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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of In London And Moscow: The English
+by Jacques Casanova de Seingalt
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: In London And Moscow: The English
+       The Memoirs Of Jacques Casanova De Seingalt 1725-1798
+
+Author: Jacques Casanova de Seingalt
+
+Release Date: October 31, 2006 [EBook #2973]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IN LONDON AND MOSCOW: THE ENGLISH ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Widger
+
+
+
+
+
+THE MEMOIRS OF JACQUES CASANOVA DE SEINGALT
+
+THE RARE UNABRIDGED LONDON EDITION OF 1894 TRANSLATED BY ARTHUR MACHEN TO
+WHICH HAS BEEN ADDED THE CHAPTERS DISCOVERED BY ARTHUR SYMONS.
+
+MEMOIRS OF JACQUES CASANOVA de SEINGALT 1725-1798 IN LONDON AND MOSCOW,
+Volume 5c--THE ENGLISH
+
+
+
+
+THE ENGLISH
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+Eccentricity of the English--Castelbajac Count Schwerin--Sophie at
+School--My Reception at the Betting Club--The Charpillon
+
+I passed a night which seemed like a never-ending nightmare, and I got up
+sad and savage, feeling as if I could kill a man on the smallest
+provocation. It seemed as if the house, which I had hitherto thought so
+beautiful, was like a millstone about my neck. I went out in my
+travelling clothes, and walked into a coffee-house, where I saw a score
+of people reading the papers.
+
+I sat down, and, not understanding English, passed my time in gazing at
+the goers and comers. I had been there some time when my attention was
+attracted by the voice of a man speaking as follows in French:
+
+"Tommy has committed suicide, and he was wise, for he was in such a state
+that he could only expect unhappiness for the rest of his life."
+
+"You are quite mistaken," said the other, with the greatest composure. "I
+was one of his creditors myself, and on making an inventory of his
+effects I feel satisfied that he has done a very foolish and a very
+childish thing; he might have lived on comfortably, and not killed
+himself for fully six months."
+
+At any other time this calculation would have made me laugh, and, as it
+was, I felt as if the incident had done me good.
+
+I left the coffee-house without having said a word or spent a penny, and
+I went towards the Exchange to get some money. Bosanquet gave me what I
+wanted directly, and as I walked out with him I noticed a curious-looking
+individual, whose name I asked.
+
+"He's worth a hundred thousand," said the banker.
+
+"And who is that other man over there?"
+
+"He's not worth a ten-pound note."
+
+"But I don't want to hear what they are worth; it's their names I want."
+
+"I really don't know."
+
+"How can you tell how much they are worth, not knowing their names?"
+
+"Names don't go for anything here. What we want to know about a man is
+how much he has got? Besides; what's in a name? Ask me for a thousand
+pounds and give me a proper receipt, and you can do it under the name of
+Socrates or Attila, for all I care. You will pay me back my money as
+Socrates or Attila, and not as Seingalt; that is all."
+
+"But how about signing bills of exchange?"
+
+"That's another thing; I must use the name which the drawer gives me."
+
+"I don't understand that."
+
+"Well, you see, you are not English, nor are you a business man."
+
+On leaving him I walked towards the park, but wishing to change a
+twenty-pound note before going in I went to a fat merchant, an epicure
+whose acquaintance I had made at the tavern, and put down the note on his
+counter, begging him to cash it for me.
+
+"Come again in an hour," said he, "I have no money by me just now."
+
+"Very good; I will call again when I come from the park."
+
+"Take back your note; you shall give it to me when I hand you the money."
+
+"Never mind; keep it. I don't doubt your honesty."
+
+"Don't be so foolish. If you left me the note I should certainly decline
+to hand over the money, if only for the sake of giving you a lesson."
+
+"I don't believe you are capable of such dishonesty."
+
+"Nor am I, but when it comes to such a simple thing as putting a bank
+note in your pocket, the most honest man in the world would never dream
+of having such a thing in his possession without having paid the money
+for it, and the least slip of memory might lead to a dispute in which you
+would infallibly come off second best."
+
+"I feel the force of your arguments, especially in a town where so much
+business is carried on."
+
+When I got into the park I met Martinelli and thanked him for sending me
+a copy of the Decameron, while he congratulated me on my re-appearance in
+society, and on the young lady of whom I had been the happy possessor and
+no doubt the slave.
+
+"My Lord Pembroke has seen her," said he, "and thought her charming."
+
+"What? Where could he have seen her?"
+
+"In a carriage with you driving fast along the Rochester road. It is
+three or four days ago."
+
+"Then I may tell you that I was taking her to Calais; I shall never see
+her face again."
+
+"Will you let the room again in the same way?"
+
+"No, never again, though the god of love has been propitious to me. I
+shall be glad to see you at my house whenever you like to come."
+
+"Shall I send you a note to warn you?"
+
+"Not at all."
+
+We walked on talking about literature, manners, and so forth, in an
+aimless way. All at once, as we approached Buckingham House, I saw five
+or six persons, relieving nature amidst the bushes, with their hinder
+parts facing the passers-by. I thought this a disgusting piece of
+indecency, and said as much to Martinelli, adding that the impudent
+rascals might at least turn their faces towards the path.
+
+"Not at all," he exclaimed, "for then they might be recognized; whereas
+in exposing their posteriors they run no such risk; besides the sight
+makes squeamish persons turn away."
+
+"You are right, but you will confess that the whole thing strikes a
+stranger as very revolting."
+
+"Yes, there is nothing so ineradicable as national prejudice. You may
+have noticed that when an Englishman wants to ease his sluices in the
+street, he doesn't run up an alley or turn to the wall like we do."
+
+"Yes, I have noticed them turning towards the middle of the street, but
+if they thus escape the notice of the people in the shops and on the
+pavement they are seen by everybody who is driving in a carriage, and
+that is as bad."
+
+"The people in the carriages need not look."
+
+"That is true."
+
+We walked on to the Green Park, and met Lord Pembroke on horseback. He
+stopped and burst into exclamations on seeing me. As I guessed the cause
+of his surprise, I hastened to tell him that I was a free man once more,
+to my sorrow, and felt lonely amidst my splendour.
+
+"I feel rather curious about it, and perhaps I may come and keep you
+company to-day."
+
+We parted, and reckoning on seeing him at dinner I, went back to tell my
+cook that dinner was to be served in the large room. Martinelli had an
+engagement and could not come to dinner, but he led me out of the park by
+a door with which I was not acquainted, and sent me on my way.
+
+As we were going along we saw a crowd of people who seemed to be staring
+at something. Martinelli went up to the crowd, and then returned to me,
+saying,--
+
+"That's a curious sight for you; you can enter it amidst your remarks on
+English manners."
+
+"What is it?"
+
+"A man at the point of death from a blow he has received in boxing with
+another sturdy fellow."
+
+"Cannot anything be done?"
+
+"There is a surgeon there who would bleed him, if he were allowed."
+
+"Who could prevent him?"
+
+"That's the curious part of it. Two men have betted on his death or
+recovery. One says, 'I'll bet twenty guineas he dies,' and the other
+says, 'Done.' Number one will not allow the surgeon to bleed him, for if
+the man recovered his twenty guineas would be gone."
+
+"Poor man! what pitiless betters!"
+
+"The English are very strange in their betting proclivities; they bet
+about everything. There is a Betting Club to which I will introduce you,
+if you like."
+
+"Do they speak French there?"
+
+"Most certainly, for it is composed of men of wit and mark."
+
+"What do they do?"
+
+"They talk and argue, and if one man brings forward a proposition which
+another denies, and one backs his opinion, the other has to bet too, on
+pain of a fine which goes to the common fund."
+
+"Introduce me to this delightful club, by all means; it will make my
+fortune, for I shall always take care to be on the right side."
+
+"You had better be careful; they are wary birds."
+
+"But to return to the dying man; what will be done to his antagonist?"
+
+"His hand will be examined, and if it is found to be just the same as
+yours or mine it will be marked, and he will be let go."
+
+"I don't understand that, so kindly explain. How do they recognize a
+dangerous hand?"
+
+"If it is found to be marked already, it is a proof that he has killed
+his man before and has been marked for it, with the warning, 'Take care
+not to kill anyone else, for if you do you will be hanged.'"
+
+"But supposing such a man is attacked?"
+
+"He ought to shew his hand, and then his adversary would let him alone."
+
+"But if not?"
+
+"Then he is defending himself; and if he kills his man he is acquitted,
+provided he can bring witnesses to swear that he was obliged to fight."
+
+"Since fighting with the fist may cause death, I wonder it is allowed."
+
+"It is only allowed for a wager. If the combatants do not put one or more
+pieces of money on the ground before the fight, and there is a death, the
+man is hanged."
+
+"What laws! What manners!"
+
+In such ways I learnt much concerning the manner and customs of this
+proud nation, at once so great and so little.
+
+The noble lord came to dinner, and I treated him in a manner to make him
+wish to come again. Although there were only the two of us, the meal
+lasted a long time, as I was anxious for additional information on what I
+had heard in the morning, especially on the Betting Club. The worthy
+Pembroke advised me not to have anything to do with it, unless I made up
+my mind to keep perfect silence for four or five weeks.
+
+"But supposing they ask me a question?"
+
+"Evade it."
+
+"Certainly, if I am not in a position to give my opinion; but if I have
+an opinion, the powers of Satan could not shut my mouth."
+
+"All the worse for you."
+
+"Are the members knaves?"
+
+"Certainly not. They are noblemen, philosophers, and epicures; but they
+are pitiless where a bet is concerned."
+
+"Is the club treasury rich?"
+
+"Far from it; they are all ashamed to pay a fine, and prefer to bet. Who
+will introduce you?"
+
+"Martinelli."
+
+"Quite so; through Lord Spencer, who is a member. I would not become
+one."
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"Because I don't like argument."
+
+"My taste runs the other way, so I shall try to get in."
+
+"By the way, M. de Seingalt, do you know that you are a very
+extraordinary man?"
+
+"For what reason, my lord?"
+
+"You shut yourself up for a whole month with a woman who spent fourteen
+months in London without anybody making her acquaintance or even
+discovering her nationality. All the amateurs have taken a lively
+interest in the affair."
+
+"How did you find out that she spent fourteen months in London?"
+
+"Because several persons saw her in the house of a worthy widow where she
+spent the first month. She would never have anything to say to any
+advances, but the bill in your window worked wonders."
+
+"Yes, and all the worse for me, for I feel as if I could never love
+another woman."
+
+"Oh, that's childish indeed! You will love another woman in a week-nay,
+perhaps to-morrow, if you will come and dine with me at my country house.
+A perfect French beauty has asked me to dine with her. I have told some
+of my friends who are fond of gaming."
+
+"Does the charming Frenchwoman like gaming?"
+
+"No, but her husband does."
+
+"What's his name?"
+
+"He calls himself Count de Castelbajac."
+
+"Ah! Castelbajac?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"He is a Gascon?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Tall, thin, and dark, and marked with the smallpox?
+
+"Exactly! I am delighted to find you know him. You will agree with me
+that his wife is very pretty?"
+
+"I really can't say. I knew Castelbajac, as he calls himself, six years
+ago, and I never heard he was married. I shall be delighted to join you,
+however. I must warn you not to say anything if he seems not to know me;
+he may possibly have good reasons for acting in that manner. Before long
+I will tell you a story which does not represent him in a very
+advantageous manner. I did not know he played. I shall take care to be on
+my guard at the Betting Club, and I advise you, my lord, to be on your
+guard in the society of Castelbajac."
+
+"I will not forget the warning."
+
+When Pembroke had left me I went to see Madame Cornelis, who had written
+a week before to tell me my daughter was ill, and explained that she had
+been turned from my doors on two occasions though she felt certain I was
+in. To this I replied that I was in love, and so happy within my own
+house that I had excluded all strangers, and with that she had to be
+contented, but the state in which I found little Sophie frightened me.
+She was lying in bed with high fever, she had grown much thinner, and her
+eyes seemed to say that she was dying of grief. Her mother was in
+despair, for she was passionately fond of the child, and I thought she
+would have torn my eyes out when I told her that if Sophie died she would
+only have herself to reproach. Sophie, who was very good-hearted, cried
+out, "No, no! papa dear;" and quieted her mother by her caresses.
+
+Nevertheless, I took the mother aside, and told her that the disease was
+solely caused by Sophie's dread of her severity.
+
+"In spite of your affection," said I, "you treat her with insufferable
+tyranny. Send her to a boarding-school for a couple of years, and let her
+associate with girls of good family. Tell her this evening that she is to
+go to school, and see if she does not get better."
+
+"Yes," said she, "but a good boarding-school costs a hundred guineas a
+year, including masters."
+
+"If I approve of the school you select I will pay a year in advance."
+
+On my making this offer the woman, who seemed to be living so
+luxuriously, but was in reality poverty-stricken, embraced me with the
+utmost gratitude.
+
+"Come and tell the news to your daughter now," said she, "I should like
+to watch her face when she hears it."
+
+"Certainly."
+
+"My dear Sophie," I said, "your mother agrees with me that if you had a
+change of air you would get better, and if you would like to spend a year
+or two in a good school I will pay the first year in advance."
+
+"Of course, I will obey my dear mother," said Sophie.
+
+"There is no question of obedience. Would you like to go to school? Tell
+me truly."
+
+"But would my mother like me to go?"
+
+"Yes, my child, if it would please you."
+
+"Then, mamma, I should like to go very much."
+
+Her face flushed as she spoke, and I knew that my diagnosis had been
+correct. I left her saying I should hope to hear from her soon.
+
+At ten o'clock the next day Jarbe came to ask if I had forgotten my
+engagement.
+
+"No," said I, "but it is only ten o'clock."
+
+"Yes, but we have twenty miles to go."
+
+"Twenty miles?"
+
+"Certainly, the house is at St. Albans."
+
+"It's very strange Pembroke never told me; how did you find out the
+address?"
+
+"He left it when he went away:"
+
+"Just like an Englishman."
+
+I took a post-chaise, and in three hours I had reached my destination.
+The English roads are excellent, and the country offers a smiling
+prospect on every side. The vine is lacking, for though the English soil
+is fertile it will not bear grapes.
+
+Lord Pembroke's house was not a particularly large one, but twenty
+masters and their servants could easily be accommodated in it.
+
+The lady had not yet arrived, so my lord shewed me his gardens, his
+fountains, and his magnificent hot-houses; also a cock chained by the
+leg, and of a truly ferocious aspect.
+
+"What have we here, my lord?"
+
+"A cock."
+
+"I see it is, but why do you chain it?"
+
+"Because it is savage. It is very amorous, and if it were loose it would
+go after the hens, and kill all the cocks on the country-side."
+
+"But why do you condemn him to celibacy?"
+
+"To make him fiercer. Here, this is the list of his conquests."
+
+He gave me a list of his cock's victories, in which he had killed the
+other bird; this had happened more than thirty times. He then shewed me
+the steel spurs, at the sight of which the cock began to ruffle and crow.
+I could not help laughing to see such a martial spirit in so small an
+animal. He seemed possessed by the demon of strife, and lifted now one
+foot and now the other, as if to beg that his arms might be put on.
+
+Pembroke then exhibited the helmet, also of steel.
+
+"But with such arms," said I, "he is sure of conquest."
+
+"No; for when he is armed cap-a-pie he will not fight with a defenceless
+cock."
+
+"I can't believe it, my lord."
+
+"It's a well-known fact. Here, read this."
+
+He then gave me a piece of paper with this remarkable biped's pedigree.
+He could prove his thirty-two quarters more easily than a good many
+noblemen, on the father's side, be it understood, for if he could have
+proved pure blood on the mother's side as well, Lord Pembroke would have
+decorated him with the Order of the Golden Fleece at least.
+
+"The bird cost me a hundred guineas," said he, "but I would not sell him
+for a thousand."
+
+"Has he any offspring?"
+
+"He tries his best, but there are difficulties."
+
+I do not remember whether Lord Pembroke explained what these difficulties
+were. Certainly the English offer more peculiarities to the attentive
+observer than any other nation.
+
+At last a carriage containing a lady and two gentlemen drove up to the
+door. One of the gentlemen was the rascally Castelbajac and the other was
+introduced as Count Schwerin, nephew of the famous marshal of that name
+who fell on what is commonly called the field of glory. General
+Bekw---- an Englishman who was in the service of the King of Prussia, and
+was one of Pembroke's guests, received Schwerin politely, saying that he
+had seen his uncle die; at this the modest nephew drew the Order of the
+Black Eagle from his breast, and shewed it to us all covered with blood.
+
+"My uncle wore it on the day of his death, and the King of Prussia
+allowed me to keep it as a noble memorial of my kinsman."
+
+"Yes," said an Englishman who was present, "but the coat-pocket is not
+the place for a thing like that."
+
+Schwerin made as if he did not understand, and this enabled me to take
+his measure.
+
+Lord Pembroke took possession of the lady, whom I did not think worthy of
+being compared to Pauline. She was paler and shorter, and utterly
+deficient in Pauline's noble air; besides, when she smiled it spoiled her
+face, and this is a defect in a woman, to whom laughter should always be
+becoming.
+
+Lord Pembroke introduced us all to each other, and when he came to me
+Castelbajac said he was delighted to see me again, although he might
+easily have pretended not to know me under my name of Seingalt.
+
+We had a good English dinner, and afterwards the lady proposed a game of
+faro. My lord never played, so the general consented to amuse the company
+by holding the bank, and placed a hundred guineas and several bank notes
+on the table. There might be a thousand guineas in all. He then gave
+twenty counters to each punter, saying that every counter was worth ten
+shillings. As I only staked gold against gold I would not accept them. By
+the third deal Schwerin had lost his twenty counters and asked for twenty
+more; but the banker told him he must pay for them, and the self-styled
+field-marshal's nephew lapsed into silence and played no more.
+
+At the following deal Castelbajac was in the same position as his friend,
+and being on my side he begged to be allowed to take ten pieces.
+
+"You will bring me ill-luck," I said, coldly, warding off his hand; and
+he went out to the garden, no doubt to swallow the affront he had
+received. The lady said her husband had forgotten his pocketbook. An hour
+afterwards the game came to an end, and I took my leave, after inviting
+Lord Pembroke and the rest of the company to dine with me the next day.
+
+I got home at eleven o'clock without meeting any highwaymen as I had
+expected, indeed I had put up six guineas in a small purse for their
+special use and benefit. I woke up my cook to tell him that the next day
+I should have twelve people to dinner, and that I hoped he would do me
+honour. I found a letter from Madame Cornelis on my table telling me that
+she and her daughter would drive with me on the following Sunday, and
+that we could go and see the boarding-school she had selected.
+
+Next day Lord Pembroke and the fair Frenchwoman were the first to arrive.
+They drove in a carriage with two rather uncomfortable seats, but this
+discomfort is favourable to love. The Gascon and the Prussian were the
+last to come.
+
+We sat down to table at two and left it at four, all of us well pleased
+with the cook, and still more so with the wine merchant; for though we
+had emptied forty bottles of wine, not one of us was at all intoxicated.
+
+After coffee had been served the general invited us all to sup with him,
+and Madame Castelbajac begged me to hold a bank. I did not wait to be
+pressed but placed a thousand guineas on the table, and as I had no
+counters of any kind I warned the company that I would only play gold
+against gold, and that I should stop playing whenever I thought fit.
+
+Before the game began the two counts paid their losses of the day before
+to the general in bank notes, which he begged me to change. I also
+changed two other notes presented to me by the same gentleman, and put
+them all under my snuff-box. Play began. I had no croupier, so I was
+obliged to deal slowly and keep an eye on the two counts, whose method of
+play was very questionable. At last both of them were dried up, and
+Castelbajac gave me a bill of exchange for two hundred guineas, begging
+me to discount it for him.
+
+"I know nothing about business," I replied.
+
+An Englishman took the bill, and after a careful examination said he
+neither knew the drawer, the accepter, nor the backer.
+
+"I am the backer," said Castelbajac, "and that ought to be enough, I
+think."
+
+Everybody laughed, besides myself, and I gave it him back courteously,
+saying politely that he could get it discounted on 'Change the next day.
+He got up in a bad temper, and left the room, murmuring some insolent
+expressions. Schwering followed him.
+
+After these two worthy gentlemen had left us, I went on dealing till the
+night was far advanced, and then left off, though I was at a loss.
+However, the general had a run of luck, and I thought it best to stop.
+Before leaving he took me and Lord Pembroke aside, and begged me to
+contrive that the two knaves should not come to his house the following
+day. "For," said he, "if that Gascon were to be half as insolent to me as
+he was to you, I should shew him out by the window."
+
+Pembroke said he would tell the lady of the general's wishes.
+
+"Do you think," said I, "that those four notes of theirs can be
+forgeries?"
+
+"It's very possible."
+
+"What would you advise my doing to clear the matter up?"
+
+"I would send them to the bank."
+
+"And if they should be forgeries?"
+
+"I would have patience, or I would arrest the rascals."
+
+The next day I went to the bank myself, and the person to whom I gave the
+notes gave me them back, saying, coldly,--
+
+"These notes are bad, sir."
+
+"Be kind enough to examine them closely."
+
+"It's no good, they are evident forgeries. Return them to the person from
+whom you got them, and he will be only too glad to cash them."
+
+I was perfectly aware that I could put the two knaves under lock and key,
+but I did not want to do so. I went to Lord Pembroke to find out their
+address, but he was still in bed, and one of his servants took me to
+them. They were surprised to see me. I told them coolly enough that the
+four notes were forged, and that I should feel much obliged if they would
+give me forty guineas and take their notes back.
+
+"I haven't got any money," said Castelbajac, "and what you say astonishes
+me very much. I can only return them to the persons who gave them to me,
+if the are really the same notes that we gave you yesterday."
+
+At this suggestion the blood rushed to my face, and with a withering
+glance and an indignant apostrophe I left them. Lord Pembroke's servant
+took me to a magistrate who, having heard my statement on oath, gave me a
+paper authorizing me to arrest two counts. I gave the document to an
+alderman, who said he would see it was carried out, and I went home ill
+pleased with the whole business.
+
+Martinelli was waiting for me; he had come to ask me to give him a
+dinner. I told him my story, without adding that the knaves were to be
+arrested, and his advice delivered with philosophic calm was to make an
+auto-da-fe of the four notes. It was very good advice, but I did not take
+it.
+
+The worthy Martinelli, thinking to oblige me, told me that he had
+arranged with Lord Spencer the day on which I was to be introduced to the
+club, but I answered that my fancy for going there was over. I ought to
+have treated this learned and distinguished man with more politeness, but
+who can sound human weakness to its depths? One often goes to a wise man
+for advice which one has not the courage to follow.
+
+In the evening I went to the general's, and found the self-styled
+Countess Castelbajac seated on Lord Pembroke's knees. The supper was a
+good one, and passed off pleasantly; the two rascals were not there, and
+their absence was not remarked. When we left the table we went into
+another room, and played till day-break. I left the board with a loss of
+two or three hundred guineas.
+
+I did not wake till late the next morning, and when I did my man told me
+that a person wanted to speak to me. I had him shewn in, and as he only
+spoke English the negro had to be our interpreter. He was the chief of
+the police, and told me that if I would pay for the journey he would
+arrest Castelbajac at Dover, for which town he had started at noon. As to
+the other he was sure of having him in the course of the night. I gave
+him a guinea, and told him it would be enough to catch the one, and that
+the other could go where he liked.
+
+The next day was Sunday, the only day on which Madame Cornelis could go
+abroad without fear of the bailiff. She came to dine with me, and brought
+her daughter, whom the prospect of leaving her mother had quite cured.
+The school which Madame Cornelis had chosen was at Harwich, and we went
+there after dinner.
+
+The head-mistress was a Catholic, and though she must have been sixty,
+she looked keen, witty, and as if she knew the ways of the world. She had
+received an introduction from Lady Harrington, and so welcomed the young
+lady in the most cordial manner. She had about fifteen young boarders of
+thirteen or fourteen years of age. When she presented Sophie to them as a
+new companion, they crowded round her and covered her with caresses. Five
+or six were perfect angels of beauty, and two or three were hideously
+ugly; and such extremes are more common in England than anywhere else. My
+daughter was the smallest of them all, but as far as beauty went she had
+nothing to fear by comparison, and her talents placed her on a par with
+the eldest, while she responded to their caresses with that ease which
+later in life is only acquired with great difficulty.
+
+We went over the house, and all the girls followed us, and those who
+could speak French or Italian spoke to me, saying how much they would
+love my daughter, while those who could not speak sufficiently well held
+off as if ashamed of their ignorance. We saw the bedrooms, the
+dining-room, the drawing-room, the harps and the pianos--in fact,
+everything, and I decided that Sophie could not be better placid. We went
+into the head-mistress's private room, and Madame Cornelis paid her a
+hundred guineas in advance, and obtained a receipt. We then agreed that
+Sophie should be received as a boarder as soon as she liked to come, that
+she was to bring her bed with her, and all the necessary linen. Madame
+Cornelis made the final arrangements on the ensuing Sunday.
+
+Next day the alderman told me that Count Schwerin was a prisoner, and
+wanted to speak to me. I declined at first, but as the alderman's
+messenger told me, through Jarbe, that the poor devil had not a farthing
+in his pocket, I was moved with compassion. As he was charged with
+uttering forged notes he had been taken to Newgate, and was in danger of
+being hanged.
+
+I followed the magistrate's messenger, and cannot say how the woeful
+aspect, the tears and supplications for mercy of the poor wretch, moved
+my heart. He swore that Castelbajac had given him the notes, but he added
+that he knew where they came from originally, and would tell me if I
+would release him.
+
+A little bitterness still remained in my breast, so I told him that if he
+knew who forged the notes he could certainly escape the gallows, but that
+I should keep him prisoner till I got my money back. At this threat his
+tears and supplications began over again and with renewed force, and
+telling me that he was in utter poverty he emptied his pockets one after
+the other to shew me that he had no money, and at last offered me the
+bloodstained badge of his uncle. I was delighted to be able to relieve
+him without any appearance of weakness, and accepted the bauble as a
+pledge, telling him that he should have it back on payment of forty
+pounds.
+
+I wrote out a formal release, and in his presence and in that of the
+alderman I burnt the four notes and set him free.
+
+Two days afterwards the so-called countess came to my house, saying that
+now Castelbajac and Schewirin were gone, she knew not where to lay her
+head. She complained bitterly of Lord Pembroke, who deserted her after
+making her give him the clearest proofs of her affection. By way of
+consolation I told her that it would be very foolish of him to have
+abandoned her before instead of after.
+
+To get rid of her I was obliged to give her the money to pay her journey
+to Calais. She told me she did not want to rejoin the Gascon, who was not
+really her husband. We shall hear more of these persons in the course of
+three years.
+
+Two or three days later an Italian called on me, and gave me a letter
+from my friend Baletti, which recommended the bearer, Constantini, a
+native of Vicenza, to my good offices. He had come to London on a matter
+of importance in which I could help him.
+
+I assured M. Constantini that I was only too happy to do anything to
+justify the confidence placed in my by one of my best friends, and he
+said that the long journey had almost exhausted his purse; but he
+added,--
+
+"I know that my wife lives here, and that she is rich. I shall easily
+find out where she lives, and you know that as I am her husband all that
+is hers is mine."
+
+"I was not aware of that."
+
+"Then you don't know the laws of this country?"
+
+"Not at all."
+
+"I am sorry to hear it, but such is the case. I am going to her house,
+and I shall turn her out of doors with nothing else than the dress on her
+back, for the furniture, clothes, jewels, linen-in fact, all her
+possessions, belong to me. May I ask you to be with me when I perform
+this exploit?"
+
+I was astonished. I asked him if he had told Baletti what he intended to
+do.
+
+"You are the first person to whom I have disclosed my intentions."
+
+I could not treat him as a madman, for he did not look like one, and,
+concluding that there really might be the law he had alleged, I replied
+that I did not feel inclined to join him in his enterprise, of which I
+disapproved very strongly, unless his wife had actually robbed him of
+what she possessed.
+
+"She has only robbed me of my honour, sir, and she left me, taking her
+talents with her. She must have made a great fortune here, and have I not
+a right to take it from her, were it only for vengeance sake?"
+
+"That may be, but I ask you what you would think of me if I agreed to
+join you in an undertaking which seems a cruel one to me, however good
+your reasons may be. Besides I may know your wife, she may even be a
+friend of mine."
+
+"I will tell you her name."
+
+"No, I beg of you not to do so, although I do not know any Madame
+Constantini."
+
+"She has changed her name to Calori, and she sings at the 'Haymarket.'"
+
+"I know who she is now. I am sorry you have told me."
+
+"I have no doubt you will keep my secret, and I am now going to find out
+where she lives; for that is the principal thing."
+
+He left me weeping, and I pitied him, but at the same time I was sorry
+that he had made me the depositary of his secret. A few hours after I
+called on Madame Binetti, and she told me the histories of all the
+artistes in London. When she came to the Calori she told me that she had
+had several lovers out of whom she had made a great deal, but at present
+she had no lover, unless it were the violinist Giardini, with whom she
+was in love in earnest.
+
+"Where does she come from?"
+
+"From Vicenza."
+
+"Is she married?"
+
+"I don't think so."
+
+I thought no more of this wretched business, but three or four days later
+I had a letter from King's Bench Prison. It was from Constantini. The
+poor wretch said I was the only friend he had in London, and that he
+hoped I would come and see him, were it only to give him some advice.
+
+I thought it my duty to accede to his request, and I went to the prison,
+where I found the poor man in a wretched state, with an old English
+attorney, who spoke a little bad Italian, and was known to me.
+
+Constantini had been arrested the day before on account of several bills
+drawn by his wife which had not been taken up. By these bills she
+appeared in debt to the amount of a thousand guineas. The attorney had
+got the five bills, and he was trying to make some arrangements with the
+husband.
+
+I saw at once that the whole thing was a scandalous swindle, for Madame
+Binetti had told me that the Calori was very rich. I begged the attorney
+to leave me alone with the prisoner, as I wanted to have some private
+conversation with him.
+
+"They have arrested me for my wife's debts," said he, "and they tell me I
+must pay them because I am her husband."
+
+"It's a trick your wife has played on you; she must have found out you
+were in London."
+
+"She saw me through the window."
+
+"Why did you delay putting your project into execution?"
+
+"I meant to carry it out this morning, but how was I to know that she had
+debts?"
+
+"Nor has she any debts; these bills are shams. They must have been
+ante-dated, for they were really executed yesterday. It's a bad business,
+and she may have to pay dearly for it."
+
+"But in the meanwhile I am in prison."
+
+"Never mind, trust to me, I will see you again tomorrow."
+
+This scurvy trick had made me angry, and I made up my mind to take up the
+poor man's cause. I went to Bosanquet, who told me that the device was a
+very common one in London, but that people had found out the way to
+defeat it. Finally, he said that if the prisoner interested me he would
+put the case into the hands of a barrister who would extricate him from
+his difficulty, and make the wife and the lover, who had probably helped
+her, repent of their day's work. I begged him to act as if my interests
+were at stake, and promised to guarantee all expenses.
+
+"That's enough," said he; "don't trouble yourself any more about it."
+
+Same days after Mr. Bosanquet came to tell me that Constantini had left
+the prison and England as well, according to what the barrister who had
+charge of the case told him.
+
+"Impossible!"
+
+"Not at all. The lover of his wife, foreseeing the storm that was about
+to burst over their heads, got round the fellow, and made him leave the
+country by means of a sum more or less large."
+
+The affair was over, but it was soon in all the newspapers, garnished
+with all the wit imaginable, and Giardini was warmly praised for the
+action he had taken.
+
+As for me I was glad enough to have the matter over, but I felt vexed
+with Constantini for having fled without giving the lovers a lesson. I
+wrote an account of the circumstances to Baletti, and I heard from Madame
+Binetti that the Calori had given her husband a hundred guineas to leave
+the country. Some years later I saw the Calori at Prague.
+
+A Flemish officer, the man whom I had helped at Aix-la-Chapelle, had
+called on me several times, and had even dined three or four times with
+me. I reproached myself for not having been polite enough to return his
+call, and when we met in the street, and he reproached me for not having
+been to see him, I was obliged to blush. He had his wife and daughter
+with him, and some feeling of shame and a good deal of curiosity made me
+call on him.
+
+When he saw me he threw his arms about my neck, calling me his preserver.
+I was obliged to receive all the compliments which knaves make to honest
+men when they hope to take them in. A few moments after, an old woman and
+a girl came in, and I was introduced as the Chevalier de Seingalt, of
+whom he had spoken so often. The girl, affecting surprise, said she had
+known a M. Casanova, who was very like me. I answered that Casanova was
+my name as well as Seingalt, but that I had not the happiness of
+recollecting her.
+
+"My name was Anspergher when I saw you," she replied, "but now it is
+Charpillon; and considering that we only met once, and that I was only
+thirteen at the time, I do not wonder at your not recollecting me. I have
+been in London with my mother and aunts for the last four years."
+
+"But where had I the pleasure of speaking to you?"
+
+"At Paris."
+
+"In what part of Paris?"
+
+"In the Bazaar. You were with a charming lady, and you gave me these
+buckles" (she shewed me them on her shoes), "and you also did me the
+honour to kiss me."
+
+I recollected the circumstance, and the reader will remember that I was
+with Madame Baret, the fair stocking-seller.
+
+"Now I remember you," said I; "but I do not recognize your aunt."
+
+"This is the sister of the one you saw, but if you will take tea with us
+you will see her."
+
+"Where do you live?"
+
+"In Denmark Street, Soho."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+The Charpillon--Dreadful Consequences of My Acquaintance With Her
+
+The name Charpillon reminded me that I was the bearer of a letter for
+her, and drawing it from my pocket-book I gave it her, saying that the
+document ought to cement our acquaintance.
+
+"What!" she exclaimed, "a letter from the dear ambassador Morosini. How
+delighted I am to have it! And you have actually been all these months in
+London without giving it me?"
+
+"I confess I am to blame, but, as you see, the note has no address on it.
+I am grateful for the chance which has enabled me to discharge my
+commission to-day."
+
+"Come and dine with us to-morrow."
+
+"I cannot do so, as I am expecting Lord Pembroke to dinner."
+
+"Will you be alone?"
+
+"I expect so."
+
+"I am glad to hear it; you will see my aunt and myself appearing on the
+scene."
+
+"Here is my address; and I shall be delighted if you will come and see
+me."
+
+She took the address, and I was surprised to see her smile as she read
+it.
+
+"Then you are the Italian," she said, "who put up that notice that amused
+all the town?"
+
+"I am."
+
+"They say the joke cost you dear."
+
+"Quite the reverse; it resulted in the greatest happiness."
+
+"But now that the beloved object has left you, I suppose you are
+unhappy?"
+
+"I am; but there are sorrows so sweet that they are almost joys."
+
+"Nobody knows who she was, but I suppose you do?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Do you make a mystery of it?"
+
+"Surely, and I would rather die than reveal it."
+
+"Ask my aunt if I may take some rooms in your house; but I am afraid my
+mother would not let me."
+
+"Why do you want to lodge cheaply?"
+
+"I don't want to lodge cheaply, but I should like to punish the audacious
+author of that notice."
+
+"How would you punish me?"
+
+"By making you fall in love with me, and then tormenting you. It would
+have amused me immensely."
+
+"Then you think that you can inspire me with love, and at the same time
+form the dreadful plan of tyrannising over the victim of your charms.
+Such a project is monstrous, and unhappily for us poor men, you do not
+look a monster. Nevertheless, I am obliged to you for your frankness, and
+I shall be on my guard."
+
+"Then you must take care never to see me, or else all your efforts will
+be in vain."
+
+As the Charpillon had laughed merrily through the whole of this dialogue,
+I took it all as a jest, but I could not help admiring her manner, which
+seemed made for the subjugation of men. But though I knew it not, the day
+I made that woman's acquaintance was a luckless one for me, as my readers
+will see.
+
+It was towards the end of the month of September, 1763, when I met the
+Charpillon, and from that day I began to die. If the lines of ascent and
+declination are equal, now, on the first day of November, 1797, I have
+about four more years of life to reckon on, which will pass by swiftly,
+according to the axiom 'Motus in fine velocior'.
+
+The Charpillon, who was well known in London, and I believe is still
+alive, was one of those beauties in whom it is difficult to find any
+positive fault. Her hair was chestnut coloured, and astonishingly long
+and thick, her blue eyes were at once languorous and brilliant, her skin,
+faintly tinged with a rosy hue, was of a dazzling whiteness; she was tall
+for her age, and seemed likely to become as tall as Pauline. Her breast
+was perhaps a little small, but perfectly shaped, her hands were white
+and plump, her feet small, and her gait had something noble and gracious.
+Her features were of that exquisite sensibility which gives so much charm
+to the fair sex, but nature had given her a beautiful body and a deformed
+soul. This siren had formed a design to wreck my happiness even before
+she knew me, and as if to add to her triumph she told me as much.
+
+I left Malingan's house not like a man who, fond of the fair sex, is glad
+to have made the acquaintance of a beautiful woman, but in a state of
+stupefaction that the image of Pauline, which was always before me, was
+not strong enough to overcome the influence of a creature like the
+Charpillon, whom in my heart I could not help despising.
+
+I calmed myself by saying that this strong impression was due to novelty,
+and by hoping that I should soon be disenchanted.
+
+"She will have no charm," said I, "when I have once possessed her, and
+that will not be long in coming." Perhaps the reader will think that I
+was too presumptuous, but why should I suppose that there would be any
+difficulty? She had asked me to dinner herself, she had surrendered
+herself entirely to Morosini, who was not the man to sigh for long at any
+woman's feet, and must have paid her, for he was not young enough nor
+handsome enough to inspire her with a fancy for him. Without counting my
+physical attractions, I had plenty of money, and I was not afraid of
+spending it; and so I thought I could count on an easy victory.
+
+Pembroke had become an intimate friend of mine since my proceedings with
+regard to Schwerin. He admired my conduct in not making any claim on the
+general for half my loss. He had said we would make a pleasant day of it
+together, and when he saw that my table was laid for four he asked who
+the other guests were to be. He was extremely surprised when he heard
+that they were the Charpillon and her aunt, and that the girl had invited
+herself when she heard he was to dine with me.
+
+"I once took a violent fancy for the little hussy," said he. "It was one
+evening when I was at Vauxhall, and I offered her twenty guineas if she
+would come and take a little walk with me in a dark alley. She said she
+would come if I gave her the money in advance, which I was fool enough to
+do. She went with me, but as soon as we were alone she ran away, and I
+could not catch her again, though I looked for her all the evening."
+
+"You ought to have boxed her ears before everybody."
+
+"I should have got into trouble, and people would have laughed at me
+besides. I preferred to despise her and the money too. Are you in love
+with her?"
+
+"No; but I am curious, as you were."
+
+"Take care! she will do all in her power to entrap you."
+
+She came in and went up to my lord with the most perfect coolness, and
+began to chatter away to him without taking any notice of me. She
+laughed, joked, and reproached him for not having pursued her at
+Vauxhall. Her stratagem, she said, was only meant to excite him the more.
+
+"Another time," she added, "I shall not escape you."
+
+"Perhaps not, my dear, for another time I shall take care not to pay in
+advance."
+
+"Oh, fie! you degrade yourself by talking about paying."
+
+"I suppose I honour you."
+
+"We never talk of such things."
+
+Lord Pembroke laughed at her impertinences, while she made a vigorous
+assault on him, for his coolness and indifference piqued her.
+
+She left us soon after dinner, making me promise to dine with her the day
+after next.
+
+I passed the next day with the amiable nobleman who initiated me into the
+mysteries of the English bagnio, an entertainment which I shall not
+describe, for it is well known to all who care to spend six guineas.
+
+On the day appointed, my evil destiny made me go to the Charpillon's; the
+girl introduced me to her mother, whom I at once recollected, although
+she had aged and altered since I had seen her.
+
+In the year 1759 a Genevan named Bolome had persuaded me to sell her
+jewels to the extent of six thousand francs, and she had paid me in bills
+drawn by her and her two sisters on this Bolome, but they were then known
+as Anspergher. The Genevan became bankrupt before the bills were due, and
+the three sisters disappeared. As may be imagined, I was surprised to
+find them in England, and especially to be introduced to them by the
+Charpillon, who, knowing nothing of the affair of the jewels, had not
+told them that Seingalt was the same as Casanova, whom they had cheated
+of six thousand francs.
+
+"I am delighted to see you again," were the first words I addressed to
+her.
+
+"I recollect you, sir; that rascal Bolome . . . ."
+
+"We will discuss that subject another time. I see you are ill."
+
+"I have been at death's door, but I am better now. My daughter did not
+tell me your proper name."
+
+"Yes, she did. My name is Seingalt as well as Casanova. I was known by
+the latter name at Paris when I made your daughter's acquaintance, though
+I did not know then that she was your daughter."
+
+Just then the grandmother, whose name was also Anspergher, came in with
+the two aunts, and a quarter of an hour later three men arrived, one of
+whom was the Chevalier Goudar, whom I had met at Paris. I did not know
+the others who were introduced to me under the names of Rostaing and
+Caumon. They were three friends of the household, whose business it was
+to bring in dupes.
+
+Such was the infamous company in which I found myself, and though I took
+its measure directly, yet I did not make my escape, nor did I resolve
+never to go to the house again. I was fascinated; I thought I would be on
+my guard and be safe, and as I only wanted the daughter I looked on all
+else as of little moment.
+
+At table I led the conversation, and thought that my prey would soon be
+within my grasp. The only thing which annoyed me was that the Charpillon,
+after apologizing for having made me sit down to such a poor dinner,
+invited herself and all the company to sup with me on any day I liked to
+mention. I could make no opposition, so I begged her to name the day
+herself, and she did so, after a consultation with her worthy friends.
+
+After coffee had been served we played four rubbers of whist, at which I
+lost, and at midnight I went away ill pleased with myself, but with no
+purpose of amendment, for this sorceress had got me in her toils.
+
+All the same I had the strength of mind to refrain from seeing her for
+two days, and on the third, which was the day appointed for the cursed
+supper, she and her aunt paid me a call at nine o'clock in the morning.
+
+"I have come to breakfast with you, and to discuss a certain question,"
+said she, in the most engaging manner.
+
+"Will you tell me your business now, or after breakfast?"
+
+"After breakfast; for we must be alone."
+
+We had our breakfast, and then the aunt went into another room, and the
+Charpillon, after describing the monetary situation of the family, told
+me that it would be much relieved if her aunt could obtain a hundred
+guineas.
+
+"What would she do with the money?"
+
+"She would make the Balm of Life, of which she possesses the secret, and
+no doubt she would make her fortune, too."
+
+She then began to dilate on the marvellous properties of the balm, on its
+probable success in a town like London, and on the benefits which would
+accrue to myself, for of course I should share in the profits. She added
+that her mother and aunt would give me a written promise to repay the
+money in the course of six years.
+
+"I will give you a decided answer after supper."
+
+I then began to caress her, and to make assaults in the style of an
+amorous man, but it was all in vain, though I succeeded in stretching her
+on a large sofa. She made her escape, however, and ran to her aunt, while
+I followed her, feeling obliged to laugh as she did. She gave me her
+hand, and said,--
+
+"Farewell, till this evening."
+
+When they were gone, I reflected over what had passed and thought this
+first scene of no bad augury. I saw that I should get nothing out of her
+without spending a hundred guineas, and I determined not to attempt to
+bargain, but I would let her understand that she must make up her mind
+not to play prude. The game was in my hands, and all I had to do was to
+take care not to be duped.
+
+In the evening the company arrived, and the girl asked me to hold a bank
+till supper was ready; but I declined, with a burst of laughter that
+seemed to puzzle her.
+
+"At least, let us have a game of whist," said she.
+
+"It seems to me," I answered, "that you don't feel very anxious to hear
+my reply."
+
+"You have made up your mind, I suppose?"
+
+"I have, follow me."
+
+She followed me into an adjoining room, and after she had seated herself
+on a sofa, I told her that the hundred guineas were at her disposal.
+
+"Then please to give the money to my aunt, otherwise these gentlemen
+might think I got it from you by some improper means."
+
+"I will do so."
+
+I tried to get possession of her, but in vain; and I ceased my endeavours
+when she said,--
+
+"You will get nothing from me either by money or violence; but you can
+hope for all when I find you really nice and quiet."
+
+I re-entered the drawing-room, and feeling my blood boiling I began to
+play to quiet myself. She was as gay as ever, but her gaiety tired me. At
+supper I had her on my right hand, but the hundred impertinences which,
+under other circumstances, would have amused me, only wearied me, after
+the two rebuffs I had received from her.
+
+After supper, just as they were going, she took me aside, and told me
+that if I wanted to hand over the hundred guineas she would tell her aunt
+to go with me into the next room.
+
+"As documents have to be executed," I replied, "it will take some time;
+we will talk of it again.
+
+"Won't you fix the time?"
+
+I drew out my purse full of gold, and shewed it her, saying,--
+
+"The time depends entirely on you."
+
+When my hateful guests were gone, I began to reflect, and came to the
+conclusion that this young adventuress had determined to plunder me
+without giving me anything in return. I determined to have nothing more
+to do with her, but I could not get her beauty out of my mind.
+
+I felt I wanted some distraction, something that would give me new aims
+and make me forget her. With this idea I went to see my daughter, taking
+with me an immense bag of sweets.
+
+As soon as I was in the midst of the little flock, the delight became
+general, Sophie distributing the sweetmeats to her friends, who received
+them gratefully.
+
+I spent a happy day, and for a week or two I paid several visits to
+Harwich. The mistress treated me with the utmost politeness and my
+daughter with boundless affection, always calling me "dear papa."
+
+In less than three weeks I congratulated myself on having forgotten the
+Charpillon, and on having replaced her by innocent amours, though one of
+my daughter's schoolmates pleased me rather too much for my peace of
+mind.
+
+Such was my condition when one morning the favourite aunt of the
+Charpillon paid me a call, and said that they were all mystified at not
+having seen me since the supper I had given them, especially herself, as
+her niece had given her to understand that I would furnish her with the
+means of making the Balm of Life.
+
+"Certainly; I would have given you the hundred guineas if your niece had
+treated me as a friend, but she refused me favours a vestal might have
+granted, and you must be aware that she is by no means a vestal."
+
+"Don't mind my laughing. My niece is an innocent, giddy girl; she loves
+you, but she is afraid you have only a passing whim for her. She is in
+bed now with a bad cold, and if you will come and see her I am sure you
+will be satisfied."
+
+These artful remarks, which had no doubt been prepared in advance, ought
+to have aroused all my scorn, but instead of that they awakened the most
+violent desires. I laughed in chorus with the old woman, and asked what
+would be the best time to call.
+
+"Come now, and give one knock."
+
+"Very good, then you may expect me shortly."
+
+I congratulated myself on being on the verge of success, for after the
+explanation I had had with the aunt, and having, as I thought, a friend
+in her, I did not doubt that I should succeed.
+
+I put on my great coat, and in less than a quarter of an hour I knocked
+at their door. The aunt opened to me, and said,--
+
+"Come back in a quarter of an hour; she has been ordered a bath, and is
+just going to take it."
+
+"This is another imposture. You're as bad a liar as she is."
+
+"You are cruel and unjust, and if you will promise to be discreet, I will
+take you up to the third floor where she is bathing."
+
+"Very good; take me." She went upstairs, I following on tiptoe, and
+pushed me into a room, and shut the door upon me. The Charpillon was in a
+huge bath, with her head towards the door, and the infernal coquette,
+pretending to think it was her aunt, did not move, and said,--
+
+"Give me the towels, aunt."
+
+She was in the most seductive posture, and I had the pleasure of gazing
+on her exquisite proportions, hardly veiled by the water.
+
+When she caught sight of me, or rather pretended to do so, she gave a
+shriek, huddled her limbs together, and said, with affected anger,--
+
+"Begone!"
+
+"You needn't exert your voice, for I am not going to be duped."
+
+"Begone!"
+
+"Not so, give me a little time to collect myself."
+
+"I tell you, go!"
+
+"Calm yourself, and don't be afraid of my skewing you any violence; that
+would suit your game too well."
+
+"My aunt shall pay dearly for this."
+
+"She will find me her friend. I won't touch you, so shew me a little more
+of your charms."
+
+"More of my charms?"
+
+"Yes; put yourself as you were when I came in."
+
+"Certainly not. Leave the room."
+
+"I have told you I am not going, and that you need not fear for your
+. . . . well, for your virginity, we will say."
+
+She then shewed me a picture more seductive than the first, and
+pretending kindliness, said,--
+
+"Please, leave me; I will not fail to shew my gratitude."
+
+Seeing that she got nothing, that I refrained from touching her, and that
+the fire she had kindled was in a fair way to be put out, she turned her
+back to me to give me to understand that it was no pleasure to her to
+look at me. However, my passions were running high, and I had to have
+recourse to self-abuse to calm my senses, and was glad to find myself
+relieved, as this proved to me that the desire went no deeper than the
+senses.
+
+The aunt came in just as I had finished, and I went out without a word,
+well pleased to find myself despising a character wherein profit and loss
+usurped the place of feeling.
+
+The aunt came to me as I was going out of the house, and after enquiring
+if I were satisfied begged me to come into the parlour.
+
+"Yes," said I, "I am perfectly satisfied to know you and your niece. Here
+is the reward."
+
+With these words I drew a bank-note for a hundred pounds from my
+pocket-book, and was foolish enough to give it her, telling her that she
+could make her balm, and need not trouble to give me any document as I
+knew if would be of no value. I had not the strength to go away without
+giving her anything, and the procuress was sharp enough to know it.
+
+When I got home I reflected on what had happened, and pronounced myself
+the conqueror with great triumph. I felt well at ease, and felt sure that
+I should never set foot in that house again. There were seven of them
+altogether, including servants, and the need of subsisting made them do
+anything for a living; and when they found themselves obliged to make use
+of men, they summoned the three rascals I have named, who were equally
+dependent on them.
+
+Five or six days afterwards, I met the little hussy at Vauxhall in
+company with Goudar. I avoided her at first, but she came up to me
+reproaching me for my rudeness. I replied coolly enough, but affecting
+not to notice my manner, she asked me to come into an arbour with her and
+take a cup of tea.
+
+"No, thank you," I replied, "I prefer supper."
+
+"Then I will take some too, and you will give it me, won't you, just to
+shew that you bear no malice?"
+
+I ordered supper for four and we sat down together as if we had been
+intimate friends.
+
+Her charming conversation combined with her beauty gradually drew me
+under her charm, and as the drink began to exercise its influence over
+me, I proposed a turn in one of the dark walks, expressing a hope that I
+should fare better than Lord Pembroke. She said gently, and with an
+appearance of sincerity that deceived me, that she wanted to be mine, but
+by day and on the condition that I would come and see her every day.
+
+"I will do so, but first give me one little proof of your love."
+
+"Most certainly not."
+
+I got up to pay the bill, and then I left without a word, refusing to
+take her home. I went home by myself and went to bed.
+
+The first thought when I awoke was that I was glad she had not taken me
+at my word; I felt very strongly that it was to my interest to break off
+all connection between that creature and myself. I felt the strength of
+her influence over me, and that my only way was to keep away from her, or
+to renounce all pretension to the possession of her charms.
+
+The latter plan seemed to me impossible, so I determined to adhere to the
+first; but the wretched woman had resolved to defeat all my plans. The
+manner in which she succeeded must have been the result of a council of
+the whole society.
+
+A few days after the Vauxhall supper Goudar called on me, and began by
+congratulating me on my resolution not to visit the Ansperghers any more,
+"for," said he, "the girl would have made you more and more in love with
+her, and in the end she would have seduced you to beggary."
+
+"You must think me a great fool. If I had found her kind I should have
+been grateful, but without squandering all my money; and if she had been
+cruel, instead of ridiculous, I might have given her what I have already
+given her every day, without reducing myself to beggary."
+
+"I congratulate you; it shews that you are well off. But have you made up
+your mind not to see her again?"
+
+"Certainly."
+
+"Then you are not in love with her?"
+
+"I have been in love, but I am so no longer; and in a few days she will
+have passed completely out of my memory. I had almost forgotten her when
+I met her with you at Vauxhall."
+
+"You are not cured. The way to be cured of an amour does not lie in
+flight, when the two parties live in the same town. Meetings will happen,
+and all the trouble has to be taken over again."
+
+"Then do you know a better way?"
+
+"Certainly; you should satiate yourself. It is quite possible that the
+creature is not in love with you, but you are rich and she has nothing.
+You might have had her for so much, and you could have left her when you
+found her to be unworthy of your constancy. You must know what kind of a
+woman she is."
+
+"I should have tried this method gladly, but I found her out."
+
+"You could have got the best of her, though, if you had gone to work in
+the proper way. You should never have paid in advance. I know
+everything."
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"I know she has cost you a hundred guineas, and that you have not won so
+much as a kiss from her. Why, my dear sir, you might have had her
+comfortably in your own bed for as much! She boasts that she took you in,
+though you pride yourself on your craft."
+
+"It was an act of charity towards her aunt."
+
+"Yes, to make her Balm of Life; but you know if it had not been for the
+niece the aunt would never have had the money."
+
+"Perhaps not, but how come you who are of their party to be talking to me
+in this fashion?"
+
+"I swear to you I only speak out of friendship for you, and I will tell
+you how I came to make the acquaintance of the girl, her mother, her
+grandmother and her two aunts, and then you will no longer consider me as
+of their party.
+
+"Sixteen months ago I saw M. Morosini walking about Vauxhall by himself.
+He had just come to England to congratulate the king on his accession to
+the throne, on behalf of the Republic of Venice. I saw how enchanted he
+was with the London beauties, and I went up to him and told him that all
+these beauties were at his service. This made him laugh, and on my
+repeating that it was not a jest he pointed out one of the girls, and
+asked if she would be at his service. I did not know her, so I asked him
+to wait awhile, and I would bring him the information he required. There
+was no time to be lost, and I could see that the girl was not a vestal
+virgin, so I went up to her and told her that the Venetian ambassador was
+amorous of her, and that I would take her to him if she would receive his
+visits. The aunt said that a nobleman of such an exalted rank could only
+bring honour to her niece. I took their address, and on my way back to
+the ambassador I met a friend of mine who is learned in such commodities,
+and after I had shewed him the address he told me it was the Charpillon."
+
+"And it was she?"
+
+"It was. My friend told me she was a young Swiss girl who was not yet in
+the general market, but who would soon be there, as she was not rich, and
+had a numerous train to support.
+
+"I rejoined the Venetian, and told him that his business was done, and
+asked him at what time I should introduce him the next day, warning him
+that as she had a mother and aunts she would not be alone.
+
+"'I am glad to hear it,' said he, 'and also that she is not a common
+woman.' He gave me an appointment for the next day, and we parted.
+
+"I told the ladies at what hour I should have the pleasure of introducing
+the great man to them, and after warning them that they must appear not
+to know him I went home.
+
+"The following day I called on M. de Morosini, and took him to Denmark
+Street incognito. We spent an hour in conversation, and then went away
+without anything being settled. On the way back the ambassador told me
+that he should like to have the girl on conditions which he would give me
+in writing at his residence.
+
+"These conditions were that she should live in a furnished house free of
+rent, without any companion, and without receiving any visitors. His
+excellency would give her fifty guineas a month, and pay for supper
+whenever he came and spent the night with her. He told me to get the
+house if his conditions were received. The mother was to sign the
+agreement.
+
+"The ambassador was in a hurry, and in three days the agreement was
+signed; but I obtained a document from the mother promising to let me
+have the girl for one night as soon as the Venetian had gone; it was
+known he was only stopping in London for a year."
+
+Goudar extracted the document in question from his pocket, and gave it to
+me. I read it and re-read it with as much surprise as pleasure, and he
+then proceeded with his story.
+
+"When the ambassador had gone, the Charpillon, finding herself at liberty
+once more, had Lord Baltimore, Lord Grosvenor, and M. de Saa, the
+Portuguese ambassador, in turn, but no titular lover. I insisted on
+having my night with her according to agreement, but both mother and
+daughter laughed at me when I spoke of it. I cannot arrest her, because
+she is a minor, but I will have the mother imprisoned on the first
+opportunity, and you will see how the town will laugh. Now you know why I
+go to their house; and I assure you you are wrong if you think I have any
+part in their councils. Nevertheless, I know they are discussing how they
+may catch you, and they will do so if you do not take care."
+
+"Tell the mother that I have another hundred guineas at her service if
+she will let me have her daughter for a single night."
+
+"Do you mean that?"
+
+"Assuredly, but I am not going to pay in advance."
+
+"That's the only way not to be duped. I shall be glad to execute your
+commission."
+
+I kept the rogue to dinner, thinking he might be useful to me. He knew
+everything and everybody, and told me a number of amusing anecdotes.
+Although a good-for-nothing fellow, he had his merits. He had written
+several works, which, though badly constructed, shewed he was a man of
+some wit. He was then writing his "Chinese Spy," and every day he wrote
+five or six news-letters from the various coffee-houses he frequented. I
+wrote one or two letters for him, with which he was much pleased. The
+reader will see how I met him again at Naples some years later.
+
+The next morning, what was my surprise to see the Charpillon, who said
+with an air that I should have taken for modesty in any other woman,--
+
+"I don't want you to give me any breakfast, I want an explanation, and to
+introduce Miss Lorenzi to you."
+
+I bowed to her and to her companion, and then said,--
+
+"What explanation do you require?"
+
+At this, Miss Lorenzi, whom I had never seen before, thought proper to
+leave us, and I told my man that I was not at home to anybody. I ordered
+breakfast to be served to the companion of the nymph, that she might not
+find the waiting tedious.
+
+"Sir," said the Charpillon, "is it a fact that you charged the Chevalier
+Goudar to tell my mother that you would give a hundred guineas to spend
+the night with me?"
+
+"No, not to spend a night with you, but after I had passed it. Isn't the
+price enough?"
+
+"No jesting, sir, if you please. There is no question of bargaining; all
+I want to know is whether you think you have a right to insult me, and
+that I am going to bear it?"
+
+"If you think yourself insulted, I may, perhaps, confess I was wrong; but
+I confess I did not think I should have to listen to any reproaches from
+you. Gondar is one of your intimate friends, and this is not the first
+proposal he has taken to you. I could not address you directly, as I know
+your arts only too well."
+
+"I shall not pay any attention to your abuse of my self; I will only
+remind you of what I said 'that neither money nor violence were of any
+use,' and that your only way was to make me in love with you by gentle
+means. Shew me where I have broken my word! It is you that have foresworn
+yourself in coming into my bath-room, and in sending such a brutal
+message to my mother. No one but a rascal like Goudar would have dared to
+take such a message."
+
+"Goudar a rascal, is he? Well, he is your best friend. You know he is in
+love with you, and that he only got you for the ambassador in the hope of
+enjoying you himself. The document in his possession proves that you have
+behaved badly towards him. You are in his debt, discharge it, and then
+call him a rascal if you have the conscience to do so. You need not
+trouble to weep, for I knew the source of those tears; it is defiled."
+
+"You know nothing of it. I love you, and it is hard to have you treat me
+so."
+
+"You love me? You have not taken the best way to prove it!"
+
+"As good a way as yours. You have behaved to me as if I were the vilest
+of prostitutes, and yesterday you seemed to think I was a brute beast,
+the slave of my mother. You should have written to me in person, and
+without the intervention of so vile an agent; I should have replied in
+the same way, and you need not have been afraid that you would be
+deceived."
+
+"Supposing I had written, what would your answer have been?"
+
+"I should have put all money matters out of question. I should have
+promised to content you on the condition that you would come and court me
+for a fortnight without demanding the slightest favour. We should have
+lived a pleasant life; we should have gone to the theatre and to the
+parks. I should have become madly in love with you. Then I should have
+given myself up to you for love, and nothing but love. I am ashamed to
+say that hitherto I have only given myself out of mere complaisance.
+Unhappy woman that I am! but I think nature meant me to love, and I
+thought when I saw you that my happy star had sent you to England that I
+might know the bliss of true affection. Instead of this you have only
+made me unhappy. You are the first man that has seen me weep; you have
+troubled my peace at home, for my mother shall never have the sum you
+promised her were it for nothing but a kiss."
+
+"I am sorry to have injured you, though I did not intend to do so; but I
+really don't know what I can do."
+
+"Come and see us, and keep your money, which I despise. If you love me,
+come and conquer me like a reasonable and not a brutal lover; and I will
+help you, for now you cannot doubt that I love you."
+
+All this seemed so natural to me that I never dreamed it contained a
+trap. I was caught, and I promised to do what she wished, but only for a
+fortnight. She confirmed her promise, and her countenance became once
+more serene and calm. The Charpillon was a born actress.
+
+She got up to go, and on my begging a kiss as a pledge of our
+reconciliation she replied, with a smile, the charm of which she well
+knew, that it would not do to begin by breaking the term of our
+agreement, and she left me more in love than ever, and full of repentance
+for my conduct.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+Goudar's Chair
+
+If she had written all this to me instead of coming and delivering it
+viva voce, it would probably have produced no effect; there would have
+been no tears, no ravishing features. She probably calculated all this,
+for women have a wonderful instinct in these matters.
+
+That very evening I began my visits, and judged from my welcome that my
+triumph was nigh at hand. But love fills our minds with idle visions, and
+draws a veil over the truth.
+
+The fortnight went by without my even kissing her hand, and every time I
+came I brought some expensive gift, which seemed cheap to me when I
+obtained such smiles of gratitude in exchange. Besides these presents,
+not a day passed without some excursion to the country or party at the
+theatre; that fortnight must have cost me four hundred guineas at the
+least.
+
+At last it came to an end, and I asked her in the presence of her mother
+where she would spend the night with me, there or at my house. The mother
+said that we would settle it after supper, and I made no objection, not
+liking to tell her that in my house the supper would be more succulent,
+and a better prelude for the kind of exercise I expected to enjoy.
+
+When we had supped the mother took me aside, and asked me to leave with
+the company and then to come back. I obeyed, laughing to myself at this
+foolish mystery, and when I came back I found the mother and the daughter
+in the parlour, in which a bed had been laid on the floor.
+
+Though I did not much care for this arrangement, I was too amorous to
+raise any objection at a moment when I thought my triumph was at hand;
+but I was astonished when the mother asked me if I would like to pay the
+hundred guineas in advance.
+
+"Oh, fie!" exclaimed the girl; and her mother left the room, and we
+locked the door.
+
+My amorous feelings, so long pent up within my breast, would soon find
+relief. I approached her with open arms; but she avoided my caress, and
+gently begged me to get into bed while she prepared to follow me. I
+watched her undress with delight, but when she had finished she put out
+the candles. I complained of this act of hers, but she said she could not
+sleep with the light shining on her. I began to suspect that I might have
+some difficulties thrown in my way to sharpen the pleasure, but I
+determined to be resigned and to overcome them all.
+
+When I felt her in the bed I tried to clasp her in my arms, but found
+that she had wrapped herself up in her long night-gown; her arms were
+crossed, and her head buried in her chest. I entreated, scolded, cursed,
+but all in vain; she let me go on, and answered not a word.
+
+At first I thought it was a joke, but I soon found out my mistake; the
+veil fell from my eyes and I saw myself in my true colours, the degraded
+dupe of a vile prostitute.
+
+Love easily becomes fury. I began to handle her roughly, but she resisted
+and did not speak. I tore her night-gown to rags, but I could not tear it
+entirely off her. My rage grew terrible, my hands became talons, and I
+treated her with the utmost cruelty; but all for nothing. At last, with
+my hand on her throat, I felt tempted to strangle her; and then I knew it
+was time for me to go.
+
+It was a dreadful night. I spoke to this monster of a woman in every
+manner and tone-with gentleness, with argument, rage, remonstrance,
+prayers, tears, and abuse, but she resisted me for three hours without
+abandoning her painful position, in spite of the torments I made her
+endure.
+
+At three o'clock in the morning, feeling my mind and body in a state of
+exhaustion, I got up and dressed myself by my sense of touch. I opened
+the parlour door, and finding the street door locked I shook it till a
+servant came and let me out. I went home and got into bed, but excited
+nature refused me the sleep I needed so. I took a cup of chocolate, but
+it would not stay on my stomach, and soon after a shivering fit warned me
+that I was feverish. I continued to be ill till the next day, and then
+the fever left me in a state of complete exhaustion.
+
+As I was obliged to keep to my bed for a few days, I knew that I should
+soon get my health again; but my chief consolation was that at last I was
+cured. My shame had made me hate myself.
+
+When I felt the fever coming on I told my man not to let anybody come to
+see me, and to place all my letters in my desk; for I wanted to be
+perfectly well before I troubled myself with anything.
+
+On the fourth day I was better, and I told Jarbe to give me my letters. I
+found one from Pauline, dated from Madrid, in which she informed me that
+Clairmont had saved her life while they were fording a river, and she had
+determined to keep him till she got to Lisbon, and would then send him
+back by sea. I congratulated myself at the time on her resolve; but it
+was a fatal one for Clairmont, and indirectly for me also. Four months
+after, I heard that the ship in which he had sailed had been wrecked, and
+as I never heard from him again I could only conclude that my faithful
+servant had perished amidst the waves.
+
+Amongst my London letters I found two from the infamous mother of the
+infamous Charpillon, and one from the girl herself. The first of the
+mother's letters, written before I was ill, told me that her daughter was
+ill in bed, covered with bruises from the blows I had given her, so that
+she would be obliged to institute legal proceedings against me. In the
+second letter she said she had heard I too was ill, and that she was
+sorry to hear it, her daughter having informed her that I had some reason
+for my anger; however, she would not fail to justify herself on the first
+opportunity. The Charpillon said in her letter that she knew she had done
+wrong, and that she wondered I had not killed her when I took her by the
+throat. She added that no doubt I had made up my mind to visit her no
+more, but she hoped I would allow her one interview as she had an
+important communication to make to me. There was also a note from Goudar,
+saying that he wanted to speak to me, and that he would come at noon. I
+gave orders that he should be admitted.
+
+This curious individual began by astonishing me; he told me the whole
+story of what had taken place, the mother having been his informant.
+
+"The Charpillon," he added, "has not got a fever, but is covered with
+bruises. What grieves the old woman most is that she has not got the
+hundred guineas."
+
+"She would have had them the next morning," I said, "if her daughter had
+been tractable."
+
+"Her mother had made her swear that she would not be tractable, and you
+need not hope to possess her without the mother's consent."
+
+"Why won't she consent?"
+
+"Because she thinks that you will abandon the girl as soon as you have
+enjoyed her."
+
+"Possibly, but she would have received many valuable presents, and now
+she is abandoned and has nothing."
+
+"Have you made up your mind not to have anything more to do with her?"
+
+"Quite."
+
+"That's your wisest plan, and I advise you to keep to it, nevertheless I
+want to shew you something which will surprise you. I will be back in a
+moment."
+
+He returned, followed by a porter, who carried up an arm-chair covered
+with a cloth. As soon as we were alone, Goudar took off the covering and
+asked me if I would buy it.
+
+"What should I do with it? It is not a very attractive piece of
+furniture."
+
+"Nevertheless, the price of it is a hundred guineas."
+
+"I would not give three."
+
+"This arm-chair has five springs, which come into play all at once as
+soon as anyone sits down in it. Two springs catch the two arms and hold
+them tightly, two others separate the legs, and the fifth lifts up the
+seat."
+
+After this description Goudar sat down quite naturally in the chair and
+the springs came into play and forced him into the position of a woman in
+labour.
+
+"Get the fair Charpillon to sit in this chair," said he, "and your
+business is done."
+
+I could not help laughing at the contrivance, which struck me as at once
+ingenious and diabolical, but I could not make up my mind to avail myself
+of it.
+
+"I won't buy it," said I, "but I shall be obliged if you will leave it
+here till to-morrow."
+
+"I can't leave it here an hour unless you will buy it; the owner is
+waiting close by to hear your answer."
+
+"Then take it away and come back to dinner."
+
+He shewed me how I was to release him from his ridiculous position, and
+then after covering it up again he called the porter and went away.
+
+There could be no doubt as to the action of the machinery, and it was no
+feeling of avarice which hindered me from buying the chair. As I have
+said, it seemed rather a diabolical idea, and besides it might easily
+have sent me to the gallows. Furthermore, I should never have had the
+strength of mind to enjoy the Charpillon forcibly, especially by means of
+the wonderful chair, the mechanism of which would have frightened her out
+of her wits.
+
+At dinner I told Goudar that the Charpillon had demanded an interview,
+and that I had wished to keep the chair so as to shew her that I could
+have her if I liked. I shewed him the letter, and he advised me to accede
+to her request, if only for curiosity's sake.
+
+I was in no hurry to see the creature while the marks on her face and
+neck were still fresh, so I spent seven or eight days without making up
+my mind to receive her. Goudar came every day, and told me of the
+confabulations of these women who had made up their minds not to live
+save by trickery.
+
+He told me that the grandmother had taken the name of Anspergher without
+having any right to it, as she was merely the mistress of a worthy
+citizen of Berne, by whom she had four daughters; the mother of the
+Charpillon was the youngest of the family, and, as she was pretty and
+loose in her morals, the Government had exiled her with her mother and
+sisters. They had then betaken themselves to Franche-Comte, where they
+lived for some time on the Balm of Life. Here it was that the Charpillon
+came into the world, her mother attributing her to a Count de
+Boulainvilliers. The child grew up pretty, and the family removed to
+Paris under the impression that it would be the best market for such a
+commodity, but in the course of four years the income from the Balm
+having dwindled greatly, the Charpillon being still too young to be
+profitable, and debtors closing round them on every side, they resolved
+to come to London.
+
+He then proceeded to tell me of the various tricks and cheats which kept
+them all alive. I found his narrative interesting enough then, but the
+reader would find it dull, and I expect will be grateful for my passing
+it over.
+
+I felt that it was fortunate for me that I had Goudar, who introduced me
+to all the most famous courtezans in London, above all to the illustrious
+Kitty Fisher, who was just beginning to be fashionable. He also
+introduced me to a girl of sixteen, a veritable prodigy of beauty, who
+served at the bar of a tavern at which we took a bottle of strong beer.
+She was an Irishwoman and a Catholic, and was named Sarah. I should have
+liked to get possession of her, but Goudar had views of his own on the
+subject, and carried her off in the course of the next year. He ended by
+marrying her, and she was the Sara Goudar who shone at Naples, Florence,
+Venice, and elsewhere. We shall hear of her in four or five years, still
+with her husband. Goudar had conceived the plan of making her take the
+place of Dubarry, mistress of Louis XV., but a lettre de cachet compelled
+him to try elsewhere. Ah! happy days of lettres de cachet, you have gone
+never to return!
+
+The Charpillon waited a fortnight for me to reply, and then resolved to
+return to the charge in person. This was no doubt the result of a
+conference of the most secret kind, for I heard nothing of it from
+Gondar.
+
+She came to see my by herself in a sedan-chair, and I decided on seeing
+her. I was taking my chocolate and I let her come in without rising or
+offering her any breakfast. She asked me to give her some with great
+modesty, and put up her face for me to give her a kiss, but I turned my
+head away. However, she was not in the least disconcerted.
+
+"I suppose the marks of the blows you gave me make my face so repulsive?"
+
+"You lie; I never struck you."
+
+"No, but your tiger-like claws have left bruises all over me. Look here.
+No, you needn't be afraid that what you see may prove too seductive;
+besides, it will have no novelty for you."
+
+So saying the wretched creature let me see her body, on which some livid
+marks were still visible.
+
+Coward that I was! Why did I not look another way? I will tell you: it
+was because she was so beautiful, and because a woman's charms are
+unworthy of the name if they cannot silence reason. I affected only to
+look at the bruises, but it was an empty farce. I blush for myself; here
+was I conquered by a simple girl, ignorant of well nigh everything. But
+she knew well enough that I was inhaling the poison at every pore. All at
+once she dropped her clothes and came and sat beside me, feeling sure
+that I should have relished a continuance of the spectacle.
+
+However, I made an effort and said, coldly, that it was all her own
+fault.
+
+"I know it is," said she, "for if I had been tractable as I ought to have
+been, you would have been loving instead of cruel. But repentance effaces
+sin, and I am come to beg pardon. May I hope to obtain it?"
+
+"Certainly; I am angry with you no longer, but I cannot forgive myself.
+Now go, and trouble me no more."
+
+"I will if you like, but there is something you have not heard, and I beg
+you will listen to me a moment."
+
+"As I have nothing to do you can say what you have got to say, I will
+listen to you."
+
+In spite of the coldness of my words, I was really profoundly touched,
+and the worst of it was that I began to believe in the genuineness of her
+motives.
+
+She might have relieved herself of what she had to say in a quarter of an
+hour, but by dint of tears, sighs, groans, digressions, and so forth, she
+took two hours to tell me that her mother had made her swear to pass the
+night as she had done. She ended by saying that she would like to be mine
+as she had been M. Morosini's, to live with me, and only to go out under
+my escort, while I might allow her a monthly sum which she would hand
+over to her mother, who would, in that case, leave her alone.
+
+She dined with me, and it was in the evening that she made this
+proposition. I suppose because she thought me ripe for another cheat. I
+told her that it might be arranged, but that I should prefer to settle
+with her mother, and that she would see me at their house the following
+day, and this seemed to surprise her.
+
+It is possible that the Charpillon would have granted me any favour on
+that day, and then there would have been no question of deception or
+resistance for the future. Why did I not press her? Because sometimes
+love stupefies instead of quickens, and because I had been in a way her
+judge, and I thought it would be base of me to revenge myself on her by
+satisfying my amorous desires, and possibly because I was a fool, as I
+have often been in the course of my existence. She must have left me in a
+state of irritation, and no doubt she registered a vow to revenge herself
+on me for the half-contemptuous way in which I had treated her.
+
+Goudar was astonished when he heard of her visit, and of the way in which
+I had spent the day. I begged him to get me a small furnished house, and
+in the evening I went to see the infamous woman in her own house.
+
+She was with her mother, and I laid my proposal before them.
+
+"Your daughter will have a house at Chelsea," said I to the mother,
+"where I can go and see her whenever I like, and also fifty guineas a
+month to do what she likes with."
+
+"I don't care what you give her a month," she replied, "but before I let
+her leave my house she must give me the hundred guineas she was to have
+had when she slept with you."
+
+"It is your fault that she didn't have them; however, to cut the matter
+short, she shall give them to you."
+
+"And in the meanwhile, till you have found the house, I hope you will
+come and see me."
+
+"Yes."
+
+The next day Goudar shewed me a pretty house at Chelsea, and I took it,
+paying ten guineas, a month's rent, in advance, for which I received a
+receipt. In the afternoon I concluded the bargain with the mother, the
+Charpillon being present. The mother asked me to give her the hundred
+guineas, and I did so, not fearing any treachery, as nearly the whole of
+the girl's clothing was already at Chelsea.
+
+In due course we went to our country house. The Charpillon liked the
+house immensely, and after a short talk we supped merrily together. After
+supper we went to bed, and she granted me some slight preliminary
+favours, but when I would have attained my end I found an obstacle which
+I had not expected. She gave me some physiological reasons for the
+circumstances, but not being a man to stop for so little, I would have
+gone on, but she resisted, and yet with such gentleness that I left her
+alone and went to sleep. I awoke sooner than she did, and determined to
+see whether she had imposed on me; so I raised her night-gown carefully,
+and took off her linen only to find that I had been duped once more. This
+roused her, and she tried to stop me, but it was too late. However, I
+gently chid her for the trick, and feeling disposed to forgive it set
+about making up for lost time, but she got on the high horse, and
+pretended to be hurt at my taking her by surprise. I tried to calm her by
+renewed tenderness, but the wretched creature only got more furious, and
+would give me nothing. I left her alone, but I expressed my opinion of
+her in pretty strong terms. The impudent slut honoured me with a smile of
+disdain, and then beginning to dress herself she proceeded to indulge in
+impertinent repartees. This made me angry, and I gave her a box on the
+ears which stretched her at full length on the floor. She shrieked,
+stamped her feet, and made a hideous uproar; the landlord came up, and
+she began to speak to him in English, while the blood gushed from her
+nose.
+
+The man fortunately spoke Italian, and told me that she wanted to go
+away, and advised me to let her do so, or she might make it awkward for
+me, and he himself would be obliged to witness against me.
+
+"Tell her to begone as fast as she likes," said I, "and to keep out of my
+sight for ever."
+
+She finished dressing, staunched the blood, and went off in a
+sedan-chair, while I remained petrified, feeling that I did not deserve
+to live, and finding her conduct utterly outrageous and incomprehensible.
+
+After an hour's consideration I decided on sending her back her trunk,
+and then I went home and to bed, telling my servants I was not at home to
+anyone.
+
+I spent twenty-four hours in pondering over my wrongs, and at last my
+reason told me that the fault was mine; I despised myself. I was on the
+brink of suicide, but happily I escaped that fate.
+
+I was just going out when Goudar came up and made me go in with him, as
+he said he wanted to speak to me. After telling me that the Charpillon
+had come home with a swollen cheek which prevented her shewing herself,
+he advised me to abandon all claims on her or her mother, or the latter
+would bring a false accusation against me which might cost me my life.
+Those who know England, and especially London will not need to be
+informed as to the nature of this accusation, which is so easily brought
+in England; it will suffice to say that through it Sodom was overwhelmed.
+
+"The mother has engaged me to mediate," said Goudar, "and if you will
+leave her alone, she will do you no harm."
+
+I spent the day with him, foolishly complaining, and telling him that he
+could assure the mother that I would take no proceedings against her, but
+that I should like to know if she had the courage to receive this
+assurance from my own lips.
+
+"I will carry your message," said he, "but I pity you; for you are going
+into their nets again, and will end in utter ruin."
+
+I fancied they would be ashamed to see me; but I was very much mistaken,
+for Goudar came back laughing, and said the mother expressed a hope that
+I should always be the friend of the family. I ought to have refused to
+have anything more to do with them, but I had not the strength to play
+the man. I called at Denmark Street the same evening, and spent an hour
+without uttering a syllable. The Charpillon sat opposite to me, with eyes
+lowered to a piece of embroidery, while from time to time she pretended
+to wipe away a tear as she let me see the ravages I had worked on her
+cheek.
+
+I saw her every day and always in silence till the fatal mark had
+disappeared, but during these mad visits the poison of desire was so
+instilled into my veins that if she had known my state of mind she might
+have despoiled me of all I possessed for a single favour.
+
+When she was once more as beautiful as ever I felt as if I must die if I
+did not hold her in my arms again, and I bought a magnificent pier-glass
+and a splendid breakfast service in Dresden china, and sent them to her
+with an amorous epistle which must have made her think me either the most
+extravagant or the most cowardly of men. She wrote in answer that she
+would expect me to sup with her in her room, that she might give me the
+tenderest proofs of her gratitude.
+
+This letter sent me completely mad with joy, and in a paroxysm of delight
+I resolved to surrender to her keeping the two bills of exchange which
+Bolomee had given me, and which gave me power to send her mother and
+aunts to prison.
+
+Full of the happiness that awaited me, and enchanted with my own idiotic
+heroism, I went to her in the evening. She received me in the parlour
+with her mother, and I was delighted to see the pier-glass over the
+mantel, and the china displayed on a little table. After a hundred words
+of love and tenderness she asked me to come up to her room, and her
+mother wished us good night. I was overwhelmed with joy. After a delicate
+little supper I took out the bills of exchange, and after telling her
+their history gave them up to her, to shew that I had no intention of
+avenging myself on her mother and aunts. I made her promise that she
+would never part with them, and she said she would never do so, and with
+many expressions of gratitude and wonder at my generosity she locked them
+up with great care.
+
+Then I thought it was time to give her some marks of my passion, and I
+found her kind; but when I would have plucked the fruit, she clasped me
+to her arms, crossed her legs, and began to weep bitterly.
+
+I made an effort, and asked her if she would be the same when we were in
+bed. She sighed, and after a moment's pause, replied, "Yes."
+
+For a quarter of an hour I remained silent and motionless, as if
+petrified. At last I rose with apparent coolness, and took my cloak and
+sword.
+
+"What!" said she, "are you not going to spend the night with me?"
+
+"No."
+
+"But we shall see each other to-morrow?"
+
+"I hope so. Good night."
+
+I left that infernal abode, and went home to bed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+The End of the Story Stranger Than the Beginning
+
+At eight o'clock the next morning Jarbe told me that the Charpillon
+wanted to see me, and that she had sent away her chairmen.
+
+"Tell her that I can't see her."
+
+But I had hardly spoken when she came in, and Jarbe went out. I addressed
+her with the utmost calmness, and begged her to give me back the two
+bills of exchange I had placed in her hands the night before.
+
+"I haven't got them about me; but why do you want me to return them to
+you?"
+
+At this question I could contain myself no longer, and launched a storm
+of abuse at her. It was an explosion which relieved nature, and ended
+with an involuntary shower of tears. My infamous seductress stood as
+calmly as Innocence itself; and when I was so choked with sobs that I
+could not utter a word, she said she had only been cruel because her
+mother had made her swear an oath never to give herself to anyone in her
+own house, and that she had only come now to convince me of her love, to
+give herself to me without reserve, and never to leave me any more if I
+wished it.
+
+The reader who imagines that at these words rage gave place to love, and
+that I hastened to obtain the prize, does not know the nature of the
+passion so well as the vile woman whose plaything I was. From hot love to
+hot anger is a short journey, but the return is slow and difficult. If
+there be only anger in a man's breast it may be subdued by tenderness, by
+submission, and affection; but when to anger is added a feeling of
+indignation at having been shamefully deceived, it is impossible to pass
+suddenly to thoughts of love and voluptuous enjoyment. With me mere anger
+has never been of long duration, but when I am indignant the only cure is
+forgetfulness.
+
+The Charpillon knew perfectly well that I would not take her at her word,
+and this kind of science was inborn in her. The instinct of women teaches
+them greater secrets than all the philosophy and the research of men.
+
+In the evening this monster left me, feigning to be disappointed and
+disconsolate, and saying,--
+
+"I hope you will come and see me again when you are once more yourself."
+
+She had spent eight hours with me, during which time she had only spoken
+to deny my suppositions, which were perfectly true, but which she could
+not afford to let pass. I had not taken anything all day, in order that I
+might not be obliged to offer her anything or to eat with her.
+
+After she had left me I took some soup and then enjoyed a quiet sleep,
+for which I felt all the better. When I came to consider what had passed
+the day before I concluded that the Charpillon was repentant, but I
+seemed no longer to care anything about her.
+
+Here I may as well confess, in all humility, what a change love worked on
+me in London, though I had attained the age of thirty-eight. Here closed
+the first act of my life; the second closed when I left Venice in 1783,
+and probably the third will close here, as I amuse myself by writing
+these memoirs. Thus, the three-act comedy will finish, and if it be
+hissed, as may possibly be the case, I shall not hear the sounds of
+disapproval. But as yet the reader has not seen the last and I think the
+most interesting scene of the first act.
+
+I went for a walk in the Green Park and met Goudar. I was glad to see
+him, as the rogue was useful to me.
+
+"I have just been at the Charpillons," he began; "they were all in high
+spirits. I tried in vain to turn the conversation on you, but not a word
+would they utter."
+
+"I despise them entirely," I rejoined, "I don't want to have anything
+more to do with them."
+
+He told me I was quite right, and advised me to persevere in my plan. I
+made him dine with me, and then we went to see the well-known procuress,
+Mrs. Wells, and saw the celebrated courtezan, Kitty Fisher, who was
+waiting for the Duke of---- to take her to a ball. She was magnificently
+dressed, and it is no exaggeration to say that she had on diamonds worth
+five hundred thousand francs. Goudar told me that if I liked I might have
+her then and there for ten guineas. I did not care to do so, however,
+for, though charming, she could only speak English, and I liked to have
+all my senses, including that of hearing, gratified. When she had gone,
+Mrs. Wells told us that Kitty had eaten a bank-note for a thousand
+guineas, on a slice of bread and butter, that very day. The note was a
+present from Sir Akins, brother of the fair Mrs. Pitt. I do not know
+whether the bank thanked Kitty for the present she had made it.
+
+I spent an hour with a girl named Kennedy, a fair Irishwoman, who could
+speak a sort of French, and behaved most extravagantly under the
+influence of champagne; but the image of the Charpillon was still before
+me, though I knew it not, and I could not enjoy anything. I went home
+feeling sad and ill pleased with myself. Common sense told me to drive
+all thoughts of that wretched woman out of my head, but something I
+called honour bade me not leave her the triumph of having won the two
+bills of exchange from me for nothing, and made me determine to get them
+back by fair means or foul.
+
+M. Malingan, at whose house I had made the acquaintance of this creature,
+come and asked me to dinner. He had asked me to dine with him several
+times before, and I had always refused, and now I would not accept until
+I had heard what guests he had invited. The names were all strange to me,
+so I agreed to come.
+
+When I arrived I found two young ladies from Liege, in one of whom I got
+interested directly. She introduced me to her husband, and to another
+young man who seemed to be the cavalier of the other lady, her cousin.
+
+The company pleased me, and I was in hopes that I should spend a happy
+day, but my evil genius brought the Charpillon to mar the feast. She came
+into the room in high glee, and said to Malingan,--
+
+"I should not have come to beg you to give me a dinner if I had known
+that you would have so many guests, and if I am at all in the way I will
+go."
+
+Everybody welcomed her, myself excepted, for I was on the rack. To make
+matters worse, she was placed at my left hand. If she had come in before
+we sat down to dinner I should have made some excuse and gone away, but
+as we had begun the soup a sudden flight would have covered me with
+ridicule. I adopted the plan of not looking at her, reserving all my
+politeness for the lady on my right. When the meal was over Malingan took
+me apart, and swore to me that he had not invited the Charpillon, but I
+was not convinced, though I pretended to be for politeness' sake.
+
+The two ladies from Liege and their cavaliers were embarking for Ostend
+in a few days, and in speaking of their departure the one to whom I had
+taken a fancy said that she was sorry to be leaving England without
+having seen Richmond. I begged her to give me the pleasure of shewing it
+her, and without waiting for an answer I asked her husband and all the
+company to be present, excepting the Charpillon, whom I pretended not to
+see.
+
+The invitation was accepted.
+
+"Two carriages," I said, "holding four each, shall be ready at eight
+o'clock, and we shall be exactly eight."
+
+"No, nine, for I am coming," said the Charpillon, giving me an impudent
+stare, "and I hope you will not drive me away."
+
+"No, that would be impolite, I will ride in front on horseback."
+
+"Oh, not at all! Emilie shall sit on my lap."
+
+Emilie was Malingan's daughter, and as everybody seemed to think the
+arrangement an extremely pleasant one I had not the courage to resist. A
+few moments after, I was obliged to leave the room for a few moments, and
+when I came back I met her on the landing. She told me I had insulted her
+grievously, and that unless I made amends I should feel her vengeance.
+
+"You can begin your vengeance," I said, "by returning my bills of
+exchange."
+
+"You shall have them to-morrow, but you had better try and make me forget
+the insult you have put on me."
+
+I left the company in the evening, having arranged that we should all
+breakfast together the next day.
+
+At eight o'clock the two carriages were ready, and Malingan, his wife,
+his daughter, and the two gentlemen got into the first vehicle, and I had
+to get into the second with the ladies from Liege and the Charpillon, who
+seemed to have become very intimate with them. This made me ill-tempered,
+and I sulked the whole way. We were an hour and a quarter on the journey,
+and when we arrived I ordered a good dinner, and then we proceeded to
+view the gardens; the day was a beautiful one, though it was autumn.
+
+Whilst we were Walking the Charpillon came up to me and said she wanted
+to return the bills in the same place in which I had given her them. As
+we were at some distance from the others I pelted her with abuse, telling
+her of her perfidy and of her corruption at an age when she should have
+retained some vestiges of innocence calling her by the name she deserved,
+as I reminded her how often she had already prostituted herself; in short
+I threatened her with my vengeance if she pushed me to extremities. But
+she was as cold as ice, and opposed a calm front to the storm of
+invective I rained in her ears. However, as the other guests were at no
+great distance, she begged me to speak more softly, but they heard me and
+I was very glad of it.
+
+At last we sat down to dinner, and the wretched woman contrived to get a
+place beside me, and behaved all the while as if I were her lover, or at
+any rate as if she loved me. She did not seem to care what people thought
+of my coldness, while I was in a rage, for the company must either have
+thought me a fool or else that she was making game of me.
+
+After dinner we returned to the garden, and the Charpillon, determined to
+gain the victory, clung to my arm and after several turns led me towards
+the maze where she wished to try her power. She made me sit down on the
+grass beside her and attacked me with passionate words and tender
+caresses, and by displaying the most interesting of her charms she
+succeeded in seducing me, but still I do not know whether I were impelled
+by love or vengeance, and I am inclined to think that my feelings were a
+compound of both passions.
+
+But at the moment she looked the picture of voluptuous abandon. Her
+ardent eyes, her fiery cheeks, her wanton kisses, her swelling breast,
+and her quick sighs, all made me think that she stood as much in need of
+defeat as I of victory; certainly I should not have judged that she was
+already calculating on resistance.
+
+Thus I once more became tender and affectionate; I begged pardon for what
+I had said and done. Her fiery kisses replied to mine, and I thought her
+glance and the soft pressure of her body were inviting me to gather the
+delicious fruit; but just as my hand opened the door of the sanctuary,
+she gave a sudden movement, and the chance was lost.
+
+"What! you would deceive me again."
+
+"No, no but we have done enough now. I promise to spend the night in your
+arms in your own house."
+
+For a moment I lost my senses. I only saw the deceitful wretch who had
+profited by my foolish credulity so many times, and I resolved to enjoy
+or take vengeance. I held her down with my left arm, and drawing a small
+knife from my pocket I opened it with my teeth and pricked her neck,
+threatening to kill her if she resisted me.
+
+"Do as you like," she said with perfect calm, "I only ask you to leave me
+my life, but after you have satisfied yourself I will not leave the spot;
+I will not enter your carriage unless you carry me by force, and
+everybody shall know the reason."
+
+This threat had no effect, for I had already got back my senses, and I
+pitied myself for being degraded by a creature for whom I had the
+greatest contempt, in spite of the almost magical influence she had over
+me, and the furious desires she knew how to kindle in my breast. I rose
+without a word, and taking my hat and cane I hastened to leave a place
+where unbridled passion had brought me to the brink of ruin.
+
+My readers will scarcely believe me (but it is nevertheless the exact
+truth) when I say that the impudent creature hastened to rejoin me, and
+took my arm again as if nothing had happened. A girl of her age could not
+have played the part so well unless she had been already tried in a
+hundred battles. When we rejoined the company I was asked if I were ill,
+while nobody noticed the slightest alteration in her.
+
+When we got back to London I excused myself under the plea of a bad
+headache, and returned home.
+
+The adventure had made a terrible impression on me, and I saw that if I
+did not avoid all intercourse with this girl I should be brought to ruin.
+There was something about her I could not resist. I therefore resolved to
+see her no more, but feeling ashamed of my weakness in giving her the
+bills of exchange I wrote her mother a note requesting her to make her
+daughter return them, or else I should be compelled to take harsh
+measures.
+
+In the afternoon I received the following reply:
+
+"Sir,--I am exceedingly surprised at your addressing yourself to me about
+the bills you handed to my daughter. She tells me she will give you them
+back in person when you shew more discretion, and have learnt to respect
+her."
+
+This impudent letter so enraged me that I forgot my vow of the morning. I
+put two pistols in my pocket and proceeded to the wretched woman's abode
+to compel her to return me my bills if she did not wish to be soundly
+caned.
+
+I only took the pistols to overawe the two male rascals who supped with
+them every evening. I was furious when I arrived, but I passed by the
+door when I saw a handsome young hairdresser, who did the Charpillon's
+hair every Saturday evening, going into the house.
+
+I did not want a stranger to be present at the scene I meant to make, so
+I waited at the corner of the street for the hairdresser to go. After I
+had waited half an hour Rostaing and Couman, the two supports of the
+house, came out and went away, much to my delight. I waited on; eleven
+struck, and the handsome barber had not yet gone. A little before
+midnight a servant came out with a lamp, I suppose to look for something
+that had fallen out of the window. I approached noiselessly, stepped in
+and opened the parlour-door, which was close to the street, and saw . . .
+the Charpillon and the barber stretched on the sofa and doing the beast
+with two backs, as Shakespeare calls it.
+
+When the slut saw me she gave a shriek and unhorsed her gallant, whom I
+caned soundly until he escaped in the confusion consequent on the
+servants, mother, and aunts all rushing into the room. While this was
+going on the Charpillon, half-naked, remained crouched behind the sofa,
+trembling lest the blows should begin to descend on her. Then the three
+hags set upon me like furies; but their abuse only irritated me, and I
+broke the pier-'glass, the china, and the furniture, and as they still
+howled and shrieked I roared out that if they did not cease I would break
+their heads. At this they began to calm.
+
+I threw myself upon the fatal sofa, and bade the mother to return me the
+bills of exchange; but just then the watchman came in.
+
+There is only one watchman to a district, which he perambulates all night
+with a lantern in one hand and a staff in the other. On these men the
+peace of the great city depends. I put three or four crowns into his hand
+and said "Go away," and so saying shut the door upon him. Then I sat down
+once more and asked again for the bills of exchange:
+
+"I have not got them; my daughter keeps them."
+
+"Call her."
+
+The two maids said that whilst I was breaking the china she had escaped
+by the street door, and that they did not know what had become of her.
+Then the mother and aunts began to shriek, weep, and exclaim,--
+
+"My poor daughter alone in the streets of London at midnight! My dear
+niece, alas! alas! she is lost. Cursed be the hour when you came to
+England to make us all unhappy!"
+
+My rage had evaporated, and I trembled at the thought of this young
+frightened girl running about the streets at such an hour.
+
+"Go and look for her at the neighbours' houses," I said to the servants,
+"no doubt you will find her. When you tell me she is safe, you shall have
+a guinea apiece."
+
+When the three Gorgons saw I was interested, their tears, complaints, and
+invectives began again with renewed vigor, while I kept silence as much
+as to say that they were in the right. I awaited the return of the
+servants with impatience, and at last at one o'clock they came back with
+looks of despair.
+
+"We have looked for her everywhere," said they, "but we can't find her."
+
+I gave them the two guineas as if they had succeeded, whilst I sat
+motionless reflecting on the terrible consequences of my anger. How
+foolish is man when he is in love!
+
+I was idiot enough to express my repentance to the three old cheats. I
+begged them to seek for her everywhere when dawn appeared, and to let me
+know of her return that I might fall at her feet to beg pardon, and never
+see her face again. I also promised to pay for all the damage I had done,
+and to give them a full receipt for the bills of exchange. After these
+acts, done to the everlasting shame of my good sense, after this apology
+made to procuresses who laughed at me and my honour, I went home,
+promising two guineas to the servant who should bring me tidings that her
+young mistress had come home. On leaving the house I found the watchman
+at the door; he had been waiting to see me home. It was two o'clock. I
+threw myself on my bed, and the six hours of sleep I obtained, though
+troubled by fearful dreams, probably saved me from madness.
+
+At eight o'clock I heard a knock at the door, and on opening the window
+found it was one of the servants from the house of my foes. I cried out
+to let her in, and I breathed again on hearing that Miss Charpillon had
+just arrived in a sedan-chair in a pitiable condition, and that she had
+been put to bed.
+
+"I made haste to come and tell you," said the cunning maid, "not for the
+sake of your two guineas, but because I saw you were so unhappy." This
+duped me directly. I gave her the two guineas, and made her sit down on
+my bed, begging her to tell me all about her mistress's return. I did not
+dream that she had been schooled by my enemies; but during the whole of
+this period I was deprived of the right use of my reason.
+
+The slut began by saying that her young mistress loved me, and had only
+deceived me in accordance with her mother's orders.
+
+"I know that," I said, "but where did she pass the night?"
+
+"At a shop which she found open, and where she was known from having
+bought various articles there. She is in bed with a fever, and I am
+afraid it may have serious consequences as she is in her monthly period."
+
+"That's impossible, for I caught her in the act with her hairdresser."
+
+"Oh, that proves nothing! the poor young man does not look into things
+very closely."
+
+"But she is in love with him."
+
+"I don't think so, though she has spent several hours in his company."
+
+"And you say that she loves me!"
+
+"Oh, that has nothing to do with it! It is only a whim of hers with the
+hairdresser."
+
+"Tell her that I am coming to pass the day beside her bed, and bring me
+her reply."
+
+"I will send the other girl if you like."
+
+"No, she only speaks English."
+
+She went away, and as she had not returned by three o'clock I decided on
+calling to hear how she was. I knocked at the door, and one of the aunts
+appeared and begged me not to enter as the two friends of the house were
+there in a fury against me, and her niece lay in a delirium, crying out
+"There's Seingalt, there's Seingalt! He's going to kill me. Help! help!"
+"For God's sake, sir, go away!"
+
+I went home desperate, without the slightest suspicion that it was all a
+lie. I spent the whole day without eating anything; I could not swallow a
+mouthful. All night I kept awake, and though I took several glasses of
+strong waters I could obtain no rest.
+
+At nine o'clock the next morning I knocked at the Charpillon's door, and
+the old aunt came and held it half open as before. She forbade me to
+enter, saying that her niece was still delirious, continually calling on
+me in her transports, and that the doctor had declared that if the
+disease continued its course she had not twenty-four hours to live. "The
+fright you gave her has arrested her periods; she is in a terrible
+state."
+
+"O, fatal hairdresser!" I exclaimed.
+
+"That was a mere youthful folly; you should have pretended not to have
+seen anything."
+
+"You think that possible, you old witch, do you? Do not let her lack for
+anything; take that."
+
+With these words I gave her a bank note for ten guineas and went away,
+like the fool I was. On my way back I met Goudar, who was quite
+frightened at my aspect. I begged him to go and see how the Charpillon
+really was, and then to come and pass the rest of the day with me. An
+hour after he came back and said he had found them all in tears and that
+the girl was in extremis.
+
+"Did you see her?"
+
+"No, they said she could see no one."
+
+"Do you think it is all true?"
+
+"I don't know what to think; but one of the maids, who tells me the truth
+as a rule, assured me that she had become mad through her courses being
+stopped, while she has also a fever and violent convulsions. It is all
+credible enough, for these are the usual results of a shock when a woman
+is in such a situation. The girl told me it was all your fault."
+
+I then told him the whole story. He could only pity me, but when he heard
+that I had neither eaten nor slept for the last forty-eight hours he said
+very wisely that if I did not take care I should lose my reason or my
+life. I knew it, but I could find no remedy. He spent the day with me and
+did me good. As I could not eat I drank a good deal, and not being able
+to sleep I spent the night in striding up and down my room like a man
+beside himself.
+
+On the third day, having heard nothing positive about the Charpillon, I
+went out at seven o'clock in the morning to call on her. After I had
+waited a quarter of an hour in the street, the door was partly opened,
+and I saw the mother all in tears, but she would not let me come in. She
+said her daughter was in the last agony. At the same instant a pale and
+thin old man came out, telling the mother that we must resign ourselves
+to the will of God. I asked the infamous creature if it were the doctor.
+
+"The doctor is no good now," said the old hypocrite, weeping anew, "he is
+a minister of the Gospel, and there is another of them upstairs. My poor
+daughter! In another hour she will be no more."
+
+I felt as if an icy hand had closed upon my heart. I burst into tears and
+left the woman, saying,--
+
+"It is true that my hand dealt the blow, but her death lies at your
+door."
+
+As I walked away my knees seemed to bend under me, and I entered my house
+determined to commit suicide,--
+
+With this fearful idea, I gave orders that I was not at home to anyone.
+As soon as I got to my room I put my watches, rings, snuff-boxes, purse
+and pocket-book in my casket, and shut it up in my escritoire. I then
+wrote a letter to the Venetian ambassador, informing him that all my
+property was to go to M. de Bragadin after my death. I sealed the letter
+and put it with the casket, and took the key with me, and also silver to
+the amount of a few guineas. I took my pistols and went out with the firm
+intention of drowning myself in the Thames, near the Tower of London.
+
+Pondering over my plan with the utmost coolness, I went and bought some
+balls of lead as large as my pockets would hold, and as heavy as I could
+bear, to carry to the Tower, where I intended to go on foot. On my way I
+was strengthened in my purpose by the reflection, that if I continued to
+live I should be tormented for the remainder of my days by the pale shade
+of the Charpillon reproaching me as her murderer. I even congratulated
+myself on being able to carry out my purpose without any effort, and I
+also felt a secret pride in my courage.
+
+I walked slowly on account of the enormous weight I bore, which would
+assure me a speedy passage to the bottom of the river.
+
+By Westminster Bridge my good fortune made me meet Sir Edgar, a rich
+young Englishman, who lived a careless and joyous life. I had made his
+acquaintance at Lord Pembroke's, and he had dined with me several times.
+We suited one another, his conversation was agreeable, and we had passed
+many pleasant hours together. I tried to avoid him, but he saw me, and
+came up and took me by the arm in a friendly manner.
+
+"Where are you going? Come with me, unless you are going to deliver some
+captive. Come along, we shall have a pleasant party."
+
+"I can't come, my dear fellow, let me go."
+
+"What's the matter? I hardly recognized you, you looked so solemn."
+
+"Nothing is the matter."
+
+"Nothing? You should look at your face in the glass. Now I feel quite
+sure that you are going to commit a foolish action."
+
+"Not at all."
+
+"It's no good denying it."
+
+"I tell you there's nothing the matter with me. Good bye, I shall see you
+again."
+
+"It's no good, I won't leave you. Come along, we will walk together."
+
+His eyes happening to fall on my breeches pocket, he noticed my pistol,
+and putting his hand on the other pocket he felt the other pistol, and
+said,--
+
+"You are going to fight a duel; I should like to see it. I won't
+interfere with the affair, but neither will I leave you."
+
+I tried to put on a smile, and assured him that he was mistaken, and that
+I was only going for a walk to pass the time.
+
+"Very good," said Edgar, "then I hope my society is as pleasant to you as
+yours is to me; I won't leave you. After we have taken a walk we will go
+and dine at the 'Canon.' I will get two girls to come and join us, and we
+shall have a gay little party of four."
+
+"My dear friend, you must excuse me; I am in a melancholy mood, and I
+want to be alone to get over it."
+
+"You can be alone to-morrow, if you like, but I am sure you will be all
+right in the next three hours, and if not, why I will share your madness.
+Where did you think of dining?"
+
+"Nowhere; I have no appetite. I have been fasting for the last three
+days, and I can only drink."
+
+"Ah! I begin to see daylight. Something has crossed you, and you are
+going to let it kill you as it killed one of my brothers. I must see what
+can be done."
+
+Edgar argued, insisted, and joked till at last I said to myself, "A day
+longer will not matter, I can do the deed when he leaves me, and I shall
+only have to bear with life a few hours longer."
+
+When Edgar heard that I had no particular object in crossing the bridge
+he said that we had better turn back, and I let myself be persuaded; but
+in half an hour I begged him to take me somewhere where I could wait for
+him, as I could not bear the weight of the lead any longer. I gave him my
+word of honour that I would meet him at the "Canon."
+
+As soon as I was alone I emptied my pockets, and put the leaden balls
+into a cupboard. Then I lay down and began to consider whether the
+good-natured young man would prevent me committing suicide, as he had
+already made me postpone it.
+
+I reasoned, not as one that hopes, but rather as one that foresaw that
+Edgar would hinder me from shortening my days. Thus I waited in the
+tavern for the young Englishman, doubtful whether he was doing me a
+service or an injury.
+
+He came back before long, and was pleased to find me.
+
+"I reckoned on your keeping your word," said he.
+
+"You did not think that I would break my word of honour."
+
+"That's all right; I see you are on the way to recovery."
+
+The sensible and cheerful talk of the young man did me good, and I began
+to feel better, when the two young wantons, one of whom was a
+Frenchwoman, arrived in high spirits. They seemed intended for pleasure,
+and Nature had dowered them with great attractions. I appreciated their
+charms, but I could not welcome them in the manner to which they were
+accustomed. They began to think me some poor valetudinarian; but though I
+was in torments, a feeling of vanity made me endeavour to behave
+sensibly. I gave them some cold kisses and begged Edgar to tell his
+fellow-countrywoman that if I were not three parts dead I would prove how
+lovely and charming I thought her. They pitied me. A man who has spent
+three days without eating or sleeping is almost incapable of any
+voluptuous excitement, but mere words would not have convinced these
+priestesses of Venus if Edgar had not given them my name. I had a
+reputation, and I saw that when they heard who I was they were full of
+respect. They all hoped that Bacchus and Comus would plead the cause of
+Love, and I let them talk, knowing that their hopes were vain.
+
+We had an English dinner; that is, a dinner without the essential course
+of soup, so I only took a few oysters and a draught of delicious wine,
+but I felt better, and was pleased to see Edgar amusing himself with the
+two nymphs.
+
+The young madcap suddenly proposed that the girls should dance a hornpipe
+in the costume of Mother Eve, and they consented on the condition that we
+would adopt the dress of Father Adam, and that blind musicians were
+summoned. I told them that I would take off my clothes to oblige them,
+but that I had no hopes of being able to imitate the seductive serpent. I
+was allowed to retain my dress, on the condition that if I felt the prick
+of the flesh I should immediately undress. I agreed to do so, and the
+blind musicians were sent for, and while they tuned their instruments
+toilettes were made, and the orgy began.
+
+It taught me same useful lessons. I learnt from it that amorous pleasures
+are the effect and not the cause of gaiety. I sat gazing at three naked
+bodies of perfect grace and beauty, the dance and the music were
+ravishing and seductive, but nothing made any impression on me. After the
+dance was over the male dancer treated the two females, one after the
+other, until he was forced to rest. The French girl came up to ascertain
+whether I skewed any signs of life, but feeling my hopeless condition she
+pronounced me useless.
+
+When it was all over I begged Edgar to give the French girl four guineas,
+and to pay my share, as I had very little money about me.
+
+What should I have said if I had been told in the morning that instead of
+drowning myself I should take part in so pleasant an entertainment?
+
+The debt I had contracted with the young Englishman made me resolve to
+put off my suicide to another day. After the nymphs had gone I tried to
+get rid of Edgar, but in vain; he told me I was getting better, that the
+oysters I had taken skewed my stomach was improving, and that if I came
+with him to Ranelagh I should be able to make a good dinner the next day.
+I was weak and indifferent and let myself be persuaded, and got into a
+coach with Edgar in obedience to the Stoic maxim I had learnt in the
+happy days of my youth: 'Sequere Deum'.
+
+We entered the fine rotunda with our hats off, and began to walk round
+and round, our arms behind our backs--a common custom in England, at
+least in those days.
+
+A minuet was being danced, and I was so attracted by a lady who danced
+extremely well that I waited for her to turn round. What made me notice
+her more particularly was that her dress and hat were exactly like those
+I had given to the Charpillon a few days before, but as I believed the
+poor wretch to be dead or dying the likeness did not inspire me with any
+suspicion. But the lady turned round, lifted her face, and I saw--the
+Charpillon herself!
+
+Edgar told me afterwards that at that moment he thought to see me fall to
+the ground in an epileptic fit; I trembled and shuddered so terribly.
+
+However, I felt so sure she was ill that I could not believe my own eyes,
+and the doubt brought me to my senses.
+
+"She can't be the Charpillon," I said to myself, "she is some other girl
+like her, and my enfeebled senses have led me astray." In the meanwhile
+the lady, intent on her dancing, did not glance in my direction, but I
+could afford to wait. At last she lifted her arms to make the curtsy at
+the end of the minuet, I went up instinctively as if I were about to
+dance with her; she looked me in the face, and fled.
+
+I constrained myself; but now that there could be no doubt my shuddering
+fit returned, and I made haste to sit down. A cold sweat bedewed my face
+and my whole body. Edgar advised me to take a cup of tea but I begged him
+to leave me alone for a few moments.
+
+I was afraid that I was on the point of death; I trembled all over, and
+my heart beat so rapidly that I could not have stood up had I wished.
+
+At last, instead of dying, I got new life. What a wonderful change I
+experienced! Little by little my peace of mind returned, and I could
+enjoy the glitter of the multitudinous wax lights. By slow degrees I
+passed through all the shades of feeling between despair and an ecstasy
+of joy. My soul and mind were so astonished by the shock that I began to
+think I should never see Edgar again.
+
+"This young man," I said to myself, "is my good genius, my guardian
+angel, my familiar spirit, who has taken the form of Edgar to restore me
+to my senses again."
+
+I should certainly have persisted in this idea if my friend had not
+reappeared before very long.
+
+Chance might have thrown him in the way of one of those seductive
+creatures who make one forget everything else; he might have left
+Ranelagh without having time to tell me he was going, and I should have
+gone back to London feeling perfectly certain that I had only seen his
+earthly shape. Should I have been disabused if I had seen him a few days
+after? Possibly; but I am not sure of it. I have always had a hankering
+after superstition, of which I do not boast; but I confess the fact, and
+leave the reader to judge me.
+
+However, he came back in high spirits, but anxious about me. He was
+surprised to find me full of animation, and to hear me talking in a
+pleasant strain on the surrounding objects and persons.
+
+"Why, you are laughing!" said he, "your sadness has departed, then?"
+
+"Yes, good genius, but I am hungry, and I want you to do me a favour, if
+you have no other pressing engagements."
+
+"I am free till the day after to-morrow, and till then you can do what
+you like with me."
+
+"I owe my life to you, but to make your gift complete I want you to spend
+this night and the whole of the next day with me."
+
+"Done."
+
+"Then let us go home."
+
+"With all my heart; come along."
+
+I did not tell him anything as we were in the coach, and when we got home
+I found nothing fresh, except a note from Goudar, which I put in my
+pocket, intending to reserve all business for the next day.
+
+It was an hour after midnight. A good supper was served to us, and we
+fell to; for my part I devoured my food like a wild beast. Edgar
+congratulated me, and we went to bed, and I slept profoundly till noon.
+When I awoke I breakfasted with Edgar, and told him the whole story,
+which would have ended with my life if he had not met me on Westminster
+Bridge, and he had not been keen enough to mark my condition. I took him
+to my room, and shewed him my escritoire, my casket, and my will. I then
+opened Goudar's letter, and read:
+
+"I am quite sure that the girl you know of is very far from dying, as she
+has gone to Ranelagh with Lord Grosvenor."
+
+Although Edgar was a profligate, he was a sensible man, and my story made
+him furious. He threw his arms around my neck, and told me he should
+always think the day on which he rescued me from death for so unworthy an
+object the happiest in his life. He could scarcely credit the infamy of
+the Charpillon and her mother. He told me I could have the mother
+arrested, though I had not got the bills of exchange, as her mother's
+letter acknowledging her daughter's possession of the bills was
+sufficient evidence.
+
+Without informing him of my intention, I resolved that moment to have her
+arrested. Before we parted we swore eternal friendship, but the reader
+will see before long what a penance the kind Englishman had to do for
+befriending me.
+
+The next day I went to the attorney I had employed against Count
+Schwerin. After hearing my story he said that I had an undoubted claim,
+and that I could arrest the mother and the two aunts.
+
+Without losing time I went before a magistrate, who took my sworn
+information and granted me a warrant. The same official who had arrested
+Schwerin took charge of the affair; but as he did not know the women by
+sight it was necessary that someone who did should go with him, for
+though he was certain of surprising them there might be several other
+women present, and he might not arrest the right ones.
+
+As Goudar would not have undertaken the delicate task of pointing them
+out, I resolved on accompanying him myself.
+
+I made an appointment with him at an hour when I knew they would be all
+in the parlour. He was to enter directly the door was opened, and I would
+come in at the same instant and point out the women he had to arrest. In
+England all judicial proceedings are conducted with the utmost
+punctuality, and everything went off as I had arranged. The bailiff and
+his subaltern stepped into the parlour and I followed in their footsteps.
+I pointed out the mother and the two sisters and then made haste to
+escape, for the sight of the Charpillon, dressed in black, standing by
+the hearth, made me shudder. I felt cured, certainly; but the wounds she
+had given me were not yet healed, and I cannot say what might have
+happened if the Circe had had the presence of mind to throw her arms
+about my neck and beg for mercy.
+
+As soon as I had seen these women in the hands of justice I fled, tasting
+the sweets of vengeance, which are very great, but yet a sign of
+unhappiness. The rage in which I had arrested the three procuresses, and
+my terror in seeing the woman who had well-nigh killed me, shewed that I
+was not really cured. To be so I must fly from them and forget them
+altogether.
+
+The next morning Goudar came and congratulated me on the bold step I had
+taken, which proved, he said, that I was either cured or more in love
+than ever. "I have just come from Denmark Street," he added, "and I only
+saw the grandmother, who was weeping bitterly, and an attorney, whom no
+doubt she was consulting."
+
+"Then you have heard what has happened?"
+
+"Yes, I came up a minute after you had gone and I stayed till the three
+old sluts made up their minds to go with the constable. They resisted and
+said he ought to leave them till the next day, when they would be able to
+find someone to bail them. The two bravos drew their swords to resist the
+law, but the other constable disarmed them one after the other, and the
+three women were led off. The Charpillon wanted to accompany them, but it
+was judged best that she should remain at liberty, in order to try and
+set them free."
+
+Goudar concluded by saying that he should go and see them in prison, and
+if I felt disposed to come to an arrangement he would mediate between us.
+I told him that the only arrangement I would accept was the payment of
+the six thousand francs, and that they might think themselves very lucky
+that I did not insist on having my interest, and thus repaying myself in
+part for the sums they had cheated out of me.
+
+A fortnight elapsed without my hearing any more of the matter. The
+Charpillon dined with them every day, and in fact, kept them. It must
+have cost her a good deal, for they had two rooms, and their landlord
+would not allow them to have their meals prepared outside the prison.
+Goudar told me that the Charpillon said she would never beg me to listen
+to her mother, though she knew she had only to call on me to obtain
+anything she wanted. She thought me the most abominable of men. If I feel
+obliged to maintain that she was equally abominable, I must confess that
+on this occasion she shewed more strength of mind than I; but whereas I
+had acted out of passion, her misdeeds were calculated, and tended solely
+to her own interests.
+
+For the whole of this fortnight I had sought for Edgar in vain, but one
+morning he came to see me, looking in high spirits.
+
+"Where have you been hiding all this time?" said I, "I have been looking
+for you everywhere."
+
+"Love has been keeping me a prisoner," said he, "I have got some money
+for you."
+
+"For me? From what quarter?"
+
+"On behalf of the Ansperghers. Give me a receipt and the necessary
+declaration, for I am going to restore them myself to the poor
+Charpillon, who has been weeping for the last fortnight."
+
+"I daresay she has, I have seen her weep myself; but I like the way in
+which she has chosen the being who delivered me from her chains as a
+protector. Does she know that I owe my life to you?"
+
+"She only knew that I was with you at Ranelagh when you saw her dancing
+instead of dying, but I have told her the whole story since."
+
+"No doubt she wants you to plead with me in her favour."
+
+"By no means. She has just been telling me that you are a monster of
+ingratitude, for she loved you and gave you several proofs of her
+affection, but now she hates you."
+
+"Thank Heaven for that! The wretched woman! It's curious she should have
+selected you as her lover by way of taking vengeance on me, but take
+care! she will punish you."
+
+"It may be so, but at all events it's a pleasant kind of punishment."
+
+"I hope you may be happy, but look to yourself; she is a mistress in all
+sorts of deceit."
+
+Edgar counted me out two hundred and fifty guineas, for which I gave him
+a receipt and the declaration he required, and with these documents he
+went off in high spirits.
+
+After this I might surely flatter myself that all was at an end between
+us, but I was mistaken.
+
+Just about this time the Crown Prince of Brunswick, now the reigning
+duke, married the King of England's sister. The Common Council presented
+him with the freedom of the City, and the Goldsmith's Company admitted
+him into their society, and gave him a splendid box containing the
+documents which made him a London citizen. The prince was the first
+gentleman in Europe, and yet he did not disdain to add this new honour to
+a family illustrious for fourteen hundred years.
+
+On this occasion Lady Harrington was the means of getting Madame Cornelis
+two hundred guineas. She lent her room in Soho Square to a confectioner
+who gave a ball and supper to a thousand persons at three guineas each. I
+paid my three guineas, and had the honour of standing up all the evening
+with six hundred others, for the table only seated four hundred, and
+there were several ladies who were unable to procure seats. That evening
+I saw Lady Grafton seated beside the Duke of Cumberland. She wore her
+hair without any powder, and all the other ladies were exclaiming about
+it, and saying how very unbecoming it was. They could not anathematize
+the innovator too much, but in less than six months Lady Grafton's style
+of doing the hair became common, crossed the Channel, and spread all over
+Europe, though it has been given another name. It is still in fashion,
+and is the only method that can boast the age of thirty years, though it
+was so unmercifully ridiculed at first.
+
+The supper for which the giver of the feast had received three thousand
+guineas, or sixty-five thousand francs, contained a most varied
+assortment of delicacies, but as I had not been dancing, and did not feel
+taken with any of the ladies present, I left at one in the morning. It
+was Sunday, a day on which all persons, save criminals, are exempt from
+arrest; but, nevertheless, the following adventure befell me:
+
+I was dressed magnificently, and was driving home in my carriage, with my
+negro and another servant seated behind me; and just as we entered Pall
+Mall I heard a voice crying, "Good night, Seingalt." I put my head out of
+the window to reply, and in an instant the carriage was surrounded by men
+armed with pistols, and one of them said,--
+
+"In the king's name!"
+
+My servant asked what they wanted, and they answered,--
+
+"To take him to Newgate, for Sunday makes no difference to criminals."
+
+"And what crime have I committed?"
+
+"You will hear that in prison."
+
+"My master has a right to know his crime before he goes to prison," said
+the negro.
+
+"Yes, but the magistrate's abed."
+
+The negro stuck to his position, however, and the people who had come up
+declared with one consent that he was in the right.
+
+The head-constable gave in, and said he would take me to a house in the
+city.
+
+"Then drive to that city," said I, "and have done with it."
+
+We stopped before the house, and I was placed in a large room on the
+ground floor, furnished solely with benches and long tables. My servant
+sent back the carriage, and came to keep me company. The six constables
+said they could not leave me, and told me I should send out for some meat
+and drink for them. I told my negro to give them what they wanted, and to
+be as amicable with them as was possible.
+
+As I had not committed any crime, I was quite at ease; I knew that my
+arrest must be the effect of a slander, and as I was aware that London
+justice was speedy and equitable, I thought I should soon be free. But I
+blamed myself for having transgressed the excellent maxim, never to
+answer anyone in the night time; for if I had not done so I should have
+been in my house, and not in prison. The mistake, however, had been
+committed, and there was nothing to be done but to wait patiently. I
+amused myself by reflecting on my rapid passage from a numerous and
+exalted assemblage to the vile place I now occupied, though I was still
+dressed like a prince.
+
+At last the day dawned, and the keeper of the tavern came to see who the
+prisoner was. I could not helping laughing at him when he saw me, for he
+immediately began to abuse the constables for not awaking him when I
+came; he had lost the guinea I should have paid for a private room. At
+last news was brought that the magistrate was sitting, and that I must be
+brought up.
+
+A coach was summoned, and I got into it, for if I had dared to walk along
+the streets in my magnificent attire the mob would have pelted me.
+
+I went into the hall of justice, and all eyes were at once attracted
+towards me; my silks and satins appeared to them the height of
+impertinence.
+
+At the end of the room I saw a gentleman sitting in an arm-chair, and
+concluded him to be my judge. I was right, and the judge was blind. He
+wore a broad band round his head, passing over his eyes. A man beside me,
+guessing I was a foreigner, said in French,--
+
+"Be of good courage, Mr. Fielding is a just and equitable magistrate."
+
+I thanked the kindly unknown, and was delighted to see before me this
+famous and estimable writer, whose works are an honour to the English
+nation.
+
+When my turn came, the clerk of the court told Mr. Fielding my name, at
+least, so I presume.
+
+"Signor Casanova," said he, in excellent Italian, "be kind enough to step
+forward. I wish to speak to you."
+
+I was delighted to hear the accents of my native tongue, and making my
+way through the press I came up to the bar of the court, and said,--
+
+"Eccomi, Signore."
+
+He continued to speak Italian, and said,--
+
+"Signor de Casanova, of Venice, you are condemned to perpetual
+confinement in the prisons of His Majesty the King of Great Britain."
+
+"I should like to know, sir, for what crime I am condemned. Would you be
+kind enough to inform me as to its nature?"
+
+"Your demand is a reasonable one, for with us no one is condemned without
+knowing the cause of his condemnation. You must know, then, that the
+accusation (which is supported by two witnesses) charges you with
+intending to do grievous bodily harm to the person of a pretty girl; and
+as this pretty girl aforesaid goes in dread of you, the law decrees that
+you must be kept in prison for the rest of your days."
+
+"Sir, this accusation is a groundless calumny; to that I will take my
+oath! It is very possible indeed that the girl may fear my vengeance when
+she comes to consider her own conduct, but I can assure you that I have
+had no such designs hitherto, and I don't think I ever shall."
+
+"She has two witnesses."
+
+"Then they are false ones. But may I ask your worship the name of my
+accuser?"
+
+"Miss Charpillon."
+
+"I thought as much; but I have never given her aught but proofs of my
+affection."
+
+"Then you have no wish to do her any bodily harm?"
+
+"Certainly not."
+
+"Then I congratulate you. You can dine at home; but you must find two
+sureties. I must have an assurance from the mouths of two householders
+that you will never commit such a crime."
+
+"Whom shall I find to do so?"
+
+"Two well-known Englishmen, whose friendship you have gained, and who
+know that you are incapable of such an action. Send for them, and if they
+arrive before I go to dinner I will set you at liberty."
+
+The constable took me back to prison, where I had passed the night, and I
+gave my servants the addresses of all the householders I recollected,
+bidding them explain my situation, and to be as quick as possible. They
+ought to have come before noon, but London is such a large place! They
+did not arrive, and the magistrate went to dinner. I comforted myself by
+the thought that he would sit in the afternoon, but I had to put up with
+a disagreeable experience.
+
+The chief constable, accompanied by an interpreter, came to say that I
+must go to Newgate. This is a prison where the most wretched and abject
+criminals are kept.
+
+I signified to him that I was awaiting bail, and that he could take me to
+Newgate in the evening if it did not come, but he only turned a deaf ear
+to my petition. The interpreter told me in a whisper that the fellow was
+certainly paid by the other side to put me to trouble, but that if I
+liked to bribe him I could stay where I was.
+
+"How much will he want?"
+
+The interpreter took the constable aside, and then told me that I could
+stay where I was for ten guineas.
+
+"Then say that I should like to see Newgate."
+
+A coach was summoned, and I was taken away.
+
+When I got to this abode of misery and despair, a hell, such as Dante
+might have conceived, a crowd of wretches, some of whom were to be hanged
+in the course of the week, greeted me by deriding my elegant attire. I
+did not answer them, and they began to get angry and to abuse me. The
+gaoler quieted them by saying that I was a foreigner and did not
+understand English, and then took me to a cell, informing me how much it
+would cost me, and of the prison rules, as if he felt certain that I
+should make a long stay. But in the course of half an hour, the constable
+who had tried to get ten guineas out of me told me that bail had arrived
+and that my carriage was at the door.
+
+I thanked God from the bottom of my heart, and soon found myself in the
+presence of the blind magistrate. My bail consisted of Pegu, my tailor,
+and Maisonneuve, my wine merchant, who said they were happy to be able to
+render me this slight service. In another part of the court I noticed the
+infamous Charpillon, Rostaing, Goudar, and an attorney. They made no
+impression on me, and I contented myself with giving them a look of
+profound contempt.
+
+My two sureties were informed of the amount in which they were to bail
+me, and signed with a light heart, and then the magistrate said,
+politely,--
+
+"Signor Casanova, please to sign your name for double the amount, and you
+will then be a free man again."
+
+I went towards the clerk's table, and on asking the sum I was to answer
+for was informed that it was forty guineas, each of my sureties signing
+for twenty. I signed my name, telling Goudar that if the magistrate could
+have seen the Charpillon he would have valued her beauty at ten thousand
+guineas. I asked the names of the two witnesses, and was told that they
+were Rostaing and Bottarelli. I looked contemptuously at Rostaing, who
+was as pale as death, and averting my face from the Charpillon out of
+pity, I said,--
+
+"The witnesses are worthy of the charge."
+
+I saluted the judge with respect, although he could not see me, and asked
+the clerk if I had anything to pay. He replied in the negative, and a
+dispute ensued between him and the attorney of my fair enemy, who was
+disgusted on hearing that she could not leave the court without paying
+the costs of my arrest.
+
+Just as I was going, five or six well-known Englishmen appeared to bail
+me out, and were mortified to hear that they had come too late. They
+begged me to forgive the laws of the land, which are only too often
+converted into a means for the annoyance of foreigners.
+
+At last, after one of the most tedious days I have ever spent, I returned
+home and went to bed, laughing at the experience I had undergone.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of In London And Moscow: The English
+by Jacques Casanova de Seingalt
+
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