+prevailing complaint with women.
+
+"You shall see my niece," she said, "and she will tell you all
+about herself."
+
+She wrote her a note, and put Madame Morin's letter under the same
+envelope.
+
+"If you want to know what my niece's answer is," said Madame
+Varnier, "you must dine with me."
+
+I accepted the invitation, and she immediately told her servant
+that she was not at home to anyone.
+
+The small messenger who had taken the note to Passi returned at
+four o'clock with the following epistle:
+
+"The moment in which I see the Chevalier de Seingalt once more
+will be one of the happiest of my life.  Ask him to be at your
+house at ten o'clock the day after tomorrow, and if he can't come
+then please let me know."
+
+After reading the note and promising to keep the appointment, I
+left Madame Varnier and called on Madame de Rumain, who told me I
+must spend a whole day with her as she had several questions to
+put to my oracle.
+
+Next day Madame d'Urfe told me the reply she had from the Duc de
+Choiseul, when she told him that she had seen the Comte de St.
+Germain in the Bois du Boulogne.
+
+"I should not be surprised," said the minister, "considering that
+he spent the night in my closet."
+
+The duke was a man of wit and a man of the world.  He only kept
+secrets when they were really important ones; very different from
+those make-believe diplomatists, who think they give themselves
+importance by making a mystery of trifles of no consequence.  It
+is true that the Duc de Choiseul very seldom thought anything of
+great importance; and, in point of fact, if there were less
+intrigue and more truth about diplomacy (as there ought to be),
+concealment would be rather ridiculous than necessary.
+
+The duke had pretended to disgrace St. Germain in France that he
+might use him as a spy in London; but Lord Halifax was by no means
+taken in by this stratagem.  However, all governments have the
+politeness to afford one another these services, so that none of
+them can reproach the others.
+
+The small Conte d'Aranda after caressing me affectionately begged
+me to come and breakfast with him at his boarding-house, telling
+me that Mdlle. Viar would be glad to see me.
+
+The next day I took care not to fail in my appointment with the
+fair lady.  I was at Madame Varnier's a quarter of an hour before
+the arrival of the dazzling brunette, and I waited for her with a
+beating at the heart which shewed me that the small favours she
+had given me had not quenched the flame of love.  When she made
+her appearance the stoutness of her figure carried respect with
+it, so that I did not feel as if I could come forward and greet
+her tenderly; but she was far from thinking that more respect was
+due to her than when she was at Grenoble, poor but also pure.  She
+kissed me affectionately and told me as much.
+
+"They think I am happy," said she, "and envy my lot; but can one
+be happy after the loss of one's self-respect?  For the last six
+months I have only smiled, not laughed; while at Grenoble I
+laughed heartily from true gladness.  I have diamonds, lace, a
+beautiful house, a superb carriage, a lovely garden, waiting-
+maids, and a maid of honour who perhaps despises me; and although
+the highest Court ladies treat me like a princess, I do not pass a
+single day without experiencing some mortification."
+
+"Mortification?"
+
+"Yes; people come and bring pleas before me, and I am obliged to
+send them away as I dare not ask the king anything."
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"Because I cannot look on him as my lover only; he is always my
+sovereign, too.  Ah! happiness is to be sought for in simple
+homes, not in pompous palaces."
+
+"Happiness is gained by complying with the duties of whatever
+condition of life one is in, and you must constrain yourself to
+rise to that exalted station in which destiny has placed you."
+
+"I cannot do it; I love the king and I am always afraid of vexing
+him.  I am always thinking that he does too much for me, and thus
+I dare not ask for anything for others."
+
+"But I am sure the king would be only too glad to shew his love
+for you by benefiting the persons in whom you take an interest."
+
+"I know he would, and that thought makes me happy, but I cannot
+overcome my feeling of repugnance to asking favours.  I have a
+hundred louis a month for pin-money, and I distribute it in alms
+and presents, but with due economy, so that I am not penniless at
+the end of the month.  I have a foolish notion that the chief
+reason the king loves me is that I do not importune him."
+
+"And do you love him?"
+
+"How can I help it?  He is good-hearted, kindly, handsome, and
+polite to excess; in short, he possesses all the qualities to
+captivate a woman's heart.
+
+"He is always asking me if I am pleased with my furniture, my
+clothes, my servants, and my garden, and if I desire anything
+altered.  I thank him with a kiss, and tell him that I am pleased
+with everything."
+
+"Does he ever speak of the scion you are going to present to him?"
+
+"He often says that I ought to be careful of myself in my
+situation.  I am hoping that he will recognize my son as a prince
+of the blood; he ought in justice to do so, as the queen is dead."
+
+"To be sure he will."
+
+"I should be very happy if I had a son.  I wish I felt sure that I
+would have one.  But I say nothing about this to anyone.  If I
+dared speak to the king about the horoscope, I am certain he would
+want to know you; but I am afraid of evil tongues."
+
+"So am I.  Continue in your discreet course and nothing will come
+to disturb your happiness, which may become greater, and which I
+am pleased to have procured for you."
+
+We did not part without tears.  She was the first to go, after
+kissing me and calling me her best friend.  I stayed a short time
+with Madame Varnier to compose my feelings, and I told her that I
+should have married her instead of drawing her horoscope.
+
+"She would no doubt have been happier.  You did not foresee,
+perhaps, her timidity and her lack of ambition."
+
+"I can assure you that I did not reckon upon her courage or
+ambition.  I laid aside my own happiness to think only of hers.
+But what is done cannot be recalled, and I shall be consoled if I
+see her perfectly happy at last.  I hope, indeed, she will be so,
+above all if she is delivered of a son."
+
+I dined with Madame d'Urfe, and we decided to send back Aranda to
+his boarding-school that we might be more free to pursue our
+cabalistic operations; and afterwards I went to the opera, where
+my brother had made an appointment with me.  He took me to sup at
+Madame Vanloo's, and she received me in the friendliest manner
+possible.
+
+"You will have the pleasure of meeting Madame Blondel and her
+husband," said she.
+
+The reader will recollect that Madame Blondel was Manon Baletti,
+whom I was to have married.
+
+"Does she know I am coming?" I enquired.
+
+"No, I promise myself the pleasure of seeing her surprise."
+
+"I am much obliged to you for not wishing to enjoy my surprise as
+well.  We shall see each other again, but not to-day, so I must
+bid you farewell; for as I am a man of honour I hope never to be
+under the same roof as Madame Blondel again."
+
+With this I left the room, leaving everybody in astonishment, and
+not knowing where to go I took a coach and went to sup with my
+sister-in-law, who was extremely glad to see me.  But all through
+supper-time this charming woman did nothing but complain of her
+husband, saying that he had no business to marry her, knowing that
+he could not shew himself a man.
+
+"Why did you not make the trial before you married?"
+
+"Was it for me to propose such a thing?  How should I suppose that
+such a fine man was impotent?  But I will tell you how it all
+happened.  As you know, I was a dancer at the Comedie Italienne,
+and I was the mistress of M. de Sauci, the ecclesiastical
+commissioner.  He brought your brother to my house, I liked him,
+and before long I saw that he loved me.  My lover advised me that
+it was an opportunity for getting married and making my fortune.
+With this idea I conceived the plan of not granting him any
+favours.  He used to come and see me in the morning, and often
+found me in bed; we talked together, and his passions seemed to be
+aroused, but it all ended in kissing.  On my part, I was waiting
+for a formal declaration and a proposal of marriage.  At that
+period, M. de Sauci settled an annuity of a thousand crowns on me
+on the condition that I left the stage.
+
+"In the spring M. de Sauci invited your brother to spend a month
+in his country house.  I was of the party, but for propriety's
+sake it was agreed that I should pass as your brother's wife.
+Casanova enjoyed the idea, looking upon it as a jest, and not
+thinking of the consequences.  I was therefore introduced as his
+wife to my lover's family, as also to his relations, who were
+judges, officers, and men about town, and to their wives, who were
+all women of fashion.  Your brother was in high glee that to play
+our parts properly we were obliged to sleep together.  For my
+part, I was far from disliking the idea, or at all events I looked
+upon it as a short cut to the marriage I desired.
+
+"But how can I tell you?  Though tender and affectionate in
+everything, your brother slept with me for a month without our
+attaining what seemed the natural result under the circumstances."
+
+"You might have concluded, then, that he was impotent; for unless
+he were made of stone, or had taken a vow of chastity, his conduct
+was inexplicable."
+
+"The fact is, that I had no means of knowing whether he was
+capable or incapable of giving me substantial proof of his love."
+
+"Why did you not ascertain his condition for yourself?"
+
+"A feeling of foolish pride prevented me from putting him to the
+test.  I did not suspect the truth, but imagined reasons
+flattering to myself.  I thought that he loved me so truly that he
+would not do anything before I was his wife.  That idea prevented
+me humiliating myself by making him give me some positive proof of
+his powers."
+
+"That supposition would have been tenable, though highly
+improbable, if you had been an innocent young maid, but he knew
+perfectly well that your novitiate was long over."
+
+"Very true; but what can you expect of a woman impelled by love
+and vanity?"
+
+"Your reasoning is excellent, but it comes rather late."  "Well,
+at last we went back to Paris, your brother to his house, and I to
+mine, while he continued his courtship, and I could not understand
+what he meant by such strange behaviour.  M. de Sauci, who knew
+that nothing serious had taken place between us, tried in vain to
+solve the enigma.  'No doubt he is afraid of getting you with
+child,' he said, 'and of thus being obliged to marry you.' I began
+to be of the same opinion, but I thought it a strange line for a
+man in love to take.
+
+"M. de Nesle, an officer in the French Guards, who had a pretty
+wife I had met in the country, went to your brother's to call on
+me.  Not finding me there he asked why we did not live together.
+Your brother replied openly that our marriage had been a mere
+jest.  M. de Nesle then came to me to enquire if this were the
+truth, and when he heard that it was he asked me how I would like
+him to make Casanova marry me.  I answered that I should be
+delighted, and that was enough for him.  He went again to your
+brother, and told him that his wife would never have associated
+with me on equal terms if I had not been introduced to her as a
+married woman; that the deceit was an insult to all the company at
+the country-house, which must be wiped out by his marrying me
+within the week or by fighting a duel.  M. de Nesle added that if
+he fell he would be avenged by all the gentlemen who had been
+offended in the same way.  Casanova replied, laughing, that so far
+from fighting to escape marrying me, he was ready to break a lance
+to get me.  'I love her,' he said, 'and if she loves me I am quite
+ready to give her my hand.  Be kind enough,' he added, 'to prepare
+the way for me, and I will marry her whenever you like.'
+
+"M. de Nesle embraced him, and promised to see to everything; he
+brought me the joyful news, and in a week all was over.  M. de
+Nesle gave us a splendid supper on our wedding-day, and since then
+I have had the title of his wife.  It is an empty title, however,
+for, despite the ceremony and the fatal yes, I am no wife, for
+your brother is completely impotent.  I am an unhappy wretch, and
+it is all his fault, for he ought to have known his own condition.
+He has deceived me horribly."
+
+"But he was obliged to act as he did; he is more to be pitied than
+to be blamed.  I also pity you, but I think you are in the wrong,
+for after his sleeping with you for a month without giving any
+proof of his manhood you might have guessed the truth.  Even if
+you had been a perfect novice, M. de Sauci ought to have known
+what was the matter; he must be aware that it is beyond the power
+of man to sleep beside a pretty woman, and to press her naked body
+to his breast without becoming, in spite of himself, in a state
+which would admit of no concealment; that is, in case he were not
+impotent."
+
+"All that seems very reasonable, but nevertheless neither of us
+thought of it; your brother looks such a Hercules."
+
+"There are two remedies open to you; you can either have your
+marriage annulled, or you can take a lover; and I am sure that my
+brother is too reasonable a man to offer any opposition to the
+latter course."
+
+"I am perfectly free, but I can neither avail myself of a divorce
+nor of a lover; for the wretch treats me so kindly that I love him
+more and more, which doubtless makes my misfortune harder to bear."
+
+The poor woman was so unhappy that I should have been delighted to
+console her, but it was out of the question.  However, the mere
+telling of her story had afforded her some solace, and after
+kissing her in such a way as to convince her that I was not like
+my brother, I wished her good night.
+
+The next day I called on Madame Vanloo, who informed me that
+Madame Blondel had charged her to thank me for having gone away,
+while her husband wished me to know that he was sorry not to have
+seen me to express his gratitude.
+
+"He seems to have found his wife a maid, but that's no fault of
+mine; and Manon Baletti is the only person he ought to be grateful
+to.  They tell me that he has a pretty baby, and that he lives at
+the Louvre, while she has another house in the Rue Neuve-des-
+Petits-Champs."
+
+"Yes, but he has supper with her every evening."
+
+"It's an odd way of living."
+
+"I assure you it answers capitally.  Blondel regards his wife as
+his mistress.  He says that that keeps the flame of love alight,
+and that as he never had a mistress worthy of being a wife, he is
+delighted to have a wife worthy of being a mistress."
+
+The next day I devoted entirely to Madame de Rumain, and we were
+occupied with knotty questions till the evening.  I left her well
+pleased.  The marriage of her daughter, Mdlle. Cotenfau, with M.
+de Polignac, which took place five or six years later, was the
+result of our cabalistic calculations.
+
+The fair stocking-seller of the Rue des Prouveres, whom I had
+loved so well, was no longer in Paris.  She had gone off with a M.
+de Langlade, and her husband was inconsolable.  Camille was ill.
+Coralline had become the titulary mistress of the Comte de la
+Marche, son of the Prince of Conti, and the issue of this union
+was a son, whom I knew twenty years later.  He called himself the
+Chevalier de Montreal, and wore the cross of the Knights of Malta.
+Several other girls I had known were widowed and in the country,
+or had become inaccessible in other ways.
+
+Such was the Paris of my day.  The actors on its stage changed as
+rapidly as the fashions.
+
+I devoted a whole day to my old friend Baletti, who had left the
+theatre and married a pretty ballet-girl on the death of his
+father; he was making experiments with a view to finding the
+philosopher's stone.
+
+I was agreeably surprised at meeting the poet Poinsinet at the
+Comedic Francaise.  He embraced me again and again, and told me
+that M. du Tillot had overwhelmed him with kindness at Parma.
+
+"He would not get me anything to do," said Poinsinet, "because a
+French poet is rather at a discount in Italy."
+
+"Have you heard anything of Lord Lismore?"
+
+"Yes, he wrote to his mother from Leghorn, telling her that he was
+going to the Indies, and that if you had not been good enough to
+give him a thousand Louis he would have been a prisoner at Rome."
+
+"His fate interests me extremely, and I should be glad to call on
+his lady-mother with you."
+
+"I will tell her that you are in Paris, and I am sure that she
+will invite you to supper, for she has the greatest desire to talk
+to you."
+
+"How are you getting on here?  Are you still content to serve
+Apollo?"
+
+"He is not the god of wealth by any means.  I have no money and no
+room, and I shall be glad of a supper, if you will ask me.  I will
+read you my play, the 'Cercle', which has been accepted.  I am
+sure it will be successful?"
+
+The 'Cercle' was a short prose play, in which the poet satirised
+the jargon of Dr. Herrenschwand, brother of the doctor I had
+consulted at Soleure.  The play proved to be a great success.
+
+I took Poinsinet home to supper, and the poor nursling of the
+muses ate for four.  In the morning he came to tell me that the
+Countess of Lismore expected me to supper.
+
+I found the lady, still pretty, in company with her aged lover, M.
+de St. Albin, Archbishop of Cambrai, who spent all the revenues of
+his see on her.  This worthy prelate was one of the illegitimate
+children of the Duc d'Orleans, the famous Regent, by an actress.
+He supped with us, but he only opened his mouth to eat, and his
+mistress only spoke of her son, whose talents she lauded to the
+skies, though he was in reality a mere scamp; but I felt in duty
+bound to echo what she said.  It would have been cruel to
+contradict her.  I promised to let her know if I saw anything more
+of him.
+
+Poinsinet, who was hearthless and homeless, as they say, spent the
+night in my room, and in the morning I gave him two cups of
+chocolate and some money wherewith to get a lodging.  I never saw
+him again, and a few years after he was drowned, not in the
+fountain of Hippocrene, but in the Guadalquivir.  He told me that
+he had spent a week with M. de Voltaire, and that he had hastened
+his return to Paris to obtain the release of the Abbe Morellet
+from the Bastile.
+
+I had nothing more to do at Paris, and I was only waiting for some
+clothes to be made and for a cross of the order, with which the
+Holy Father had decorated me, to be set with diamonds and rubies.
+
+I had waited for five or six days when an unfortunate incident
+obliged me to take a hasty departure.  I am loth to write what
+follows, for it was all my own fault that I was nearly losing my
+life and my honour.  I pity those simpletons who blame fortune and
+not themselves for their misfortunes.
+
+I was walking in the Tuileries at ten o'clock in the morning, when
+I was unlucky enough to meet the Dangenancour and another girl.
+This Dangenancour was a dancer at the opera-house, whom I had
+desired to meet previously to my last departure from Paris.  I
+congratulated myself on the lucky chance which threw her in my
+way, and accosted her, and had not much trouble in inducing her to
+dine with me at Choisi.
+
+We walked towards the Pont-Royal, where we took a coach.  After
+dinner had been ordered we were taking a turn in the garden, when
+I saw a carriage stop and two adventurers whom I knew getting out
+of it, with two girls, friends of the ones I had with me.  The
+wretched landlady, who was standing at the door, said that if we
+liked to sit down together she could give us an excellent dinner,
+and I said nothing, or rather I assented to the yes of my two
+nymphs.  The dinner was excellent, and after the bill was paid,
+and we were on the point of returning to Paris, I noticed that a
+ring, which I had taken off to shew to one of the adventurers
+named Santis, was still missing.  It was an exceedingly pretty
+miniature, and the diamond setting had cost me twenty-five Louis.
+I politely begged Santis to return me the ring, and he replied
+with the utmost coolness that he had done so already.
+
+"If you had returned it," said I, "it would be on my finger, and
+you see that it is not."
+
+He persisted in his assertion; the girls said nothing, but
+Santis's friend, a Portuguese, named Xavier, dared to tell me that
+he had seen the ring returned.
+
+"You're a liar," I exclaimed; and without more ado I took hold of
+Santis by the collar, and swore I would rot let him go till he
+returned me my ring.  The Portuguese rose to come to his friend's
+rescue, while I stepped back and drew my sword, repeating my
+determination not to let them go.  The landlady came on the scene
+and began to shriek, and Santis asked me to give him a few words
+apart.  I thought in all good faith that he was ashamed to restore
+the ring before company, but that he would give it me as soon as
+we were alone.  I sheathed my sword, and told him to come with me.
+Xavier got into the carriage with the four girls, and they all
+went back to Paris.
+
+Santis followed me to the back of the inn, and then assuming a
+pleasant smile he told me that he had put the ring into his
+friend's pocket for a joke, but that I should have it back at
+Paris.
+
+"That's an idle tale," I exclaimed, "your friend said that he saw
+you return it, and now he has escaped me.  Do you think that I am
+green enough to be taken in by this sort of thing?  You're a
+couple of robbers."
+
+So saying, I stretched out my hand for his watch-chain, but he
+stepped back and drew his sword.  I drew mine, and we had scarcely
+crossed swords when he thrust, and I parrying rushed in and ran
+him through and through.  He fell to the ground calling, "Help!" I
+sheathed my sword, and, without troubling myself about him, got
+into my coach and drove back to Paris.
+
+I got down in the Place Maubert, and walked by a circuitous way to
+my hotel.  I was sure that no one could have come after me there,
+as my landlord did not even know my name.
+
+I spent the rest of the day in packing up my trunks, and after
+telling Costa to place them on my carriage I went to Madame
+d'Urfe.  After I had told her of what had happened, I begged her,
+as soon as that which she had for me was ready, to send it to me
+at Augsburg by Costa.  I should have told her to entrust it to one
+of her own servants, but my good genius had left me that day.
+Besides I did not look upon Costa as a thief.
+
+When I got back to the hotel I gave the rascal his instructions,
+telling him to be quick and to keep his own counsel, and then I
+gave him money for the journey.
+
+I left Paris in my carriage, drawn by four hired horses, which
+took me as far as the second post, and I did not stop till I got
+to Strasburg, where I found Desarmoises and my Spaniard.
+
+There was nothing to keep me in Strasburg, so I wanted to cross
+the Rhine immediately; but Desarmoises persuaded me to come with
+him to see an extremely pretty woman who had only delayed her
+departure for Augsburg in the hope that we might journey there
+together.
+
+"You know the lady," said the false marquis, "but she made me give
+my word of honour that I would not tell you.  She has only her
+maid with her, and I am sure you will be pleased to see her."
+
+My curiosity made me give in.  I followed Desarmoises, and came
+into a room where I saw a nice-looking woman whom I did not
+recognize at first.  I collected my thoughts, and the lady turned
+out to be a dancer whom I had admired on the Dresden boards eight
+years before.  She was then mistress to Count Bruhl, but I had not
+even attempted to win her favour.  She had an excellent carriage,
+and as she was ready to go to Augsburg I immediately concluded
+that we could make the journey together very pleasantly.
+
+After the usual compliments had passed, we decided on leaving for
+Augsburg the following morning.  The lady was going to Munich, but
+as I had no business there we agreed that she should go by
+herself.
+
+"I am quite sure," she said, afterwards, "that you will come too,
+for the ambassadors do not assemble at Augsburg till next
+September."
+
+We supped together, and next morning we started on our way; she in
+her carriage with her maid, and I in mine with Desarmoises,
+preceded by Le Duc on horseback.  At Rastadt, however, we made a
+change, the Renaud (as she was called) thinking that she would
+give less opportunity for curious surmises by riding with me while
+Desarmoises went with the servant.  We soon became intimate.  She
+told me about herself, or pretended to, and I told her all that I
+did not want to conceal.  I informed her that I was an agent of
+the Court of Lisbon, and she believed me, while, for my part, I
+believed that she was only going to Munich and Augsburg to sell
+her diamonds.
+
+We began to talk about Desarmoises, and she said that it was well
+enough for me to associate with him, but I should not countenance
+his styling himself marquis.
+
+"But," said I, "he is the son of the Marquis Desarmoises, of
+Nancy."
+
+"No, he isn't; he is only a retired messenger, with a small
+pension from the department of foreign affairs.  I know the
+Marquis Desarmoises; he lives at Nancy, and is not so old as our
+friend."
+
+"Then one can't see how he can be Desarmoises's father."
+
+"The landlord of the inn at Strasburg knew him when he was a
+messenger."
+
+"How did you make his acquaintance?"
+
+"We met at the table d'hote.  After dinner he came up to my room,
+and told me he was waiting for a gentleman who was going to
+Augsburg, and that we might make the journey together.  He told me
+the name, and after questioning him I concluded that the gentleman
+was yourself, so here we are, and I am very glad of it.  But
+listen to me; I advise you to drop all false styles and titles.
+Why do you call yourself Seingalt?"
+
+"Because it's my name, but that doesn't prevent my old friends
+calling me Casanova, for I am both.  You understand?"
+
+"Oh, yes!  I understand.  Your mother is at Prague, and as she
+doesn't get her pension on account of the war, I am afraid she
+must be rather in difficulties."
+
+"I know it, but I do not forget my filial duties.  I have sent her
+some money."
+
+"That's right.  Where are you going to stay at Augsburg ?"
+
+"I shall take a house, and if you like you shall be the mistress
+and do the honours."
+
+"That would be delightful!  We will give little suppers, and play
+cards all night."
+
+"Your programme is an excellent one."
+
+"I will see that you get a good cook; all the Bavarian cooks are
+good.  We shall cut a fine figure, and people will say we love
+each other madly."
+
+"You must know, dearest, that I do not understand jokes at the
+expense of fidelity."
+
+"You may trust me for that.  You know how I lived at Dresden."
+
+"I will trust you, but not blindly, I promise you.  And now let us
+address each other in the same way; you must call me tu.  You must
+remember we are lovers."
+
+"Kiss me!"
+
+The fair Renaud did not like traveling by night; she preferred to
+eat a good supper, to drink heavily, and to go to bed just as her
+head began to whirl.  The heat of the wine made her into a
+Bacchante, hard to appease; but when I could do no more I told her
+to leave me alone, and she had to obey.
+
+When we reached Augsburg we alighted at the "Three Moors," but the
+landlord told us that though he could give us a good dinner he
+could not put us up, as the whole of the hotel had been engaged by
+the French ambassador.  I called on M. Corti, the banker to whom I
+was accredited, and he soon got me a furnished house with a
+garden, which I took for six months.  The Renaud liked it
+immensely.
+
+No one had yet arrived at Augsburg.  The Renaud contrived to make
+me feel that I should be lonely at Augsburg without her, and
+succeeded in persuading me to come with her to Munich.  We put up
+at the "Stag," and made ourselves very comfortable, while
+Desarmoises went to stay somewhere else.  As my business and that
+of my new mate had nothing in common, I gave her a servant and a
+carriage to herself, and made myself the same allowance.
+
+The Abbe Gama had given me a letter from the Commendatore Almada
+for Lord Stormont, the English ambassador at the Court of Bavaria.
+This nobleman being then at Munich I hastened to deliver the
+letter.  He received me very well, and promised to do all he could
+as soon as he had time, as Lord Halifax had told him all about it.
+On leaving his Britannic Lordship's I called on M. de Folard, the
+French ambassador, and gave him a letter from M. de Choiseul.  M.
+de Folard gave me a hearty welcome, and asked me to dine with him
+the next day, and the day after introduced me to the Elector.
+
+During the four fatal weeks I spent at Munich, the ambassador's
+house was the only one I frequented.  I call these weeks fatal,
+and with reason, for in then I lost all my money, I pledged jewels
+(which I never recovered) to the amount of forty thousand francs,
+and finally I lost my health.  My assassins were the Renaud and
+Desarmoises, who owed me so much and paid me so badly.
+
+The third day after my arrival I had to call on the Dowager
+Electress of Saxony.  It was my brother-in-law, who was in her
+train, that made me go, by telling me that it must be done, as she
+knew me and had been enquiring for me.  I had no reason to repent
+of my politeness in going, as the Electress gave me a good
+reception, and made me talk to any extent.  She was extremely
+curious, like most people who have no employment, and have not
+sufficient intelligence to amuse themselves.
+
+I have done a good many foolish things in the course of my
+existence.  I confess it as frankly as Rousseau, and my Memoirs
+are not so egotistic as those of that unfortunate genius; but I
+never committed such an act of folly as I did when I went to
+Munich, where I had nothing to do.  But it was a crisis in my
+life.  My evil genius had made me commit one folly after another
+since I left Turin.  The evening at Lord Lismore's, my connection
+with Desarmoises, my party at Choisi, my trust in Costa, my union
+with the Renaud, and worse than all, my folly in letting myself
+play at faro at a place where the knavery of the gamesters is
+renowned all over Europe, followed one another in fatal
+succession.  Among the players was the famous, or rather infamous,
+Affisio, the friend of the Duc de Deux-Ponts, whom the duke called
+his aide-decamp, and who was known for the keenest rogue in the
+world.
+
+I played every day, and as I often lost money on my word of
+honour, the necessity of paying the next day often caused me the
+utmost anxiety.  When I had exhausted my credit with the bankers,
+I had recourse to the Jews who require pledges, and in this
+Desarmoises and the Renaud were my agents, the latter of whom
+ended by making herself mistress of all my property.  This was not
+the worst thing she did to me; for she, gave me a disease, which
+devoured her interior parts and left no marks outwardly, and was
+thus all the more dangerous, as the freshness of her complexion
+seemed to indicate the most perfect health.  In short, this
+serpent, who must have come from hell to destroy me, had acquired
+such a mastery over me that she persuaded me that she would be
+dishonoured if I called in a doctor during our stay at Munich, as
+everybody knew that we were living together as man and wife.
+
+I cannot imagine what had become of my wits to let myself be so
+beguiled, while every day I renewed the poison that she had poured
+into my veins.
+
+My stay at Munich was a kind of curse; throughout that dreadful
+month I seemed to have a foretaste of the pains of the damned.
+The Renaud loved gaming, and Desarmoises was her partner.  I took
+care not to play with them, for the false marquis was an
+unmitigated cheat and often tricked with less skill than
+impudence.  He asked disreputable people to my house and treated
+them at my expense; every evening scenes of a disgraceful
+character took place.
+
+The Dowager Electress mortified me extremely by the way she
+addressed me on my last two visits to her.
+
+"Everybody knows what kind of a life you lead here, and the way
+the Renaud behaves, possibly without your knowing it.  I advise
+you to have done with her, as your character is suffering."
+
+She did not know what a thraldom I was under.  I had left Paris
+for a month, and I had neither heard of Madame d'Urfe nor of
+Costa.  I could not guess the reason, but I began to suspect my
+Italian's fidelity.  I also feared lest my good Madame d'Urfe
+might be dead or have come to her senses, which would have come to
+the same thing so far as I was concerned; and I could not possibly
+return to Paris to obtain the information which was so necessary
+both for calming my mind and refilling my purse.
+
+I was in a terrible state, and my sharpest pang was that I began
+to experience a certain abatement of my vigors, the natural result
+of advancing years.  I had no longer that daring born of youth and
+the knowledge of one's strength, and I was not yet old enough to
+have learnt how to husband my forces.  Nevertheless, I made an
+effort and took a sudden leave of my mistress, telling her I would
+await her at Augsburg.  She did not try to detain me, but promised
+to rejoin me as soon as possible; she was engaged in selling her
+jewellery.  I set out preceded by Le Duc, feeling very glad that
+Desarmoises had chosen to stay with the wretched woman to whom he
+had introduced me.  When I reached my pretty house at Augsburg I
+took to my bed, determined not to rise till I was cured or dead.
+M. Carli, my banker, recommended to me a doctor named Cephalides,
+a pupil of the famous Fayet, who had cured me of a similar
+complaint several years before.  This Cephalides was considered
+the best doctor in Augsburg.  He examined me and declared he could
+cure me by sudorifics without having recourse to the knife.  He
+began his treatment by putting me on a severe regimen, ordering
+baths, and applying mercury locally.  I endured this treatment for
+six weeks, at the end of which time I found myself worse than at
+the beginning.  I had become terribly thin, and I had two enormous
+inguinal tumours.  I had to make up my mind to have them lanced,
+but though the operation nearly killed me it did not to make me
+any better.  He was so clumsy as to cut the artery, causing great
+loss of blood which was arrested with difficulty, and would have
+proved fatal if it had not been for the care of M. Algardi, a
+Bolognese doctor in the service of the Prince-Bishop of Augsburg.
+
+I had enough of Cephalides, and Dr. Algardi prepared in my
+presence eighty-six pills containing eighteen grains of manna.  I
+took one of these pills every morning, drinking a large glass of
+curds after it, and in the evening I had another pill with barley
+water, and this was the only sustenance I had.  This heroic
+treatment gave me back my health in two months and a half, in
+which I suffered a great deal of pain; but I did not begin to put
+on flesh and get back my strength till the end of the year.
+
+It was during this time that I heard about Costa's flight with my
+diamonds, watches, snuff-box, linen, rich suits, and a hundred
+louis which Madame d'Urfe had given him for the journey.  The
+worthy lady sent me a bill of exchange for fifty thousand francs,
+which she had happily not entrusted to the robber, and the money
+rescued me very opportunely from the state to which my imprudence
+had reduced me.
+
+At this period I made another discovery of an extremely vexatious
+character; namely, that Le Duc had robbed me.  I would have
+forgiven him if he had not forced me to a public exposure, which I
+could only have avoided with the loss of my honour.  However, I
+kept him in my service till my return to Paris at the commencement
+of the following year.
+
+Towards the end of September, when everybody knew that the
+Congress would not take place, the Renaud passed through Augsburg
+with Desarrnoises on her way to Paris; but she dared not come and
+see me for fear I should make her return my goods, of which she
+had taken possession without telling me.  Four or five years later
+she married a man named Bohmer, the same that gave the Cardinal de
+Rohan the famous necklace, which he supposed was destined for the
+unfortunate Marie Antoinette.  The Renaud was at Paris when I
+returned, but I made no endeavour to see her, as I wished, if
+possible, to forget the past.  I had every reason to do so, for
+amongst all the misfortunes I had gone through during that
+wretched year the person I found most at fault was myself.
+Nevertheless, I would have given myself the pleasure of cutting
+off Desarmoises's ears; but the old rascal, who, no doubt, foresaw
+what kind of treatment I was likely to mete to him, made his
+escape.  Shortly after, he died miserably of consumption in
+Normandy.
+
+My health had scarcely returned, when I forgot all my woes and
+began once more to amuse myself.  My excellent cook, Anna Midel,
+who had been idle so long, had to work hard to satisfy my ravenous
+appetite.  My landlord and pretty Gertrude, his daughter, looked
+at me with astonishment as I ate, fearing some disastrous results.
+Dr. Algardi, who had saved my life, prophesied a dyspepsia which
+would bring me to the tomb, but my need of food was stronger than
+his arguments, to which I paid no kind of attention; and I was
+right, for I required an immense quantity of nourishment to
+recover my former state, and I soon felt in a condition to renew
+my sacrifices to the deity for whom I had suffered so much.
+
+I fell in love with the cook and Gertrude, who were both young and
+pretty.  I imparted my love to both of them at once, for I had
+foreseen that if I attacked them separately I should conquer
+neither.  Besides, I felt that I had not much time to lose, as I
+had promised to sup with Madame, d'Urfe on the first night of the
+year 1761 in a suite of rooms she had furnished for me in the Rue
+de Bac.  She had adorned the rooms with superb tapestry made for
+Rene of Savoy, on which were depicted all the operations of the
+Great Work.  She wrote to me that she had heard that Santis had
+recovered from the wound I had given him, and had been committed
+to the Bicetre for fraud.
+
+Gertrude and Anna Midel occupied my leisure moments agreeably
+enough during the rest of my stay at Augsburg, but they did not
+make me neglect society.  I spent my evenings in a very agreeable
+manner with Count Max de Lamberg, who occupied the position of
+field-marshal to the prince-bishop.  His wife had all the
+attractions which collect good company together.  At this house I
+made the acquaintance of the Baron von Selentin, a captain in the
+Prussian service, who was recruiting for the King of Prussia at
+Augsburg.  I was particularly drawn to the Count Lamberg by his
+taste for literature.  He was an extremely learned man, and has
+published some excellent works.  I kept up a correspondence with
+him till his death, by his own fault, in 1792, four years from the
+time of my writing.  I say by his fault, but I should have said by
+the fault of his doctors, who treated him mercurially for a
+disease which was not venereal; and this treatment not only killed
+him but took away his good name.
+
+His widow is still alive, and lives in Bavaria, loved by her
+friends and her daughters, who all made excellent marriages.
+
+At this time a miserable company of Italian actors made their
+appearance in Augsburg, and I got them permission to play in a
+small and wretched theatre.  As this was the occasion of an
+incident which diverted me, the hero, I shall impart it to my
+readers in the hope of its amusing them also.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+The Actors--Bassi--The Girl From Strasburg The Female Count--
+My Return to Paris I Go to Metz--Pretty Raton--The Pretended
+Countess Lascaris
+
+
+A woman, ugly enough, but lively like all Italians, called on me,
+and asked me to intercede with the police to obtain permission for
+her company to act in Augsburg.  In spite of her ugliness she was
+a poor fellow-countrywoman, and without asking her name, or
+ascertaining whether the company was good or bad, I promised to do
+my best, and had no difficulty in obtaining the favour.
+
+I went to the first performance, and saw to my surprise that the
+chief actor was a Venetian, and a fellow-student of mine, twenty
+years before, at St. Cyprian's College.  His name was Bassi, and
+like myself he had given up the priesthood.  Fortune had made an
+actor of him, and he looked wretched enough, while I, the adventurer,
+had a prosperous air.
+
+I felt curious to hear his adventures, and I was also actuated by
+that feeling of kindliness which draws one towards the companions
+of one's youthful and especially one's school days, so I went to
+the back as soon as the curtain fell.  He recognized me directly,
+gave a joyful cry, and after he had embraced me he introduced me
+to his wife, the woman who had called on me, and to his daughter,
+a girl of thirteen or fourteen, whose dancing had delighted me.
+He did not stop here, but turning to his mates, of whom he was
+chief, introduced me to them as his best friend.  These worthy
+people, seeing me dressed like a lord, with a cross on my breast,
+took me for a cosmopolitan charlatan who was expected at Augsburg,
+and Bassi, strange to say, did not undeceive them.  When the
+company had taken off its stage rags and put on its everyday rags,
+Bassi's ugly wife took me by the arm and said I must come and sup
+with her.  I let myself be led, and we soon got to just the kind
+of room I had imagined.  It was a huge room on the ground floor,
+which served for kitchen, dining-room, and bedroom all at once.
+In the middle stood a long table, part of which was covered with a
+cloth which looked as if it had been in use for a month, and at
+the other end of the room somebody was washing certain earthenware
+dishes in a dirty pan.  This den was lighted by one candle stuck
+in the neck of a broken bottle, and as there were no snuffers
+Bassi's wife snuffed it cleverly with her finger and thumb, wiping
+her hand on the table-cloth after throwing the burnt wick on the
+floor.  An actor with long moustaches, who played the villain in
+the various pieces, served an enormous dish of hashed-up meat,
+swimming in a sea of dirty water dignified with the name of sauce;
+and the hungry family proceeded to tear pieces of bread off the
+loaf with their fingers or teeth, and then to dip them in the
+dish; but as all did the same no one had a right to be disgusted.
+A large pot of ale passed from hand to hand, and with all this
+misery mirth displayed itself on every countenance, and I had to
+ask myself what is happiness.  For a second course there was a
+dish of fried pork, which was devoured with great relish.  Bassi
+was kind enough not to press me to take part in this banquet, and
+I felt obliged to him.
+
+The meal over, he proceeded to impart to me his adventures, which
+were ordinary enough, and like those which many a poor devil has
+to undergo; and while he talked his pretty daughter sat on my
+knee.  Bassi brought his story to an end by saying that he was
+going to Venice for the carnival, and was sure of making a lot of
+money.  I wished him all the luck he could desire, and on his
+asking me what profession I followed the fancy took me to reply
+that I was a doctor.
+
+"That's a better trade than mine," said he, "and I am happy to be
+able to give you a valuable present."
+
+"What is that?" I asked.
+
+"The receipt for the Venetian Specific, which you can sell at two
+florins a pound, while it will only cost you four gros."
+
+"I shall be delighted; but tell me, how is the treasury?"
+
+"Well, I can't complain for a first night.  I have paid all
+expenses, and have given my actors a florin apiece.  But I am sure
+I don't know how I am to play to-morrow, as the company has
+rebelled; they say they won't act unless I give each of them a
+florin in advance."
+
+"They don't ask very much, however."
+
+"I know that, but I have no money, and nothing to pledge; but they
+will be sorry for it afterwards, as I am sure I shall make at
+least fifty florins to-morrow."
+
+"How many are there in the company?"
+
+"Fourteen, including my family.  Could you lend me ten florins?
+I would pay you back tomorrow night."
+
+"Certainly, but I should like to have you all to supper at the
+nearest inn to the theatre.  Here are the ten florins."
+
+The poor devil overflowed with gratitude, and said he would order
+supper at a florin a head, according to my instructions.
+I thought the sight of fourteen famished actors sitting down to a
+good supper would be rather amusing.
+
+The company gave a play the next evening, but as only thirty or at
+most forty people were present, poor Bassi did not know where to
+turn to pay for the lighting and the orchestra.  He was in
+despair; and instead of returning my ten florins he begged me to
+lend him another ten, still in the hope of a good house next time.
+I consoled him by saying we would talk it over after supper, and
+that I would go to the inn to wait for my guests.
+
+I made the supper last three hours by dint of passing the bottle
+freely.  My reason was that I had taken a great interest in a
+young girl from Strasburg, who played singing chamber-maids.  Her
+features were exquisite and her voice charming, while she made me
+split my sides with laughing at her Italian pronounced with an
+Alsatian accent, and at her gestures which were of the most comic
+description.
+
+I was determined to possess her in the course of the next twenty-
+four hours, and before the party broke up I spoke as follows:--
+
+"Ladies and gentlemen, I will engage you myself for a week at
+fifty florins a day on the condition that you acknowledge me as
+your manager for the time being, and pay all the expenses of the
+theatre.  You must charge the prices I name for seats, five
+members of the company to be chosen by me must sup with me every
+evening.  If the receipts amount to more than fifty florins, we
+will share the overplus between us."
+
+My proposal was welcomed with shouts of joy, and I called for pen,
+ink, and paper, and drew up the agreement.
+
+"For to-morrow," I said to Bassi, "the prices for admission shall
+remain the same, but the day after we will see what can be done.
+You and your family will sup with me to-morrow, as also the young
+Alsatian whom I could never separate from her dear Harlequin:"
+
+He issued bills of an enticing description for the following
+evening; but, in spite of all, the pit only contained a score of
+common people, and nearly all the boxes were empty.
+
+Bassi had done his best, and when we met at supper he came up to
+me looking extremely confused, and gave me ten or twelve florins.
+
+"Courage!" said I; and I proceeded to share them among the guests
+present.
+
+We had a good supper, and I kept them at table till midnight,
+giving them plenty of choice wine and playing a thousand pranks
+with Bassi's daughter and the young Alsatian, who sat one on each
+side of me.  I did not heed the jealous Harlequin, who seemed not
+to relish my familiarities with his sweetheart.  The latter lent
+herself to my endearments with a bad enough grace, as she hoped
+Harlequin would marry her, and consequently did not want to vex
+him.  When supper was over, we rose, and I took her between my
+arms, laughing, and caressing her in a manner which seemed too
+suggestive to the lover, who tried to pull me away.  I thought
+this rather too much in my turn, and seizing him by his shoulders
+I dismissed him with a hearty kick, which he received with great
+humility.  However, the situation assumed a melancholy aspect, for
+the poor girl began to weep bitterly.  Bassi and his wife, two
+hardened sinners, laughed at her tears, and Bassi's daughter said
+that her lover had offered me great provocation; but the young
+Alsatian continued weeping, and told me that she would never sup
+with me again if I did not make her lover return.
+
+"I will see to all that," said I; and four sequins soon made her
+all smiles again.  She even tried to shew me that she was not
+really cruel, and that she would be still less so if I could
+manage the jealous Harlequin.  I promised everything, and she did
+her best to convince me that she would be quite complaisant on the
+first opportunity.
+
+I ordered Bassi to give notice that the pit would be two florins
+and the boxes a ducat, but that the gallery would be opened freely
+to the first comers.
+
+"We shall have nobody there," said he, looking alarmed.
+
+"Maybe, but that remains to be seen.  You must request twelve
+soldiers to keep order, and I will pay for them."
+
+"We shall want some soldiers to look after the mob which will
+beseige the gallery, but as for the rest of the house .  .  .  ."
+
+"Again I tell you, we shall see.  Carry out my instructions, and
+whether they prove successful or no, we will have a merry supper
+as usual."
+
+The next day I called upon the Harlequin in his little den of a
+room, and with two Louis, and a promise to respect his mistress, I
+made him as soft as a glove.
+
+Bassi's bills made everybody laugh.  People said he must be mad;
+but when it was ascertained that it was the lessee's speculation,
+and that I was the lessee, the accusation of madness was turned on
+me, but what did I care?  At night the gallery was full an hour
+before the rise of the curtain; but the pit was empty, and there was
+nobody in the boxes with the exception of Count Lamberg, a Genoese
+abbe named Bolo, and a young man who appeared to me a woman in
+disguise.
+
+The actors surpassed themselves, and the thunders of applause from
+the gallery enlivened the performance.
+
+When we got to the inn, Bassi gave me the three ducats for the
+three boxes, but of course I returned them to him; it was quite a
+little fortune for the poor actors.  I sat down at table between
+Bassi's wife and daughter, leaving the Alsatian to her lover.  I
+told the manager to persevere in the same course, and to let those
+laugh who would, and I made him promise to play all his best
+pieces.
+
+When the supper and the wine had sufficiently raised my spirits, I
+devoted my attention to Bassi's daughter, who let me do what I
+liked, while her father and mother only laughed, and the silly
+Harlequin fretted and fumed at not being able to take the same
+liberties with his Dulcinea.  But at the end of supper, when I had
+made the girl in a state of nature, I myself being dressed like
+Adam before he ate the fatal apple, Harlequin rose, and taking his
+sweetheart's arm was going to draw her away.  I imperiously told
+him to sit down, and he obeyed me in amazement, contenting himself
+with turning his back.  His sweetheart did not follow his example,
+and so placed herself on the pretext of defending my victim that
+she increased my enjoyment, while my vagrant hand did not seem to
+displease her.
+
+The scene excited Bassi's wife, and she begged her husband to give
+her a proof of his love for her, to which request he acceded,
+while modest Harlequin sat by the fire with his head on his hands.
+The Alsatian was in a highly excited state, and took advantage of
+her lover's position to grant me all I wished, so I proceeded to
+execute the great work with her, and the violent movements of her
+body proved that she was taking as active a part in it as myself.
+
+When the orgy was over I emptied my purse on the table, and
+enjoyed the eagerness with which they shared a score of sequins.
+
+This indulgence at a time when I had not yet recovered my full
+strength made me enjoy a long sleep.  Just as I awoke I was handed
+a summons to appear before the burgomaster.  I made haste with my
+toilette, for I felt curious to know the reason of this citation,
+and I was aware I had nothing to fear.  When I appeared, the
+magistrate addressed me in German, to which I turned a deaf ear,
+for I only knew enough of that language to ask for necessaries.
+When he was informed of my ignorance of German he addressed me in
+Latin, not of the Ciceronian kind by any means, but in that
+peculiar dialect which obtains at most of the German universities.
+
+"Why do you bear a false name?" he asked.
+
+"My name is not false.  You can ask Carli, the banker, who has
+paid me fifty thousand florins."
+
+"I know that; but your name is Casanova, so why do you call
+yourself Seingalt?"
+
+"I take this name, or rather I have taken it, because it belongs
+to me, and in such a manner that if anyone else dared to take it I
+should contest it as my property by every legitimate resource."
+
+"Ah! and how does this name belong to you?"
+
+"Because I invented it; but that does not prevent my being
+Casanova as well."
+
+"Sir, you must choose between Casanova and Seingalt; a man cannot
+have two names."
+
+"The Spaniards and Portuguese often have half a dozen names."
+
+"But you are not a Spaniard or a Portuguese; you are an Italian:
+and, after all, how can one invent a name?"
+
+"It's the simplest thing in the world."
+
+"Kindly explain."
+
+"The alphabet belongs equally to the whole human race; no one can
+deny that.  I have taken eight letters and combined them in such a
+way as to produce the word Seingalt.  It pleased me, and I have
+adopted it as my surname, being firmly persuaded that as no one
+had borne it before no one could deprive me of it, or carry it
+without my consent."
+
+"This is a very odd idea.  Your arguments are rather specious than
+well grounded, for your name ought to be none other than your
+father's name."
+
+"I suggest that there you are mistaken; the name you yourself bear
+because your father bore it before you, has not existed from all
+eternity; it must have been invented by an ancestor of yours who
+did not get it from his father, or else your name would have been
+Adam.  Does your worship agree to that?"
+
+"I am obliged to; but all this is strange, very strange."
+
+"You are again mistaken.  It's quite an old custom, and I engage
+to give you by to-morrow a long list of names invented by worthy
+people still living, who are allowed to enjoy their names in peace
+and quietness without being cited to the town hall to explain how
+they got them."
+
+"But you will confess that there are laws against false names?"
+
+"Yes, but I repeat this name is my true name.  Your name which I
+honour, though I do not know it, cannot be more true than mine,
+for it is possible that you are not the son of the gentleman you
+consider your father."  He smiled and escorted me out, telling me
+that he would make enquiries about me of M. Carli.
+
+I took the part of going to M.  Carli's myself.  The story made
+him laugh.  He told me that the burgomaster was a Catholic, a
+worthy man, well to do, but rather thick-headed; in short, a fine
+subject for a joke.
+
+The following morning M. Carli asked me to breakfast, and
+afterwards to dine with the burgomaster.
+
+"I saw him yesterday," said he, "and we had a long talk, in the
+course of which I succeeded in convincing him on the question of
+names, and he is now quite of your opinion."
+
+I accepted the invitation with pleasure, as I was sure of seeing
+some good company.  I was not undeceived; there were some charming
+women and several agreeable men.  Amongst others, I noticed the
+woman in man's dress I had seen at the theatre.  I watched her at
+dinner, and I was the more convinced that she was a woman.
+Nevertheless, everybody addressed her as a man, and she played the
+part to admiration.  I, however, being in search of amusement, and
+not caring to seem as if I were taken in, began to talk to her in
+a stream of gallantry as one talks to a woman, and I contrived to
+let her know that if I were not sure of her sex I had very strong
+suspicions.  She pretended not to understand me, and everyone
+laughed at my feigned expression of offence.
+
+After dinner, while we were taking coffee, the pretended gentleman
+shewed a canon who was present a portrait on one of her rings.  It
+represented a young lady who was in the company, and was an
+excellent likeness--an easy enough matter, as she was very ugly.
+My conviction was not disturbed, but when I saw the imposter
+kissing the young lady's hand with mingled affection and respect,
+I ceased jesting on the question of her sex.  M. Carli took me
+aside for a moment, and told me that in spite of his effeminate
+appearance this individual was a man, and was shortly going to
+marry the young lady whose hand he had just kissed.
+
+"It may be so," said I, "but I can't believe it all the same."
+
+However, the pair were married during the carnival, and the
+husband obtained a rich dowry with his wife.  The poor girl died
+of 'grief in the course of a year, but did not say a word till she
+was on her death-bed.  Her foolish parents, ashamed of having been
+deceived so grossly, dared not say anything, and got the female
+swindler out of the way; she had taken good care, however, to lay
+a firm hold on the dowry.  The story became known, and gave the
+good folk of Augsburg much amusement, while I became renowned for
+my sagacity in piercing the disguise.
+
+I continued to enjoy the society of my two servants and of the
+fair Alsation, who cost me a hundred louis.  At the end of a week
+my agreement with Bassi came to an end, leaving him with some
+money in his pocket.  He continued to give performances, returning
+to the usual prices and suppressing the free gallery.  He did very
+fair business.
+
+I left Augsburg towards the middle of December.
+
+I was vexed on account of Gertrude, who believed herself with
+child, but could not make up her mind to accompany me to France.
+Her father would have been pleased for me to take her; he had no
+hopes of getting her a husband, and would have been glad enough to
+get rid of her by my making her my mistress.
+
+We shall hear more of her in the course of five or six years, as
+also of my excellent cook, Anna Midel, to whom I gave a present of
+four hundred florins.  She married shortly afterwards, and when I
+visited the town again I found her unhappy.
+
+I could not make up my mind to forgive Le Duc, who rode on the
+coachman's box, and when we were in Paris, half-way along the Rue
+St.  Antoine, I made him take his trunk and get down; and I left
+him there without a character, in spite of his entreaties.  I
+never heard of him again, but I still miss him, for, in spite of
+his great failings, he was an excellent servant.  Perhaps I should
+have called to mind the important services he had rendered me at
+Stuttgart, Soleure, Naples, Florence, and Turin; but I could not
+pass over his impudence in compromising me before the Augsburg
+magistrate.  If I had not succeeded in bringing a certain theft
+home to him, it would have been laid to my door, and I should have
+been dishonoured.
+
+I had done a good deal in saving him from justice, and, besides, I
+had rewarded him liberally for all the special services he had
+done me.
+
+From Augsburg I went to Bale by way of Constance, where I stayed
+at the dearest inn in Switzerland.  The landlord, Imhoff, was the
+prince of cheats, but his daughters were amusing, and after a
+three days' stay I continued my journey.  I got to Paris on the
+last day of the year 1761, and I left the coach at the house in
+the Rue du Bacq, where my good angel Madame d'Urfe had arranged me
+a suite of rooms with the utmost elegance.
+
+I spent three weeks in these rooms without going anywhere, in
+order to convince the worthy lady that I had only returned to
+Paris to keep my word to her, and make her be born again a man.
+
+We spent the three weeks in making preparations for this divine
+operation, and our preparations consisted of devotions to each of
+the seven planets on the days consecrated to each of the
+intelligences.  After this I had to seek, in a place which the
+spirits would point out to me, for a maiden, the daughter of an
+adept, whom I was to impregnate with a male child in a manner only
+known to the Fraternity of the Rosy Cross.  Madame d'Urfe was to
+receive the child into her arms the moment it was born; and to
+keep it beside her in bed for seven days.  At the end of the seven
+days she would die with her lips on the lips of the child, who
+would thus receive her reasonable soul, whereas before it had
+only possessed a vegetal soul.
+
+This being done, it was to be my part to care for the child with
+the magisterium which was known to me, and as soon as it had
+attained to its third year Madame d'Urfe would begin to recover
+her self-consciousness, and then I was to begin to initiate her in
+the perfect knowledge of the Great Work.
+
+The operation must take place under the full moon during the
+months of April, May, or June.  Above all, Madame d'Urfe was to
+make a will in favour of the child, whose guardian I was to be
+till its thirteenth year.
+
+This sublime madwoman had no doubts whatever as to the truth of
+all this, and burned with impatience to see the virgin who was
+destined to be the vessel of election.  She begged me to hasten my
+departure.
+
+I had hoped, in obtaining my answers from the oracle, that she
+would be deterred by the prospect of death, and I reckoned on the
+natural love of life making her defer the operation for an
+indefinite period.  But such was not the case, and I found myself
+obliged to keep my word, in appearance at all events, and to go on
+my quest for the mysterious virgin.
+
+What I wanted was some young hussy whom I could teach the part,
+and I thought of the Corticelli.  She had been at Prague for the
+last nine months, and when we were at Bologna I had promised to
+come and see her before the end of the year.  But as I was leaving
+Germany--by no means a land of pleasant memories to me--I did not
+think it was worth while going out of my way for such a trifle in
+the depth of winter.  I resolved to send her enough money for the
+journey, and to let her meet me in some French town.
+
+M. de Fouquet, a friend of Madame d'Urfe's, was Governor of Metz,
+and I felt sure that, with a letter of introduction from Madame
+d'Urfe, this nobleman would give me a distinguished reception.
+Besides, his nephew, the Comte de Lastic, whom I knew well, was
+there with his regiment.  For these reasons I chose Metz as a
+meeting-place with the virgin Corticelli, to whom this new part
+would certainly be a surprise.  Madame d'Urfe gave me the
+necessary introductions, and I left Paris on January 25th, 1762,
+loaded with presents.  I had a letter of credit to a large amount,
+but I did not make use of it as my purse was abundantly
+replenished.
+
+I took no servant, for after Costa's robbing me and Le Duc's
+cheating me I felt as if I could not trust in anyone.  I got to
+Metz in two days, and put up at the "Roi Dagobert," an excellent
+inn, where I found the Comte de Louvenhaupt, a Swede, whom I had
+met at the house of the Princess of Anhalt-Zerbst, mother of the
+Empress of Russia.  He asked me to sup with him and the Duc de
+Deux Pants, who was travelling incognito to Paris to visit Louis
+XV., whose constant friend he was.
+
+The day after my arrival I took my letters to the governor, who
+told me I must dine with him every day.  M. de Lastic had left
+Metz, much to my regret, as he would have contributed in no small
+degree to the pleasure of my stay.  The same day I wrote to the
+Corticelli, sending her fifty louis, and telling her to come with
+her mother as soon as possible, and to get someone who knew the
+way to accompany her.  She could not leaves Prague before the
+beginning of Lent, and to make sure of her coming I promised that
+I would make her fortune.
+
+In four or five days I knew my way about the town, but I did not
+frequent polite assemblies, preferring to go to the theatre, where
+a comic opera singer had captivated me.  Her name was Raton, and
+she was only fifteen, after the fashion of actresses who always
+subtract at least two or three years from their age.  However,
+this failing is common to women, and is a pardonable one, since to
+be youthful is the greatest of all advantages to them.  Raton was
+not so much handsome as attractive, but what chiefly made her an
+object of desire was the fact that she had put the price of
+twenty-five louis on her maidenhead.  One could spend a night with
+her, and make the trial for a Louis; the twenty-five were only to
+be paid on the accomplishment of the great work.
+
+It was notorious that numerous officers in the army and young
+barristers had undertaken the operation unsuccessfully, and all of
+them had paid a louis apiece.
+
+This singular case was enough to whet my curiosity.  I was not
+long before I called on Raton, but not wishing to be duped by her
+I took due precautions.  I told her that she must come and sup
+with me, and that I would give her the twenty-five louis if my
+happiness was complete, and that if I were unsuccessful she should
+have six louis instead of one, provided that she was not tied.
+Her aunt assured me that this was not the case; but I could not
+help thinking of Victorine.
+
+Raton came to supper with her aunt, who went to bed in an
+adjoining closet when the dessert was brought in.  The girl's
+figure was exquisitely beautiful, and I felt that I had no small
+task before me.  She was kind, laughing, and defied me to the
+conquest of a fleece not of gold, but of ebony, which the youth of
+Metz had assaulted in vain.  Perhaps the reader will think that I,
+who was no longer in my first vigour, was discouraged by the
+thought of the many who had failed; but I knew my powers, and it
+only amused me.  Her former lovers had been Frenchmen, more
+skilled in carrying strong places by assault than in eluding the
+artfulness of a girl who corked herself up.  I was an Italian, and
+knew all about that, so I had no doubts as to my victory.
+
+However, my preparations were superfluous; for as soon as Raton
+felt from my mode of attack that the trick would be of no avail
+she met my desires half-way, without trying the device which had
+made her seem to be what she was no longer to her inexpert lovers.
+She gave herself up in good faith, and when I had promised to keep
+the secret her ardours were equal to mine.  It was not her first
+trial, and I consequently need not have given her the twenty-five
+louis, but I was well satisfied, and not caring much for
+maidenheads rewarded her as if I had been the first to bite at the
+cherry.
+
+I kept Raton at a louis a day till the arrival of the Corticelli,
+and she had to be faithful to me, as I never let her go out of my
+sight.  I liked the girl so well and found her so pleasant that I
+was sorry that the Corticelli was coming; however, I was told of
+her arrival one night just as I was leaving my box at the theatre.
+My footman told me in a loud voice that my lady wife, my daughter,
+and a gentleman had just arrived from Frankfort, and were awaiting
+me at the inn.
+
+"Idiot," I exclaimed, "I have no wife and no daughter."
+
+However, all Metz heard that my family had arrived.
+
+The Corticelli threw her arms round my neck, laughing as usual,
+and her mother presented me to the worthy man who had accompanied
+them from Prague to Metz.  He was an Italian named Month, who had
+lived for a long time at Prague, where he taught his native
+language.  I saw that M. Month and the old woman were suitably
+accommodated, and I then led the young fool into my room.  I found
+her changed for the better; she had grown, her shape was improved,
+and her pleasant manners made her a very charming girl.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+I Returned to Paris With The Corticelli, Now Countess Lascaris--
+The Hypostasis Fails--Aix-la-Chapelle--Duel--Mimi d'Ache--The
+Corticelli Turns Traitress to Her Own Disadvantage--Journey to
+Sulzbach
+
+
+"Why did you allow your mother to call herself my wife, little
+simpleton?  Do you think that's a compliment to my judgment?  She
+might have given herself out for your governess, as she wishes to
+pass you off as my daughter."
+
+"My mother is an obstinate old woman who had rather be whipped at
+the cart-tail than call herself my governess.  She has very narrow
+ideas, and always thinks that governess and procuress mean the
+same thing."
+
+"She's an old fool, but we will make her hear reason either with
+her will or in spite of it.  But you look well dressed, have you
+made your fortune?"
+
+"At Prague I captivated the affections of Count N----, and he
+proved a generous lover.  But let your first action be to send
+back M. Month.  The worthy man has his family at Prague to look after;
+he can't afford to stay long here."
+
+"True, I will see about it directly."
+
+The coach started for Frankfort the same evening, and summoning
+Month I thanked him for his kindness and paid him generously, so
+he went off well pleased.
+
+I had nothing further to do at Metz, so I took leave of my new
+friends, and in two days time I was at Nancy, where I wrote to
+Madame d'Urfe that I was on my way back with a virgin, the last of
+the family of Lascaris, who had once reigned at Constantinople.  I
+begged her to receive her from my hands, at a country house which
+belonged to her, where we should be occupied for some days in
+cabalistic ceremonies.
+
+She answered that she would await us at Pont-Carre, an old castle
+four leagues distant from Paris, and that she would welcome the
+young princess with all possible kindness.
+
+"I owe her all the more friendship," added the sublime madwoman,
+"as the family of Lascaris is connected with the family of d'Urfe,
+and as I am to be born again in the seed of the happy virgin."
+
+I felt that my task would be not exactly to throw cold water on
+her enthusiasm, but to hold it in check and to moderate its
+manifestations.  I therefore explained to her by return of post
+that she must be content to treat the virgin as a countess, not a
+princess, and I ended by informing her that we should arrive,
+accompanied by the countess's governess, on the Monday of Holy
+Week.
+
+I spent twelve days at Nancy, instructing the young madcap in the
+part she had to play, and endeavouring to persuade her mother that
+she must content herself with being the Countess Lascaris's humble
+servant.  It was a task of immense difficulty; it was not enough
+to shew her that our success depended on her submitting; I had to
+threaten to send her back to Bologna by herself.  I had good
+reason to repent of my perseverance.  That woman's obstinacy was
+an inspiration of my good angel's, bidding me avoid the greatest
+mistake I ever made.
+
+On the day appointed we reached Pont-Carre.  Madame d'Urfe, whom I
+had advised of the exact hour of our arrival, had the drawbridge
+of the castle lowered, and stood in the archway in the midst of
+her people, like a general surrendering with all the honours of
+war.  The dear lady, whose madness was but an excess of wit, gave
+the false princess so distinguished a reception that she would
+have shewn her amazement if I had not warned her of what she might
+expect.  Thrice did she clasp her to her breast with a tenderness
+that was quite maternal, calling her her beloved niece, and
+explaining the entire pedigrees of the families of Lascaris and
+d'Urfe to make the countess understand how she came to be her
+niece.  I was agreeably surprised to see the polite and dignified
+air with which the Italian wench listened to all this; she did not
+even smile, though the scene must have struck her as extremely
+laughable.
+
+As soon as we got into the castle Madame d'Urfe proceeded to cense
+the new-comer, who received the attention with all the dignity of
+an opera queen, and then threw herself into the arms of the
+priestess, who received her with enthusiastic affection.
+
+At dinner the countess was agreeable and talkative, which won her
+Madame d'Urfe's entire favour; her broken French being easily
+accounted for.  Laura, the countess's mother, only knew her native
+Italian, and so kept silence.  She was given a comfortable room,
+where her meals were brought to her, and which she only left to
+hear mass.
+
+The castle was a fortified building, and had sustained several
+sieges in the civil wars.  As its name, Pont-Carre, indicated, it
+was square, and was flanked by four crenelated towers and
+surrounded by a broad moat.  The rooms were vast, and richly
+furnished in an old-fashioned way.  The air was full of venomous
+gnats who devoured us and covered our faces with painful bites;
+but I had agreed to spend a week there, and I should have been
+hard put to it to find a pretext for shortening the time.  Madame
+d'Urfe had a bed next, her own for her niece, but I was not afraid
+of her attempting to satisfy herself as to the countess's
+virginity, as the oracle had expressly forbidden it under pain or
+failure.  The operation was fixed for the fourteenth day of the
+April moon.
+
+On that day we had a temperate supper, after which I went to bed.
+A quarter of an hour afterwards Madame d'Urfe came, leading the
+virgin Lascaris.  She undressed her, scented her, cast a lovely
+veil over her body, and when the countess was laid beside me she
+remained, wishing to be present at an operation which was to
+result in her being born again in the course of nine months.
+
+The act was consummated in form, and then Madame d'Urfe left us
+alone for the rest of the night, which was well employed.
+Afterwards, the countess slept with her aunt till the last day of
+the moon, when I asked the oracle if the Countess Lascaris had
+conceived.  That well might be, for I had spared nothing to that
+intent; but I thought it more prudent to make the oracle reply
+that the operation had failed because the small Count d'Aranda had
+watched us behind a screen.  Madame d'Urfe was in despair, but I
+consoled her by a second reply, in which the oracle declared that
+though the operation could only be performed in France in April,
+it could take place out of that realm in May; but the inquisitive
+young count, whose influence had proved so fatal, must be sent for
+at least a year to some place a hundred leagues from Paris.  The
+oracle also indicated the manner in which he was to travel; he was
+to have a tutor, a servant, and all in order.
+
+The oracle had spoken, and no more was wanted.  Madame d'Urfe
+thought of an abbe she liked for his tutor, and the count was sent
+to Lyons, with strong letters of commendation to M. de Rochebaron,
+a relation of his patroness.  The young man was delighted to
+travel, and never had any suspicion of the way in which I had
+slandered him.  It was not a mere fancy which suggested this
+course of action.  I had discovered that the Corticelli was making
+up to him, and that her mother favoured the intrigue.  I had
+surprised her twice in the young man's room, and though he only
+cared for the girl as a youth cares for all girls, the Signora
+Laura did not at all approve of my opposing her daughter's
+designs.
+
+Our next task was to fix on some foreign town where we could again
+attempt the mysterious operation.  We settled on Aix-la-Chapelle,
+and in five or six days all was ready for the journey.
+
+The Corticeili, angry with me for having thwarted her in her
+projects, reproached me bitterly, and from that time began to be
+my enemy; she even allowed herself to threaten me if I did not get
+back the pretty boy, as she called him.
+
+"You have no business to be jealous," said she, "and I am the
+mistress of my own actions."
+
+"Quite right, my dear," I answered; "but it is my business to see
+that you do not behave like a prostitute in your present
+position."
+
+The mother was in a furious rage, and said that she and her
+daughter would return to Bologna, and to quiet them I promised to
+take them there myself as soon as we had been to Aix-la-Chapelle.
+
+Nevertheless I did not feel at ease, and to prevent any plots
+taking place I hastened our departure.
+
+We started in May, in a travelling carriage containing Madame
+d'Urfe, myself, the false Lascaris, and her maid and favourite,
+named Brougnole.  We were followed by a coach with two seats; in
+it were the Signora Laura and another servant.  Two men-servants
+in full livery sat on the outside of our travelling carriage.  We
+stopped a day at Brussels, and another at Liege.  At Aix there
+were many distinguished visitors, and at the first ball we
+attended Madame d'Urfe presented the Lascaris to two Princesses of
+Mecklenburg as her niece.  The false countess received their
+embraces with much ease and modesty, and attracted the particular
+attention of the Margrave of Baireuth and the Duchess of
+Wurtemberg, his daughter, who took possession of her, and did not
+leave her till the end of the ball.
+
+I was on thorns the whole time, in terror lest the heroine might
+make some dreadful slip.  She danced so gracefully that everybody
+gazed at her, and I was the person who was complimented on her
+performance.
+
+I suffered a martyrdom, for these compliments seemed to be given
+with malicious intent.  I suspected that the ballet-girl had been
+discovered beneath the countess, and I felt myself dishonoured.  I
+succeeded in speaking privately to the young wanton for a moment,
+and begged her to dance like a young lady, and not like a chorus
+girl; but she was proud of her success, and dared to tell me that
+a young lady might know how to dance as well as a professional
+dancer, and that she was not going to dance badly to please me.  I
+was so enraged with her impudence, that I would have cast her off
+that instant if it had been possible; but as it was not, I
+determined that her punishment should lose none of its sharpness
+by waiting; and whether it be a vice or a virtue, the desire of
+revenge is never extinguished in my heart till it is satisfied.
+
+The day after the ball Madame d'Urfe presented her with a casket
+containing a beautiful watch set with brilliants, a pair of
+diamond ear-rings, and a ring containing a ruby of fifteen carats.
+The whole was worth sixty thousand francs.  I took possession of
+it to prevent her going off without my leave.
+
+In the meanwhile I amused myself with play and making bad
+acquaintances.  The worst of all was a French officer, named
+d'Ache, who had a pretty wife and a daughter prettier still.
+Before long the daughter had taken possession of the heart which
+the Corticelli had lost, but as soon as Madame d'Ache saw that I
+preferred her daughter to herself she refused to receive me at her
+house.
+
+I had lent d'Ache ten Louis, and I consequently felt myself
+entitled to complain of his wife's conduct; but he answered rudely
+that as I only went to the house after his daughter, his wife was
+quite right; that he intended his daughter to make a good match,
+and that if my intentions were honourable I had only to speak to
+the mother.  His manner was still more offensive than his words,
+and I felt enraged, but knowing the brutal drunken characteristics
+of the man, and that he was always ready to draw cold steel for a
+yes or a no, I was silent and resolved to forget the girl, not
+caring to become involved with a man like her father.
+
+I had almost cured myself of my fancy when, a few days after our
+conversation, I happened to go into a billiard-room where d'Ache
+was playing with a Swiss named Schmit, an officer in the Swedish
+army.  As soon as d'Ache saw me he asked whether I would lay the
+ten Louis he owed me against him.
+
+"Yes," said I, "that will make double or quits."
+
+Towards the end of the match d'Ache made an unfair stroke, which
+was so evident that the marker told him of it; but as this stroke
+made him the winner, d'Ache seized the stakes and put them in his
+pocket without heeding the marker or the other player, who, seeing
+himself cheated before his very eyes, gave the rascal a blow
+across the face with his cue.  D'Ache parried the blow with his
+hand, and drawing his sword rushed at Schmit, who had no arms.
+The marker, a sturdy young fellow, caught hold of d'Ache round the
+body, and thus prevented murder.  The Swiss went out, saying,
+
+"We shall see each other again."
+
+The rascally Frenchman cooled down, and said to me,
+
+"Now, you see, we are quits."
+
+"Very much quits."
+
+"That's all very well; but, by God!  you might have prevented the
+insult which has dishonoured me."
+
+"I might have done so, but I did not care to interfere.  You are
+strong enough to look after yourself.  Schmit had not his sword,
+but I believe him to be a brave man; and he will give you
+satisfaction if you will return him his money, for there can be no
+doubt that you lost the match."
+
+An officer, named de Pyene, took me up and said that he himself
+would give me the twenty louis which d'Ache had taken, but that
+the Swiss must give satisfaction.  I had no hesitation in
+promising that he would do so, and said I would bring a reply to
+the challenge the next morning.
+
+I had no fears myself.  The man of honour ought always to be ready
+to use the sword to defend himself from insult, or to give
+satisfaction for an insult he has offered.  I know that the law of
+duelling is a prejudice which may be called, and perhaps rightly,
+barbarous, but it is a prejudice which no man of honour can
+contend against, and I believed Schmit to be a thorough gentleman.
+
+I called on him at day-break, and found him still in bed.  As soon
+as he saw me, he said,
+
+"I am sure you have come to ask me to fight with d'Ache.  I am
+quite ready to burn powder with him, but he must first pay me the
+twenty Louis he robbed me of."
+
+"You shall have them to-morrow, and I will attend you.  D'Ache
+will be seconded by M. de Pyene."
+
+"Very good.  I shall expect you at day-break."
+
+Two hours after I saw de Pyene, and we fixed the meeting for the
+next day, at six o'clock in the morning.  The arms were to be
+pistols.  We chose a garden, half a league from the town, as the
+scene of the combat.
+
+At day-break I found the Swiss waiting for me at the door of his
+lodgings, carolling the 'ranz-des-vaches', so dear to his fellow-
+countrymen.  I thought that a good omen.
+
+"Here you are," said he; "let us be off, then."
+
+On the way, he observed, "I have only fought with men of honour up
+to now, and I don't much care for killing a rascal; it's hangman's
+work."
+
+"I know," I replied, "that it's very hard to have to risk one's
+life against a fellow like that."
+
+"There's no risk," said Schmit, with a laugh.  "I am certain that
+I shall kill him."
+
+"How can you be certain?"
+
+"I shall make him tremble."
+
+He was right.  This secret is infallible when it is applied to a
+coward.  We found d'Ache and de Pyene on the field, and five or
+six others who must have been present from motives of curiosity.
+
+D'Ache took twenty louis from his pocket and gave them to his
+enemy, saying,
+
+"I may be mistaken, but I hope to make you pay dearly for your
+brutality."  Then turning to me he said,
+
+"I owe you twenty louis also;" but I made no reply.
+
+Schmit put the money in his purse with the calmest air imaginable,
+and making no reply to the other's boast placed himself between
+two trees, distant about four paces from one another, and drawing
+two pistols from his pocket said to d'Ache,
+
+"Place yourself at a distance of ten paces, and fire first.  I
+shall walk to and fro between these two trees, and you may walk as
+far if you like to do so when my turn comes to fire."
+
+Nothing could be clearer or more calmly delivered than this
+explanation.
+
+"But we must decide," said I, "who is to have the first shot."
+
+"There is no need," said Schmit.  "I never fire first, besides,
+the gentleman has a right to the first shot."
+
+De Pyene placed his friend at the proper distance and then stepped
+aside, and d'Ache fired on his antagonist, who was walking slowly
+to and fro without looking at him.  Schmit turned round in the
+coolest manner possible, and said,
+
+"You have missed me, sir; I knew you would.  Try again."
+
+I thought he was mad, and that some arrangement would be come to;
+but nothing of the kind.  D'Ache fired a second time, and again
+missed; and Schmit, without a word, but as calm as death, fired
+his first pistol in the air, and then covering d'Ache with his
+second pistol hit him in the forehead and stretched him dead on
+the ground.  He put back his pistols into his pocket and went off
+directly by himself, as if he were merely continuing his walk.  In
+two minutes I followed his example, after ascertaining that the
+unfortunate d'Ache no longer breathed.
+
+I was in a state of amazement.  Such a duel was more like a combat
+of romance than a real fact.  I could not understand it; I had
+watched the Swiss, and had not noticed the slightest change pass
+over his face.
+
+I breakfasted with Madame d'Urfe, whom I found inconsolable.  It
+was the full moon, and at three minutes past four exactly I ought
+to perform the mysterious creation of the child in which she was
+to be born again.  But the Lascaris, on whom the work was to be
+wrought, was twisting and turning in her bed, contorting herself
+in such a way that it would be impossible for me to accomplish the
+prolific work.
+
+My grief, when I heard what had happened, was hypocritical; in the
+first place because I no longer felt any desire for the girl, and
+in the second because I thought I saw a way in which I could make
+use of the incident to take vengeance on her.
+
+I lavished consolations on Madame d'Urfe; and on consulting the
+oracle I found that the Lascaris had been defiled by an evil
+genius, and that I must search for another virgin whose purity
+must be under the protection of more powerful spirits.  I saw that
+my madwoman was perfectly happy with this, and I left her to visit
+the Corticelli, whom I found in bed with her mother beside her.
+
+"You have convulsions, have you, dearest?" said I.
+
+"No, I haven't.  I am quite well, but all the same I shall have
+them till you give me back my jewel-casket."
+
+"You are getting wicked, my poor child; this comes of following
+your mother's advice.  As for the casket, if you are going to
+behave like this, probably you will have it."
+
+"I will reveal all."
+
+"You will not be believed; and I shall send you back to Bologna
+without letting you take any of the presents which Madame d'Urfe
+has given you."
+
+"You ought to have given me back the casket when I declared myself
+with child."
+
+Signora Laura told me that this was only too true, though I was
+not the father.
+
+"Who is, then?" I asked.
+
+"Count N----, whose mistress she was at Prague."
+
+It did not seem probable, as she had no symptoms of pregnancy;
+still it might be so.  I was obliged to plot myself to bring the
+plots of these two rascally women to nought, and without saying
+anything to them I shut myself up with Madame d'Urfe to enquire of
+the oracle concerning the operation which was to make her happy.
+
+After several answers, more obscure than any returned from the
+oracular tripod at Delphi, the interpretation of which I left to
+the infatuated Madame d'Urfe, she discovered herself--and I took
+care not to contradict her--that the Countess Lascaris had gone
+mad.  I encouraged her fears, and succeeded in making her obtain
+from a cabalistic pyramid the statement that the reason the
+princess had not conceived was that she had been defiled by an
+evil genius--an enemy of the Fraternity of the Rosy Cross.  This
+put Madame d'Urfe fairly on the way, and she added on her own
+account that the girl must be with child by a gnome.
+
+She then erected another pyramid to obtain guidance on our quest,
+and I so directed things that the answer came that she must write
+to the moon.
+
+This mad reply, which should have brought her to her senses, only
+made her more crazy than ever.  She was quite ecstatic, and I am
+sure that if I had endeavoured to shew her the nothingness of all
+this I show have had nothing for my trouble.  Her conclusion would
+probably have been that I was possessed by an evil spirit, and was
+no longer a true Rosy Cross.  But I had no idea of undertaking a
+cure which would have done me harm and her no 'good.  Her
+chimerical notions made her happy, and the cold naked truth would
+doubtless have made her unhappy.
+
+She received the order to write to the moon with the greater
+delight as she knew what ceremonies were to be observed in
+addressing that planet; but she could not dispense with the
+assistance of an adept, and I knew she would reckon on me.  I told
+her I should always be ready to serve her, but that, as she knew
+herself, we should have to wait for the first phase of the new
+moon.  I was very glad to gain time, for I had lost heavily at
+play, and I could not leave Aix-la-Chapelle before a bill, which I
+had drawn on M. d'O. of Amsterdam, was cashed.  In the mean time
+we agreed that as the Countess Lascaris had become mad, we must
+not pay any attention to what she might say, as the words would
+not be hers but would proceed from the evil spirit who possessed
+her.
+
+Nevertheless, we determined that as her state was a pitiable one,
+and should be as much alleviated as possible, she should continue
+to dine with us, but that in the evening she was to go to her
+governess and sleep with her.
+
+After having thus disposed of Madame d'Urfe to disbelieve whatever
+the Corticelli cared to tell her, and to concentrate all her
+energies on the task of writing to Selenis, the intelligence of
+the moon, I set myself seriously to work to regain the money I had
+lost at play; and here my cabala was no good to me.  I pledged the
+Corticelli's casket for a thousand louis, and proceeded to play in
+an English club where I had a much better chance of winning than
+with Germans or Frenchmen.
+
+Three or four days after d'Ache's death, his widow wrote me a note
+begging me to call on her.  I found her in company with de Pyene.
+She told me in a lugubrious voice that her husband had left many
+debts unsettled, and that his creditors had seized everything she
+possessed; and--that she was thus unable to pay the expenses of a
+journey, though she wanted to take her daughter with her to
+Colmar, and there to rejoin her family.
+
+"You caused my husband's death," she added, "and I ask you to give
+me a thousand crowns; if you refuse me I shall commence a lawsuit
+against you, for as the Swiss officer has left, you are the only
+person I can prosecute."
+
+"I am surprised at your taking such a tone towards me," I replied,
+coldly, "and were it not for the respect I feel for your
+misfortune, I should answer as bitterly as you deserve.  In the
+first place I have not a thousand crowns to throw away, and if I
+had I would not sacrifice my money to threats.  I am curious to
+know what kind of a case you could get up against me in the courts
+of law.  As for Schmit, he fought like a brave gentleman, and I
+don't think you could get much out of him if he were still here.
+Good-day, madam."
+
+I had scarcely got fifty paces from the house when I was joined by
+de Pyene, who said that rather than Madame d'Ache should have to
+complain of me he would cut my throat on the spot.  We neither of
+us had swords.
+
+"Your intention is not a very flattering one," said I, "and there
+is something rather brutal about it.  I had rather not have any
+affair of the kind with a man whom I don't know and to whom I owe
+nothing."
+
+"You are a coward."
+
+"I would be, you mean, if I were to imitate you.  It is a matter
+of perfect indifference to me what opinion you may have on the
+subject.
+
+"You will be sorry for this."
+
+"Maybe, but I warn you that I never go out unattended by a pair of
+pistols, which I keep in good order and know how to use."  So
+saying I shewd him the pistols, and took one in my right hand.
+
+At this the bully uttered an oath and we separated.
+
+At a short distance from the place where this scene had occurred I
+met a Neapolitan named Maliterni, a lieutenant-colonel and aide to
+the Prince de Condo, commander-in-chief of the French army.  This
+Maliterni was a boon companion, always ready to oblige, and always
+short of money.  We were friends, and I told him what had
+happened.
+
+"I should be sorry," said I, "to have anything to do with a fellow
+like de Pyene, and if you can rid me of him I promise you a
+hundred crowns."
+
+"I daresay that can be managed," he replied, "and I will tell you
+what I can do to-morrow!"
+
+In point of fact, he brought me news the next day that my cut-
+throat had received orders from his superior officer to leave Aix-
+la-Chapelle at day-break, and at the same time he gave me a
+passport from the Prince de Conde.
+
+I confess that this was very pleasant tidings.  I have never
+feared to cross my sword with any man, though never sought the
+barbarous pleasure of spilling men's blood; but on this occasion I
+felt an extreme dislike to a duel with a fellow who was probably
+of the same caste as his friend d'Ache.
+
+I therefore gave Maliterni my heartiest thanks, as well as the
+hundred crowns I had promised him, which I considered so well
+employed that I did not regret their loss.
+
+Maliterni, who was a jester of the first water, and a creature of
+the Marshal d'Estrees, was lacking neither in wit nor knowledge;
+but he was deficient in a sense of order and refinement.  He was a
+pleasant companion, for his gaiety was inexhaustible and he had a
+large knowledge of the world.  He attained the rank of field-
+marshal in 1768, and went to Naples to marry a rich heiress, whom
+he left a widow a year after.
+
+The day after de Pyene's departure I received a note from Mdlle.
+d'Ache, begging me, for the sake of her sick mother, to come and
+see her.  I answered that I would be at such a place at such a
+time, and that she could say what she liked to me.
+
+I found her at the place and time I appointed, with her mother,
+whose illness, it appeared, did not prevent her from going out.
+She called me her persecutor, and said that since the departure of
+her best friend, de Pyene, she did not know where to turn; that
+she had pledged all her belongings, and that I, who was rich,
+ought to aid her, if I were not the vilest of men.
+
+"I feel for your condition," I replied, "as I feel your abuse of
+me; and I cannot help saying that you have shewn yourself the
+vilest of women in inciting de Pyene, who may be an honest man for
+all I know, to assassinate me.  In fine, rich or not, and though I
+owe you nothing, I will give you enough money to take your
+property out of pawn, and I may possibly take you to Colmar
+myself, but you must first consent to my giving your charming
+daughter a proof of my affection."
+
+"And you dare to make this horrible proposal to me?"
+
+"Horrible or not, I do make it."
+
+"I will never consent."
+
+"Good day, madam."
+
+I called the waiter to pay him for the refreshments I had ordered,
+and I gave the girl six double louis, but her proud mother forbade
+her to accept the money from me.  I was not surprised, in spite of
+her distress; for the mother was in reality still more charming
+than the daughter, and she knew it.  I ought to have given her the
+preference, and thus have ended the dispute, but who can account
+for his whims?  I felt that she must hate me, for she did not care
+for her daughter, and it must have humiliated her bitterly to be
+obliged to regard her as a victorious rival.
+
+I left them still holding the six double louis, which pride or
+scorn had refused, and I went to the faro-table and decided in
+sacrificing them to fortune; but that capricious deity, as proud
+as the haughty widow, refused them, and though I left them on the
+board for five deals I almost broke the bank.  An Englishman,
+named Martin, offered to go shares with me, and I accepted, as I
+knew he was a good player; and in the course of eight or ten days
+we did such good business that I was not only able to take the
+casket out of pledge and to cover all losses, but made a
+considerable profit in addition.
+
+About this period, the Corticelli, in her rage against me, had
+told Madame d'Urfe the whole history of her life, of our
+acquaintance, and of her pregnancy.  But the more truthfully she
+told her story so much the more did the good lady believe her to
+be mad, and we often laughed together at the extraordinary fancies
+of the traitress.  Madame d'Urfe put all her trust in the
+instructions which Selenis would give in reply to her letter.
+
+Nevertheless, as the girl's conduct displeased me, I made her eat
+her meals with her mother, while I kept Madame d'Urfe company.  I
+assured her that we should easily find another vessel of election,
+the madness of the Countess Lascaris having made her absolutely
+incapable of participating in our mysterious rites.
+
+Before long, d'Ache's widow found herself obliged to give me her
+Mimi; but I won her by kindness, and in such a way that the mother
+could pretend with decency to know nothing about it.  I redeemed
+all the goods she had pawned, and although the daughter had not
+yet yielded entirely to my ardour, I formed the plan of taking
+them to Colmar with Madame d'Urfe.  To make up the good lady's
+mind, I resolved to let that be one of the instructions from the
+moon, and this she would not only obey blindly but would have no
+suspicions as to my motive.
+
+I managed the correspondence between Selenis and Madame d'Urfe in
+the following manner:
+
+On the day appointed, we supped together in a garden beyond the
+town walls, and in a room on the ground floor of the house I had
+made all the necessary preparations, the letter which was to fall
+from the moon, in reply to Madame d'Urfe's epistle, being in my
+pocket.  At a little distance from the chamber of ceremonies I had
+placed a large bath filled with lukewarm water and perfumes
+pleasing to the deity of the night, into which we were to plunge
+at the hour of the moon, which fell at one o'clock.
+
+When we had burnt incense, and sprinkled the essences appropriate
+to the cult of Selenis, we took off all our clothes, and holding
+the letter concealed in my left hand, with the right I graciously
+led Madame d'Urfe to the brink of the bath.  Here stood an
+alabaster cup containing spirits of wine which I kindled,
+repeating magical words which I did not understand, but which she
+said after me, giving me the letter addressed to Selenis.  I burnt
+the letter in the flame of the spirits, beneath the light of the
+moon, and the credulous lady told me she saw the characters she
+had traced ascending in the rays of the planet.
+
+We then got into the bath, and the letter, which was written in
+silver characters on green paper appeared on the surface of the
+water in the course of ten minutes.  As soon as Madame d'Urfe saw
+it, she picked it up reverently and got out of the bath with me.
+
+We dried and scented ourselves, and proceeded to put on our
+clothes.  As soon as we were in a state of decency I told Madame
+d'Urfe that she might read the epistle, which she had placed on a
+scented silk cushion.  She obeyed, and I saw sadness visibly
+expressed on her features when she saw that her hypostasis was
+deferred till the arrival of Querilinthus, whom she would see with
+me at Marseilles in the spring of next year.  The genius also said
+that the Countess Lascaris could not only do her harm, and that
+she should consult me as to the best means of getting rid of her.
+The letter ended by ordering her not to leave at Aix a lady who
+had lost her husband, and had a daughter who was destined to be of
+great service to the fraternity of the R. C.  She was to take them
+to Alsace, and not to leave them till they were there, and safe
+from that danger which threatened them if they were left to
+themselves.
+
+Madame d'Urfe, who with all her folly was an exceedingly
+benevolent woman, commended the widow to my care enthusiastically,
+and seemed impatient to hear her whole history.  I told her all
+the circumstances which I thought would strengthen her in her
+resolution to befriend them, and promised to introduce the ladies
+to them at the first opportunity.
+
+We returned to Aix, and spent the night in discussing the phantoms
+which coursed through her brain.  All was going on well, and my
+only care was for the journey to Aix, and how to obtain the
+complete enjoyment of Mimi after having so well deserved her
+favours.
+
+I had a run of luck at play the next day, and in the evening I
+gave Madame d'Ache an agreeable surprise by telling her that I
+should accompany her and her Mimi to Colmar.  I told her that I
+should begin by introducing her to the lady whom I had the honour
+to accompany, and I begged her to be ready by the next day as the
+marchioness was impatient to see her.  I could see that she could
+scarcely believe her ears, for she thought Madame d'Urfe was in
+love with me, and she could not understand her desire to make the
+acquaintance of two ladies who might be dangerous rivals.
+
+I conducted them to Madame d'Urfe at the appointed hour, and they
+were received with a warmth which surprised them exceedingly, for
+they could not be expected to know that their recommendation came
+from the moon.  We made a party of four, and while the two ladies
+talked together in the fashion of ladies who have seen the world,
+I paid Mimi a particular attention, which her mother understood
+very well, but which Madame d'Urfe attributed to the young lady's
+connection with the Rosy Cross.
+
+In the evening we all went to a ball, and there the Corticelli,
+who was always trying to annoy me, danced as no young lady would
+dance.  She executed rapid steps, pirouetted, cut capers, and
+shewed her legs; in short, she behaved like a ballet-girl.  I was
+on thorns.  An officer, who either ignored, or pretended to
+ignore, my supposed relation to her, asked me if she was a
+professional dancer.  I heard another man behind me say that he
+thought he remembered seeing her on the boards at Prague.  I
+resolved on hastening my departure, as I foresaw that if I stayed
+much longer at Aix the wretched girl would end by costing me my
+life.
+
+As I have said, Madame d'Ache had a good society manner, and this
+put her in Madame d'Urfe's good graces, who saw in her politeness
+a new proof of the favour of Selenis.  Madame d'Ache felt, I
+suppose, that she awed me some return after all I had done for
+her, and left the ball early, so that when I took Mimi home I
+found myself alone with her, and at perfect liberty to do what I
+liked.  I profited by the opportunity, and remained with Mimi for
+two hours, finding her so complaisant and even passionate that
+when I left her I had nothing more to desire.
+
+In three days time I provided the mother and daughter with their
+outfit, and we left Aix gladly in an elegant and convenient
+travelling carriage which I had provided.  Half an hour before we
+left I made an acquaintance which afterwards proved fatal to me.
+A Flemish officer, unknown to me, accosted me, and painted his
+destitute condition in such sad colours that I felt obliged to
+give him twelve louis.  Ten minutes after, he gave me a paper in
+which he acknowledged the debt, and named the time in which he
+could pay it.  From the paper I ascertained that his name was
+Malingan.  In ten months the reader will hear the results.
+
+Just as we were starting I shewed the Corticelli a carriage with
+four places, in which she, her mother, and the two maids, were to
+travel.  At this she trembled, her pride was wounded, and for a
+moment I thought she was going out of her mind; she rained sobs,
+abuse, and curses on me.  I stood the storm unmoved, however, and
+Madame d'Urfe only laughed at her niece's paroxysms, and seemed
+delighted to find herself sitting opposite to me with the servant
+of Selenis beside her, while Mimi was highly pleased to be so
+close to me.
+
+We got to Liege at nightfall on the next day, and I contrived to
+make Madame d'Urfe stay there the day following, wishing to get
+horses to take us through the Ardennes, and thus to have the
+charming Mimi longer in my possession.
+
+I rose early and went out to see the town.  By the great bridge, a
+woman, so wrapped up in a black mantilla that only the tip of her
+nose was visible, accosted me, and asked me to follow her into a
+house with an open door which she shewed me.
+
+"As I have not the pleasure of knowing you," I replied, "prudence
+will not allow me to do so."
+
+"You do know me, though," she replied, and taking me to the corner
+of a neighbouring street she shewed me her face.  What was my
+surprise to see the fair Stuart of Avignon, the statue of the
+Fountain of Vaucluse.  I was very glad to meet her.
+
+In my curiosity I followed her into the house, to a room on the
+first floor, where she welcomed me most tenderly.  It was all no
+good, for I felt angry with her, and despised her advances, no
+doubt, because I had Mimi, and wished to keep all my love for her.
+However, I took three louis out of my purse and gave them to her,
+asking her to tell me her history.
+
+"Stuart," she said, "was only my keeper; my real name is Ranson,
+and I am the mistress of a rich landed proprietor.  I got back to
+Liege after many sufferings."
+
+"I am delighted to hear that you are more prosperous now, but it
+must be confessed that your behaviour at Avignon was both
+preposterous and absurd.  But the subject is not worth discussing.
+Good day, madam."
+
+I then returned to my hotel to write an account of what I had seen
+to the Marquis Grimaldi.
+
+The next day we left Liege, and were two days passing through the
+Ardennes.  This is one of the strangest tracts in Europe: a vast
+forest, the traditions of which furnished Ariosto with some
+splendid passages.
+
+There is no town in the forest, and though one is obliged to cross
+it to pass from one country to another, hardly any of the
+necessaries of life are to be found in it.
+
+The enquirer will seek in vain for vices or virtues, or manners of
+any kind.  The inhabitants are devoid of correct ideas, but have
+wild notions of their own on the power of men they style scholars.
+It is enough to be a doctor to enjoy the reputation of an
+astrologer and a wizard.  Nevertheless the Ardennes have a large
+population, as I was assured that there were twelve hundred
+churches in the forest.  The people are good-hearted and even
+pleasant, especially the young girls; but as a general rule the
+fair sex is by no means fair in those quarters.  In this vast
+district watered by the Meuse is the town of Bouillon--a regular
+hole, but in my time it was the freest place in Europe.  The Duke
+of Bouillon was so jealous of his rights that he preferred the
+exercise of his prerogatives to all the honours he might have
+enjoyed at the Court of France.  We stayed a day at Metz, but did
+not call on anyone; and in three days we reached Colmar, where we
+left Madame d'Ache, whose good graces I had completely won.  Her
+family, in extremely comfortable circumstances, received the
+mother and daughter with great affection.  Mimi wept bitterly when
+I left her, but I consoled her by saying that I would come back
+before long.  Madame d'Urfe seemed not to mind leaving them, and I
+consoled myself easily enough.  While congratulating myself on
+having made mother and daughter happy, I adored the secret paths
+and ways of Divine Providence.
+
+On the following day we went to Sulzbach, where the Baron of
+Schaumburg, who knew Madame d'Urfe, gave us a warm welcome.  I
+should have been sadly boared in this dull place if it had not
+been for gaming.  Madame d'Urfe, finding herself in need of
+company, encouraged the Corticelli to hope to regain my good
+graces, and, consequently, her own.  The wretched girl, seeing how
+easily I had defeated her projects, and to what a pass of
+humiliation I had brought her, had changed her part, and was now
+submissive enough.  She flattered herself that she would regain
+the favour she had completely lost, and she thought the day was
+won when she saw that Madame d'Ache and her daughter stayed at
+Colmar.  But what she had more at heart than either my friendship
+or Madame d'Urfe's was the jewel-casket; but she dared not ask for
+it, and her hopes of seeing it again were growing dim.  By her
+pleasantries at table which made Madame d'Urfe laugh she succeeded
+in giving me a few amorous twinges; but still I did not allow my
+feelings to relax my severity, and she continued to sleep with her
+mother.
+
+A week after our arrival at Sulzbach I left Madame d'Urfe with the
+Baron of Schaumburg, and I went to Colmar in the hope of good
+fortune.  But I was disappointed, as the mother and daughter had
+both made arrangements for getting married.
+
+A rich merchant, who had been in love with the mother eighteen
+years before, seeing her a widow and still pretty, felt his early
+flames revive, and offered his hand and was accepted.  A young
+advocate found Mimi to his taste, and asked her in marriage.  The
+mother and daughter, fearing the results of my affection, and
+finding it would be a good match, lost no time in giving their
+consent.  I was entertained in the family, and supped in the midst
+of a numerous and choice assemblage; but seeing that I should only
+annoy the ladies and tire myself in waiting for some chance favour
+if I stayed, I bade them adieu and returned to Sulzbach the next
+morning.  I found there a charming girl from Strasburg, named
+Salzmann, three or four gamesters who had come to drink the
+waters, and several ladies, to whom I shall introduce the reader
+in the ensuing chapter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+I Send The Corticelli to Turin--Helen is Initiated Into The
+Mysteries of Love I Go to Lyons--My Arrival at Turin
+
+
+One of the ladies, Madame Saxe, was intended by nature to win the
+devotion of a man of feeling; and if she had not had a jealous
+officer in her train who never let her go out of his sight, and
+seemed to threaten anyone who aspired to please, she would
+probably have had plenty of admirers.  This officer was fond of
+piquet, but the lady was always obliged to sit close beside him,
+which she seemed to do with pleasure.
+
+In the afternoon I played with him, and continued doing so for
+five or six days.  After that I could stand it no longer, as when
+he had won ten or twelve louis he invariably rose and left me to
+myself.  His name was d'Entragues; he was a fine-looking man,
+though somewhat thin, and had a good share of wit and knowledge of
+the world.
+
+We had not played together for two days, when one afternoon he
+asked if I would like to take my revenge.
+
+"No, I think not," said I, "for we don't play on the same
+principle.  I play for amusement's sake and you play to win
+money."
+
+"What do you mean?  Your words are offensive."
+
+"I didn't mean them to be offensive, but as a matter of fact, each
+time we have played you have risen after a quarter of an hour."
+
+"You ought to be obliged to me, as otherwise you would have lost
+heavily."
+
+"Possibly; but I don't think so."
+
+"I can prove it to you:"
+
+"I accept the offer, but the first to leave the table must forfeit
+fifty Louis."
+
+"I agree; but money down."
+
+"I never play on credit."
+
+I ordered a waiter to bring cards, and I went to fetch four or
+five rolls of a hundred Louis each.  We began playing for five
+Louis the game, each player putting down the fifty Louis wagered.
+
+We began to play at three, and at nine o'clock d'Entragues said we
+might take some supper.
+
+"I am not hungry," I replied, "but you can go if you want me to
+put the hundred Louis in my pocket."
+
+He laughed at this and went on playing, but this lacy fair scowled
+at me, though I did not care in the least for that.  All the
+guests went to supper, and returned to keep us company till
+midnight, but at that hour we found ourselves alone.  D'Entragues
+saw what kind of man he had got hold of and said never a word,
+while I only opened my lips to score; we played with the utmost
+coolness.
+
+At six o'clock the ladies and gentlemen who were taking the waters
+began to assemble.  We were applauded for our determination, in
+spite of our grim look.  The Louis were on the table; I had lost a
+hundred, and yet the game was going in my favour.
+
+At nine the fair Madame Saxe put in an appearance, and shortly
+after Madame d'Urfe came in with M. de Schaumburg.  Both ladies
+advised us to take a cup of chocolate.  D'Entragues was the first
+to consent, and thinking that I was almost done he said,--
+
+"Let us agree that the first man who asks for food, who absents
+himself for more than a quarter of an hour, or who falls asleep in
+his chair, loses the bet."
+
+"I will take you at your word," I replied, "and I adhere to all
+your conditions."
+
+The chocolate came, we took it, and proceeded with our play.  At
+noon we were summoned to dinner, but we both replied that we were
+not hungry.  At four o'clock we allowed ourselves to be persuaded
+into taking some soup.  When supper-time came and we were still
+playing, people began to think that the affair was getting
+serious, and Madame Saxe urged us to divide the wager.
+D'Entragues, who had won a hundred louis, would have gladly
+consented, but I would not give in, and M. de Schaumburg
+pronounced me within my rights.  My adversary might have abandoned
+the stake and still found himself with a balance to the good, but
+avarice rather than pride prevented his doing so.  I felt the loss
+myself, but what I cared chiefly about was the point of honour.  I
+still looked fresh, while he resembled a disinterred corpse.  As
+Madame Saxe urged me strongly to give way, I answered that I felt
+deeply grieved at not being able to satisfy such a charming woman,
+but that there was a question of honour in the case;
+and I was determined not to yield to my antagonist if I sat there
+till I fell dead to the ground.
+
+I had two objects in speaking thus: I wanted to frighten him and
+to make him jealous of me.  I felt certain that a man in a passion
+of jealousy would be quite confused, and I hoped his play would
+suffer accordingly, and that I should not have the mortification
+of losing a hundred louis to his superior play, though I won the
+fifty louis of the wager.
+
+The fair Madame Saxe gave me a glance of contempt and left us, but
+Madame d'Urfe, who believed I was infallible, avenged me by saying
+to d'Entragues, in a tone of the profoundest conviction,--
+
+"O Lord!  I pity you, sir."
+
+The company did not return after supper, and we were left alone to
+our play.  We played on all the night, and I observed my
+antagonist's face as closely as the cards.  He began to lose his
+composure, and made mistakes, his cards got mixed up, and his
+scoring was wild.  I was hardly less done up than he; I felt
+myself growing weaker, and I hoped to see him fall to the ground
+every moment, as I began to be afraid of being beaten in spite of
+the superior strength of my constitution.  I had won back my money
+by day-break, and I cavilled with him for being away for more than
+a quarter of an hour.  This quarrel about nothing irritated him,
+and roused me up; the difference of our natures produced these
+different results, and my stratagem succeeded because it was
+impromptu, and could not have been foreseen.  In the same way in
+war, sudden stratagems succeed.
+
+At nine o'clock Madame Saxe came in, her lover was losing.
+
+"Now, sir," she said to me, "you may fairly yield."
+
+"Madam," said I, "in hope of pleasing you, I will gladly divide
+the stakes and rise from the table."
+
+The tone of exaggerated gallantry with which I pronounced these
+words, put d'Entragues into a rage, and he answered sharply that
+he would not desist till one of us was dead.
+
+With a glance at the lady which was meant to be lovelorn, but
+which must have been extremely languid in my exhausted state,
+I said,--
+
+"You see, Madam, that I am not the more obstinate of the two."
+
+A dish of soup was served to us, but d'Entragues, who was in the
+last stage of exhaustion, had no sooner swallowed the soup than he
+fell from his chair in a dead faint.  He was soon taken up, and
+after I had given six louis to the marker who had been watching
+for forty-eight hours, I pocketed the gold, and went to the
+apothecary's where I took a mild emetic.  Afterwards I went to bed
+and slept for a few hours, and at three o'clock I made an
+excellent dinner.
+
+D'Entragues remained in his room till the next day.  I expected a
+quarrel, but the night brings counsel, and I made a mistake.  As
+soon as he saw me he ran up to me and embraced me, saying,--
+
+"I made a silly bet, but you have given me a lesson which will
+last me all my days, and I am much obliged to you for it."
+
+"I am delighted to hear it, provided that your health has not
+suffered."
+
+"No, I am quite well, but we will play no more together."
+
+"Well, I hope we shan't play against each other any more."
+
+In the course of eight or ten days I took Madame d'Urfe and the
+pretended Lascaris to Bale.  We put up at the inn of the famous
+Imhoff, who swindled us, but, all the same, the "Three Kings" is
+the best inn in the town.  I think I have noted that noon at Bale
+is at eleven o'clock--an absurdity due to some historic event,
+which I had explained to me but have forgotten.  The inhabitants
+are said to be subject to a kind of madness, of which they are
+cured by taking the waters of Sulzbach; but they 'get it again as
+soon as they return.
+
+We should have stayed at Bale some time, if it had not been for an
+incident which made me hasten our departure.  It was as follows:
+
+My necessities had obliged me to forgive the Corticelli to a
+certain extent, and when I came home early I spent the night with
+her; but when I came home late, as often happened, I slept in my
+own room.  The little hussy, in the latter case, slept also alone
+in a room next to her mother's, through whose chamber one had to
+pass to get to the daughter's.
+
+One night I came in at one o'clock, and not feeling inclined to
+sleep, I took a candle and went in search of my charmer.  I was
+rather surprised to find Signora Laura's door half open, and just
+as I was going in the old woman came forward and took me by the
+arm, begging me not to go into her daughter's room.
+
+"Why?" said I.
+
+"She has been very poorly all the evening, and she is in need of
+sleep."
+
+"Very good; then I will sleep too."
+
+So saying I pushed the mother to one side, and entering the girl's
+room I found her in bed with someone who was hiding under the
+sheets.
+
+I 'gazed at the picture for a moment and then began to laugh, and
+sitting down on the bed begged to enquire the name of the happy
+individual whom I should have the pleasure of throwing out of the
+window.  On a chair I saw the coat, trousers, hat, and cane of the
+gentleman; but as I had my two trusty pistols about me I knew I
+had nothing to fear; however, I did not want to make a noise.
+
+With tears in her eyes, and trembling all over, the girl took my
+hand and begged me to forgive her.
+
+"It's a young lord," said she, "and I don't even know his name."
+
+"Oh, he is a young lord, is he?  and you don't know his name, you
+little hussy, don't you?  Well, he will tell me himself."
+
+So saying, I took a pistol and vigorously stripped the sheets off
+the cuckoo who had got into my nest.  I saw the face of a young
+man whom I did not know, his head covered with a nightcap, but the
+rest perfectly naked, as indeed was my mistress.  He turned his
+back to me to get his shirt which he had thrown on the floor, but
+seizing him by the arm I held him firmly, with my pistol to his
+forehead.
+
+"Kindly tell me your name, fair sir."
+
+"I am Count B----, canon of Bale."
+
+"And do you think you have been performing an ecclesiastical
+function here?"
+
+"No sir, no, and I hope you will forgive me and the lady too, for
+I am the only guilty party."
+
+"I am not asking you whether she is guilty or not."
+
+"Sir, the countess is perfectly innocent."
+
+I felt in a good temper, and far from being angry I was strongly
+inclined to laugh.  I found the picture before me an attractive
+one; it was amusing and voluptuous.  The sight of the two nudities
+on the bed was a truly lascivious one, and I remained
+contemplating it in silence for a quarter of an hour, occupied in
+resisting a strong temptation to take off my clothes and lie
+beside them.  The only thing which prevented my yielding to it was
+the fear that I might find the canon to be a fool, incapable of
+playing the part with dignity.  As for the Corticelli, she soon
+passed from tears to laughter, and would have done it well, but
+if, as I feared, the canon was a blockhead, I should have been
+degrading myself.
+
+I felt certain that neither of them had guessed my thoughts, so I
+rose and told the canon to put on his clothes.
+
+"No one must hear anything more of this," said I, "but you and I
+will go to a distance of two hundred paces and burn a little
+powder."
+
+"No, no, sir," cried my gentleman, "you may take me where you
+like, and kill me if you please, but I was not meant for a
+fighting man."
+
+"Really?"
+
+"Yes, sir, and I only became a priest to escape the fatal duty of
+duelling."
+
+"Then you are a coward, and will not object to a good thrashing?"
+
+"Anything you like, but it would be cruelty, for my love blinded
+me.  I only came here a quarter of an hour ago, and the countess
+and her governess were both asleep."
+
+"You are a liar."
+
+"I had only just taken off my shirt when you came, and I have
+never seen this angel before."
+
+"And that's gospel truth," said the Corticelli.
+
+"Are you aware that you are a couple of impudent scoundrels?  And
+as for you, master canon, you deserve to be roasted like St.
+Laurence."
+
+In the meanwhile the wretched ecclesiastic had huddled on his
+clothes.
+
+"Follow me, sir," said I, in a tone which froze the marrow of his
+bones; and I accordingly took him to my room.
+
+"What will you do," said I, "if I forgive you and let you go
+without putting you to shame?"
+
+"I will leave in an hour and a half, and you shall never see me
+here again; but even if we meet in the future, you will find me
+always ready to do you a service."
+
+"Very good.  Begone, and in the future take more precautions in
+your amorous adventures."
+
+After this I went to bed, well pleased with what I had seen and
+what I had done, for I now had complete power over the Corticelli.
+
+In the morning I called on her as soon as I got up, and told her
+to pack up her things, forbidding her to leave her room till she
+got into the carriage.
+
+"I shall say I am ill."
+
+"Just as you please, but nobody will take any notice of you."
+
+I did not wait for her to make any further objections, but
+proceeded to tell the tale of what had passed to Madame d'Urfe,
+slightly embroidering the narrative.  She laughed heartily, and
+enquired of the oracle what must be done with the Lascaris after
+her evident pollution by the evil genius disguised as a priest.
+The oracle replied that we must set out the next day for Besancon,
+whence she would go to Lyons and await me there, while I would
+take the countess to Geneva, and thus send her back to her native
+country.
+
+The worthy visionary was enchanted with this arrangement, and saw
+in it another proof of the benevolence of Selenis, who would thus
+give her an opportunity of seeing young Aranda once more.  It was
+agreed that I was to rejoin her in the spring of the following
+year, to perform the great operation which was to make her be born
+a man.  She had not the slightest doubts as to the reasonableness
+of this performance.
+
+All was ready, and the next day we started; Madame d'Urfe and I in
+the travelling carriage, and the Corticelli, her mother, and the
+servants in another conveyance.
+
+When we got to Besancon Madame d'Urfe left me, and on the next day
+I journeyed towards Geneva with the mother and daughter.
+
+On the way I not only did not speak to my companions, I did not so
+much as look at them.  I made them have their meals with a servant
+from the Franche Comte, whom I had taken on M. de Schaumburg's
+recommendation.
+
+I went to my banker, and asked him to get me a good coachman, who
+would take two ladies of my acquaintance to Turin.
+
+When I got back to the inn I wrote to the Chevalier Raiberti,
+sending him a bill of exchange.  I warned him that in three or
+four days after the receipt of my letter he would be accosted by a
+Bolognese dancer and her mother, bearing a letter of commendation.
+I begged him to see that they lodged in a respectable house, and
+to pay for them on my behalf.  I also said that I should be much
+obliged if he would contrive that she should dance, even for
+nothing, at the carnival, and I begged him to warn her that, if I
+heard any tales about her when I came to Turin, our relations
+would be at an end.
+
+The following day a clerk of M. Tronchin's brought a coachman for
+me to see.  The man said he was ready to start as soon as he had
+had his dinner.  I confirmed the agreement he had made with the
+banker, I summoned the two Corticellis, and said to the coachman,
+
+"These are the persons you are to drive, and they will pay you
+when they reach Turin in safety with their luggage.  You are to
+take four days and a half for the journey, as is stipulated in the
+agreement, of which they have one copy and you another."  An hour
+after he called to put the luggage in.
+
+The Corticelli burst into tears, but I was not so cruel as to send
+her away without any consolation.  Her bad conduct had been
+severely enough punished already.  I made her dine with me, and as
+I gave her the letter for M. Raiberti, and twenty-five Louis for
+the journey, I told her what I had written to the gentleman, who
+would take good care of them.  She asked me for a trunk containing
+three dresses and a superb mantle which Madame d'Urfe had given
+her before she became mad, but I said that we would talk of that
+at Turin.  She dared not mention the casket, but continued
+weeping; however, she did not move me to pity.  I left her much
+better off than when I first knew her; she had good clothes, good
+linen, jewels, and an exceedingly pretty watch I had given her;
+altogether a good deal more than she deserved.
+
+As she was going I escorted her to the carriage, less for
+politeness' sake than to commend her once more to the coachman.
+When she was fairly gone I felt as if a load had been taken off my
+back, and I went to look up my worthy syndic, whom the reader will
+not have forgotten.  I had not written to him since I was in
+Florence, and I anticipated the pleasure of seeing his surprise,
+which was extreme.  But after gazing at me for a moment he threw
+his arms round my neck, kissed me several times, and said he had
+not expected the pleasure of seeing me.
+
+"How are our sweethearts getting on?"
+
+"Excellently.  They are always talking about you and regretting
+your absence; they will go wild with joy when they know you are
+here."
+
+"You must tell them directly, then."
+
+"I will go and warn them that we shall all sup together this
+evening.  By the way, M. de Voltaire has given up his house at
+Delices to M.  de Villars, and has gone to live at Ferney."
+
+"That makes no difference to me, as I was not thinking of calling
+on him this time.  I shall be here for two or three weeks, and I
+mean to devote my time to you."
+
+"You are too good."
+
+"Will you give me writing materials before you go out?  I will
+write a few letters while you are away."
+
+He put me in possession of his desk, and I wrote to my late
+housekeeper, Madame Lebel, telling her that I was going to spend
+three weeks at Geneva, and that if I were sure of seeing her I
+would gladly pay a visit to Lausanne.  Unfortunately, I also wrote
+to the bad Genoese poet, Ascanio Pogomas, or Giaccomo Passano,
+whom I had met at Leghorn.  I told him to go to Turin and to wait
+for me there.  At the same time I wrote to M. F----, to whom I had
+commended him, asking him to give the poet twelve Louis for the
+journey.
+
+My evil genius made me think of this man, who was an imposing-
+looking fellow, and had all the air of a magician, to introduce
+him to Madame d'Urfe as a great adept.  You will see, dear reader,
+in the course of a year whether I had reason to repent of this
+fatal inspiration.
+
+As the syndic and I were on our way to our young friend's house I
+saw an elegant English carriage for sale, and I exchanged it for
+mine, giving the owner a hundred Louis as well.  While the bargain
+was going on the uncle of the young theologian who argued so well,
+and to whom I had given such pleasant lessons in physiology, came
+up to me, embraced me, and asked me to dine with him the next day.
+
+Before we got to the house the syndic informed me that we should
+find another extremely pretty but uninitiated girl present.
+
+"All the better," said I, "I shall know how to regulate my
+conduct, and perhaps I may succeed in initiating her."
+
+In my pocket I had placed a casket containing a dozen exquisite
+rings.  I had long been aware that such trifling presents are
+often very serviceable.
+
+The moment of meeting those charming girls once more was one of
+the happiest I have ever enjoyed.  In their greeting I read
+delight and love of pleasure.  Their love was without envy or
+jealousy, or any ideas which would have injured their self-esteem.
+They felt worthy of my regard, as they had lavished their favours
+on me without any degrading feelings, and drawn by the same
+emotion that had drawn me.
+
+The presence of the neophyte obliged us to greet each other with
+what is called decency, and she allowed me to kiss her without
+raising her eyes, but blushing violently.
+
+After the usual commonplaces had passed and we had indulged in
+some double meanings which made us laugh and her look thoughtful,
+I told her she was pretty as a little love, and that I felt sure
+that her mind, as beautiful as its casket, could harbour no
+prejudices.
+
+"I have all the prejudices which honour and religion suggest," she
+modestly replied.
+
+I saw that this was a case requiring very delicate treatment.
+There was no question of carrying the citadel by sudden assault.
+But, as usual, I fell in love with her.
+
+The syndic having pronounced my name, she said,--
+
+"Ah! then, you, sir, are the person who discussed some very
+singular questions with my cousin, the pastor's niece.  I am
+delighted to make your acquaintance."
+
+"I am equally pleased to make yours, but I hope the pastor's niece
+said nothing against me."
+
+"Not at all; she has a very high opinion of you."
+
+"I am going to dine with her to-morrow, and I shall take care to
+thank her."
+
+"To-morrow!  I should like to be there, for I enjoy philosophical
+discussions though I never dare to put a word in."
+
+The syndic praised her discretion and wisdom in such a manner that
+I was convinced he was in love with her, and that he had either
+seduced her or was trying to do so.  Her name was Helen.  I asked
+the young ladies if Helen was their sister.  The eldest replied,
+with a sly smile, that she was a sister, but as yet she had no
+brother; and with this explanation she ran up to Helen and kissed
+her.  Then the syndic and I vied with each other in paying her
+compliments, telling her that we hoped to be her brothers.  She
+blushed, but gave no answer to our gallantries.  I then drew forth
+my casket, and seeing that all the girls were enchanted with the
+rings, I told them to choose which ones they liked best.  The
+charming Helen imitated their example, and repaid me with a modest
+kiss.  Soon after she left us, and we were once more free, as in
+old times.
+
+The syndic had good cause to shew for his love of Helen.  She was
+not merely pleasing, she was made to inspire a violent passion.
+However, the three friends had no hope of making her join in their
+pleasures, for they said that she had invincible feelings of
+modesty where men were concerned.
+
+We supped merrily, and after supper we began our sports again, the
+syndic remaining as usual a mere looker-on, and well pleased with
+his part.  I treated each of the three nymphs to two courses,
+deceiving them whenever I was forced by nature to do so.  At
+midnight we broke up, and the worthy syndic escorted me to the
+door of my lodging.
+
+The day following I went to the pastor's and found a numerous
+party assembled, amongst others M. d'Harcourt and M. de Ximenes,
+who told me that M. de Voltaire knew that I was at Geneva and
+hoped to see me.  I replied by a profound bow.  Mdlle. Hedvig, the
+pastor's niece, complimented me, but I was still better pleased to
+see her cousin Helen.  The theologian of twenty-two was fair and
+pleasant to the eyes, but she had not that 'je ne sais quoi', that
+shade of bitter-sweet, which adds zest to hope as well as
+pleasure.  However, the evident friendship between Hedvig and
+Helen gave me good hopes of success with the latter.
+
+We had an excellent dinner, and while it lasted the conversation
+was restricted to ordinary topics; but at dessert the pastor
+begged M. de Ximenes to ask his niece some questions.  Knowing his
+worldwide reputation, I expected him to put her some problem in
+geometry, but he only asked whether a lie could be justified on
+the principle of a mental reservation.
+
+Hedvig replied that there are cases in which a lie is necessary,
+but that the principle of a mental reservation is always a cheat.
+
+"Then how could Christ have said that the time in which the world
+was to come to an end was unknown to Him?"
+
+"He was speaking the truth; it was not known to Him."
+
+"Then he was not God?"
+
+"That is a false deduction, for since God may do all things, He
+may certainly be ignorant of an event in futurity."
+
+I thought the way in which she brought in the word "futurity"
+almost sublime.  Hedvig was loudly applauded, and her uncle went
+all round the table to kiss her.  I had a very natural objection
+on the tip of my tongue, which she might have found difficult to
+answer, but I wanted to get into her good graces and I kept my own
+counsel.
+
+M. d'Harcourt was urged to ask her some questions, but he replied
+in the words of Horace, 'Nulla mihi religio est'.  Then Hedvig
+turned to me and asked me to put her some hard question,
+"something difficult, which you don't know yourself."
+
+"I shall be delighted.  Do you grant that a god possesses in a
+supreme degree the qualities of man?"
+
+"Yes, excepting man's weaknesses."
+
+"Do you class the generative power as a weakness?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Will you tell me, then, of what nature would have been the
+offspring of a union between a god and a mortal woman?"
+
+Hedvig looked as red as fire.
+
+The pastor and the other guests looked at each other, while I
+gazed fixedly at the young theologian, who was reflecting.  M.
+d'Harcourt said that we should have to send for Voltaire to settle
+a question so difficult, but as Hedvig had collected her thoughts
+and seemed ready to speak everybody was silent.
+
+"It would be absurd," said she, "to suppose that a deity could
+perform such an action without its having any results.  At the end
+of nine months a woman would be delivered a male child, which
+would be three parts man and one part god."
+
+At these words all the guests applauded, M. de Ximenes expressed
+his admiration of the way the question had been solved, adding,--
+
+"Naturally, if the son of the woman married, his children would be
+seven-eighths men and one-eighth gods."
+
+"Yes," said I, "unless he married a goddess, which would have made
+the proportion different."
+
+"Tell me exactly," said Hedvig, "what proportion of divinity there
+would be in a child of the sixteenth generation."
+
+"Give me a pencil and I will soon tell you," said M. de Ximenes.
+
+"There is no need to calculate it," said I; "the child would have
+some small share of the wit which you enjoy."
+
+Everybody applauded this gallant speech, which did not by any
+means offend the lady to whom it was addressed.
+
+This pretty blonde was chiefly desirable for the charms of her
+intellect.  We rose from the table and made a circle round her,
+but she told us with much grace not to pay her any more
+compliments.
+
+I took Helen aside, and told her to get her cousin to choose a
+ring from my casket, which I gave her, and she seemed glad to
+execute the commission.  A quarter of an hour afterwards Hedvig
+came to shew me her hand adorned with the ring she had chosen.  I
+kissed it rapturously, and she must have guessed from the warmth
+of my kisses with what feelings she had inspired me.
+
+In the evening Helen told the syndic and the three girls all about
+the morning's discussion without leaving out the smallest detail.
+She told the story with ease and grace, and I had no occasion to
+prompt her.  We begged her to stay to supper, but she whispered
+something to the three friends, and they agreed that it was
+impossible; but she said that she might spend a couple of days
+with them in their country house on the lake, if they would ask
+her mother.
+
+At the syndic's request the girls called on the mother the next
+day, and the day after that they went off with Helen.  The same
+evening we went and supped with them, but we could not sleep
+there.  The syndic was to take me to a house at a short distance
+off, where we should be very comfortable.  This being the case
+there was no hurry, and the eldest girl said that the syndic and I
+could leave whenever we liked, but that they were going to bed.
+So saying she took Helen to her room, while the two others slept
+in another room.  Soon after the syndic went into the room where
+Helen was, and I visited the two others.
+
+I had scarcely been with my two sweethearts for an hour when the
+syndic interrupted my erotic exploits by begging me to go.
+
+"What have you done with Helen?" I asked.
+
+"Nothing; she's a simpleton, and an intractable one.  She hid
+under the sheets and would not look at my performance with her
+friend."
+
+"You ought to go to her direct."
+
+"I have done so, but she repulsed me again and again.  I have
+given it up, and shall not try it again, unless you will tame her
+for me."
+
+"How is it to be done?"
+
+"Come to dinner to-morrow.  I shall be away at Geneva.  I shall be
+back by supper-time.  I wish we could give her too much to drink!"
+
+"That would be a pity.  Let me see what I can do."
+
+I accordingly went to dine with them by myself the next day, and
+they entertained me in all the force of the word.  After dinner we
+went for a walk, and the three friends understanding my aims left
+me alone with the intractable girl, who resisted my caresses in a
+manner which almost made me give up the hope of taming her.
+
+"The syndic," said I, "is in love with you, and last night .  .  .
+
+"Last night," she said, "he amused himself with his old friend.  I
+am for everyone's following their own tastes, but I expect to be
+allowed to follow mine."
+
+"If I could gain your heart I should be happy."
+
+"Why don't you invite the pastor and my cousin to dine with you?
+I could come too, for the pastor makes much of everyone who loves
+his niece."
+
+"I am glad to hear that.  Has she a lover?"
+
+"No."
+
+"I can scarcely believe it.  She is young, pretty, agreeable, and
+very clever."
+
+"You don't understand Genevan ways.  It is because she is so
+clever that no young man falls in love with her.  Those who might
+be attracted by her personal charms hold themselves aloof on
+account of her intellectual capacities, as they would have to sit
+in silence before her."
+
+"Are the young Genevans so ignorant, then?"
+
+"As a rule they are.  Some of them have received excellent
+educations, but in a general way they are full of prejudice.
+Nobody wishes to be considered a fool or a blockhead, but clever
+women are not appreciated; and if a girl is witty or well educated
+she endeavors to hide her lights, at least if she desires to be
+married."
+
+"Ah! now I see why you did not open your lips during our
+discussion."
+
+"No, I know I have nothing to hide.  This was not the motive which
+made me keep silence, but the pleasure of listening.  I admired my
+cousin, who was not afraid to display her learning on a subject
+which any other girl would have affected to know nothing about."
+
+"Yes, affected, though she might very probably know as much as her
+grandmother."
+
+"That's a matter of morals, or rather of prejudices."
+
+"Your reasoning is admirable, and I am already longing for the
+party you so cleverly suggested:"
+
+"You will have the pleasure of being with my cousin."
+
+"I do her justice.  Hedvig is certainly a very interesting and
+agreeable girl, but believe me it is your presence that will
+constitute my chief enjoyment."
+
+"And how if I do not believe you?"
+
+"You would wrong me and give me pain, for I love you dearly."
+
+"In spite of that you have deceived me.  I am sure that you have
+given marks of your affection to those three young ladies.  For my
+part I pity them."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Because neither of them can flatter herself that you love her,
+and her alone."
+
+"And do you think that your delicacy of feeling makes you happier
+than they are?"
+
+"Yes, I think so though of course, I have no experience in the
+matter.  Tell me truly, do you think I am right?"
+
+"Yes, I do."
+
+"I am delighted to hear it; but you must confess that to associate
+me with them in your attentions would not be giving me the
+greatest possible proof of your love."
+
+"Yes, I do confess it, and I beg your pardon.  But tell me how I
+should set to work to ask the pastor to dinner."
+
+"There will be no difficulty.  Just call on him and ask him to
+come, and if you wish me to be of the party beg him to ask my
+mother and myself."
+
+"Why your mother?"
+
+"Because he has been in love with her these twenty years, and
+loves her still."
+
+"And where shall I give this dinner?"
+
+"Is not M. Tronchin your banker?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"He has a nice pleasure house on the lake; ask him to lend it you
+for the day; he will be delighted to do so.  But don't tell the
+syndic or his three friends anything about it; they can hear of it
+afterwards."
+
+"But do you think your learned cousin will be glad to be in my
+company?"
+
+"More than glad, you may be sure."
+
+"Very good, everything will be arranged by tomorrow.  The day
+after, you will be returning to Geneva, and the party will take
+place two or three days later."
+
+The syndic came back in due course, and we had a very pleasant
+evening.  After supper the ladies went to bed as before, and I
+went with the eldest girl while the syndic visited the two younger
+ones.  I knew that it would be of no use to try to do anything
+with Helen, so I contented myself with a few kisses, after which I
+wished them good night and passed on to the next room.  I found
+them in a deep sleep, and the syndic seemed visibly bored.  He did
+not look more cheerful when I told him that I had had no success
+with Helen.
+
+"I see," said he, "that I shall waste my time with the little
+fool.  I think I shall give her up."
+
+"I think that's the best thing you could do," I replied, "for a
+man who languishes after a woman who is either devoid of feeling
+or full of caprice, makes himself her dupe.  Bliss should be
+neither too easy nor too hard to be won."
+
+The next day we returned to Geneva, and M. Tronchin seemed
+delighted to oblige me.  The pastor accepted my invitation, and
+said I was sure to be charmed with Helen's mother.  It was easy to
+see that the worthy man cherished a tenderness for her, and if she
+responded at all it would be all the better for my purposes.
+
+I was thinking of supping with the charming Helen and her three
+friends at the house on the lake, but an express summoned me to
+Lausanne.  Madame Lebel, my old housekeeper, invited me to sup
+with her and her husband.  She wrote that she had made her husband
+promise to take her to Lausanne as soon as she got my letter, and
+she added she was sure that I would resign everything to give her
+the pleasure of seeing me.  She notified the hour at which she
+would be at her mother's house.
+
+Madame Lebel was one of the ten or twelve women for whom in my
+happy youth I cherished the greatest affection.  She had all the
+qualities to make a man a good wife, if it had been my fate to
+experience such felicity.  But perhaps I did well not to tie
+myself down with irrevocable bonds, though now my independence is
+another name for slavery.  But if I had married a woman of tact,
+who would have ruled me unawares to myself, I should have taken
+care of my fortune and have had children, instead of being lonely
+and penniless in my old age.
+
+But I must indulge no longer in digressions on the past which
+cannot be recalled, and since my recollections make me happy I
+should be foolish to cherish idle regrets.
+
+I calculated that if I started directly I should get to Lausanne
+an hour before Madame Lebel, and I did not hesitate to give her
+this proof of my regard.  I must here warn my readers, that,
+though I loved this woman well, I was then occupied with another
+passion, and no voluptuous thought mingled with my desire of
+seeing her.  My esteem for her was enough to hold my passions in
+check, but I esteemed Lebel too, and nothing would have induced me
+to disturb the happiness of this married pair.
+
+I wrote in haste to the syndic, telling him that an important and
+sudden call obliged me to start for Lausanne, but that I should
+have the pleasure of supping with him and his three friends at
+Geneva on the following day.
+
+I knocked at Madame Dubois's door at five o'clock, almost dying
+with hunger.  Her surprise was extreme, for she did not know that
+her daughter was going to meet me at her house.  Without more ado
+I gave her two louis to get us a good supper.
+
+At seven o'clock, Madame Lebel, her husband, and a child of
+eighteen months, whom I easily recognized as my own, arrived.  Our
+meeting was a happy one indeed; we spent ten hours at table, and
+mirth and joy prevailed.  At day-break she started for Soleure,
+where Lebel had business.  M. de Chavigni had desired to be
+remembered most affectionately to me.  Lebel assured me that the
+ambassador was extremely kind to his wife, and he thanked me
+heartily for having given such a woman up to him.  I could easily
+see that he was a happy husband, and that his wife was as happy as
+he.
+
+My dear housekeeper talked to me about my son.  She said that
+nobody suspected the truth, but that neither she nor Lebel (who
+had faithfully kept his promise, and had not consummated the
+marriage for the two months agreed upon) had any doubts.
+
+"The secret," said Lebel to me, "will never be known, and your son
+will be my sole heir, or will share my property with my children
+if I ever have any, which I doubt."
+
+"My dear," said his wife, "there is somebody who has very strong
+suspicions on the subject, and these suspicions will gain strength
+as the child grows older; but we have nothing to fear on that
+score, as she is well paid to keep the secret."
+
+"And who is this person?" said I.
+
+"Madame ----.  She has not forgotten the past, and often speaks of
+you."
+
+"Will you kindly remember me to her?"
+
+"I shall be delighted to do so, and I am sure the message will
+give her great pleasure."
+
+Lebel shewed me my ring, and I shewed him his, and gave him a
+superb watch for my son.
+
+"You must give it him," I said, "when you think he is old enough."
+
+We shall hear of the young gentleman in twenty-one years at
+Fontainebleau.
+
+I passed three hours in telling them of all the adventures I had
+during the twenty-seven months since we had seen one another.  As
+to their history, it was soon told; it had all the calm which
+belongs to happiness.
+
+Madame Lebel was as pretty as ever, and I could see no change in
+her, but I was no longer the same man.  She thought me less lively
+than of old, and she was right.  The Renaud had blasted me, and
+the pretended Lascaris had given me a great deal of trouble and
+anxiety.
+
+We embraced each other tenderly, and the wedded pair returned to
+Soleure and I to Geneva; but feeling that I wanted rest I wrote to
+the syndic that I was not well and could not come till the next
+day, and after I had done so I went to bed.
+
+The next day, the eve of my dinner party, I ordered a repast in
+which no expense was to be spared.  I did not forget to tell the
+landlord to get me the best wines, the choicest liqueurs, ices,
+and all the materials for a bowl of punch.  I told him that we
+should be six in number, for I foresaw that M. Tronchin would dine
+with us.  I was right; I found him at his pretty house ready to
+receive us, and I had not much trouble in inducing him to stay.
+In the evening I thought it as well to tell the syndic and his
+three friends about it in Helen's presence, while she, feigning
+ignorance, said that her mother had told her they were going
+somewhere or other to dinner.
+
+"I am delighted to hear it," said I; "it must be at
+M. Tronchin's."
+
+My dinner would have satisfied the most exacting gourmet, but
+Hedvig was its real charm.  She treated difficult theological
+questions with so much grace, and rationalised so skilfully, that
+though one might not be convinced it was impossible to help being
+attracted.  I have never seen any theologian who could treat the
+most difficult points with so much facility, eloquence, and real
+dignity, and at dinner she completed her conquest of myself.  M.
+Tronchin, who had never heard her speak before, thanked me a
+hundred times for having procured him this pleasure, and being
+obliged to leave us by the call of business he asked us to meet
+again in two days' time.
+
+I was much interested during the dessert by the evident tenderness
+of the pastor for Helen's mother.  His amorous eloquence grew in
+strength as he irrigated his throat with champagne, Greek wine,
+and eastern liqueurs.  The lady seemed pleased, and was a match
+for him as far as drinking was concerned, while the two girls and
+myself only drank with sobriety.  However, the mixture of wines,
+and above all the punch, had done their work, and my charmers were
+slightly elevated.  Their spirits were delightful, but rather
+pronounced.
+
+I took this favourable opportunity to ask the two aged lovers if I
+might take the young ladies for a walk in the garden by the lake,
+and they told us enthusiastically to go and enjoy ourselves.  We
+went out arm in arm, and in a few minutes we were out of sight of
+everyone.
+
+"Do you know," said I to Hedvig, "that you have made a conquest of
+M. Tronchin?"
+
+"Have I?  The worthy banker asked me some very silly questions."
+
+"You must not expect everyone to be able to contend with you."
+
+"I can't help telling you that your question pleased me best of
+all.  A bigoted theologian at the end of the table seemed
+scandalized at the question and still more at the answer."
+
+"And why?"
+
+"He says I ought to have told you that a deity could not
+impregnate a woman.  He said that he would explain the reason to
+me if I were a man, but being a woman and a maid he could not with
+propriety expound such mysteries.  I wish you would tell me what
+the fool meant."
+
+"I should be very glad, but you must allow me to speak plainly,
+and I shall have to take for granted that you are acquainted with
+the physical conformation of a man."
+
+"Yes, speak as plainly as you like, for there is nobody to hear
+what we say; but I must confess that I am only acquainted with the
+peculiarities of the male by theory and reading.  I have no
+practical knowledge.  I have seen statues, but I have never seen
+or examined a real live man.  Have you, Helen?"
+
+"I have never wished to do so."
+
+"Why not?  It is good to know everything."
+
+"Well, Hedvig, your theologian meant to say that a god was not
+capable of this."
+
+"What is that?"
+
+"Give me your hand."
+
+"I can feel it, and have thought it would be something like that;
+without this provision of nature man would not be able to
+fecundate his mate.  And how could the foolish theologian maintain
+that this was an imperfection?"
+
+"Because it is the result of desire, Hedvig, and it would not have
+taken place in me if I had not been charmed with you, and if I had
+not conceived the most seducing ideas of the beauties that I
+cannot see from the view of the beauties I can see.  Tell me
+frankly whether feeling that did not give you an agreeable
+sensation."
+
+"It did, and just in the place where your hand is now.  Don't you
+feel a pleasant tickling there, Helen, after what the gentleman
+has been saying to us?"
+
+"Yes, I feel it, but I often do, without anything to excite me."
+
+"And then," said I, "nature makes you appease it .  .  .  thus?"
+
+"Not at all."
+
+"Oh, yes!" said Hedvig.  "Even when we are asleep our hands seek
+that spot as if by instinct, and if it were not for that solace I
+think we should get terribly ill."
+
+As this philosophical discourse, conducted by the young theologian
+in quite a professional manner, proceeded, we reached a beautiful
+basin of water, with a flight of marble steps for bathers.
+Although the air was cool our heads were hot, and I conceived the
+idea of telling them that it would do them good to bathe their feet,
+and that if they would allow me I would take off their shoes and
+stockings.
+
+"I should like to so much," said Hedvig.
+
+"And I too," said Helen.
+
+"Then sit down, ladies, on the first step."
+
+They proceeded to sit down and I began to take off their shoes,
+praising the beauty of their legs, and pretending for the present
+not to want to go farther than the knee.  When they got into the
+water they were obliged to pick up their clothes, and I encouraged
+them to do so.
+
+"Well, well," said Hedvig, "men have thighs too."
+
+Helen, who would have been ashamed to be beaten by her cousin, was
+not backward in shewing her legs.
+
+"That will do, charming maids," said I, "you might catch cold if
+you stayed longer in the water."
+
+They walked up backwards, still holding up their clothes for fear
+of wetting them, and it was then my duty to wipe them dry with all
+the handkerchiefs I had.  This pleasant task left me at freedom to
+touch and see, and the reader will imagine that I did my best in
+that direction.  The fair theologian told me I wanted to know too
+much, but Helen let me do what I liked with such a tender and
+affectionate expression that it was as much as I could do to keep
+within bounds.  At last, when I had drawn on their shoes and
+stockings, I told them that I was delighted to have seen the
+hidden charms of the two prettiest girls in Geneva.
+
+"What effect had it on you?" asked Hedvig.
+
+"I daren't tell you to look, but feel, both of you."
+
+"Do you bathe, too."
+
+"It's out of the question, a man's undressing takes so much
+trouble."
+
+"But we have still two hours before us, in which we need not fear
+any interruption."
+
+This reply gave me a foretaste of the bliss I had to gain, but I
+did not wish to expose myself to an illness by going into the
+water in my present state.  I noticed a summer-house at a little
+distance, and feeling sure that M. Tronchin had left the door
+open, I took the two girls on my arm and led them there without
+giving them any hint of my intentions.  The summer-house was
+scented with vases of pot-pourri and adorned with engravings; but,
+best of all, there was a large couch which seemed made for repose
+and pleasure.  I sat down on it between my two sweethearts, and as
+I caressed them I told them I was going to shew them something
+they had never seen before, and without more ado I displayed to
+their gaze the principal agent in the preservation of the human
+race.  They got up to admire it, and taking a hand of each one I
+procured them some enjoyment, but in the middle of their labours
+an abundant flow of liquid threw them into the greatest
+astonishment.
+
+"That," said I, "is the Word which makes men."
+
+"It's beautiful!" cried Helen, laughing at the term "word."
+
+"I have a word too," said Hedvig, "and I will shew it to you if
+you will wait a minute."
+
+"Come, Hedvig, and I will save you the trouble of making it
+yourself, and will do it better."
+
+"I daresay, but I have never done it with a man."
+
+"No more have I," said Helen.
+
+Placing them in front of me I gave them another ecstacy.  We then
+sat down, and while I felt all their charms I let them touch me as
+much as they liked till I watered their hands a second time.
+
+We made ourselves decent once more, and spent half an hour in
+kisses and caresses, and I then told them that they had made me
+happy only in part, but that I hoped they would make my bliss
+complete by presenting me with their maidenheads.  I shewed them
+the little safety-bags invented by the English in the interests of
+the fair sex.  They admired them greatly when I explained their
+use, and the fair theologian remarked to her cousin that she would
+think it over.  We were now close friends, and soon promised to be
+something more; and we walked back and found the pastor and
+Helen's mother strolling by the side of the lake.
+
+When I got back to Geneva I went to spend the evening with the
+three friends, but I took good care not to tell the syndic
+anything about my victory with Helen.  It would only have served
+to renew his hopes, and he would have had this trouble for
+nothing.  Even I would have done no good without the young
+theologian; but as Helen admired her she did not like to appear
+her inferior by refusing to imitate her freedom.
+
+I did not see Helen that evening, but I saw her the next day at
+her mother's house, for I was in mere politeness bound to thank
+the old lady for the honour she had done me.  She gave me a most
+friendly reception, and introduced me to two very pretty girls who
+were boarding with her.  They might have interested me if I had
+been stopping long in Geneva, but as if was Helen claimed all my
+attraction.
+
+"To-morrow," said the charming girl, "I shall be able to get a
+word with you at Madame Tronchin's dinner, and I expect Hedvig
+will have hit on some way for you to satisfy your desires."
+
+The banker gave us an excellent dinner.  He proudly told me that
+no inn-keeper could give such a good dinner as a rich gentleman
+who has a good cook, a good cellar, good silver plate, and china
+of the best quality.  We were twenty of us at table, and the feast
+was given chiefly in honour of the learned theologian and myself,
+as a rich foreigner who spent money freely.  M. de Ximenes, who
+had just arrived from Ferney was there, and told me that M. de
+Voltaire was expecting me, but I had foolishly determined not to go.
+
+Hedvig shone in solving the questions put to her by the company.
+M. de Ximenes begged her to justify as best she could our first
+mother, who had deceived her husband by giving him the fatal apple
+to eat.
+
+"Eve," she said, "did not deceive her husband, she only cajoled
+him into eating it in the hope of giving him one more perfection.
+Besides Eve had not been forbidden to eat the fruit by God, but
+only by Adam, and in all probability her woman's sense prevented
+her regarding the prohibition as serious."
+
+At this reply, which I found full of sense and wit, two scholars
+from Geneva and even Hedvig's uncle began to murmur and shake
+their heads.  Madame Tronchin said gravely that Eve had received
+the prohibition from God himself, but the girl only answered by a
+humble "I beg your pardon, madam."  At this she turned to the
+pastor with a frightened manner, and said,--
+
+"What do you say to this?"
+
+"Madam, my niece is not infallible."
+
+"Excuse me, dear uncle, I am as infallible as Holy Writ when I
+speak according to it."
+
+"Bring a Bible, and let me see."
+
+"Hedvig, my dear Hedvig, you are right after all.  Here it is.
+The prohibition was given before woman was made."
+
+Everybody applauded, but Hedvig remained quite calm; it was only
+the two scholars and Madame Tronchin who still seemed disturbed.
+Another lady then asked her if it was allowable to believe the
+history of the apple to be symbolical.  She replied,--
+
+"I do not think so, because it could only be a symbol of sexual
+union, and it is clear that such did not take place between Adam
+and Eve in the Garden of Eden."
+
+"The learned differ on this point."
+
+"All the worse for them, madam, the Scripture is plain enough.  In
+the first verse of the fourth chapter it is written, that Adam
+knew his wife after they had been driven from the Garden, and that
+in consequence she conceived Cain."
+
+"Yes, but the verse does not say that Adam did not know her before
+and consequently he might have done so."
+
+"I cannot admit the inference, as in that case she would have
+conceived; for it would be absurd to suppose that two creatures
+who had just left God's hands, and were consequently as nearly
+perfect as is possible, could perform the act of generation
+without its having any result."
+
+This reply gained everyone's applause, and compliments to Hedvig
+made the round of the table.
+
+Mr. Tronchin asked her if the doctrine of the immortality of the
+soul could be gathered from the Old Testament alone.
+
+"The Old Testament," she replied, "does not teach this doctrine;
+but, nevertheless, human reason teaches it, as the soul is a
+substance, and the destruction of any substance is an unthinkable
+proposition."
+
+"Then I will ask you," said the banker, "if the existence of the
+soul is established in the Bible."
+
+"Where there is smoke there is always fire."
+
+"Tell me, then, if matter can think."
+
+"I cannot answer that question, for it is beyond my knowledge.  I
+can only say that as I believe God to be all powerful, I cannot
+deny Him the power to make matter capable of thought."
+
+"But what is your own opinion?"
+
+"I believe that I have a soul endowed with thinking capacities,
+but I do not know whether I shall remember that I had the honour
+of dining with you to-day after I die."
+
+"Then you think that the soul and the memory may be separable; but
+in that case you would not be a theologian."
+
+"One may be a theologian and a philosopher, for philosophy never
+contradicts any truth, and besides, to say 'I do not know' is not
+the same as 'I am sure'"
+
+Three parts of the guests burst into cries of admiration, and the
+fair philosopher enjoyed seeing me laugh for pleasure at the
+applause.  The pastor wept for joy, and whispered something to
+Helen's mother.  All at once he turned to me, saying,--
+
+"Ask my niece some question."
+
+"Yes," said Hedvig, "but it must be something quite new."
+
+"That is a hard task," I replied, "for how am I to know that what
+I ask is new to you?  However, tell me if one must stop at the
+first principle of a thing one wants to understand."
+
+"Certainly, and the reason is that in God there is no first
+principle, and He is therefore incomprehensible."
+
+"God be praised!  that is how I would have you answer.  Can God
+have any self-consciousness?"
+
+"There my learning is baffled.  I know not what to reply.  You
+should not ask me so hard a thing as that."
+
+"But you wished for something new.  I thought the newest thing
+would be to see you at a loss."
+
+"That's prettily said.  Be kind enough to reply for me, gentlemen,
+and teach me what to say."
+
+Everybody tried to answer, but nothing was said worthy of record.
+Hedvig at last said,--
+
+"My opinion is that since God knows all, He knows of His own
+existence, but you must not ask me how He knows it."
+
+"That's well said," I answered; and nobody could throw any further
+light on the matter.
+
+All the company looked on me as a polite Atheist, so superficial
+is the judgment of society, but it did not matter to me whether
+they thought me an Atheist or not.
+
+M. de Ximenes asked Hedvig if matter had been created.
+
+"I cannot recognize the word 'created,'" she replied.  "Ask me
+whether matter was formed, and I shall reply in the affirmative.
+The word 'created' cannot have existence, for the existence of
+anything must be prior to the word which explains it."
+
+"Then what meaning do you assign to the word 'created'?"
+
+"Made out of nothing.  You see the absurdity, for nothing must
+have first existed.  I am glad to see you laugh.  Do you think
+that nothingness could be created?"
+
+"You are right."
+
+"Not at all, not at all," said one of the guests, superciliously.
+
+"Kindly tell me who was your teacher?" said M. de Ximenes.
+
+"My uncle there."
+
+"Not at all, my dear niece.  I certainly never taught you what you
+have been telling us to-day.  But my niece, gentlemen, reads and
+reflects over what she has read, perhaps with rather too much
+freedom, but I love her all the same, because she always ends by
+acknowledging that she knows nothing."
+
+A lady who had not opened her lips hitherto asked Hedvig for a
+definition of spirit.
+
+"Your question is a purely philosophical one, and I must answer
+that I do not know enough of spirit or matter to be able to give a
+satisfactory definition."
+
+"But since you acknowledge the existence of Deity and must
+therefore have an abstract idea of spirit, you must have some
+notions on the subject, and should be able to tell me how it acts
+on matter."
+
+"No solid foundation can be built on abstract ideas.  Hobbes calls
+such ideas mere fantasms.  One may have them, but if one begins to
+reason on them, one is landed in contradiction.  I know that God
+sees me, but I should labour in vain if I endeavoured to prove it
+by reasoning, for reason tells us no one can see anything without
+organs of sight; and God being a pure spirit, and therefore
+without organs, it is scientifically impossible that He can see us
+any more than we can see Him.  But Moses and several others have
+seen Him, and I believe it so, without attempting to reason on
+it."
+
+"You are quite right," said I, "for you would be confronted by
+blank impossibility.  But if you take to reading Hobbes you are in
+danger of becoming an Atheist."
+
+"I am not afraid of that.  I cannot conceive the possibility of
+Atheism."
+
+After dinner everybody crowded round this truly astonishing girl,
+so that I had no opportunity of whispering my love.  However, I
+went apart with Helen, who told me that the pastor and his niece
+were going to sup with her mother the following day.
+
+"Hedvig," she added, "will stay the night and sleep with me as she
+always does when she comes to supper with her uncle.  It remains
+to be seen if you are willing to hide in a place I will shew you
+at eleven o'clock tomorrow, in order to sleep with us.  Call on my
+mother at that hour to-morrow, and I will find an opportunity of
+shewing you where it is.  You will be safe though not comfortable,
+and if you grow weary you can console yourself by thinking that
+you are in our minds."
+
+"Shall I have to stay there long?"
+
+"Four hours at the most.  At seven o'clock the street door is
+shut, and only opened to anyone who rings."
+
+"If I happen to cough while I am in hiding might I be heard?"
+
+"Yes, that might happen."
+
+"There's a great hazard.  All the rest is of no consequence; but
+no matter, I will risk all for the sake of so great happiness."
+
+In the morning I paid the mother a visit, and as Helen was
+escorting me out she shewed me a door between the two stairs.
+
+"At seven o'clock," said she, "the door will be open, and when you
+are in put on the bolt.  Take care that no one sees you as you are
+entering the house."
+
+At a quarter to seven I was already a prisoner.  I found a seat in
+my cell, otherwise I should neither have been able to lie down or
+to stand up.  It was a regular hole, and I knew by my sense of
+smell that hams and cheeses were usually kept there; but it
+contained none at present, for I fell all round to see how the
+land lay.  As I was cautiously stepping round I felt my foot
+encounter some resistance, and putting down my hand I recognized
+the feel of linen.  It was a napkin containing two plates, a nice
+roast fowl, bread, and a second napkin.  Searching again I came
+across a bottle and a glass.  I was grateful to my charmers for
+having thought of my stomach, but as I had purposely made a late
+and heavy meal I determined to defer the consumption of my cold
+collation till a later hour.
+
+At nine o'clock I began, and as I had neither a knife nor a
+corkscrew I was obliged to break the neck of the bottle with a
+brick which I was fortunately able to detach from the mouldering
+floor.  The wine was delicious old Neuchatel, and the fowl was
+stuffed with truffles, and I felt convinced that my two nymphs
+must have some rudimentary ideas on the subject of stimulants.  I
+should have passed the time pleasantly enough if it had not been
+for the occasional visits of a rat, who nearly made me sick with
+his disgusting odour.  I remembered that I had been annoyed in the
+same way at Cologne under somewhat similar circumstances.
+
+At last ten o'clock struck, and I heard the pastor's voice as he
+came downstairs talking; he warned the girls not to play any
+tricks together, and to go to sleep quietly.  That brought back to
+my memory M. Rose leaving Madame Orio's house at Venice twenty-two
+years before; and reflecting on my character I found myself much
+changed, though not more reasonable; but if I was not so sensible
+to the charms of the sex, the two beauties who were awaiting me
+were much superior to Madame Orio's nieces.
+
+In my long and profligate career in which I have turned the heads
+of some hundreds of ladies, I have become familiar with all the
+methods of seduction; but my guiding principle has been never to
+direct my attack against novices or those whose prejudices were
+likely to prove an obstacle except in the presence of another
+woman.  I soon found out that timidity makes a girl averse to
+being seduced, while in company with another girl she is easily
+conquered; the weakness of the one brings on the fall of the
+other.  Fathers and mothers are of the contrary opinion, but they
+are in the wrong.  They will not trust their daughter to take a
+walk or go to a ball with a young man, but if she has another girl
+with her there is no difficulty made.  I repeat, they are in the
+wrong; if the young man has the requisite skill their daughter is
+a lost woman.  A feeling of false shame hinders them from making
+an absolute and determined resistance, and the first step once
+taken the rest comes inevitably and quickly.  The girl grants some
+small favour, and immediately makes her friend grant a much
+greater one to hide her own blushes; and if the seducer is clever
+at his trade the young innocent will soon have gone too far to be
+able to draw back.  Besides the more innocence a girl has, the
+less she knows of the methods of seduction.  Before she has had
+time to think, pleasure attracts her, curiosity draws her a little
+farther, and opportunity does the rest.
+
+For example, I might possibly have been able to seduce Hedvig
+without Helen, but I am certain I should never have succeeded with
+Helen if she had not seen her cousin take liberties with me which
+she no doubt thought contrary to the feelings of modesty which a
+respectable young woman ought to have.
+
+Though I do not repent of my amorous exploits, I am far from
+wishing that my example should serve for the perversion of the
+fair sex, who have so many claims on my homage.  I desire that
+what I say may be a warning to fathers and mothers, and secure me
+a place in their esteem at any rate.
+
+Soon after the pastor had gone I heard three light knocks on my
+prison door.  I opened it, and my hand was folded in a palm as
+soft as satin.  All my being was moved.  It was Helen's hand, and
+that happy moment had already repaid me for my long waiting.
+
+"Follow me on tiptoe," she whispered, as soon as she had shut the
+door; but in my impatience I clasped her in my arms, and made her
+feel the effect which her mere presence had produced on me, while
+at the same time I assured myself of her docility.  "There," she
+said, "now come upstairs softly after me."
+
+I followed her as best I could in the darkness, and she took me
+along a gallery into a dark room, and then into a lighted one
+which contained Hedvig almost in a state of nudity.  She came to
+me with open arms as soon as she saw me, and, embracing me
+ardently, expressed her gratitude for my long and dreary
+imprisonment.
+
+"Divine Hedvig," I answered, "if I had not loved you madly I would
+not have stayed a quarter of an hour in that dismal cell, but I am
+ready to spend four hours there every day till I leave Geneva for
+your sake.  But we must not lose any time; let us go to bed."
+
+"Do you two go to bed," said Helen; "I will sleep on the sofa."
+
+"No, no," cried Hedvig, "don't think of it; our fate must be
+exactly equal."
+
+"Yes, darling Helen," said I, embracing her; "I love you both with
+equal ardour, and these ceremonies are only wasting the time in
+which I ought to be assuring you of my passion.  Imitate my
+proceedings.  I am going to undress, and then I shall lie in the
+middle of the bed.  Come and lie beside me, and I'll shew you how
+I love you.  If all is safe I will remain with you till you send
+me away, but whatever you do do not put out the light."
+
+In the twinkling of an eye, discussing the theory of shame the
+while with the theological Hedvig, I presented myself to their
+gaze in the costume of Adam.  Hedvig blushed and parted with the
+last shred of her modesty, citing the opinion of St. Clement
+Alexandrinus that the seat of shame is in the shirt.  I praised
+the charming perfection of her shape, in the hope of encouraging
+Helen, who was slowly undressing herself; but an accusation of
+mock modesty from her cousin had more effect than all my praises.
+At last this Venus stood before me in a state of nature, covering
+her most secret parts with her hand, and hiding one breast with
+the other, and appearing woefully ashamed of what she could not
+conceal.  Her modest confusion, this strife between departing
+modesty and rising passion, enchanted me.
+
+Hedvig was taller than Helen; her skin was whiter, and her breasts
+double the size of Helen's; but in Helen there was more animation,
+her shape was more gently moulded, and her breast might have been
+the model for the Venus de Medicis.
+
+She got bolder by degrees, and we spent some moments in admiring
+each other, and then we went to bed.  Nature spoke out loudly, and
+all we wanted was to satisfy its demands.  With much coolness I
+made a woman of Hedvig, and when all was over she kissed me and
+said that the pain was nothing in comparison with the pleasure.
+
+The turn of Helen (who was six years younger than Hedvig) now
+came, but the finest fleece that I have ever seen was not won
+without difficulty.  She was jealous of her cousin's success, and
+held it open with her two hands; and though she had to submit to
+great pain before being initiated into the amorous mysteries, her
+sighs were sighs of happiness, as she responded to my ardent
+efforts.  Her great charms and the vivacity of her movements
+shortened the sacrifice, and when I left the sanctuary my two
+sweethearts saw that I needed repose.
+
+The alter was purified of the blood of the victims, and we all
+washed, delighted to serve one another.
+
+Life returned to me under their curious fingers, and the sight
+filled them with joy.  I told them that I wished to enjoy them
+every night till I left Geneva, but they told me sadly that this
+was impossible.
+
+"In five or six days time, perhaps, the opportunity may recur
+again, but that will be all."
+
+"Ask us to sup at your inn to-morrow," said Hedvig; "and maybe,
+chance will favour the commission of a sweet felony."
+
+I followed this advice.
+
+I overwhelmed them with happiness for several hours, passing five
+or six times from one to the other before I was exhausted.  In the
+intervals, seeing them to be docile and desirous, I made them
+execute Aretin's most complicated postures, which amused them
+beyond words.  We kissed whatever took our fancy, and just as
+Hedvig applied her lips to the mouth of the pistol, it went off
+and the discharge inundated her face and her bosom.  She was
+delighted, and watched the process to the end with all the
+curiosity of a doctor.  The night seemed short, though we had not
+lost a moment's time, and at daybreak we had to part.  I left them
+in bed and I was fortunate enough to get away without being
+observed.
+
+I slept till noon, and then having made my toilette I went to call
+on the pastor, to whom I praised Hedvig to the skies.  This was
+the best way to get him to come to supper at Balances the next
+day.
+
+"We shall be in the town," said I, "and can remain together as
+long as we please, but do not forget to bring the amiable widow
+and her charming daughter."
+
+He promised he would bring them both.
+
+In the evening I went to see the syndic and his three friends, who
+naturally found me rather insensible to their charms.  I excused
+myself by saying that I had a bad headache.  I told them that I
+had asked the young theologian to supper, and invited the girls
+and the syndic to come too; but, as I had foreseen, the latter
+would not hear of their going as it would give rise to gossip.
+
+I took care that the most exquisite wines should form an important
+feature of my supper.  The pastor and the widow were both sturdy
+drinkers, and I did my best to please them.  When I saw that they
+were pretty mellow and were going over their old recollections, I
+made a sign to the girls, and they immediately went out as if to
+go to a retiring-room.  Under pretext of shewing them the way I
+went out too, and took them into a room telling them to wait for
+me.
+
+I went back to the supper-room, and finding the old friends taken
+up with each other and scarcely conscious of my presence, I gave
+them some punch, and told them that I would keep the young ladies
+company; they were looking at some pictures, I explained.  I lost
+no time, and shewed them some extremely interesting sights.  These
+stolen sweets have a wonderful charm.  When we were to some extent
+satisfied, we went back, and I plied the punch-ladle more and more
+freely.  Helen praised the pictures to her mother, and asked her
+to come and look at them.
+
+"I don't care to," she replied.
+
+"Well," said Helen, "let us go and see them again."
+
+I thought this stratagem admissible, and going out with my two
+sweethearts I worked wonders.  Hedvig philosophised over pleasure,
+and told me she would never have known it if I had not chanced to
+meet her uncle.  Helen did not speak; she was more voluptuous than
+her cousin, and swelled out like a dove, and came to life only to
+expire a moment afterwards.  I wondered at her astonishing
+fecundity; while I was engaged in one operation she passed from
+death to life fourteen times.  It is true that it was the sixth
+time with me, so I made my progress rather slower to enjoy the
+pleasure she took in it.
+
+Before we parted I agreed to call on Helen's mother every day to
+ascertain the night I could spend with them before I left Geneva.
+We broke up our party at two o'clock in the morning.
+
+Three or four days after, Helen told me briefly that Hedvig was to
+sleep with her that night, and that she would leave the door open
+at the same time as before.
+
+"I will be there."
+
+"And I will be there to shut you up, but you cannot have a light
+as the servant might see it."
+
+I was exact to the time, and when ten o'clock struck they came to
+fetch me in high glee.
+
+"I forgot to tell you," said Helen, "that you would find a fowl
+there."
+
+I felt hungry, and made short work of it, and then we gave
+ourselves up to happiness.
+
+I had to set out on my travels in two days.  I had received a
+couple of letters from M. Raiberti.  In the first he told me that
+he had followed my instructions as to the Corticelli, and in the
+second that she would probably he paid for dancing at the carnival
+as first 'figurante'.  I had nothing to keep me at Geneva, and
+Madame d'Urfe, according to our agreement, would be waiting for me
+at Lyons.  I was therefore obliged to go there.  Thus the night
+that I was to pass with my two charmers would be my last.
+
+My lessons had taken effect, and I found they had become past
+mistresses in the art of pleasure.  But now and again joy gave
+place to sadness.
+
+"We shall be wretched, sweetheart," said Hedvig, "and if you like
+we will come with you."
+
+"I promise to come and see you before two years have expired,"
+said I; and in fact they had not so long to wait.
+
+We fell asleep at midnight, and waking at four renewed our sweet
+battles till six o'clock.  Half an hour after I left them, worn
+out with my exertions, and I remained in bed all day.  In the
+evening I went to see the syndic and his young friends.  I found
+Helen there, and she was cunning enough to feign not to be more
+vexed at my departure than the others, and to further the
+deception she allowed the syndic to kiss her.  I followed suit,
+and begged her to bid farewell for me to her learned cousin and to
+excuse my taking leave of her in person.
+
+The next day I set out in the early morning, and on the following
+day I reached Lyons.  Madame d'Urfe was not there, she had gone to
+an estate of hers at Bresse.  I found a letter in which she said
+that she would be delighted to see me, and I waited on her without
+losing any time.
+
+She greeted me with her ordinary cordiality, and I told her that I
+was going to Turin to meet Frederic Gualdo, the head of the
+Fraternity of the Rosy Cross, and I revealed to her by the oracle
+that he would come with me to Marseilles, and that there he would
+complete her happiness.  After having received this oracle she
+would not go to Paris before she saw us.  The oracle also bade her
+wait for me at Lyons with young d'Aranda; who begged me to take
+him with me to Turin.  It may be imagined that I succeeded in
+putting him off.
+
+Madame d'Urfe had to wait a fortnight to get me fifty thousand
+francs which I might require on my journey.  In the course of this
+fortnight I made the acquaintance of Madame Pernon, and spent a
+good deal of money with her husband, a rich mercer, in
+refurnishing my wardrobe.  Madame Pernon was handsome and
+intelligent.  She had a Milanese lover, named Bono, who did
+business for a Swiss banker named Sacco.  It was through Madame
+Peron that Bono got Madame d'Urfe the fifty thousand francs I
+required.  She also gave me the three dresses which she had
+promised to the Countess of Lascaris, but which that lady had
+never seen.
+
+One of these dresses was furred, and was exquisitely beautiful.  I
+left Lyons equipped like a prince, and journeyed towards Turin,
+where I was to meet the famous Gualdo, who was none other than
+Ascanio Pogomas, whom I had summoned from Berne.  I thought it
+would be easy to make the fellow play the part I had destined for
+him, but I was cruelly deceived as the reader will see.
+
+I could not resist stopping at Chamberi to see my fair nun, whom I
+found looking beautiful and contented.  She was grieving, however,
+after the young boarder, who had been taken from the convent and
+married.
+
+I got to Turin at the beginning of December, and at Rivoli I found
+the Corticelli, who had been warned by the Chevalier de Raiberti
+of my arrival.  She gave me a letter from this worthy gentleman,
+giving the address of the house he had taken for me as I did not
+want to put up at an inn.  I immediately went to take possession
+of my new lodging.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+My Old Friends--Pacienza--Agatha--Count Boryomeo--The Ball
+--Lord Percy
+
+
+The Corticelli was as gentle as a lamb, and left me as we got into
+Turin.  I promised I would come and see her, and immediately went
+to the house the Chevalier had taken, which I found convenient in
+every way.
+
+The worthy Chevalier was not long in calling on me.  He gave me an
+account of the moneys he had spent on the Corticelli, and handed
+over the rest to me.
+
+"I am flush of money," I said, "and I intend to invite my friends
+to supper frequently.  Can you lay your hands on a good cook?"
+
+"I know a pearl amongst cooks," said he, "and you can have him
+directly."
+
+"You, chevalier, are the pearl of men.  Get me this wonder, tell
+him I am hard to please, and agree on the sum I am to pay him per
+month."
+
+The cook, who was an excellent one, came the same evening.
+
+"It would be a good idea," said Raiberti, "to call on the Count
+d'Aglie.  He knows that the Corticelli is your mistress, and he
+has given a formal order to Madame Pacienza, the lady with whom
+she lives, that when you come and see her you are not to be left
+alone together."
+
+This order amused me, and as I did not care about the Corticelli
+it did not trouble me in the least, though Raiberti, who thought I
+was in love with her, seemed to pity me.
+
+"Since she has been here," he said, "her conduct has been
+irreproachable."
+
+"I am glad to hear that."
+
+"You might let her take some lessons from the dancing-master
+Dupre," said he.  "He will no doubt give her something to do at
+the carnival."
+
+I promised to follow his advice, and I then paid a visit to the
+superintendent of police.
+
+He received me well, complimented me on my return to Turin, and
+then added with a smile:--
+
+"I warn you that I have been informed that you keep a mistress,
+and that I have given strict orders to the respectable woman with
+whom she lives not to leave her alone with you."
+
+"I am glad to hear it," I replied, "and the more as I fear her
+mother is not a person of very rigid morals.  I advised the
+Chevalier Raiberti of my intentions with regard to her, and I am
+glad to see that he has carried them out so well.  I hope the girl
+will shew herself worthy of your protection."
+
+"Do you think of staying here throughout the carnival?"
+
+"Yes, if your excellency approves."
+
+"It depends entirely on your good conduct."
+
+"A few peccadilloes excepted, my conduct is always above
+reproach."
+
+"There are some peccadilloes we do not tolerate here.  Have you
+seen the Chevalier Osorio?"
+
+"I think of calling on him to-day or to-morrow."
+
+"I hope you will remember me to him."
+
+He rang his bell, bowed, and the audience was over.
+
+The Chevalier Osorio received me at his office, and gave me a most
+gracious reception.  After I had given him an account of my visit
+to the superintendent, he asked me, with a smile, if I felt
+inclined to submit with docility to not seeing my mistress in
+freedom.
+
+"Certainly," said I, "for I am not in love with her."
+
+Osorio looked at me slyly, and observed, "Somehow I don't think
+your indifference will be very pleasing to the virtuous duenna."
+
+I understood what he meant, but personally I was delighted not to
+be able to see the Corticelli save in the presence of a female
+dragon.  It would make people talk, and I loved a little scandal,
+and felt curious to see what would happen.
+
+When I returned to my house I found the Genoese Passano, a bad
+poet and worse painter, to whom I had intended to give the part of
+a Rosicrucian, because there was something in his appearance which
+inspired, if not respect, at least awe and a certain feeling of
+fear.  In point of fact, this was only a natural presentiment that
+the man must be either a clever rogue or a morose and sullen
+scholar.
+
+I made him sup with me and gave him a room on the third floor,
+telling him not to leave it without my permission.  At supper I
+found him insipid in conversation, drunken, ignorant, and ill
+disposed, and I already repented of having taken him under my
+protection; but the thing was done.
+
+The next day, feeling curious to see how the Corticelli was
+lodged, I called on her, taking with me a piece of Lyons silk.
+
+I found her and her mother in the landlady's room, and as I came
+in the latter said that she was delighted to see me and that she
+hoped I would often dine with them.  I thanked her briefly and
+spoke to the girl coolly enough.
+
+"Shew me your room," said I.  She took me there in her mother's
+company.  "Here is something to make you a winter dress," said I,
+skewing her the silk.
+
+"Is this from the marchioness?"
+
+"No, it is from me"
+
+"But where are the three dresses she said she would give me?"
+
+"You know very well on what conditions you were to have them, so
+let us say no more about it."
+
+She unfolded the silk which she liked very much, but she said she
+must have some trimmings.  The Pacienza offered her services, and
+said she would send for a dressmaker who lived close by.  I
+acquiesced with a nod, and as soon as she had left the room the
+Signora Laura said she was very sorry only to be able to receive
+me in the presence of the landlady.
+
+"I should have thought," said I, "that a virtuous person like you
+would have been delighted."
+
+"I thank God for it every morning and night."
+
+"You infernal old hypocrite!" said I, looking contemptuously at
+her.
+
+"Upon my word, anybody who didn't know you would be taken in."
+
+In a few minutes Victorine and another girl came in with their
+band-boxes.
+
+"Are you still at Madame R----'s" said I.
+
+"Yes sir," said she, with a blush.
+
+When the Corticelli had chosen what she wanted I told Victorine to
+present my compliments to her mistress, and tell her that I would
+call and pay for the articles.
+
+The landlady had also sent for a dressmaker, and while the
+Corticelli was being measured, she shewed me her figure and said
+she wanted a corset.  I jested on the pregnancy with which she
+threatened me, and of which there was now no trace, pitying Count
+N---- for being deprived of the joys of fatherhood.  I then gave
+her what money she required and took my leave.  She escorted me to
+the door, and asked me if she should have the pleasure of seeing
+me again before long.
+
+"It's a pleasure, is it?"  I replied; "well, I don't know when you
+will have it again; it depends on my leisure and my fancy."
+
+It is certain that if I had any amorous feelings or even curiosity
+about the girl, I should not have left her in that house for a
+moment; but I repeat my love for her had entirely vanished.  There
+was one thing, however, which annoyed me intolerably, namely, that
+in spite of my coolness towards her, the little hussy pretended to
+think that I had forgotten and forgiven everything.
+
+On leaving the Corticelli, I proceeded to call on my bankers,
+amongst others on M. Martin, whose wife was justly famous for her
+wit and beauty.
+
+I chanced to meet the horse-dealing Jew, who had made money out of
+me by means of his daughter Leah.  She was still pretty, but
+married; and her figure was too rounded for my taste.  She and her
+husband welcomed me with great warmth, but I cared for her no
+longer, and did not wish to see her again.
+
+I called on Madame R----, who had been awaiting me impatiently
+ever since Victorine had brought news of me.  I sat down by the
+counter and had the pleasure of hearing from her lips the amorous
+histories of Turin for the past few months.
+
+"Victorine and Caton are the only two of the old set that still
+remain, but I have replaced them with others."
+
+"Has Victorine found anyone to operate on her yet?"
+
+"No, she is just as you left her, but a gentleman who is in love
+with her is going to take her to Milan."
+
+This gentleman was the Comte de Perouse, whose acquaintance I made
+three years afterwards at Milan.  I shall speak of him in due
+time.  Madame R---- told me that, in consequence of her getting
+into trouble several times with the police, she had been obliged
+to promise the Count d'Aglie only to send the girls to ladies,
+and, consequently, if I found any of them to my taste I should be
+obliged to make friends with their relations and take them to the
+festas.  She shewed me the girls in the work-room, but I did not
+think any of them worth taking trouble about.
+
+She talked about the Pacienza, and when I told her that I kept the
+Corticelli, and of the hard conditions to which I was obliged to
+submit, she exclaimed with astonishment, and amused me by her
+jests on the subject.
+
+"You are in good hands, my dear sir," said she; "the woman is not
+only a spy of d'Aglie's, but a professional procuress.  I wonder
+the Chevalier Raiberti placed the girl with her."
+
+She was not so surprised when I told her that the chevalier had
+good reasons for his action, and that I myself had good reasons of
+my own for wishing the Corticelli to remain there.
+
+Our conversation was interrupted by a customer who wanted silk
+stockings.  Hearing him speak of dancing, I asked him if he could
+tell me the address of Dupre, the ballet-master.
+
+"No one better, sir, for I am Dupre, at your service."
+
+"I am delighted at this happy chance.  The Chevalier Raiberti gave
+me to understand that you might be able to give dancing lessons to
+a ballet-girl of my acquaintance."
+
+"M. de Raiberti mentioned your name to me this morning.  You must
+be the Chevalier de Seingalt?"
+
+"Exactly."
+
+"I can give the young lady lessons every morning at nine o'clock
+at my own home."
+
+"No, do you come to her house, but at whatever hour you like.  I
+will pay you, and I hope you will make her one of your best
+pupils.  I must warn you, however, that she is not a novice."
+
+"I will call on her to-day, and to-morrow I will tell you what I
+can make of her; but I think I had better tell you my terms: I
+charge three Piedmontese livres a lesson."
+
+"I think that is very reasonable; I will call on you to-morrow."
+
+"You do me honour.  Here is my address.  If you like to come in
+the afternoon you will see the rehearsal of a ballet."
+
+"Is it not rehearsed at the theatre?"
+
+"Yes, but at the theatre no on-lookers are allowed by the orders
+of the superintendent of police."
+
+"This superintendent of yours puts his finger into a good many
+pies."
+
+"In too many."
+
+"But at your own house anybody may come?"
+
+"Undoubtedly, but I could not have the dancers there if my wife
+were not present.  The superintendent knows her, and has great
+confidence in her."
+
+"You will see me at the rehearsal."
+
+The wretched superintendent had erected a fearful system of
+surveillance against the lovers of pleasure, but it must be
+confessed that he was often cheated.  Voluptuousness was all the
+more rampant when thus restrained; and so it ever will be while
+men have passions and women desires.  To love and enjoy, to desire
+and to satisfy one's desires, such is the circle in which we move,
+and whence we can never be turned.  When restrictions are placed
+upon the passions as in Turkey, they still attain their ends,
+but by methods destructive to morality.
+
+At the worthy Mazzali's I found two gentlemen to whom she
+introduced me.  One was old and ugly, decorated with the Order of
+the White Eagle--his name was Count Borromeo; the other, young and
+brisk, was Count A---- B---- of Milan.  After they had gone I was
+informed that they were paying assiduous court to the Chevalier
+Raiberti, from whom they hoped to obtain certain privileges for
+their lordships which were under the Sardinian rule.
+
+The Milanese count had not a penny, and the Lord of the Borromean
+Isles was not much better off.  He had ruined himself with women,
+and not being able to live at Milan he had taken refuge in the
+fairest of his isles, and enjoyed there perpetual spring and very
+little else.  I paid him a visit on my return from Spain, but I
+shall relate our meeting when I come to my adventures, my
+pleasures, my misfortunes, and above all my follies there, for of
+such threads was the weft of my life composed, and folly was the
+prominent element.
+
+The conversation turned on my house, and the lively Mazzoli asked
+me how I liked my cook.  I replied that I had not yet tried him,
+but I proposed to put him to test the next day, if she and the
+gentlemen would do me the honour of supping with me.
+
+The invitation was accepted, and she promised to bring her dear
+chevalier with her, and to warn him of the event, as his health
+only allowed him to eat once a day.
+
+I called on Dupre in the afternoon.  I saw the dancers, male and
+female, the latter accompanied by their mothers, who stood on one
+side muffled up in thick cloaks.  As I passed them under review in
+my lordly manner, I noticed that one of them still looked fresh
+and pretty, which augured well for her daughter, though the fruit
+does not always correspond to the tree.
+
+Dupre introduced me to his wife, who was young and pretty, but who
+had been obliged to leave the theatre owing to the weakness of her
+chest.  She told me that if the Corticelli would work hard her
+husband would make a great dancer of her, as her figure was
+eminently suited for dancing.  While I was talking with Madame
+Dupre, the Corticelli, late Lascaris, came running up to me with
+the air of a favourite, and told me she wanted some ribbons and
+laces to make a bonnet.  The others girls began to whisper to each
+other, and guessing what they must be saying I turned to Dupre
+without taking any notice of Madame Madcap, and gave him twelve
+pistoles, saying that I would pay for the lessons three months in
+advance, and that I hoped he would bring his new pupil on well.
+Such a heavy payment in advance caused general surprise, which I
+enjoyed, though pretending not to be aware of it.  Now I know that
+I acted foolishly, but I have promised to speak the truth in these
+Memoirs, which will not see the light till all light has left my
+eyes, and I will keep my promise.
+
+I have always been greedy of distinction; I have always loved to
+draw the eyes of men towards men, but I must also add that if I
+have humiliated anyone it has always been a proud man or a fool,
+for it has been my rule to please everyone if I can.
+
+I sat on one side, the better to observe the swarm of girls, and I
+soon fixed my eyes on one whose appearance struck me.  She had a
+fine figure, delicate features, a noble air, and a patient look
+which interested me in the highest degree.  She was dancing with a
+man who did not scruple to abuse her in the coarsest manner when
+she made any mistakes, but she bore it without replying, though an
+expression of contempt mingled with the sweetness of her face.
+
+Instinct drew me to the mother I have remarked on, and I asked her
+to whom the dancer that interested me belonged.
+
+"I am her mother," she replied.
+
+"You, madam!  I should not have thought it possible."
+
+"I was very young when she was born."
+
+"I should think so.  Where do you come from?"
+
+"I am from Lucca, and what is more-a poor widow."
+
+"How can you be poor, when you are still young and handsome, and
+have an angel for a daughter?"
+
+She replied only by an expressive glance.  I understood her
+reserve, and I stayed by her without speaking.  Soon after,
+Agatha, as her daughter was named, came up to her to ask for a
+handkerchief to wipe her face.
+
+"Allow me to offer you mine," said I.  It was a white
+handkerchief, and scented with attar of roses; this latter
+circumstance gave her an excuse for accepting it, but after
+smelling it she wanted to return it to me.
+
+"You have not used it," said I! "do so."
+
+She obeyed, and then returned it to me with a bow by way of
+thanks.
+
+"You must not give it me back, fair Agatha, till you have had it
+washed."
+
+She smiled, and gave it to her mother, glancing at me in a
+grateful manner, which I considered of good omen.
+
+"May I have the pleasure of calling on you?" said I.  "I cannot
+receive you, sir, except in the presence of my landlady."
+
+"This cursed restriction is general in Turin, then?"
+
+"Yes, the superintendent uses everybody in the same way."
+
+"Then I shall have the pleasure of seeing you again here?"
+
+In the evening I had one of the best suppers I ever had in my
+life, if I except those I enjoyed during my stay at Turin.  My
+cook was worthy of a place in the kitchen of Lucullus; but without
+detracting from his skill I must do justice to the products of the
+country.  Everything is delicious; game, fish, birds, meat,
+vegetables, fruit, milk, and truffles--all are worthy of the table
+of the greatest gourmets, and the wines of the country yield to
+none.  What a pity that strangers do not enjoy liberty at Turin!
+It is true that better society, and more politeness, such as are
+found in several French and Italian towns, are to be wished for.
+
+The beauty of the women of Turin is no doubt due to the excellence
+of the air and diet.
+
+I had not much trouble in extracting a promise from Madame Mazzoli
+and the two counts to sup with me every night, but the Chevalier
+de Raiberti would only promise to come whenever he could.
+
+At the Carignan Theatre, where opera-bouffe was being played, I
+saw Redegonde, with whom I had failed at Florence.  She saw me in
+the pit and gave me a smile, so I wrote to her, offering my
+services if the mother had changed her way of thinking.  She
+answered that her mother was always the same, but that if I would
+ask the Corticelli she could come and sup with me, though the
+mother would doubtless have to be of the party.  I gave her no
+answer, as the terms she named were by no means to my taste.
+
+I had a letter from Madame du Rumain, enclosing one from M. de
+Choiseul to M. de Chauvelin, the French ambassador at Turin.  It
+will be remembered that I had known this worthy nobleman at
+Soleure, and had been treated with great politeness by him, but I
+wished to have a more perfect title to his acquaintance; hence I
+asked Madame du Rumain to give me a letter.
+
+M. de Chauvelin received me with the greatest cordiality; and
+reproaching me for having thought a letter of introduction
+necessary, introduced me to his charming wife, who was no less
+kind than her husband.  Three or four days later he asked me to
+dine with him, and I met at his table M. Imberti, the Venetian
+ambassador, who said he was very sorry not to be able to present
+me at Court.  On hearing the reason M. de Chauvelin offered to
+present me himself, but I thought it best to decline with thanks.
+No doubt it would have been a great honour, but the result would
+be that I should be more spied on than even in this town of spies,
+where the most indifferent actions do not pass unnoticed.  My
+pleasures would have been interfered with.
+
+Count Borromeo continued to honour me by coming every night to sup
+with me, preserving his dignity the while, for as he accompanied
+Madame Mazzoli it was not to be supposed that he came because he
+was in need of a meal.  Count A---- B---- came more frankly, and I
+was pleased with him.  He told me one day that the way I put up
+with his visits made him extremely grateful to Providence, for his
+wife could not send him any money, and he could not afford to pay
+for his dinner at the inn, so that if it were not for my kindness
+he would often be obliged to go hungry to bed.  He shewed me his
+wife's letters; he had evidently a high opinion of her.  "I hope,"
+he would say, "that you will come and stay with us at Milan, and
+that she will please you."
+
+He had been in the service of Spain, and by what he said I judged
+his wife to be a pleasing brunette of twenty-five or twenty-six.
+The count had told her how I had lent him money several times, and
+of my goodness to him, and she replied, begging him to express her
+gratitude to me, and to make me promise to stay with them at
+Milan.  She wrote wittily, and her letters interested me to such
+an extent that I gave a formal promise to journey to Milan, if it
+were only for the sake of seeing her.
+
+I confess that in doing so I was overcome by my feelings of
+curiosity.  I knew they were poor, and I should not have given a
+promise which would either bring them into difficulties or expose
+me to paying too dearly for my lodging.  However, by way of
+excuse, I can only say that curiosity is near akin to love.  I
+fancied the countess sensible like an Englishwoman, passionate
+like a Spaniard, caressing like a Frenchwoman, and as I had a good
+enough opinion of my own merit, I did not doubt for a moment that
+she would respond to my affection.  With these pleasant delusions
+in my head, I counted on exciting the jealousy of all the ladies
+and gentlemen of Milan.  I had plenty of money, and I longed for
+an opportunity of spending it.
+
+Nevertheless, I went every day to rehearsal at Dupre's, and I soon
+got madly in love with Agatha.  Madame Dupre won over by several
+presents I made her, received my confidences with kindness, and by
+asking Agatha and her mother to dinner procured me the pleasure of
+a more private meeting with my charmer.  I profited by the
+opportunity to make known my feelings, and I obtained some slight
+favours, but so slight were they that my flame only grew the
+fiercer.
+
+Agatha kept on telling me that everybody knew that the Corticelli
+was my mistress, and that for all the gold in the world she would
+not have it said that she was my last shift, as I could not see
+the Corticelli in private.  I swore to her that I did not love the
+Corticelli, and that I only kept her to prevent M. Raiberti being
+compromised; but all this was of no avail, she had formed her
+plans, and nothing would content her but a formal rupture which
+would give all Turin to understand that I loved her and her alone.
+On these conditions she promised me her heart, and everything
+which follows in such cases.
+
+I loved her too well not to endeavour to satisfy her, since my
+satisfaction depended on hers.  With this idea I got Dupre to give
+a ball at my expense in some house outside the town, and to invite
+all the dancers, male and female, who were engaged for the
+carnival at Turin.  Every gentleman had the right to bring a lady
+to have supper and look on, as only the professional dancers were
+allowed to dance.
+
+I told Dupre that I would look after the refreshment department,
+and that he might tell everybody that no expense was to be spared.
+I also provided carriages and sedan-chairs for the ladies, but
+nobody was to know that I was furnishing the money.  Dupre saw
+that there was profit in store for him, and went about it at once.
+He found a suitable house, asked the lady dancers, and distributed
+about fifty tickets.
+
+Agatha and her mother were the only persons who knew that the
+project was mine, and that I was responsible to a great extent for
+the expenses; but these facts were generally known the day after
+the ball.
+
+Agatha had no dress that was good enough, so I charged Madame
+Dupre to provide one at my expense, and I was well served.  It is
+well known that when this sort of people dip their fingers into
+other's purses they are not sparing, but that was just what I
+wanted.  Agatha promised to dance all the quadrilles with me, and
+to return to Turin with Madame Dupre.
+
+On the day fixed for the ball I stayed to dinner at the Dupre's to
+be present at Agatha's toilette.  Her dress was a rich and newly-
+made Lyons silk, and the trimming was exquisite Alencon point
+lace, of which the girl did not know the value.  Madame R----, who
+had arranged the dress, and Madame Dupre, had received
+instructions to say nothing about it to her.
+
+When Agatha was ready to start, I told her that the ear-rings she
+was wearing were not good enough for her dress.
+
+"That's true," said Madame Dupre, "and it's a great pity."
+
+"Unfortunately," said the mother, "my poor girl hasn't got another
+pair."
+
+"I have some pretty imitation pendants, which I could lend you,"
+said I; "they are really very brilliant."
+
+I had taken care to put the ear-rings which Madame d'Urfe had
+intended for the Countess Lascaris in my pocket.  I drew them out,
+and they were greatly admired.
+
+"One would swear they were real diamonds," said Madame Dupre.
+
+I put them in Agatha's ears.  She admired them very much, and said
+that all the other girls would be jealous, as they would certainly
+take them for real stones.
+
+I went home and made an elaborate toilette, and on arriving at the
+ball I found Agatha dancing with Lord Percy, a young fool, who was
+the son of the Duke of Northumberland, and an extravagant
+spendthrift.
+
+I noticed several handsome ladies from Turin, who, being merely
+onlookers, might be thinking that the ball was given for their
+amusement, like the fly on the chariot wheel.  All the ambassadors
+were present, and amongst others M. de Chauvelin, who told me that
+to make everything complete my pretty housekeeper at Soleure was
+wanting.
+
+The Marquis and Marchioness de Prie were there also.  The marquis
+did not care to dance, so was playing a little game of quinze with
+a rude gamester, who would not let the marquis's mistress look
+over his cards.  She saw me, but pretended not to recognize me;
+the trick I had played her at Aix being probably enough to last
+her for some time.
+
+The minuets came to an end, and Dupre announced the quadrilles,
+and I was glad to see the Chevalier Ville-Follet dancing with the
+Corticelli.  My partner was Agatha, who had great difficulty in
+getting rid of Lord Percy, though she told him that she was fully
+engaged.
+
+Minuets and quadrilles followed each other in succession, and
+refreshments began to make their appearance.  I was delighted to
+see that the refreshment counter was furnished with the utmost
+liberality.  The Piedmontese, who are great at calculations,
+estimated that Dupre must lose by it, the firing of champagne
+corks was continuous.
+
+Feeling tired I asked Agatha to sit down, and I was telling her
+how I loved her when Madame de Chauvelin and another lady
+interrupted us.  I rose to give them place, and Agatha imitated my
+example; but Madame de Chauvelin made her sit down beside her, and
+praised her dress, and above all the lace trimming.  The other
+lady said how pretty her ear-rings were, and what a pity it was
+that those imitation stones would lose their brilliance in time.
+Madame de Chauvelin, who knew something about precious stones,
+said that they would never lose their brilliance, as they were
+diamonds of the first water.
+
+"It is not so?" she added, to Agatha, who in the candour of her
+heart confessed that they were imitation, and that I had lent them
+to her.
+
+At this Madame de Chauvelin burst out laughing, and said,--
+
+"M. de Seingalt has deceived you, my dear child.  A gentleman of
+his caste does not lend imitation jewellery to such a pretty girl
+as you are.  Your ear-rings are set with magnificent diamonds."
+
+She blushed, for my silence confirmed the lady's assertion, and
+she felt that the fact of my having lent her such stones was a
+palpable proof of the great esteem in which I held her.
+
+Madame de Chauvelin asked me to dance a minuet with Agatha, and my
+partner executed the dance with wonderful grace.  When it was over
+Madame de Chauvelin thanked me, and told me that she should always
+remember our dancing together at Soleure, and that she hoped I
+would dance again with her at her own house.  A profound bow
+shewed her how flattered I felt by the compliment.
+
+The ball did not come to an end till four o'clock in the morning,
+and I did not leave it till I saw Agatha going away in the company
+with Madame Dupre.
+
+I was still in bed the next morning, when my man told me a pretty
+woman wanted to speak to me.  I had her in and was delighted to
+find it was Agatha's mother.  I made her sit down beside me, and
+gave her a cup of chocolate.  As soon as we were alone she drew my
+ear-rings from her pocket, and said, with a smile, that she had
+just been shewing them to a jeweller, who had offered her a
+thousand sequins for them.
+
+"The man's mad," said I, "you ought to have let him have them;
+they are not worth four sequins."
+
+So saying, I drew her to my arms and gave her a kiss.  Feeling
+that she had shared in the kiss, and that she seemed to like it, I
+went farther, and at last we spent a couple of hours in shewing
+what a high opinion we had of each other.
+
+Afterwards we both looked rather astonished, and it was the
+beautiful mother who first broke the silence.
+
+"Am I to tell my girl," said she, with a smile, "of the way in
+which you proved to me that you love her?"
+
+"I leave that to your discretion, my dear," said I.  "I have
+certainly proved that I love you, but it does not follow that I do
+not adore your daughter.  In fact, I burn for her; and yet, if we
+are not careful to avoid being alone together, what has just
+happened between us will often happen again."
+
+"It is hard to resist you, and it is possible that I may have
+occasion to speak to you again in private."
+
+"You may be sure you will always be welcome, and all I ask of you
+is not to put any obstacles in the way of my suit with Agatha."
+
+"I have also a favour to ask."
+
+"If it is within my power, you may be sure I will grant it."
+
+"Very good!  Then tell me if these ear-rings are real, and what
+was your intention in putting them in my daughter's ears?"
+
+"The diamonds are perfectly genuine, and my intention was that
+Agatha should keep them as a proof of my affection."
+
+She heaved a sigh, and then told me that I might ask them to
+supper, with Dupre and his wife, whenever I pleased.  I thanked
+her, gave her ten sequins, and sent her away happy.
+
+On reflection I decided that I had never seen a more sensible
+woman than Agatha's mother.  It would have been impossible to
+announce the success of my suit in a more delicate or more
+perspicuous manner.
+
+My readers will ho doubt guess that I seized the opportunity and
+brought this interesting affair to a conclusion.  The same evening
+I asked Dupre and his wife, Agatha and her mother, to sup with me
+the next day, in addition to my usual company.  But as I was
+leaving Dupre's I had an adventure.
+
+My man, who was a great rascal, but who behaved well on this
+occasion, ran up to me panting for breath, and said triumphantly,
+
+"Sir, I have been looking for you to warn you that I have just
+seen the Chevalier de Ville-Follet slip into Madame Pacienza's
+house, and I suspect he is making an amorous call on the
+Corticelli."
+
+I immediately walked to the abode of the worthy spy in high
+spirits, and hoping that my servant's guess had been correct.  I
+walked in and found the landlady and the mother sitting together.
+Without noticing them, I was making my way towards the
+Corticelli's room when the two old ladies arrested my course,
+telling me that the signora was not well and wanted rest.  I
+pushed them aside, and entered the room so swiftly and suddenly
+that I found the gentleman in a state of nature while the girl
+remained stretched on the bed as if petrified by my sudden
+apparition.
+
+"Sir," said I, "I hope you will pardon me for coming in without
+knocking."
+
+"Wait a moment, wait a moment."
+
+Far from waiting I went away in high glee, and told the story to
+the Chevalier Raiberti, who enjoyed it as well as I did.  I asked
+him to warn the Pacienza woman that from that day I would pay
+nothing for Corticelli, who had ceased to belong to me.  He
+approved, and said,--
+
+"I suppose you will not be going to complain to the Count
+d'Aglie?"
+
+"It is only fools who complain, above all in circumstances like
+these."
+
+This scandalous story would have been consigned to forgetfulness,
+if it had not been for the Chevalier de Ville-Follet's
+indiscretion.  He felt angry at being interrupted in the middle of
+the business, and remembering he had seen my man just before fixed
+on him as the informer.  Meeting him in the street the chevalier
+reproached him for spying, whereon the impudent rascal replied
+that he was only answerable to his master, and that it was his
+duty to serve me in all things.  On this the chevalier caned him,
+and the man went to complain to the superintendent, who summoned
+Ville-Follet to appear before him and explain his conduct.  Having
+nothing to fear, he told the whole story.
+
+The Chevalier de Raiberti, too, was very ill received when he went
+to tell Madame Pacienza that neither he nor I were going to pay
+her anything more in future; but he would listen to no defence.
+The chevalier came to sup with me, and he informed me that on
+leaving the house he had met a police sergeant, whom he concluded
+had come to cite the landlady to appear before the Count d'Aglie.
+
+The next day, just as I was going to M.  de Chauvelin's ball, I
+received to my great surprise a note from the superintendent
+begging me to call on him as he had something to communicate to
+me.  I immediately ordered my chairmen to take me to his
+residence.
+
+M. de Aglie received me in private with great politeness, and
+after giving me a chair he began a long and pathetic discourse,
+the gist of which was that it was my duty to forgive this little
+slip of my mistress's.
+
+"That's exactly what I am going to do," said I; "and for the rest
+of my days I never wish to see the Corticelli again, or to make or
+mar in her affairs, and for all this I am greatly obliged to the
+Chevalier de Ville-Follet."
+
+"I see you are angry.  Come, come! you must not abandon the girl
+for that.  I will have the woman Pacienza punished in such a way
+as to satisfy you, and I will place the girl in a respectable
+family where you can go and see her in perfect liberty."
+
+"I am greatly obliged to you for your kindness, indeed I am
+grateful; but I despise the Pacienza too heartily to wish for her
+punishment, and as to the Corticelli and her mother, they are two
+female swindlers, who have given me too much trouble already.
+I am well quit of them"
+
+"You must confess, however, that you had no right to make a
+forcible entry into a room in a house which does not belong to
+you."
+
+"I had not the right, I confess, but if I had not taken it I could
+never have had a certain proof of the perfidy of my mistress; and
+I should have been obliged to continue supporting her, though she
+entertained other lovers."
+
+"The Corticelli pretends that you are her debtor, and not vice
+versa.  She says that the diamonds you have given another girl
+belong of right to her, and that Madame d'Urfe, whom I have the
+honour to know, presented her with them."
+
+"She is a liar!  And as you know Madame d'Urfe, kindly write to
+her (she is at Lyons); and if the marchioness replies that I owe
+the wretched girl anything, be sure that I will discharge the
+debt.  I have a hundred thousand francs in good banks of this
+town, and the money will be a sufficient surety for the ear-rings
+I have disposed of."
+
+"I am sorry that things have happened so."
+
+"And I am very glad, as I have ridden myself of a burden that was
+hard to bear."
+
+Thereupon we bowed politely to one another, and I left the office.
+
+At the French ambassador's ball I heard so much talk of my
+adventure that at last I refused to reply to any more questions on
+the subject.  The general opinion was that the whole affair was a
+trifle of which I could not honourably take any notice; but I
+thought myself the best judge of my own honour, and was determined
+to take no notice of the opinions of others.  The Chevalier de
+Ville-Follet came up to me and said that if I abandoned the
+Corticelli for such a trifle, he should feel obliged to give me
+satisfaction.  I shook his hand, saying,--
+
+"My dear chevalier, it will be enough if you do not demand
+satisfaction of me."
+
+He understood how the land lay, and said no more about it; but not
+so his sister, the Marchioness de Prie, who made a vigorous attack
+on me after we had danced together.  She was handsome, and might
+have been victorious if she had liked, but luckily she did not
+think of exerting her power, and so gained nothing.
+
+Three days after, Madame de St. Giles, a great power in Turin, and
+a kind of protecting deity to all actresses, summoned me to her
+presence by a liveried footman.  Guessing what she wanted, I
+called on her unceremoniously in a morning coat.  She received me
+politely, and began to talk of the Corticelli affair with great
+affability; but I did not like her, and replied dryly that I had
+had no hesitation in abandoning the girl to the protection of the
+gallant gentleman with whom I had surprised her in 'flagrante
+delicto'.  She told me I should be sorry for it, and that she
+would publish a little story which she had already read and which
+did not do me much credit.  I replied that I never changed my
+mind, and that threats were of no avail with me.  With that
+parting shot I left her.
+
+I did not attach much importance to the town gossip, but a week
+after I received a manuscript containing an account--accurate in
+most respects--of my relations with the Corticelli and Madame
+d'Urfe, but so ill written and badly expressed that nobody could
+read it without weariness.  It did not make the slightest
+impression on me, and I stayed a fortnight longer in Turin without
+its causing me the slightest annoyance.  I saw the Corticelli
+again in Paris six months after, and will speak of our meeting in
+due time.
+
+The day after M. de Chauvelin's ball I asked Agatha, her mother,
+the Dupres, and my usual company to supper.  It was the mother's
+business to so arrange matters that the ear-rings should become
+Agatha's lawful property, so I left everything to her.  I knew she
+would manage to introduce the subject, and while we were at supper
+she said that the common report of Turin was that I had given her
+daughter a pair of diamond ear-rings worth five hundred Louis,
+which the Corticelli claimed as hers by right.
+
+"I do not know," she added, "if they are real diamonds, or if they
+belong to the Corticelli, but I do know that my girl has received
+no such present from the gentleman."
+
+"Well, well," said I, "we will have no more surmises in the
+matter;" and going up to Agatha I put the earrings on her,
+saying,--
+
+"Dearest Agatha, I make you a present of them before this company,
+and my giving them to you now is a proof that hitherto they have
+belonged to me."
+
+Everybody applauded, and I read in the girl's eyes that I should
+have no cause to regret my generosity.
+
+We then fell to speaking of the affair of Ville-Follet and the
+Corticelli, and of the efforts that had been made to compel me to
+retain her.  The Chevalier Raiberti said that in my place he would
+have offered Madame de St. Giles or the superintendent to continue
+paying for her board, but merely as an act of charity, and that I
+could have deposited money with either of them.
+
+"I should be very glad to do so," said I; and the next day the
+worthy chevalier made the necessary arrangements with Madame de
+St. Giles, and I furnished the necessary moneys.
+
+In spite of this charitable action, the wretched manuscript came
+out, but, as I have said, without doing me any harm.  The
+superintendent made the Corticelli live in the same house with
+Redegonde, and Madame Pacienza was left in peace.
+
+After supper, with the exception of the Chevalier Raiberti, we all
+masked, and went to the ball at the opera-house.  I soon seized
+the opportunity of escaping with Agatha, and she granted me all
+that love can desire.  All constraint was banished; she was my
+titular mistress, and we were proud of belonging the one to the
+other, for we loved each other.  The suppers I had given at my
+house had set me perfectly at liberty, and the superintendent
+could do nothing to thwart our love, though he was informed of it,
+so well are the spies of Turin organized.
+
+Divine Providence made use of me as its instrument in making
+Agatha's fortune.  It may be said that Providence might have
+chosen a more moral method, but are we to presume to limit the
+paths of Providence to the narrow circle of our prejudices and
+conventions?  It has its own ways, which often appear dark to us
+because of our ignorance.  At all events, if I am able to continue
+these Memoirs for six or seven years more, the reader will see
+that Agatha shewed herself grateful.  But to return to our
+subject.
+
+The happiness we enjoyed by day and night was so great, Agatha was
+so affectionate and I so amorous, that we should certainly have
+remained united for some time if it had not been for the event I
+am about to relate.  It made me leave Turin much sooner than I had
+intended, for I had not purposed to visit the wonderful Spanish
+countess at Milan till Lent.  The husband of the Spanish lady had
+finished his business and left Turin, thanking me with tears in
+his eyes; and if it had not been for me he would not have been
+able to quit the town, for I paid divers small debts he had
+incurred, and gave him the wherewithal for his journey.  Often is
+vice thus found allied to virtue or masking in virtue's guise; but
+what matter?  I allowed myself to be taken in, and did not wish to
+be disabused.  I do not seek to conceal my faults.  I have always
+led a profligate life, and have not always been very delicate in
+the choice of means to gratify my passions, but even amidst my
+vices I was always a passionate lover of virtue.  Benevolence,
+especially, has always had a great charm for me, and I have never
+failed to exercise it unless when restrained by the desire of
+vengeance--a vice which has always had a controlling influence on
+my actions.
+
+Lord Percy, as I have remarked, was deeply in love with my Agatha.
+He followed her about everywhere, was present at all the
+rehearsals, waited for her at the wings, and called on her every
+day, although her landlady, a duenna of the Pacienza school, would
+never let her see him alone.  The principal methods of seduction--
+rich presents--had not been spared, but Agatha persistently
+refused them all, and forbade her duenna to take anything from the
+young nobleman.  Agatha had no liking for him, and kept me well
+informed of all his actions, and we used to laugh at him together.
+I knew that I possessed her heart, and consequently Lord Percy's
+attempts neither made me angry or jealous--nay, they flattered my
+self-esteem, for his slighted love made my own happiness stand out
+in greater relief.  Everybody knew that Agatha remained faithful
+to me, and at last Lord Percy was so convinced of the hopelessness
+of the attempt that he resolved on making a friend of me, and
+winning me over to his interests.
+
+With the true Englishman's boldness and coolness he came to me one
+morning, and asked me to give him breakfast.  I welcomed him in
+the French manner, that is, with combined cordiality and
+politeness, and he was soon completely at his ease.
+
+With insular directness he went straight to the point at the first
+interview, declared his love for Agatha, and proposed an exchange,
+which amused, but did not offend me, as I knew that such bargains
+were common in England.
+
+"I know," said he, "that you are in love with Redegonde, and have
+long tried vainly to obtain her; now I am willing to exchange her
+for Agatha, and all I want to know is what sum of money you want
+over and above?"
+
+"You are very good, my dear lord, but to determine the excess of
+value would require a good mathematician.  Redegonde is all very
+well, and inspires me with curiosity, but what is she compared to
+Agatha?"
+
+"I know, I know, and I therefore offer you any sum you like to
+mention."
+
+Percy was very rich, and very passionate.  I am sure that if I had
+named twenty-five thousand guineas as overplus, or rather as
+exchange--for I did not care for Redegonde--he would have said
+done.  However, I did not, and I am glad of it.  Even now, when a
+hundred thousand francs would be a fortune to me, I never repent
+of my delicacy.
+
+After we had breakfasted merrily together, I told him that I liked
+him well, but that in the first place it would be well to
+ascertain whether the two commodities would consent to change
+masters.
+
+"I am sure of Redegonde's consent," said Lord Percy.
+
+"But I am not at all sure of Agatha's," said I.
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"I have very strong grounds for supposing that she would not
+consent to the arrangement.  What reasons have you for the
+contrary opinion?"
+
+"She will shew her sense."
+
+"But she loves me."
+
+"Well, Redegonde loves me."
+
+"I dare say; but does she love me?"
+
+"I am sure I don't know, but she will love you."
+
+"Have you consulted her upon the point?"
+
+"No, but it is all the same.  What I want to know now is whether
+you approve of my plan, and how much you want for the exchange,
+for your Agatha is worth much more than my Redegonde."
+
+"I am delighted to hear you do my mistress justice.  As for the
+money question, we will speak of that later.  In the first place I
+will take Agatha's opinion, and will let you know the result to-
+morrow morning."
+
+The plan amused me, and though I was passionately attached to
+Agatha I knew my inconstant nature well enough to be aware that
+another woman, may be not so fair as she, would soon make me
+forget her.  I therefore resolved to push the matter through if I
+could do so in a manner that would be advantageous for her.
+
+What surprised me was that the young nobleman had gained
+possession of Redegonde, whose mother appeared so intractable, but
+I knew what an influence caprice has on woman, and this explained
+the enigma.
+
+Agatha came to supper as usual, and laughed heartily when I told
+her of Lord Percy's proposal.
+
+"Tell me," said I, "if you would agree to the change?"
+
+"I will do just as you like," said she; "and if the money he
+offers be acceptable to you, I advise you to close with him."
+
+I could see by the tone of her voice that she was jesting, but her
+reply did not please me.  I should have liked to have my vanity
+flattered by a peremptory refusal, and consequently I felt angry.
+My face grew grave, and Agatha became melancholy.
+
+"We will see," said I, "how it all ends."
+
+Next day I went to breakfast with the Englishman, and told him
+Agatha was willing, but that I must first hear what Redegonde had
+to say.
+
+"Quite right," he observed.
+
+"I should require to know how we are to live together."
+
+"The four of us had better go masked to the first ball at the
+Carignan Theatre.  We will sup at a house which belongs to me, and
+there the bargain can be struck."
+
+The party took place according to agreement, and at the given
+signal we all left the ball-room.  My lord's carriage was in
+waiting, and we all drove away and got down at a house I seemed to
+know.  We entered the hall, and the first thing I saw was the
+Corticelli.  This roused my choler, and taking Percy aside I told
+him that such a trick was unworthy of a gentleman.  He laughed,
+and said he thought I should like her to be thrown in, and that
+two pretty women were surely worth as much as Agatha.  This
+amusing answer made me less angry; but, calling him a madman, I
+took Agatha by the arm and went out without staying for any
+explanations.  I would not make use of his carriage, and instead
+of returning to the ball we went home in sedan-chairs, and spent a
+delicious night in each other's arms.
+
+
+
+
+End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of MEMOIRES OF JACQUES CASANOVA
+ADVENTURES IN THE SOUTH, Vol. 4d, BACK AGAIN TO PARIS
+by Jacques Casanova de Seingalt
+