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+
+The Project Gutenberg Etext of London to Berlin
+by Jacques Casanova
+(#24 in our series by Jacques Casanova)
+
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+Title: London to Berlin
+
+Author: Jacques Casanova
+
+Release Date: December, 2001  [Etext #2974]
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+The Project Gutenberg Etext of London to Berlin
+by Jacques Casanova
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+London to Berlin
+By Jacques Casanova
+
+
+
+
+MEMOIRS OF JACQUES CASANOVA de SEINGALT 1725-1798
+IN LONDON AND MOSCOW, Volume 5d--LONDON TO BERLIN
+
+
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+FLIGHT FROM LONDON TO BERLIN
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+Bottarelli--A Letter from Pauline--The Avenging Parrot--Pocchini--
+Guerra, the Venetian--I Meet Sara Again; My Idea of Marrying Her and
+Settling in Switzerland--The Hanoverians
+
+Thus ended the first act of the comedy; the second began the next
+morning.  I was just getting up, when I heard a noise at the street
+door, and on putting my head out of the window I saw Pocchini, the
+scoundrel who had robbed me at Stuttgart trying to get into my house.
+I cried out wrathfully that I would have nothing to do with him, and
+slammed down my window.
+
+A little later Goudar put in an appearance.  He had got a copy of the
+St. James's Chronicle, containing a brief report of my arrest, and of
+my being set a liberty under a bail of eighty guineas.  My name and
+the lady's were disguised, but Rostaing and Bottarelli were set down
+plainly, and the editor praised their conduct.  I felt as if I should
+like to know Bottarelli, and begged Goudar to take me to him, and
+Martinelli, happening to call just then, said he would come with us.
+
+We entered a wretched room on the third floor of a wretched house,
+and there we beheld a picture of the greatest misery.  A woman and
+five children clothed in rags formed the foreground, and in the
+background was Bottarelli, in an old dressing-gown, writing at a
+table worthy of Philemon and Baucis.  He rose as we came in, and the
+sight of him moved me to compassion.  I said,--
+
+"Do you know me, sir?"
+
+"No, sir, I do not."
+
+"I am Casanova, against whom you bore false witness; whom you tried
+to cast into Newgate."
+
+"I am very sorry, but look around you and say what choice have I?  I
+have no bread to give my children.  I will do as much in your favour
+another time for nothing."
+
+"Are you not afraid of the gallows?"
+
+"No, for perjury is not punished with death; besides it is very
+difficult to prove."
+
+"I have heard you are a poet."
+
+"Yes.  I have lengthened the Didone and abridged the Demetrio."
+
+"You are a great poet, indeed!"
+
+I felt more contempt than hatred for the rascal, and gave his wife a
+guinea, for which she presented me with a wretched pamphlet by her
+husband: "The Secrets of the Freemasons Displayed."  Bottarelli had
+been a monk in his native city, Pisa, and had fled to England with
+his wife, who had been a nun.
+
+About this time M. de Saa surprised me by giving me a letter from my
+fair Portuguese, which confirmed the sad fate of poor Clairmont.
+Pauline said she was married to Count Al----.  I was astonished to
+hear M. de Saa observe that he had known all about Pauline from the
+moment she arrived in London.  That is the hobby of all diplomatists;
+they like people to believe that they are omniscient.  However, M. de
+Saa was a man of worth and talent, and one could excuse this weakness
+as an incident inseparable from his profession; while most
+diplomatists only make themselves ridiculous by their assumption of
+universal knowledge.
+
+M. de Saa had been almost as badly treated by the Charpillon as
+myself, and we might have condoled with one another, but the subject
+was not mentioned.
+
+A few days afterwards, as I was walking idly about, I passed a place
+called the Parrot Market.  As I was amusing myself by looking at
+these curious birds, I saw a fine young one in a cage, and asked what
+language it spoke.  They told me that it was quite young and did not
+speak at all yet, so I bought it for ten guineas.  I thought I would
+teach the bird a pretty speech, so I had the cage hung by my bed, and
+repeated dozens of times every day the following sentence: "The
+Charpillon is a bigger wh--e than her mother."
+
+The only end I had in view was my private amusement, and in a
+fortnight the bird had learnt the phrase with the utmost exactness;
+and every time it uttered the words it accompanied them with a shriek
+of laughter which I had not taught it, but which made me laugh
+myself.
+
+One day Gondar heard the bird, and told me that if I sent it to the
+Exchange I should certainly get fifty guineas for it.  I welcomed the
+idea, and resolved to make the parrot the instrument of my vengeance
+against the woman who had treated me so badly.  I secured myself from
+fear of the law, which is severe in such cases, by entrusting the
+bird to my negro, to whom such merchandise was very suitable.
+
+For the first two or three days my parrot did not attract much
+attention, its observations being in French; but as soon as those who
+knew the subject of them had heard it, its audience increased and
+bids were made.  Fifty guineas seemed rather too much, and my negro
+wanted me to lower the price, but I would not agree, having fallen in
+love with this odd revenge.
+
+In the course of a week Goudar came to inform me of the effect the
+parrot's criticism had produced in the Charpillon family.  As the
+vendor was my negro, there could be no doubt as to whom it belonged,
+and who had been its master of languages.  Goudar said that the
+Charpillon thought my vengeance very ingenious, but that the mother
+and aunts were furious.  They had consulted several counsel, who
+agreed in saying that a parrot could not be indicted for libel, but
+that they could make me pay dearly for my jest if they could prove
+that I had been the bird's instructor.  Goudar warned me to be
+careful of owning to the fact, as two witnesses would suffice to undo
+me.
+
+The facility with which false witnesses may be produced in London is
+something dreadful.  I have myself seen the word evidence written in
+large characters in a window; this is as much as to say that false
+witnesses may be procured within.
+
+The St. James's Chronicle contained an article on my parrot, in which
+the writer remarked that the ladies whom the bird insulted must be
+very poor and friendless, or they would have bought it at once, and
+have thus prevented the thing from becoming the talk of the town.  He
+added,--
+
+"The teacher of the parrot has no doubt made the bird an instrument
+of his vengeance, and has displayed his wit in doing so; he ought to
+be an Englishman."
+
+I met my good friend Edgar, and asked him why he had not bought the
+little slanderer.
+
+"Because it delights all who know anything about the object of the
+slander," said he.
+
+At last Jarbe found a purchaser for fifty guineas, and I heard
+afterwards that Lord Grosvenor had bought it to please the
+Charpillon, with whom he occasionally diverted himself.
+
+Thus my relations with that girl came to an end.  I have seen her
+since with the greatest indifference, and without any renewal of the
+old pain.
+
+One day, as I was going into St. James's Park, I saw two girls
+drinking milk in a room on the ground floor of a house.  They called
+out to me, but not knowing them I passed on my way.  However, a young
+officer of my acquaintance came after me and said they were Italians,
+and being curious to see them I retracted my steps.
+
+When I entered the room I was accosted by the scoundrelly Pocchini,
+dressed in a military uniform, who said he had the honour of
+introducing me to his daughters.
+
+"Indeed," said I, "I remember two other daughters of yours robbing me
+of a snuff-box and two watches at Stuttgart."
+
+"You lie!" said the impudent rascal.
+
+I gave him no verbal answer, but took up a glass of milk and flung it
+in his face, and then left the room without more ado.
+
+I was without my sword.  The young officer who had brought me into
+the place followed me and told me I must not go without giving his
+friend some satisfaction.
+
+"Tell him to come out, and do you escort him to the Green Park, and I
+shall have the pleasure of giving him a caning in your presence,
+unless you would like to fight for him; if so, you must let me go
+home and get my sword.  But do you know this man whom you call your
+friend?"
+
+"No, but he is an officer, and it is I that brought him here."
+
+"Very good, I will fight to the last drop of my blood; but I warn you
+your friend is a thief.  But go; I will await you."
+
+In the course of a quarter of an hour they all came out, but the
+Englishman and Pocchini followed me alone.  There were a good many
+people about, and I went before them till we reached Hyde Park.
+Pocchini attempted to speak to me, but I replied, lifting my cane,--
+
+"Scoundrel, draw your sword, unless you want me to give you a
+thrashing!"
+
+"I will never draw upon a defenceless man."
+
+I gave him a blow with my cane by way of answer, and the coward,
+instead of drawing his sword, began to cry out that I wished to draw
+him into a fight.  The Englishman burst out laughing and begged me to
+pardon his interference, and then, taking me by the arm, said,--
+
+"Come along, sir, I see you know the gentleman."
+
+The coward went off in another direction, grumbling as he went.
+
+On the way I informed the officer of the very good reasons I had for
+treating Pocchini as a rogue, and he agreed that I had been perfectly
+right.  "Unfortunately," he added, "I am in love with one of his
+daughters."
+
+When we were in the midst of St. James's Park we saw them, and I
+could not help laughing when I noticed Goudar with one of them on
+each side.
+
+"How did you come to know these ladies?" said I.
+
+"Their father the captain," he answered, "has sold me jewels; he
+introduced me to them."
+
+"Where did you leave our father?" asked one.
+
+"In Hyde Park, after giving him a caning."
+
+"You served him quite right."
+
+The young Englishman was indignant to hear them approving my ill-
+treatment of their father, and shook my hand and went away, swearing
+to me that he would never be seen in their company again.
+
+A whim of Goudar's, to which I was weak enough to consent, made me
+dine with these miserable women in a tavern on the borders of London.
+The rascally Goudar made them drunk, and in this state they told some
+terrible truths about their pretended father.  He did not live with
+them, but paid them nocturnal visits in which he robbed them of all
+the money they had earned.  He was their pander, and made them rob
+their visitors instructing them to pass it off as a joke if the theft
+was discovered.  They gave him the stolen articles, but he never said
+what he did with them.  I could not help laughing at this involuntary
+confession, remembering what Goudar had said about Pocchini selling
+him jewels.
+
+After this wretched meal I went away leaving the duty of escorting
+them back to Goudar.  He came and saw me the next day, and informed
+me that the girls had been arrested and taken to prison just as they
+were entering their house.
+
+"I have just been to Pocchini's," said he, "but the landlord tells me
+he has not been in since yesterday."
+
+The worthy and conscientious Goudar added that he did not care if he
+never saw him again, as he owed the fellow ten guineas for a watch,
+which his daughters had probably stolen, and which was well worth
+double.
+
+Four days later I saw him again, and he informed me that the rascal
+had left London with a servant-maid, whom he had engaged at a
+registry office where any number of servants are always ready to take
+service with the first comer.  The keeper of the office answers for
+their fidelity.
+
+"The girl he has gone with is a pretty one, from what the man tells
+me, and they have taken ship from London.  I am sorry he went away
+before I could pay him for the watch; I am dreading every moment to
+meet the individual from whom it was stolen."
+
+I never heard what became of the girls, but Pocchini will re-appear
+on the scene in due course.
+
+I led a tranquil and orderly life, which I should have been pleased
+to continue for the remainder of my days; but circumstances and my
+destiny ordered it otherwise, and against these it is not becoming in
+a Christian philosopher to complain.  I went several times to see my
+daughter at her school, and I also frequented the British Museum,
+where I met Dr. Mati.  One day I found an Anglican minister with him,
+and I asked the clergyman how many different sects there were in
+England.
+
+"Sir," he replied in very tolerable Italian, "no one can give a
+positive answer to that question, for every week some sect dies and
+some new one is brought into being.  All that is necessary is for a
+man of good faith, or some rogue desirous of money or notoriety, to
+stand in some frequented place and begin preaching.  He explains some
+texts of the Bible in his own fashion, and if he pleases the gapers
+around him they invite him to expound next Sunday, often in a tavern.
+He keeps the appointment and explains his new doctrines in a spirited
+manner.  Then people begin to talk of him; he disputes with ministers
+of other sects; he and his followers give themselves a name, and the
+thing is done.  Thus, or almost thus, are all the numerous English
+sects produced."
+
+About this time M. Steffano Guerra, a noble Venetian who was
+travelling with the leave of his Government, lost a case against an
+English painter who had executed a miniature painting of one of the
+prettiest ladies in London, Guerra having given a written promise to
+pay twenty-five guineas.  When it was finished Guerra did not like
+it, and would not take it or pay the price.  The Englishman, in
+accordance with the English custom, began by arresting his debtor;
+but Guerra was released on bail, and brought the matter before the
+courts, which condemned him to pay the twenty-five guineas.  He
+appealed, lost again, and was in the end obliged to pay.  Guerra
+contented that he had ordered a portrait, that a picture bearing no
+likeness to the lady in question was not a portrait, and that he had
+therefore a right to refuse payment.  The painter replied that it was
+a portrait as it had been painted from life.  The judgment was that
+the painter must live by his trade, and that as Guerra had given him
+painting to do he must therefore provide him with the wherewithal to
+live, seeing that the artist swore he had done his best to catch the
+likeness.  Everybody thought this sentence just, and so did I; but I
+confess it also seemed rather hard, especially to Guerra, who with
+costs had to pay a hundred guineas for the miniature.
+
+Malingan's daughter died just as her father received a public box on
+the ear from a nobleman who liked piquet, but did not like players
+who corrected the caprices of fortune.  I gave the poor wretch the
+wherewithal to bury his daughter and to leave England.  He died soon
+after at Liege, and his wife told me of the circumstance, saying that
+he had expired regretting his inability to pay his debts.
+
+M. M---- F---- came to London as the representative of the canton of
+Berne, and I called, but was not received.  I suspected that he had
+got wind of the liberties I had taken with pretty Sara, and did not
+want me to have an opportunity for renewing them.  He was a somewhat
+eccentric man, so I did not take offence, and had almost forgotten
+all about it when chance led me to the Marylebone Theatre one
+evening.  The spectators sat at little tables, and the charge for
+admittance was only a shilling, but everyone was expected to order
+something, were it only a pot of ale.
+
+On going into the theatre I chanced to sit down beside a girl whom I
+did not notice at first, but soon after I came in she turned towards
+me, and I beheld a ravishing profile which somehow seemed familiar;
+but I attributed that to the idea of perfect beauty that was graven
+on my soul.  The more I looked at her the surer I felt that I had
+never seen her before, though a smile of inexpressible slyness had
+begun to play about her lips.  One of her gloves fell, and I hastened
+to restore it to her, whereupon she thanked me in a few well-chosen
+French sentences.
+
+"Madam is not English, then?" said I, respectfully.
+
+"No, sir, I am a Swiss, and a friend of yours."
+
+At this I looked round, and on my right hand sat Madame M---- F----,
+then her eldest daughter, then her husband.  I got up, and after
+bowing to the lady, for whom I had a great esteem, I saluted her
+husband, who only replied by a slight movement of the head.  I asked
+Madame M---- F---- what her husband had against me, and she said that
+Possano had written to him telling some dreadful stories about me.
+
+There was not time for me to explain and justify myself, so I devoted
+all my energies to the task of winning the daughter's good graces.
+In three years she had grown into a perfect beauty: she knew it, and
+by her blushes as she spoke to me I knew she was thinking of what had
+passed between us in the presence of my housekeeper.  I was anxious
+to find out whether she would acknowledge the fact, or deny it
+altogether.  If she had done so I should have despised her.  When I
+had seen her before, the blossom of her beauty was still in the bud,
+now it had opened out in all its splendour.
+
+"Charming Sara," I said, "you have so enchanted me that I cannot help
+asking you a couple of questions, which if you value my peace of mind
+you will answer.  Do you remember what happened at Berne?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"And do you repent of what you did?"
+
+"No."
+
+No man of any delicacy could ask the third question, which may be
+understood.  I felt sure that Sara would make me happy-nay, that she
+was even longing for the moment, and gave reins to my passions,
+determined to convince her that I was deserving of her love.
+The waiter came to enquire if we had any orders, and I begged Madame
+M---- F---- to allow me to offer her some oysters.  After the usual
+polite refusals she gave in, and I profited by her acceptance to
+order all the delicacies of the season, including a hare (a great
+delicacy in London), champagne, choice liqueurs, larks, ortolans,
+truffles, sweetmeats--everything, in fact, that money could buy, and
+I was not at all surprised when the bill proved to amount to ten
+guineas.  But I was very much surprised when M. M---- F----, who had
+eaten like a Turk and drunk like a Swiss, said calmly that it was too
+dear.
+
+I begged him politely not to trouble himself about the cost; and by
+way of proving that I did not share his opinion, I gave the waiter
+half-a-guinea; the worthy man looked as if he wished that such
+customers came more often.  The Swiss, who had been pale and gloomy
+enough a short while before; was rubicund and affable.  Sara glanced
+at me and squeezed my hand; I had conquered.
+
+When the play was over, M---- F---- asked me if I would allow him to
+call on me.  I embraced him in reply.  His servant came in, and said
+that he could not find a coach; and I, feeling rather surprised that
+he had not brought his carriage, offered him the use of mine, telling
+my man to get me a sedan-chair.
+
+"I accept your kind offer," said he, "on the condition that you allow
+me to occupy the chair."
+
+I consented to this arrangement, and took the mother and the two
+daughters with me in the carriage.
+
+On the way, Madame M---- F---- was very polite, gently blaming her
+husband for the rudeness of which I had to complain.  I said that I
+would avenge myself by paying an assiduous court to him in the
+future; but she pierced me to the heart by saying that they were on
+the point of departing.  "We wanted to go on the day after next," she
+said, "and to-morrow we shall have to leave our present rooms to
+their new occupants.  A matter of business which my husband was not
+able to conclude will oblige us to stay for another week, and to-
+morrow we shall have the double task of moving and finding new
+apartments."
+
+"Then you have not yet got new rooms?"
+
+"No, but my husband says he is certain to find some to-morrow
+morning."
+
+"Furnished, I suppose, for as you intend to leave you will be
+selling, your furniture."
+
+"Yes, and we shall have to pay the expenses of carriage to the
+buyer."
+
+On hearing that M. M---- F---- was sure of finding lodgings, I was
+precluded from offering to accommodate them in my own house, as the
+lady might think that I only made the offer because I was sure it
+would not be accepted.
+
+When we got to the door of their house we alighted, and the mother
+begged me to come in.  She and her husband slept on the second floor,
+and the two girls on the third.  Everything was upside down, and as
+Madame M---- F---- had something to say to the landlady she asked me
+to go up with her daughters.  It was cold, and the room we entered
+had no fire in it.  The sister went into the room adjoining and I
+stayed with Sara, and all of a sudden I clasped her to my breast, and
+feeling that her desires were as ardent as mine I fell with her on to
+a sofa where we mingled our beings in all the delights of voluptuous
+ardours.  But this happiness was short lived; scarcely was the work
+achieved when we heard a footstep on the stair.  It was the father.
+
+If M---- F---- had had any eyes he must have found us out, for my
+face bore the marks of agitation, the nature of which it was easy to
+divine.  We exchanged a few brief compliments; I shook his hand and
+disappeared.  I was in such a state of excitement when I got home
+that I made up my mind to leave England and to follow Sara to
+Switzerland.  In the night I formed my plans, and resolved to offer
+the family my house during the time they stayed in England, and if
+necessary to force them to accept my offer.
+
+In the morning I hastened to call on M---- F----, and found him on
+his doorstep.
+
+"I am going to try and get a couple of rooms," said he.
+
+"They are already found," I replied.  "My house is at your service,
+and you must give me the preference.  Let us come upstairs."
+
+"Everybody is in bed."
+
+"Never mind," said I, and we proceeded to go upstairs.
+
+Madame M---- F---- apologized for being in bed.  Her husband told her
+that I wanted to let them some rooms, but I laughed and said I
+desired they would accept my hospitality as that of a friend.  After
+some polite denials my offer was accepted, and it was agreed that the
+whole family should take up their quarters with me in the evening.
+
+I went home, and was giving the necessary orders when I was told that
+two young ladies wished to see me.  I went down in person, and I was
+agreeably surprised to see Sara and her sister.  I asked them to come
+in, and Sara told me that the landlady would not let their belongings
+out of the house before her father paid a debt of forty guineas,
+although a city merchant had assured her it should be settled in a
+week.  The long and snort of it was that Sara's father had sent me a
+bill and begged me to discount it.
+
+I took the bill and gave her a bank note for fifty pounds in
+exchange, telling her that she could give me the change another time.
+She thanked me with great simplicity and went her way, leaving me
+delighted with the confidence she had placed in me.
+
+The fact of M. M---- F----'s wanting forty guineas did not make me
+divine that he was in some straits, for I looked at everything
+through rose-coloured glasses, and was only too happy to be of
+service to him.
+
+I made a slight dinner in order to have a better appetite for supper,
+and spent the afternoon in writing letters.  In the evening M. M----
+F----'s man came with three great trunks and innumerable card-board
+boxes, telling me that the family would soon follow; but I awaited
+them in vain till nine o'clock.  I began to get alarmed and went to
+the house, where I found them all in a state of consternation.  Two
+ill-looking fellows who were in the room enlightened me; and assuming
+a jovial and unconcerned air, I said,--
+
+"I'll wager, now, that this is the work of some fierce creditor."
+
+"You are right," answered the father, "but I am sure of discharging
+the debt in five or six days, and that's why I put off my departure."
+
+"Then you were arrested after you had sent on your trunks."
+
+"Just after."
+
+"And what have you done?"
+
+"I have sent for bail."
+
+"Why did you not send to me?"
+
+"Thank you, I am grateful for your kindness, but you are a foreigner,
+and sureties have to be householders."
+
+"But you ought to have told me what had happened, for I have got you
+an excellent supper, and I am dying of hunger."
+
+It was possible that this debt might exceed my means, so I did not
+dare to offer to pay it.  I took Sara aside, and on hearing that all
+his trouble was on account of a debt of a hundred and fifty pounds, I
+asked the bailiff whether we could go away if the debt was paid.
+
+"Certainly," said he, shewing me the bill of exchange.
+
+I took out three bank notes of fifty pounds each, and gave them to
+the man, and taking the bill I said to the poor Swiss,--
+
+"You shall pay me the money before you leave England."
+
+The whole family wept with joy, and after embracing them all I
+summoned them to come and sup with me and forget the troubles of
+life.
+
+We drove off to my house and had a merry supper, though the worthy
+mother could not quite forget her sadness.  After supper I took them
+to the rooms which had been prepared for them, and with which they
+were delighted, and so I wished them good night, telling them that
+they should be well entertained till their departure, and that I
+hoped to follow them into Switzerland.
+
+When I awoke the next day I was in a happy frame of mind.  On
+examining my desires I found that they had grown too strong to be
+overcome, but I did not wish to overcome them.  I loved Sara, and I
+felt so certain of possessing her that I put all desires out of my
+mind; desires are born only of doubt, and doubt torments the soul.
+Sara was mine; she had given herself to me out of pure passion,
+without any shadow of self-interest.
+
+I went to the father's room, and found him engaged in opening his
+trunks.  His wife looked sad, so I asked her if she were not well.
+She replied that her health was perfect, but that the thought of the
+sea voyage troubled her sorely.  The father begged me to excuse him
+at breakfast as he had business to attend to.  The two young ladies
+came down, and after we had breakfast I asked the mother why they
+were unpacking their trunks so short a time before starting.  She
+smiled and said that one trunk would be ample for all their
+possessions, as they had resolved to sell all superfluities.  As I
+had seen some beautiful dresses, fine linen, and exquisite lace, I
+could not refrain from saying that it would be a great pity to sell
+cheaply what would have to be replaced dearly.
+
+"You are right," she said, "but, nevertheless, there is no pleasure
+so great as the consciousness of having paid one's debts."
+
+"You must not sell anything," I replied, in a lively manner, "for as
+I am going to Switzerland with you I can pay your debts, and you
+shall repay me when you can."
+
+At these words astonishment was depicted on her face.
+
+"I did not think you were speaking seriously," said she.
+
+"Perfectly seriously, and here is the object of my vows."
+
+With these words I seized Sara's hand and covered it with kisses.
+
+Sara blushed, said nothing, and the mother looked kindly at us; but
+after a moment's silence she spoke at some length, and with the
+utmost candour and wisdom.  She gave me circumstantial information as
+to the position of the family and her husband's restricted means,
+saying that under the circumstances he could not have avoided running
+into debt, but that he had done wrong to bring them all with him to
+London.
+
+"If he had been by himself," she said, "he could have lived here
+comfortably enough with only one servant, but with a family to
+provide for the two thousand crowns per annum provided by the
+Government are quite insufficient.  My old father has succeeded in
+persuading the State to discharge my husband's debts, but to make up
+the extra expense they will not employ a Charge d'affaires; a banker
+with the title of agent will collect the interest on their English
+securities."
+
+She ended by saying that she thought Sara was fortunate to have
+pleased me, but that she was not sure whether her husband would
+consent to the marriage.
+
+The word "marriage" made Sara blush, and I was pleased, though it was
+evident there would be difficulties in the way.
+
+M---- F---- came back and told his wife that two clothes dealers
+would come to purchase their superfluous clothes in the afternoon;
+but after explaining my ideas I had not much trouble in convincing
+him that it would be better not to sell them, and that he could
+become my debtor to the amount of two hundred pounds, on which he
+could pay interest till he was able to return me my capital.  The
+agreement was written out the same day, but I did not mention the
+marriage question, as his wife had told me she would discuss it with
+him in private.
+
+On the third day he came down by himself to talk with me.
+
+"My wife," he began, "has told me of your intentions, and I take it
+as a great honour, I assure you; but I cannot give you my Sara, as
+she is promised to M. de W----, and family reasons prevent me from
+going back from my word.  Besides my old father, a strict Calvinist,
+would object to the difference in religion.  He would never believe
+that his dear little grandchild would be happy with a Roman Catholic"
+
+As a matter of fact I was not at all displeased at what he said.  I
+was certainly very fond of Sara, but the word "marriage" had a
+disagreeable sound to me.  I answered that circumstances might change
+in time, and that in the meanwhile I should be quite content if he
+would allow me to be the friend of the family and to take upon myself
+all the responsibility of the journey.  He promised everything, and
+assured me that he was delighted at his daughter having won my
+affection.
+
+After this explanation I gave Sara as warm marks of my love as
+decency would allow in the presence of her father and mother, and I
+could see that all the girl thought of was love.
+
+The fifth day I went up to her room, and finding her in bed all the
+fires of passion flamed up in my breast, for since my first visit to
+their house I had not been alone with her.  I threw myself upon her,
+covering her with kisses, and she shewed herself affectionate but
+reserved.  In vain I endeavoured to succeed; she opposed a gentle
+resistance to my efforts, and though she caressed me, she would not
+let me attain my end.
+
+"Why, divine Sara," said I, "do you oppose my loving ecstasy?"
+
+"Dearest, I entreat of you not to ask for any more than I am willing
+to give."
+
+"Then you no longer love me?"
+
+"Cruel man, I adore you!"
+
+"Then why do you treat me to a refusal, after having once surrendered
+unreservedly?"
+
+"I have given myself to you, and we have both been happy, and I think
+that should be enough for us."
+
+"There must be some reason for this change.  If you love me, dearest
+Sara, this renunciation must be hard for you to bear."
+
+"I confess it, but nevertheless I feel it is my duty.  I have made up
+my mind to subdue my passion from no weak motive, but from a sense of
+what I owe to myself.  I am under obligations to you, and if I were
+to repay the debt I have contracted with my body I should be degraded
+in my own eyes.  When we enjoyed each other before only love was
+between us--there was no question of debit and credit.  My heart is
+now the thrall of what I owe you, and to these debts it will not give
+what it gave so readily to love."
+
+"This is a strange philosophy, Sara; believe me it is fallacious, and
+the enemy of your happiness as well as mine.  These sophisms lead you
+astray and wound me to the heart.  Give me some credit for delicacy
+of feeling, and believe me you owe me nothing."
+
+"You must confess that if you had not loved me you would have done
+nothing for my father."
+
+"Certainly I will confess nothing of the kind; I would readily do as
+much, and maybe more, out of regard for your worthy mother.  It is
+quite possible, indeed, that in doing this small service for your
+father I had no thoughts of you at all."
+
+"It might be so; but I do not believe it was so.  Forgive me,
+dearest, but I cannot make up my mind to pay my debts in the way you
+wish."
+
+"It seems to me that if you are grateful to me your love ought to be
+still more ardent."
+
+"It cannot be more ardent than it is already."
+
+"Do you know how grievously you make me suffer?"
+
+"Alas!  I suffer too; but do not reproach me; let us love each other
+still."
+
+This dialogue is not the hundredth part of what actually passed
+between us till dinner-time.  The mother came in, and finding me
+seated at the foot of the daughter's bed, laughed, and asked me why I
+kept her in bed.  I answered with perfect coolness that we had been
+so interested in our conversation that we had not noticed the flight
+of time.
+
+I went to dress, and as I thought over the extraordinary change which
+had taken place in Sara I resolved that it should not last for long.
+We dined together gaily, and Sara and I behaved in all respects like
+two lovers.  In the evening I took them to the Italian Opera, coming
+home to an excellent supper.
+
+The next morning I passed in the city, having accounts to settle with
+my bankers.  I got some letters of exchange on Geneva, and said
+farewell to the worthy Mr. Bosanquet.  In the afternoon I got a coach
+for Madame M---- F---- to pay some farewells calls, and I went to say
+good-bye to my daughter at school.  The dear little girl burst into
+tears, saying that she would be lost without me, and begging me not
+to forget her.  I was deeply moved.  Sophie begged me to go and see
+her mother before I left England, and I decided on doing so.
+
+At supper we talked over our journey, and M. M---- F---- agreed with
+me that it would be better to go by Dunkirk than Ostend.  He had very
+little more business to attend to.  His debts were paid, and he said
+he thought he would have a matter of fifty guineas in his pocket at
+the journey's end, after paying a third share of all the travelling
+expenses.  I had to agree to this, though I made up my mind at the
+same time not to let him see any of the accounts.  I hoped to win
+Sara, in one way or another, when we got to Berne.
+
+The next day, after breakfast, I took her hand in presence of her
+mother, and asked her if she would give me her heart if I could
+obtain her father's consent at Berne.
+
+"Your mother," I added, "has promised me that hers shall not be
+wanting."
+
+At this the mother got up, and saying that we had no doubt a good
+deal to talk over, she and her eldest daughter went out to pay some
+calls.
+
+As soon as we were alone Sara said that she could not understand how
+I could have the smallest doubt as to whether her consent would be
+given.
+
+"I have shewn you how well I love you," said she, tenderly; "and I am
+sure I should be very happy as your wife.  You may be sure that your
+wishes will be mine, and that, however far you lead me, Switzerland
+shall claim no thought of mine."
+
+I pressed the amorous Sara to my bosom in a transport of delight,
+which was shared by her; but as she saw me grow more ardent she
+begged me to be moderate.  Clasping me in her arms she adjured me not
+to ask her for that which she was determined not to grant till she
+was mine by lawful wedlock.
+
+"You will drive me to despair!  Have you reflected that this
+resistance may cost me my life?  Can you love, and yet entertain this
+fatal prejudice?  And yet I am sure you love me, and pleasure too."
+
+"Yes, dearest one, I do love you, and amorous pleasure with you; but
+you must respect my delicacy."
+
+My eyes were wet with tears, and she was so affected that she fell
+fainting to the ground.  I lifted her up and gently laid her on the
+bed.  Her pallor alarmed me.  I brought smelling-salts, I rubbed her
+forehead with Savoy-water, and she soon opened her eyes, and seemed
+delighted to find me calm again.
+
+The thought of taking advantage of her helplessness would have
+horrified me.  She sat up on the bed, and said,--
+
+"You have just given a true proof of the sincerity of your
+affection."
+
+"Did you think, sweetheart, that I was vile enough to abuse your
+weakness?  Could I enjoy a pleasure in which you had no share?"
+
+"I did not think you would do such a thing, but I should not have
+resisted, though it is possible that I should not have loved you
+afterwards."
+
+"Sara, though you do not know, you charm my soul out of my body."
+
+After this I sat down sadly on the bed, and abandoned myself to the
+most melancholy reflections, from which Sara did not endeavour to
+rouse me.
+
+Her mother came in and asked why she was on the bed, but not at all
+suspiciously.  Sara told her the truth.
+
+M. M---- F---- came in soon after, and we dined together, but
+silently.  What I had heard from the girl's lips had completely
+overwhelmed me.  I saw I had nothing to hope for, and that it was
+time for me to look to myself.  Six weeks before, God had delivered
+me from my bondage to an infamous woman, and now I was in danger of
+becoming the slave of an angel.  Such were my reflections whilst Sara
+was fainting, but it was necessary for me to consider the matter at
+my leisure.
+
+There was a sale of valuable articles in the city, the means taken
+for disposing of them being a lottery.  Sara had read the
+announcement, and I asked her with her mother and sister to come with
+me and take part in it.  I had not much trouble in obtaining their
+consent, and we found ourselves in distinguished company, among the
+persons present being the Countess of Harrington, Lady Stanhope, and
+Emilie and her daughters.  Emilie had a strange case before the
+courts.  She had given information to the police that her husband had
+been robbed of six thousand pounds, though everyone said that she
+herself was the thief.
+
+Madame M---- F---- did not take a ticket, but she allowed me to take
+tickets for her daughters, who were in high glee, since for ten or
+twelve guineas they got articles worth sixty.
+
+Every day I was more taken with Sara; but feeling sure that I should
+only obtain slight favours from her, I thought it was time to come to
+an explanation.  So after supper I said that as it was not certain
+that Sara could become my wife I had determined not to accompany them
+to Berne.  The father told me I was very wise, and that I could still
+correspond with his daughter, Sara said nothing, but I could see she
+was much grieved.
+
+I passed a dreadful night; such an experience was altogether new to
+me.  I weighed Sara's reasons, and they seemed to me to be merely
+frivolous, which drove me to conclude that my caresses had displeased
+her.
+
+For the last three days I found myself more than once alone with her;
+but I was studiously moderate, and she caressed me in a manner that
+would have made my bliss if I had not already obtained the one great
+favour.  It was at this time I learnt the truth of the maxim that if
+abstinence is sometimes the spur of love, it has also the contrary
+effect.  Sara had brought my feeling to a pitch of gentle friendship,
+while an infamous prostitute like the Charpillon, who knew how to
+renew hope and yet grant nothing, ended by inspiring me with
+contempt, and finally with hatred.
+
+The family sailed for Ostend, and I accompanied them to the mouth of
+the Thames.  I gave Sara a letter for Madame de W----.  This was the
+name of the learned Hedvig whom she did not know.  They afterwards
+became sisters-in-law, as Sara married a brother of M. de W----, and
+was happy with him.
+
+Even now I am glad to hear tidings of my old friends and their
+doings, but the interest I take in such matters is not to be compared
+to my interest in some obscure story of ancient history.  For our
+contemporaries, the companions, of our youthful follies, we have a
+kind of contempt, somewhat similar to that which we entertain for
+ourselves.  Four years ago I wrote to Madame G---- at Hamburg, and my
+letter began:
+
+"After a silence of twenty-one years .  .  ."
+
+She did not deign to reply, and I was by no means displeased.  We
+cared no longer for one another, and it is quite natural that it
+should be so.
+
+When I tell my reader who Madame G---- is, he will be amused.  Two
+years ago I set out for Hamburg, but my good genius made me turn back
+to Dux; what had I to do at Hamburg?
+
+After my guests were gone I went to the Italian Opera at Covent
+Garden, and met Goudar, who asked me if I would come to the Sartori's
+concert.  He told me I should see a beautiful young English woman
+there who spoke Italian.  As I had just lost Sara I did not much care
+about making new acquaintances, but still I was curious to see the
+young marvel.  I indulged my curiosity, and I am glad to say that
+instead of being amused I was wearied, though the young English woman
+was pretty enough.  A young Livonian, who called himself Baron of
+Stenau, seemed extremely interested in her.  After supper she offered
+us tickets for the next concert, and I took one for myself and one
+for Gondar, giving her two guineas, but the Livonian baron took fifty
+tickets, and gave her a bank note for fifty guineas.  I saw by this
+that he wanted to take the place by storm, and I liked his way of
+doing it.  I supposed him to be rich, without caring to enquire into
+his means.  He made advances to me and we became friends, and the
+reader will see in due time what a fatal acquaintance he was.
+
+One day as I was walking with Goudar in Hyde Park he left me to speak
+to two ladies who seemed pretty.
+
+He was not long absent, and said, when he rejoined me,--
+
+"A Hanoverian lady, a widow and the mother of five daughters, came to
+England two months ago with her whole family.  She lives close by,
+and is occupied in soliciting compensation from the Government for
+any injury that was done her by the passage of the Duke of
+Cumberland's army.  The mother herself is sick and and never leaves
+her bed; she sends her two eldest daughters to petition the
+Government, and they are the two young ladies you have just seen.
+They have not met with any success.  The eldest daughter is twenty-
+two, and the youngest fourteen; they are all pretty and can speak
+English, French, and German equally well, and are always glad to see
+visitors.  I had been to visit them myself, but as I gave them
+nothing I do not care to go there alone a second time.  If you like,
+however, I can introduce you."
+
+"You irritate my curiosity.  Come along, but if the one that pleases
+me is not complaisant she shall have nothing."
+
+"They will not even allow one to take them by the hand."
+
+"They are Charpillons, I suppose."
+
+"It looks like it.  But you won't see any men there:"
+
+We were shewn into a large room where I noticed three pretty girls
+and an evil-looking man.  I began with the usual compliments, to
+which the girls replied politely, but with an air of great sadness.
+
+Goudar spoke to the man, and then came to me shrugging his shoulders,
+and saying,--
+
+"We have come at a sad time.  That man is a bailiff who has come to
+take the mother to prison if she can't pay her landlord the twenty
+guineas' rent she owes him, and they haven't got a farthing.  When
+the mother has been sent to prison the landlord will no doubt turn
+the girls out of doors."
+
+"They can live with their mother for nothing."
+
+"Not at all.  If they have got the money they can have their meals in
+prison, but no one is allowed to live in a prison except the
+prisoners."
+
+I asked one of them where her sisters were.
+
+"They have gone out, to look for money, for the landlord won't accept
+any surety, and we have nothing to sell."
+
+"All this is very sad; what does your mother say?"
+
+"She only weeps, and yet, though she is ill and cannot leave her bed,
+they are going to take her to prison.  By way of consolation the
+landlord says he will have her carried."
+
+"It is very hard.  But your looks please me, mademoiselle, and if you
+will be kind I may be able to extricate you from the difficulty."
+
+"I do not know what you mean by 'kind.'"
+
+"Your mother will understand; go and ask her."
+
+"Sir, you do not know us; we are honest girls, and ladies of position
+besides."
+
+With these words the young woman turned her back on me, and began to
+weep again.  The two others, who were quite as pretty, stood straight
+up and said not a word.  Goudar whispered to me in Italian that
+unless we did something for them we should cut but a sorry figure
+there; and I was cruel enough to go away without saying a word.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+The Hanoverians
+
+
+As we were leaving the house we met the two eldest sisters, who came
+home looking very sad.  I was struck by their beauty, and extremely
+surprised to hear myself greeted by one of them, who said,--
+
+"It is M. the Chevalier de Seingalt."
+
+"Himself, mademoiselle, and sorely grieved at your misfortune."
+
+"Be kind enough to come in again for a moment."
+
+"I am sorry to say that I have an important engagement."
+
+"I will not keep you for longer than a quarter of an hour."
+
+I could not refuse so small a favour, and she employed the time in
+telling me how unfortunate they had been in Hanover, how they had
+come to London to obtain compensation, of their failure, their debts,
+the cruelty of the landlord, their mother's illness, the prison that
+awaited her, the likelihood of their being cast into the street, and
+the cruelty of all their acquaintances.
+
+"We have nothing to sell, and all our resources consist of two
+shillings, which we shall have to spend on bread, on which we live."
+
+"Who are your friends?  How can they abandon you at such a time?"
+
+She mentioned several names--among others, Lord Baltimore, Marquis
+Carracioli, the Neapolitan ambassador, and Lord Pembroke.
+
+"I can't believe it," said I, "for I know the two last noblemen to be
+both rich and generous.  There must be some good reason for their
+conduct, since you are beautiful; and for these gentlemen beauty is a
+bill to be honoured on sight."
+
+"Yes, there is a reason.  These rich noblemen abandon us with
+contempt.  They refuse to take pity on us because we refuse to yield
+to their guilty passion."
+
+"That is to say, they have taken a fancy to you, and as you will not
+have pity on them they refuse to have pity on you.  Is it not so?"
+
+"That is exactly the situation."
+
+"Then I think they are in the right."
+
+"In the right?"
+
+"Yes, I am quite of their opinion.  We leave you to enjoy your sense
+of virtue, and we spend our money in procuring those favours which
+you refuse us.  Your misfortune really is your prettiness, if you
+were ugly you would get twenty guineas fast enough.  I would give you
+the money myself, and the action would be put down to benevolence;
+whereas, as the case stands, if I were to give you anything it would
+be thought that I was actuated by the hope of favours to come, and I
+should be laughed at, and deservedly, as a dupe."
+
+I felt that this was the proper way to speak to the girl, whose
+eloquence in pleading her cause was simply wonderful.
+
+She did not reply to my oration, and I asked her how she came to know
+me.
+
+"I saw you at Richmond with the Charpillon."
+
+"She cost me two thousand guineas, and I got nothing for my money;
+but I have profited by the lesson, and in future I shall never pay in
+advance."
+
+Just then her mother called her, and, begging me to wait a moment,
+she went into her room, and returned almost directly with the request
+that I would come and speak to the invalid.
+
+I found her sitting up in her bed; she looked about forty-five, and
+still preserved traces of her former beauty; her countenance bore the
+imprint of sadness, but had no marks of sickness whatsoever.  Her
+brilliant and expressive eyes, her intellectual face, and a
+suggestion of craft about her, all bade me be on my guard, and a sort
+of false likeness to the Charpillon's mother made me still more
+cautious, and fortified me in my resolution to give no heed to the
+appeals of pity.
+
+"Madam," I began, "what can I do for you?"
+
+"Sir," she replied, "I have heard the whole of your conversations
+with my daughters, and you must confess that you have not talked to
+them in a very fatherly manner."
+
+"Quite so, but the only part which I desire to play with them is that
+of lover, and a fatherly style would not have been suitable to the
+part.  If I had the happiness of being their father, the case would
+be altered.  What I have said to your daughters is what I feel, and
+what I think most likely to bring about the end I have in view.  I
+have not the slightest pretence to virtue, but I adore the fair sex,
+and now you and they know the road to my purse.  If they wish to
+preserve their virtue, why let them; nobody will trouble them, and
+they, on their side, must not expect anything from men.  Good-bye,
+madam; you may reckon on my never addressing your daughters again."
+
+"Wait a moment, sir.  My husband was the Count of ----, and you see
+that my daughters are of respectable birth."
+
+"Have you not pity for our situation?"
+
+"I pity you extremely, and I would relieve you in an instant if your
+daughters were ugly, but as it is they are pretty, and that alters
+the case."
+
+"What an argument!"
+
+"It is a very strong one with me, and I think I am the best judge of
+arguments which apply to myself.  You want twenty guineas; well, you
+shall have them after one of your five countesses has spent a joyous
+night with me."
+
+"What language to a woman of my station!  Nobody has ever dared to
+speak to me in such a way before."
+
+"Pardon me, but what use is rank without a halfpenny?  Allow me to
+retire.
+
+"To-day we have only bread to eat."
+
+"Well, certainly that is rather hard on countesses."
+
+"You are laughing at the title, apparently."
+
+"Yes, I am; but I don't want to offend you.  If you like, I will stop
+to dinner, and pay for all, yourself included."
+
+"You are an eccentric individual.  My girls are sad, for I am going
+to prison.  You will find their company wearisome."
+
+"That is my affair."
+
+"You had much better give them the money you would spend on the
+dinner."
+
+"No, madam.  I must have at least the pleasures of sight and sound
+for my money.  I will stay your arrest till to-morrow, and afterwards
+Providence may possibly intervene on your behalf."
+
+"The landlord will not wait."
+
+"Leave me to deal with him."
+
+I told Goudar to go and see what the man would take to send the
+bailiff away for twenty-four hours.  He returned with the message
+that he must have a guinea and bail for the twenty guineas, in case
+the lodgers might take to flight before the next day.
+
+My wine merchant lived close by.  I told Gondar to wait for me, and
+the matter was soon settled and the bailiff sent away, and I told the
+five girls that they might take their ease for twenty-four hours
+more.
+
+I informed Gondar of the steps I had taken, and told him to go out
+and get a good dinner for eight people.  He went on his errand, and I
+summoned the girls to their mother's bedside, and delighted them all
+by telling them that for the next twenty-four hours they were to make
+good cheer.  They could not get over their surprise at the suddenness
+of the change I had worked in the house.
+
+"But this is all I can do for you," said I to the mother.  "Your
+daughters are charming, and I have obtained a day's respite for you
+all without asking for anything in return; I shall dine, sup, and
+pass the night with them without asking so much as a single kiss, but
+if your ideas have not changed by to-morrow you will be in exactly
+the same position as you were a few minutes ago, and I shall not
+trouble you any more with my attentions."
+
+"What do you mean my 'changing my ideas'?"
+
+"I need not tell you, for you know perfectly well what I mean."
+
+"My daughters shall never become prostitutes."
+
+"I will proclaim their spotless chastity all over London--but I shall
+spend my guineas elsewhere."
+
+"You are a cruel man."
+
+"I confess I can be very cruel, but it is only when I don't meet with
+kindness."
+
+Goudar came back and we returned to the ladies' room, as the mother
+did not like to shew herself to my friend, telling me that I was the
+only man she had permitted to see her in bed during the whole time
+she had been in London.
+
+Our English dinner was excellent in its way, but my chief pleasure
+was to see the voracity with which the girls devoured the meal.  One
+would have thought they were savages devouring raw meat after a long
+fast.  I had got a case of excellent wine and I made each of them
+drink a bottle, but not being accustomed to such an indulgence they
+became quite drunk.  The mother had devoured the whole of the
+plentiful helpings I had sent in to her, and she had emptied a bottle
+of Burgundy, which she carried very well.
+
+In spite of their intoxication, the girls were perfectly safe; I kept
+my word, and Goudar did not take the slightest liberty.  We had a
+pleasant supper, and after a bowl of punch I left them feeling in
+love with the whole bevy, and very uncertain whether I should be able
+to shew as brave a front the next day.
+
+As we were going away Goudar said that I was conducting the affair
+admirably, but if I made a single slip I should be undone.
+
+I saw the good sense of his advice, and determined to shew that I was
+as sharp as he.
+
+The next day, feeling anxious to hear the result of the council which
+the mother had doubtless held with the daughters, I called at their
+house at ten o'clock.  The two eldest sisters were out, endeavouring
+to beat up some more friends, and the three youngest rushed up to me
+as if they had been spaniels and I their master, but they would not
+even allow me to kiss them.  I told them they made a mistake, and
+knocked at the mother's door.  She told me to come in, and thanked me
+for the happy day I had given them.
+
+"Am I to withdraw my bail, countess?"
+
+"You can do what you like, but I do not think you capable of such an
+action."
+
+"You are mistaken.  You have doubtless made a deep study of the human
+heart; but you either know little of the human mind, or else you
+think you have a larger share than any other person.  All your
+daughters have inspired me with love, but were it a matter of life
+and death I would not do a single thing for them or you before you
+have done me the only favour that is in your power.  I leave you to
+your reflections, and more especially to your virtues."
+
+She begged me to stay, but I did not even listen to her.  I passed by
+the three charmers, and after telling my wine merchant to withdraw
+his security I went in a furious mood to call on Lord Pembroke.  As
+soon as I mentioned the Hanoverians he burst out laughing, and said
+these false innocents must be made to fulfil their occupation in a
+proper manner.
+
+"They came whining to me yesterday," he proceeded, "and I not only
+would not give them anything, but I laughed them to scorn.  They have
+got about twelve guineas out of me on false pretences; they are as
+cunning sluts as the Charpillon."
+
+I told him what I had done the day before, and what I intended to
+offer: twenty guineas for the first, and as much for each of the
+others, but nothing to be paid in advance.
+
+"I had the same idea myself, but I cried off, and I don't think
+you'll succeed, as Lord Baltimore offered them forty apiece; that is
+two hundred guineas in all, and the bargain has fallen through
+because they want the money to be paid in advance.  They paid him a
+visit yesterday, but found him pitiless, for he has been taken in
+several times by them."
+
+"We shall see what will happen when the mother is under lock and key;
+I'll bet we shall have them cheaply."
+
+I came home for dinner, and Goudar, who had just been at their house,
+reported that the bailiff would only wait till four o'clock, that the
+two eldest daughters had come back empty-handed, and that they had
+been obliged to sell one of their dresses to buy a morsel of bread.
+
+I felt certain that they would have recourse to me again, and I was
+right.  We were at dessert when they put in an appearance.  I made
+them sit down, and the eldest sister exhausted her eloquence to
+persuade me to give them another three days' grace.
+
+"You will find me insensible," said I, "unless you are willing to
+adopt my plan.  If you wish to hear it, kindly follow me into the
+next room."
+
+She did so, leaving her sister with Goudar, and making her sit down
+on a sofa beside me, I shewed her twenty guineas, saying,--
+
+"These are yours; but you know on what terms?"
+
+She rejected my offer with disdain, and thinking she might wish to
+salve her virtue by being attacked, I set to work; but finding her
+resistance serious I let her alone, and begged her to leave my house
+immediately.  She called to her sister, and they both went out.
+
+In the evening, as I was going to the play, I called on my wine
+merchant to hear the news.  He told me that the mother had been taken
+to prison, and that the youngest daughter had gone with her; but he
+did not know what had become of the four others.
+
+I went home feeling quite sad, and almost reproaching myself for not
+having taken compassion on then ; however, just as I was sitting down
+to supper they appeared before me like four Magdalens.  The eldest,
+who was the orator of the company, told me that their mother was in
+prison, and that they would have to pass the night in the street if I
+did not take pity on them.
+
+"You shall have rooms, beds, and good fires," said I, "but first let
+me see you eat."
+
+Delight appeared on every countenance, and I had numerous dishes
+brought for them.  They ate eagerly but sadly, and only drank water.
+
+"Your melancholy and your abstinence displeases me," said I, to the
+eldest girl; "go upstairs and you will find everything necessary for
+your comfort, but take care to be gone at seven in the morning and
+not to let me see your faces again."
+
+They went up to the second floor without a word.
+
+An hour afterwards, just as I was going to bed, the eldest girl came
+into my room and said she wished to have a private interview with me.
+I told my negro to withdraw, and asked her to explain herself.
+
+"What will you do for us," said she, "if I consent to share your
+couch?"
+
+"I will give you twenty guineas, and I will lodge and board you as
+long as you give me satisfaction."
+
+Without saying a word she began to undress, and got into bed.  She
+was submissive and nothing more, and did not give me so much as a
+kiss.  At the end of a quarter of an hour I was disgusted with her
+and got up, and giving her a bank note for twenty guineas I told her
+to put on her clothes and go back to her room.
+
+"You must all leave my house to-morrow," I said, "for I am ill
+pleased with you.  Instead of giving yourself up for love you have
+prostituted yourself.  I blush for you."
+
+She obeyed mutely, and I went to sleep in an ill humour.
+
+At about seven o'clock in the morning I was awakened by a hand
+shaking me gently.  I opened my eyes, and I was surprised to see the
+second daughter.
+
+"What do you want?" I said, coldly.
+
+"I want you to take pity on us, and shelter us in your house for a
+few days longer.  I will be very grateful.  My sister has told me
+all, you are displeased with her, but you must forgive her, for her
+heart is not her own.  She is in love with an Italian who is in
+prison for debt."
+
+"And I suppose you are in love with someone else?"  "No, I am not."
+
+"Could you love me?"
+
+She lowered her eyes, and pressed my hand gently.  I drew her towards
+me, and embraced her, and as I felt her kisses answer mine,
+I said,--
+
+"You have conquered."
+
+"My name is Victoire."
+
+"I like it, and I will prove the omen a true one."
+
+Victoire, who was tender and passionate, made me spend two delicious
+hours, which compensated me for my bad quarter of an hour of the
+night before.
+
+When our exploits were over, I said,--
+
+"Dearest Victoire, I am wholly throe.  Let your mother be brought
+here as soon as she is free.  Here are twenty guineas for you."
+
+She did not expect anything, and the agreeable surprise made her in
+an ecstasy; she could not speak, but her heart was full of happiness.
+I too was happy, and I believed that a great part of my happiness was
+caused by the knowledge that I had done a good deed.  We are queer
+creatures all of us, whether we are bad or good.  From that moment I
+gave my servants orders to lay the table for eight persons every day,
+and told them that I was only at home to Goudar.  I spent money
+madly, and felt that I was within a measurable distance of poverty.
+
+At noon the mother came in a sedan-chair, and went to bed directly.
+I went to see her, and did not evince any surprise when she began to
+thank me for my noble generosity.  She wanted me to suppose that she
+thought I had given her daughters forty guineas for nothing, and I
+let her enjoy her hypocrisy.
+
+In the evening I took them to Covent Garden, where the castrato
+Tenducci surprised me by introducing me to his wife, of whom he had
+two children.  He laughed at people who said that a castrato could
+not procreate.  Nature had made him a monster that he might remain a
+man; he was born triorchis, and as only two of the seminal glands had
+been destroyed the remaining one was sufficient to endow him with
+virility.
+
+When I got back to my small seraglio I supped merrily with the five
+nymphs, and spent a delicious night with Victoire, who was overjoyed
+at having made my conquest.  She told me that her sister's lover was
+a Neapolitan, calling himself Marquis de Petina, and that they were
+to get married as soon as he was out of prison.  It seemed he was
+expecting remittances, and the mother would be delighted to see her
+daughter a marchioness.
+
+"How much does the marquis owe?"
+
+"Twenty guineas."
+
+"And the Neapolitan ambassador allows him to languish in prison for
+such a beggarly sum?  I can't believe it."
+
+"The ambassador won't have anything to do with him, because he left
+Naples without the leave of the Government."
+
+"Tell your sister that if the ambassador assures me that her lover's
+name is really the Marquis de Petina, I will get him out of prison
+immediately."
+
+I went out to ask my daughter, and another boarder of whom I was very
+fond, to dinner, and on my way called on the Marquis of Caraccioli,
+an agreeable man, whose acquaintance I had made at Turin.  I found
+the famous Chevalier d'Eon at his house, and I had no need of a
+private interview to make my inquiries about Petina.
+
+"The young man is really what he professes to me," said the
+ambassador, "but I will neither receive him nor give him any money
+till I hear from my Government that he has received leave to travel."
+
+That was enough for me, and I stayed there for an hour listening to
+d'Eon's amusing story.
+
+Eon had deserted the embassy on account of ten thousand francs which
+the department of foreign affairs at Versailles had refused to allow
+him, though the money was his by right.  He had placed himself under
+the protection of the English laws, and after securing two thousand
+subscribers at a guinea apiece, he had sent to press a huge volume in
+quarto containing all the letters he had received from the French
+Government for the last five or six years.
+
+About the same time a London banker had deposited the sum of twenty
+thousand guineas at the Bank of England, being ready to wager that
+sum that Eon was a woman.  The bet was taken by a number of persons
+who had formed themselves into a kind of company for the purpose, and
+the only way to decide it was that Eon should be examined in the
+presence of witnesses.  The chevalier was offered half the wager, but
+he laughed them to scorn.  He said that such an examination would
+dishonour him, were he man or woman.  Caraccioli said that it could
+only dishonour him if he were a woman, but I could not agree with
+this opinion.  At the end of a year the bet was declared off; but in
+the course of three years he received his pardon from the king, and
+appeared at Court in woman's dress, wearing the cross of St. Louis.
+
+Louis XV.  had always been aware of the chevalier's sex, but Cardinal
+Fleuri had taught him that it became kings to be impenetrable, and
+Louis remained so all his life.
+
+When I got home I gave the eldest Hanoverian twenty guineas, telling
+her to fetch her marquis out of prison, and bring him to dine with
+us, as I wanted to know him.  I thought she would have died with joy.
+
+The third sister, having taken counsel with Victoire, and doubtless
+with her mother also, determined to earn twenty guineas for herself,
+and she had not much trouble in doing so.  She it was on whom Lord
+Pembroke had cast the eye of desire.
+
+These five girls were like five dishes placed before a gourmand, who
+enjoys them one after the other.  To my fancy the last was always the
+best.  The third sister's name was Augusta.
+
+Next Sunday I had a large number of guests.  There were my daughter
+and her friend, Madame Cornelis, and her son.  Sophie was kissed and
+caressed by the Hanoverians, while I bestowed a hundred kisses on
+Miss Nancy Steyne, who was only thirteen, but whose young beauty
+worked sad havoc with my senses.  My affection was supposed to be
+fatherly in its character, but, alas I it was of a much more fleshly
+kind.  This Miss Nancy, who seemed to me almost divine, was the
+daughter of a rich merchant.  I said that I wanted to make her
+father's acquaintance, and she replied that her father proposed
+coming to call on me that very day.  I was delighted to hear of the
+coincidence, and gave order that he should be shewn in as soon as he
+came.
+
+The poor marquis was the only sad figure in the company.  He was
+young and well-made, but thin and repulsively ugly.  He thanked me
+for my kindness, saying that I had done a wise thing, as he felt sure
+the time would come when he would repay me a hundredfold.
+
+I had given my daughter six guineas to buy a pelisse, and she took me
+to my bedroom to shew it me.  Her mother followed her to congratulate
+me on my seraglio.
+
+At dinner gaiety reigned supreme.  I sat between my daughter and Miss
+Nancy Steyne, and felt happy.  Mr. Steyne came in as we were at the
+oysters.  He kissed his daughter with that tender affection which is
+more characteristic, I think, of English parents than those of any
+other nation.
+
+Mr. Steyne had dined, but he nevertheless ate a hundred scolloped
+oysters, in the preparation of which my cook was wonderfully expert;
+he also honoured the champagne with equal attention.
+
+We spent three hours at the table and then proceeded to the third
+floor, where Sophie accompanied her mother's singing on the piano,
+and young Cornelis displayed his flute-playing talents.  Mr. Steyne
+swore that he had never been present at such a pleasant party in his
+life, adding that pleasure was forbidden fruit in England on Sundays
+and holidays.  This convinced me that Steyne was an intelligent man,
+though his French was execrable.  He left at seven, after giving a
+beautiful ring to my daughter, whom he escorted back to school with
+Miss Nancy.
+
+The Marquis Petina foolishly observed to me that he did not know
+where to find a bed.  I understood what he wanted, but I told him he
+would easily find one with a little money.  Taking his sweetheart
+aside I gave her a guinea for him, begging her to tell him not to
+visit me again till he was invited.
+
+When all the guests were gone, I led the five sisters to the mother's
+room.  She was wonderfully well, eating, drinking, and sleeping to
+admiration, and never doing anything, not even reading or writing.
+She enjoyed the 'dolce far niente' in all the force of the term.
+However, she told me she was always thinking of her family, and of
+the laws which it imposed on her.
+
+I could scarcely help laughing, but I only said that if these laws
+were the same as those which her charming daughters followed, I
+thought them wiser than Solon's.
+
+I drew Augusta on to my knee, and said,--
+
+"My lady, allow me to kiss your delightful daughter."
+
+Instead of giving me a direct answer, the old hypocrite began a long
+sermon on the lawfulness of the parental kiss.  All the time Augusta
+was lavishing on me secret but delicious endearments.
+
+          'O tempora! O mores!'
+
+The next day I was standing at my window, when the Marquis
+Caraccioli, who was passing by, greeted me, and asked me if he could
+come in.  I bade him welcome, and summoning the eldest sister told
+the ambassador that this young lady was going to marry the Marquis
+Petina as soon as his remittances arrived.
+
+He addressed himself to her, and spoke as follows:
+
+"Mademoiselle, it is true that your lover is really a marquis, but he
+is very poor and will never have any money; and if he goes back to
+Naples he will be imprisoned, and if he is released from the State
+prison his creditors will put him in the Vittoria."
+
+However this salutary warning had no effect.
+
+After the ambassador had taken his leave I was dressing to take a
+ride when Augusta told me that, if I liked, Hippolyta her sister
+would come with me, as she could ride beautifully.
+
+"That's amusing," said I, "make her come down."
+
+Hippolyta came down and begged me to let her ride with me, saying
+that she would do me credit.
+
+"Certainly;" said I, "but have you a man's riding suit or a woman's
+costume?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Then we must put off the excursion till to-morrow."
+
+I spent the day in seeing that a suit was made for her, and I felt
+quite amorous when Pegu, the tailor, measured her for the breeches.
+Everything was done in time and we had a charming ride, for she
+managed her horse with wonderful skill.
+
+After an excellent supper, to which wine had not been lacking, the
+happy Hippolyta accompanied Victoire into my room and helped her to
+undress.  When she kissed her sister I asked if she would not give me
+a kiss too, and after some jesting Augusta changed the joke into
+earnest by bidding her come to bed beside me, without taking the
+trouble to ask my leave, so sure did she feel of my consent.  The
+night was well spent, and I had no reason to complain of want of
+material, but Augusta wisely let the newcomer have the lion's share
+of my attentions.
+
+Next day we rode out again in the afternoon, followed by my negro,
+who was a skilful horseman himself.  In Richmond Park Hippolyta's
+dexterity astonished me; she drew all eyes on her.  In the evening we
+came home well pleased with our day's ride, and had a good supper.
+
+As the meal proceeded I noticed that Gabrielle, the youngest of all,
+looked sad and a little sulky.  I asked her the reason, and with a
+little pout that became her childish face admirably, she replied,--
+
+"Because I can ride on horseback as well as my sister."
+
+"Very good," said I, "then you shall ride the day after to-morrow."
+This put her into a good temper again.
+
+Speaking of Hippolyta's skill, I asked her where she had learnt to
+ride.  She simply burst out laughing.  I asked her why she laughed,
+and she said,--
+
+"Why, because I never learnt anywhere; my only masters were courage
+and some natural skill."
+
+"And has your sister learnt?"
+
+"No," said Gabrielle, "but I can ride just as well."
+
+I could scarcely believe it, for Hippolyta had seemed to float on her
+horse, and her riding skewed the utmost skill and experience.  Hoping
+that her sister would vie with her, I said that I would take them out
+together, and the very idea made them both jump with joy.
+
+Gabrielle was only fifteen, and her shape, though not fully
+developed, was well marked, and promised a perfect beauty by the time
+she was in her maturity.  Full of grace and simplicity, she said she
+would like to come with me to my room, and I readily accepted her
+offer, not caring whether the scheme had been concerted between her
+and her other sisters.
+
+As soon as we were alone, she told me that she had never had a lover,
+and she allowed me to assure myself of the fact with the same child-
+like simplicity.  Gabrielle was like all the others; I would have
+chosen her if I had been obliged to make the choice.  She made me
+feel sorry for her sake, to hear that the mother had made up her mind
+to leave.  In the morning I gave her her fee of twenty guineas and a
+handsome ring as a mark of my peculiar friendship, and we spent the
+day in getting ready our habits for the ride of the day following.
+
+Gabrielle got on horseback as if she had had two years in the riding
+school.  We went along the streets at a walking pace, but as soon as
+we were in the open country we broke into a furious gallop, and kept
+it up till we got to Barnet, where we stopped to breakfast.  We had
+done the journey in twenty-five minutes, although the distance is
+nearly ten miles.  This may seem incredible, but the English horses
+are wonderfully swift, and we were all of us well mounted.  My two
+nymphs looked ravishing.  I adored them, and I adored myself for
+making them so happy.
+
+Just as we were remounting, who should arrive but Lord Pembroke.  He
+was on his way to St. Alban's.  He stopped his horse, and admired the
+graceful riding of my two companions; and not recognizing them
+immediately, he begged leave to pay his court to them.  How I laughed
+to myself!  At last he recognized them, and congratulated me on my
+conquest, asking if I loved Hippolyta.  I guessed his meaning, and
+said I only loved Gabrielle.
+
+"Very good," said he; "may I come and see you?"
+
+"Certainly," I replied.
+
+After a friendly hand-shake we set out once more, and were soon back
+in London.
+
+Gabrielle was done up and went to bed directly; she slept on till the
+next morning without my disturbing her peaceful sleep, and when she
+awoke and found herself in my arms, she began to philosophise.
+
+"How easy it is," said she, "to be happy when one is rich, and how
+sad it is to see happiness out of one's reach for lack of a little
+money.  Yesterday I was the happiest of beings, and why should I not
+be as happy all my days?  I would gladly agree that my life should be
+short provided that it should be a happy one."
+
+I, too, philosophised, but my reflections were sombre.  I saw my
+resources all but exhausted, and I began to meditate a journey to
+Lisbon.  If my fortune had been inexhaustible, the Hanoverians might
+have held me in their silken fetters to the end of my days.  It
+seemed to me as if I loved them more like a father than a lover, and
+the fact that I slept with them only added to the tenderness of the
+tie.  I looked into Gabrielle's eyes, and there I saw but love.  How
+could such a love exist in her unless she were naturally virtuous,
+and yet devoid of those prejudices which are instilled into us in our
+early years.
+
+The next day Pembroke called and asked me to give him a dinner.
+Augusta delighted him.  He made proposals to her which excited her
+laughter as he did not want to pay till after the event, and she
+would not admit this condition.  However, he gave her a bank note for
+ten guineas before he left, and she accepted it with much grace.  The
+day after he wrote her a letter, of which I shall speak presently.
+
+A few minutes after the nobleman had gone the mother sent for me to
+come to her, and after paying an eloquent tribute to my virtues, my
+generosity, and my unceasing kindness towards her family, she made
+the following proposal:
+
+"As I feel sure that you have all the love of a father for my
+daughters, I wish you to become their father in reality!  I offer you
+my hand and heart; become my husband, you will be their father, their
+lord and mine.  What do you say to this?"
+
+I bit my lips hard and had great difficulty in restraining my
+inclination to laughter.  Nevertheless, the amazement, the contempt,
+and the indignation which this unparalleled piece of impudence
+aroused in me soon brought me to myself.  I perceived that this
+consummate hypocrite had counted on an abrupt refusal, and had only
+made this ridiculous offer with the idea of convincing me that she
+was under the impression that I had left her daughters as I had found
+them, and that the money I had spent on them was merely a sign of my
+tender and fatherly affection.  Of course she knew perfectly well how
+the land lay, but she thought to justify herself by taking this step.
+She was aware that I could only look upon such a proposal as an
+insult, but she did not care for that.
+
+I resolved to keep on the mask, and replied that her proposition was
+undoubtedly a very great honour for me, but it was also a very
+important question, and so I begged her to allow me some time for
+consideration.
+
+When I got back to my room I found there the mistress of the wretched
+Marquis Petina, who told me that her happiness depended on a
+certificate from the Neapolitan ambassador that her lover was really
+the person he professed to be.  With this document he would be able
+to claim a sum of two hundred guineas, and then they could both go to
+Naples, and he would marry her there.  "He will easily obtain the
+royal pardon," said she.  "You, and you alone, can help us in the
+matter, and I commend myself to your kindness."
+
+I promised to do all I could for her.  In fact, I called on the
+ambassador, who made no difficulty about giving the required
+certificate.  For the moment my chilly conquest was perfectly happy,
+but though I saw she was very grateful to me I did not ask her to
+prove her gratitude.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+Augusta Becomes Lord Pembroke's Titular Mistress  The King of
+Corsica's Son--M. du Claude, or the Jesuit Lavalette--Departure of
+the Hanoverians I Balance My Accounts--The Baron Stenau--The English
+Girl, and What She Gave Me--Daturi--My Flight from London--Comte St.
+Germain--Wesel
+
+
+Lord Pembroke wrote to Augusta offering her fifty guineas a month for
+three years, with lodging,, board, servants, and carriage at St.
+Albans, without reckoning what she might expect from his grateful
+affection if it were returned.
+
+Augusta translated the letter for me, and asked for my advice.
+
+"I can't give you any counsel," said I, "in a matter which only
+concerns your own heart and your own interests."
+
+She went up to her mother, who would come to no conclusion without
+first consulting me, because, as she said, I was the wisest and most
+virtuous of men.  I am afraid the reader will differ from her here,
+but I comfort myself by the thought that I, too, think like the
+reader.  At last it was agreed that Augusta should accept the offer
+if Lord Pembroke would find a surety in the person of some reputable
+London merchant, for with her beauty and numerous graces she was sure
+to, become Lady Pembroke before long.  Indeed, the mother said she
+was perfectly certain of it, as otherwise she could not have given
+her consent, as her daughters were countesses, and too good to be any
+man's mistresses.
+
+The consequence was that Augusta wrote my lord a letter, and in three
+days it was all settled.  The merchant duly signed the contract, at
+the foot of which I had the honour of inscribing my name as a
+witness, and then I took the merchant to the mother, and he witnessed
+her cession of her daughter.  She would not see Pembroke, but she
+kissed her daughter, and held a private colloquy with her.
+
+The day on which Augusta left my house was signalized by an event
+which I must set down.
+
+The day after I had given the Marquis Petina's future bride the
+required certificate, I had taken out Gabrielle and Hippolyta for a
+ride.  When I got home I found waiting for me a person calling
+himself Sir Frederick, who was said to be the son of Theodore, King
+of Corsica, who had died in London.  This gentleman said he wished to
+speak to me in private, and when we were alone he said he was aware
+of my acquaintance with the Marquis Petina, and being on the eve of
+discounting a bill of two hundred guineas for him he wished to be
+informed whether it was likely that he could meet the bill when it
+fell due.
+
+"It is important that I should be informed on that point," he added,
+"for the persons who are going to discount the bill want me to put my
+signature to it."
+
+"Sir," I replied, "I certainly am acquainted with the marquis, but I
+know nothing about his fortune.  However, the Neapolitan ambassador
+assured me that he was the Marquis Petina."
+
+"If the persons who have the matter in hand should drop it, would you
+discount the bill?  You shall have it cheap."
+
+"I never meddle with these speculations.  Good day, Sir Frederick."
+
+The next day Goudar came and said that a M. du Claude wanted to speak
+to me.
+
+"Who is M. du Claude?"
+
+"The famous Jesuit Lavalette, who was concerned in the great
+bankruptcy case which ruined the Society in France.  He fled to
+England under a false name.  I advise you to listen to him, for he
+must have plenty of money."
+
+"A Jesuit and a bankrupt; that does not sound very well."
+
+"Well, I have met him in good houses, and knowing that I was
+acquainted with you he addressed himself to me.  After all, you run
+no risk in listening to what he has to say."
+
+"Well, well, you can take me to him; it will be easier to avoid any
+entanglement than if he came to see me."
+
+Goudar went to Lavalette to prepare the way, and in the afternoon he
+took me to see him.  I was well enough pleased to see the man, whose
+rascality had destroyed the infamous work of many years.  He welcomed
+me with great politeness, and as soon as we were alone he shewed me a
+bill of Petina's, saying,--
+
+"The young man wants me to discount it, and says you can give me the
+necessary information."
+
+I gave the reverend father the same answer as I had given the King of
+Corsica's son, and left him angry with this Marquis of Misery who had
+given me so much needless trouble.  I was minded to have done with
+him, and resolved to let him know through his mistress that I would
+not be his reference, but I could not find an opportunity that day.
+
+The next day I took my two nymphs for a ride, and asked Pembroke to
+dinner.  In vain we waited for Petina's mistress; she was nowhere to
+be found.  At nine o'clock I got a letter from her, with a German
+letter enclosed for her mother.  She said that feeling certain that
+her mother would not give her consent to her marriage, she had eloped
+with her lover, who had got together enough money to go to Naples,
+and when they reached that town he would marry her.  She begged me to
+console her mother and make her listen to reason, as she had not gone
+off with an adventurer but with a man of rank, her equal.  My lips
+curled into a smile of pity and contempt, which made the three
+sisters curious.  I shewed them the letter I had just received, and
+asked them to come with me to their mother.
+
+"Not to-night," said Victoire, "this terrible news would keep her
+awake."
+
+I took her advice and we supped together, sadly enough.
+
+I thought the poor wretch was ruined for life, and I reproached
+myself with being the cause of her misfortune; for if I had not
+released the marquis from prison this could never have happened.  The
+Marquis Caraccioli had been right in saying that I had done a good
+deed, but a foolish one.  I consoled myself in the arms of my dear
+Gabrielle.
+
+I had a painful scene with the mother the next morning.  She cursed
+her daughter and her seducer, and even blamed me.  She wept and
+stormed alternately.
+
+It is never of any use to try and convince people in distress that
+they are wrong, for one may only do harm, while if they are left to
+themselves they soon feel that they have been unjust, and are
+grateful to the person who let them exhaust their grief without any
+contradiction.
+
+After this event I spent a happy fortnight in the society of
+Gabrielle, whom Hippolyta and Victoire looked on as my wife.  She
+made my happiness and I made hers in all sorts of ways, but
+especially by my fidelity; for I treated her sisters as if they had
+been my sisters, shewing no recollection of the favours I had
+obtained from them, and never taking the slightest liberty, for I
+knew that friendship between women will hardly brook amorous rivalry.
+I had bought them dresses and linen in abundance, they were well
+lodged and well fed, I took them to the theatre and to the country,
+and the consequence was they all adored me, and seemed to think that
+this manner of living would go on for ever.  Nevertheless, I was
+every day nearer and nearer to moral and physical bankruptcy.  I had
+no more money, and I had sold all my diamonds and precious stones.  I
+still possessed my snuff-boxes, my watches, and numerous trifles,
+which I loved and had not the heart to sell; and, indeed, I should
+not have got the fifth part of what I gave for them.  For a whole
+month I had not paid my cook, or my wine merchant, but I liked to
+feel that they trusted me.  All I thought of was Gabrielle's love,
+and of this I assured myself by a thousand delicacies and attentions.
+
+This was my condition when one day Victoire came to me with sadness
+on her face, and said that her mother had made up her mind to return
+to Hanover, as she had lost all hope of getting anything from the
+English Court.
+
+"When does she intend to leave?"
+
+"In three or four days."
+
+"And is she going without telling me, as if she were leaving an inn
+after paying her bill?"
+
+"On the contrary, she wishes to have a private talk with you."
+
+I paid her a visit, and she began by reproaching me tenderly for not
+coming to see her more often.  She said that as I had refused her
+hand she would not run the risk of incurring censure or slander of
+any kind.  "I thank you from my heart," she added, "for all the
+kindness you have shewn my girls, and I am going to take the three I
+have left away, lest I lose them as I have lost the two eldest.  If
+you like, you may come too and stay with us as long as you like in my
+pretty country house near the capital."
+
+Of course I had to thank her and reply that my engagements did not
+allow me to accept her kind offer.
+
+Three days after, Victoire told me, as I was getting up, that they
+were going on board ship at three o'clock.  Hippolyta and Gabrielle
+made me come for a ride, according to a promise I had given them the
+night before.  The poor things amused themselves, while I grieved
+bitterly, as was my habit when I had to separate from anyone that I
+loved.
+
+When we came home I lay down on my bed, not taking any dinner, and
+seeing nothing of the three sisters till they had made everything
+ready for the journey.  I got up directly before they left, so as not
+to see the mother in my own room, and I saw her in hers just as she
+was about to be taken down into my carriage, which was in readiness
+at the door.  The impudent creature expected me to give her some
+money for the journey, but perceiving that I was not likely to bleed,
+she observed, with involuntary sincerity, that her purse contained
+the sum of a hundred and fifty guineas, which I had given to her
+daughters; and these daughters of hers were present, and sobbed
+bitterly.
+
+When they were gone I closed my doors to everyone, and spent three
+days in the melancholy occupation of making up my accounts.  In the
+month I had spent with the Hanoverians I had dissipated the whole of
+the sum resulting from the sale of the precious stones, and I found
+that I was in debt to the amount of four hundred guineas.  I resolved
+to go to Lisbon by sea, and sold my diamond cross, six or seven gold
+snuff-boxes (after removing the portraits), all my watches except
+one, and two great trunks full of clothes.  I then discharged my
+debts and found I was eighty guineas to the good, this being what
+remained of the fine fortune I had squandered away like a fool or a
+philosopher, or, perhaps, a little like both.  I left my fine house
+where I had lived so pleasantly, and took a little room at a guinea a
+week.  I still kept my negro, as I had every reason to believe him to
+be a faithful servant.
+
+After taking these measures I wrote to M. de Bragadin, begging him to
+send me two hundred sequins.
+
+Thus having made up my mind to leave London without owing a penny to
+anyone, and under obligations to no man's purse, I waited for the
+bill of exchange from Venice.  When it came I resolved to bid
+farewell to all my friends and to try my fortune in Lisbon, but such
+was not the fate which the fickle goddess had assigned to me.
+
+A fortnight after the departure of the Hanoverians (it was the end of
+February in the year 1764), my evil genius made me go to the "Canon
+Tavern," where I usually dined in a room by myself.  The table was
+laid and I was just going to sit down, when Baron Stenau came in and
+begged me to have my dinner brought into the next room, where he and
+his mistress were dining.
+
+"I thank you," said I, "for the solitary man grows weary of his
+company."
+
+I saw the English woman I had met at Sartori's, the same to whom the
+baron had been so generous.  She spoke Italian, and was attractive in
+many ways, so I was well pleased to find myself opposite to her, and
+we had a pleasant dinner.
+
+After a fortnight's abstinence it was not surprising that she
+inspired me with desires, but I concealed them nevertheless, for her
+lover seemed to respect her.  I only allowed myself to tell the baron
+that I thought him the happiest of men.
+
+Towards the close of the dinner the girl noticed three dice on the
+mantel and took them up, saying,--
+
+"Let us have a wager of a guinea, and spend it on oysters and
+champagne."
+
+We could not refuse, and the baron having lost called the waiter and
+gave him his orders.
+
+While we were eating the oysters she suggested that we should throw
+again to see which should pay for the dinner.
+
+We did so and she lost.
+
+I did not like my luck, and wishing to lose a couple of guineas I
+offered to throw against the baron.  He accepted, and to my annoyance
+I won.  He asked for his revenge and lost again.
+
+"I don't want to win your money," said I, "and I will give you your
+revenge up to a hundred guineas."
+
+He seemed grateful and we went on playing, and in less than half an
+hour he owed me a hundred guineas.
+
+"Let us go on," said he.
+
+"My dear baron, the luck's against you; you might lose a large sum of
+money.  I really think we have had enough."
+
+Without heeding my politeness, he swore against fortune and against
+the favour I seemed to be shewing him.  Finally he got up, and taking
+his hat and cane, went out, saying,--
+
+"I will pay you when I come back."
+
+As soon as he had gone the girl said:
+
+"I am sure you have been regarding me as your partner at play."
+
+"If you have guessed that, you will also have guessed that I think
+you charming."
+
+"Yes, I think I have."
+
+"Are you angry with me?"
+
+"Not in the least."
+
+"You shall have the fifty guineas as soon as he has paid me."
+
+"Very good, but the baron must know nothing about it."
+
+"Of course not."
+
+The bargain was scarcely struck before I began to shew her how much I
+loved her.  I had every reason to congratulate myself on her
+complaisance, and I thought this meeting a welcome gleam of light
+when all looked dark around me.  We had to make haste, however, as
+the door was only shut with a catch.  I had barely time to ascertain
+her address and the hour at which she could see me, and whether I
+should have to be careful with her lover.  She replied that the
+baron's fidelity was not of a character to make him very exacting.  I
+put the address in my pocket, and promised to pass a night with her.
+
+The baron came in again, and said,--
+
+"I have been to a merchant to discount this bill of exchange, and
+though it is drawn on one of the best house in Cadiz, and made out by
+a good house in London, he would not have anything to do with it."
+
+I took the bill and saw some millions mentioned on it, which
+astonished me.
+
+The baron said with a laugh that the currency was Portuguese milries,
+and that they amounted to five hundred pounds sterling.
+
+"If the signatures are known," said I, "I don't understand why the
+man won't discount it.  Why don't you take it to your banker?"
+
+"I haven't got one.  I came to England with a thousand gold pieces in
+my pocket, and I have spent them all.  As I have not got any letters
+of credit I cannot pay you unless the bill is discounted.  If you
+have got any friends on the Exchange, however, you could get it
+done."
+
+"If the names prove good ones I will let you have the money to-morrow
+morning."
+
+"Then I will make it payable to your order."
+
+He put his name to it, and I promised to send him either the money or
+the bill before noon on the day following.  He gave me his address
+and begged me to come and dine with him, and so we parted.
+
+The next day I went to Bosanquet, who told me that Mr. Leigh was
+looking out for bills of exchange on Cadiz, and I accordingly waited
+on him.  He exclaimed that such paper was worth more than gold to
+him, and gave me five hundred and twenty guineas, of course after I
+had endorsed it.
+
+I called on the baron and gave him the money I had just received, and
+he thanked me and gave me back the hundred guineas.  Afterwards we
+had dinner, and fell to talking of his mistress.
+
+"Are you in love with her?" said I.
+
+"No; I have plenty of others, and if you like her you can have her
+for ten guineas."
+
+I liked this way of putting it, though I had not the slightest idea
+of cheating the girl out of the sum I had promised her.  On leaving
+the baron I went to see her, and as soon as she heard that the baron
+had paid me she ordered a delicious supper, and made me spend a night
+that obliterated all my sorrows from my memory.  In the morning, when
+I handed over the fifty guineas, she said that as a reward for the
+way in which I kept my promise I could sup with her whenever I liked
+to spend six guineas.  I promised to come and see her often.
+
+The next morning I received a letter through the post, written in bad
+Italian, and signed, "Your obedient godson, Daturi."  This godson of
+mine was in prison for debt, and begged me to give him a few
+shillings to buy some food.
+
+I had nothing particular to do, the appellation of godson made me
+curious, and so I went to the prison to see Daturi, of whose identity
+I had not the slightest idea.  He was a fine young man of twenty; he
+did not know me, nor I him.  I gave him his letter, and begging me to
+forgive him he drew a paper from his pocket and shewed me his
+certificate of baptism, on which I saw my own name inscribed beside
+his name and those of his father and mother, the parish of Venice,
+where he was born, and the church in which he was baptized; but still
+I racked my memory in vain; I could not recollect him.
+
+"If you will listen to me," he said, "I can set you right; my mother
+has told me the story a hundred times."
+
+"Go on," said I, "I will listen;" and as he told his story I
+remembered who he was.
+
+This young man whom I had held at the font as the son of the actor
+Daturi was possibly my own son.  He had come to London with a troupe
+of jugglers to play the illustrious part of clown, or pagliazzo, but
+having quarrelled with the company he had lost his place and had got
+into debt to the extent of ten pounds sterling, and for this debt he
+had been imprisoned.  Without saying anything to him about my
+relations with his mother, I set him free on the spot, telling him to
+come to me every morning, as I would give him two shillings a day for
+his support.
+
+A week after I had done this good work I felt that I had caught the
+fearful disease from which the god Mercury had already delivered me
+three times, though with great danger and peril of my life.  I had
+spent three nights with the fatal English woman, and the misfortune
+was doubly inconvenient under the circumstances.  I was on the eve of
+a long sea voyage, and though Venus may have risen from the waves of
+the sea, sea air is by no means favourable to those on whom she has
+cast her malign aspect.  I knew what to do, and resolved to have my
+case taken in hand without delay.
+
+I left my house, not with the intention of reproaching the English
+woman after the manner of fools, but rather of going to a good
+surgeon, with whom I could make an agreement to stay in his house
+till my cure was completed.
+
+I had my trunks packed just as if I was going to leave London,
+excepting my linen, which I sent to my washerwoman who lived at a
+distance of six miles from town, and drove a great trade.
+
+The very day I meant to change my lodging a letter was handed to me.
+It was from Mr. Leigh, and ran as follows:
+
+"The bill of exchange I discounted for you is a forgery, so please to
+send me at your earliest convenience the five hundred and twenty
+guineas; and if the man who has cheated you will not reimburse the
+money, have him arrested.  For Heaven's sake do not force me to have
+you arrested to-morrow, and whatever you do make haste, for this may
+prove a hanging matter."
+
+Fortunately I was by myself when I received the letter.  I fell upon
+my bed, and in a moment I was covered with a cold sweat, while I
+trembled like a leaf.  I saw the gallows before me, for nobody would
+lend me the money, and they would not wait for my remittance from
+Venice to reach me.
+
+To my shuddering fit succeeded a burning fever.  I loaded my pistols,
+and went out with the determination of blowing out Baron Stenau's
+brains, or putting him under arrest if he did not give me the money.
+I reached his house, and was informed that he had sailed for Lisbon
+four days ago.
+
+This Baron Stenau was a Livonian, and four months after these events
+he was hanged at Lisbon.  I only anticipate this little event in his
+life because I might possibly forget it when I come to my sojourn at
+Riga.
+
+As soon as I heard he was gone I saw there was no remedy, and that I
+must save myself.  I had only ten or twelve guineas left, and this
+sum was insufficient.  I went to Treves, a Venetian Jew to whom I had
+a letter from Count Algarotti, the Venetian banker.  I did not think
+of going to Bosanquet, or Sanhel, or Salvador, who might possibly
+have got wind of my trouble, while Treves had no dealings with these
+great bankers, and discounted a bill for a hundred sequins readily
+enough.  With the money in my pocket I made my way to my lodging,
+while deadly fear dogged every step.  Leigh had given me twenty-four
+hours' breathing time, and I did not think him capable of breaking
+his word, still it would not do to trust to it.  I did not want to
+lose my linen nor three fine suits of clothes which my tailor was
+keeping for me, and yet I had need of the greatest promptitude.
+
+I called in Jarbe and asked him whether he would prefer to take
+twenty guineas and his dismissal, or to continue in my service.  I
+explained that he would have to wait in London for a week, and join
+me at the place from which I wrote to him.
+
+"Sir," said he, "I should like to remain in your service, and I will
+rejoin you wherever you please.  When are you leaving?"
+
+"In an hour's time; but say not a word, or it will cost me my life."
+
+"Why can't you take me with you?"
+
+"Because I want you to bring my linen which is at the wash, and my
+clothes which the tailor is making.  I will give you sufficient money
+for the journey."
+
+"I don't want anything.  You shall pay me what I have spent when I
+rejoin you.  Wait a moment."
+
+He went out and came back again directly, and holding out sixty
+guineas, said,--
+
+"Take this, sir, I entreat you, my credit is good for as much more in
+case of need."
+
+"I thank you, my good fellow, but I will not take your money, but be
+sure I will not forget your fidelity."
+
+My tailor lived close by and I called on him, and seeing that my
+clothes were not yet made up I told him that I should like to sell
+them, and also the gold lace that was to be used in the trimming.  He
+instantly gave me thirty guineas which meant a gain to him of twenty-
+five per cent.  I paid the week's rent of my lodging, and after
+bidding farewell to my negro I set out with Daturi.  We slept at
+Rochester, as my strength would carry me no farther.  I was in
+convulsions, and had a sort of delirium.  Daturi was the means of
+saving my life.
+
+I had ordered post-horses to continue our journey, and Daturi of his
+own authority sent them back and went for a doctor, who pronounced me
+to be in danger of an apoplectic fit and ordered a copious blood-
+letting, which restored my calm.  Six hours later he pronounced me
+fit to travel.  I got to Dover early in the morning, and had only
+half an hour to stop, as the captain of the packet said that the tide
+would not allow of any delay.  The worthy sailor little knew how well
+his views suited mine.  I used this half hour in writing to Jarbe,
+telling him to rejoin me at Calais, and Mrs. Mercier, my landlady, to
+whom I had addressed the letter, wrote to tell me that she had given
+it him with her own hands.  However, Jarbe did not come.  We shall
+hear more of this negro in the course of two years.
+
+The fever and the virus that was in my blood put me in danger of my
+life, and on the third day I was in extremis.  A fourth blood-letting
+exhausted my strength, and left me in a state of coma which lasted
+for twenty-four hours.  This was succeeded by a crisis which restored
+me to life again, but it was only by dint of the most careful
+treatment that I found myself able to continue my journey a fortnight
+after my arrival in France.
+
+Weak in health, grieved at having been the innocent cause of the
+worthy Mr. Leigh's losing a large sum of money, humiliated by my
+flight from London, indignant with Jarbe, and angry at being obliged
+to abandon my Portuguese project, I got into a post-chaise with
+Daturi, not knowing where to turn or where to go, or whether I had
+many more weeks to live.
+
+I had written to Venice asking M. de Bragadin to send the sum I have
+mentioned to Brussels instead of London.
+
+When I got to Dunkirk, the day after I left Paris, the first person I
+saw was the merchant S----, the husband of that Therese whom my
+readers may remember, the niece of Tiretta's mistress, with whom I
+had been in love seven years ago.  The worthy man recognized me, and
+seeing his astonishment at the change in my appearance I told him I
+was recovering from a long illness, and then asked after his wife.
+
+"She is wonderfully well," he answered, "and I hope we shall have the
+pleasure of seeing you to dinner tomorrow."
+
+I said I wanted to be off at day-break, but he would not hear of it,
+and protested he would be quite hurt if I went away without seeing
+his wife and his three children.  At last I appeased him by saying
+that we would sup together.
+
+My readers will remember that I had been on the point of marrying
+Therese, and this circumstance made me ashamed of presenting myself
+to her in such a sorry plight.
+
+In a quarter of an hour the husband arrived with his wife and three
+children, the eldest of whom looked, about six.  After the usual
+greetings and tiresome enquiries after my health, Therese sent back
+the two younger children, rightly thinking that the eldest would be
+the only one in whom I should take any interest.  He was a charming
+boy; and as he was exactly like his mother, the worthy merchant had
+no doubts as to the parentage of the child.
+
+I laughed to myself at finding my offspring thus scattered all over
+Europe.  At supper Therese gave me news of Tiretta.  He had entered
+the Dutch East India Company's service, but having been concerned in
+a revolt at Batavia, he had only escaped the gallows by flight--I had
+my own thoughts as to the similarity between his destiny and mine,
+but I did not reveal them.  After all it is an easy enough matter for
+an adventurous man, who does not look where he is going, to get
+hanged for a mere trifle.
+
+The next day, when I got to Tournay, I saw some grooms walking fine
+horses up and down, and I asked to whom they belonged.
+
+"'To the Comte de St. Germain, the adept, who has been here a month,
+and never goes out.  Everybody who passes through the place wants to
+see him; but he is invisible."
+
+This was enough to give me the same desire, so I wrote him a letter,
+expressing my wish to speak to him, and asking him to name an hour.
+His reply, which I have preserved, ran as follows:
+
+"The gravity of my occupation compels me to exclude everyone, but you
+are an exception.  Come whenever you like, you will be shewn in.  You
+need not mention my name nor your own.  I do not ask you to share my
+repast, far my food is not suitable to others--to you least of all,
+if your appetite is what it used to be."
+
+At nine o'clock I paid my call, and found he had grown a beard two
+inches long.  He had a score of retorts before him, full of liquids
+in various stages of digestion.  He told me he was experimenting with
+colours for his own amusement, and that he had established a hat
+factory for Count Cobenzl, the Austrian ambassador at Brussels.  He
+added that the count had only given him a hundred and fifty thousand
+florins, which were insufficient.  Then we spoke of Madame d'Urfe.
+
+"She poisoned herself," said he, "by taking too strong a dose of the
+Universal Medicine, and her will shews that she thought herself to be
+with child.  If she had come to me, I could have really made her so,
+though it is a difficult process, and science has not advanced far
+enough for us to be able to guarantee the sex of the child."
+
+When he heard the nature of my disease, he wanted me to stay three
+days at Tournay for him to give me fifteen pills, which would
+effectually cure me, and restore me to perfect health.  Then he
+shewed me his magistrum, which he called athoeter.  It was a white
+liquid contained in a well-stoppered phial.  He told me that this
+liquid was the universal spirit of nature, and that if the wax on the
+stopper was pricked ever so lightly, the whole of the contents would
+disappear.  I begged him to make the experiment.  He gave me the
+phial and a pin, and I pricked the wax, and to lo! the phial was
+empty.
+
+"It is very fine," said I, "but what good is all this?"
+
+"I cannot tell you; that is my secret."
+
+He wanted to astonish me before I went, and asked me if I had any
+money about me.  I took out several pieces and put them on the table.
+He got up, and without saying what he was going to do he took a
+burning coal and put it on a metal plate, and placed a twelve-sols
+piece with a small black grain on the coal.  He then blew it, and in
+two minutes it seemed on fire.
+
+"Wait a moment," said the alchemist, "let it get cool;" and it cooled
+almost directly.
+
+"Take it; it is yours," said he.
+
+I took up the piece of money and found it had become gold.  I felt
+perfectly certain that he had smuggled my silver piece away, and had
+substituted a gold piece coated with silver for it.  I did not care
+to tell him as much, but to let him see that I was not taken in, I
+said,--
+
+"It is really very wonderful, but another time you should warn me
+what you are going to do, so that the operation might be attentively
+watched, and the piece of money noted before being placed on the
+burning coal."
+
+"Those that are capable of entertaining doubts of my art," said the
+rogue, "are not worthy to speak to me."
+
+This was in his usual style of arrogance, to which I was accustomed.
+This was the last time I saw this celebrated and learned impostor; he
+died at Schlesing six or seven years after.  The piece of money he
+gave me was pure gold, and two months after Field-marshal Keith took
+such a fancy to it that I gave it him.
+
+I left Tournay the next morning, and stopped at Brussels to await the
+answer of the letter which I had written to M. de Bragadin.  Five
+days after I got the letter with a bill of exchange for two hundred
+ducats.
+
+I thought of staying in Brussels to get cured, but Daturi told me
+that he had heard from a rope-dancer that his father and mother and
+the whole family were at Brunswick, and he persuaded me to go there,
+assuring me that I should be carefully looked after.
+
+He had not much difficulty in getting me to go to Brunswick, as I was
+curious to see again the mother of my godson, so I started the same
+day.  At Ruremonde I was so ill that I had to stop for thirty-six
+hours.  At Wesel I wished to get rid of my post-chaise, for the
+horses of the country are not used to going between shafts, but what
+was my surprise to meet General Bekw there.
+
+After the usual compliments had passed, and the general had condoled
+with me on my weak state of health, he said he should like to buy my
+chaise and exchange it for a commodious carriage, in which I could
+travel all over Germany.  The bargain was soon struck, and the
+general advised me to stay at Wesel where there was a clever young
+doctor from the University of Leyden, who would understand my case
+better than the Brunswick physicians.
+
+Nothing is easier than to influence a sick man, especially if he be
+in search of fortune, and knows not where to look for the fickle
+goddess.  General Bekw----, who was in garrison at Wesel, sent for
+Dr. Pipers, and was present at my confession and even at the
+examination.
+
+I will not revolt my readers by describing the disgusting state in
+which I was, suffice it to say that I shudder still when I think of
+it.
+
+The young doctor, who was gentleness personified, begged me to come
+and stay with him, promising that his mother and sisters should take
+the greatest care of me, and that he would effect a radical cure in
+the course of six weeks if I would carry out all his directions.  The
+general advised me strongly to stay with the doctor, and I agreed all
+the more readily as I wished to have some amusement at Brunswick and
+not to arrive there deprived of the use of all my limbs.  I therefore
+gave in, but the doctor would not hear of any agreement.  He told me
+that I could give him whatever I liked when I went away, and he would
+certainly be satisfied.  He took his leave to go and make my room
+ready, and told me to come in an hour's time.  I went to his house in
+a sedan-chair, and held a handkerchief before my face, as I was
+ashamed that the young doctor's mother and sisters should see me in
+the state I was in.
+
+As soon as I got to my room, Daturi undressed me and I went to bed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+My Cure--Daturi is Beaten by Some Soldiers--I Leave Wesel for
+Brunswick--Redegonde--Brunswick--The Hereditary Prince--The Jew--
+My Stay at Wolfen-Buttel The Library--Berlin Calsabigi and the Berlin
+Lottery--Mdlle. Belanger
+
+
+At Supper-time, the doctor, his mother, and one of his sisters came
+to see me.  All of them bore the love of their kind written on their
+features; they assured me that I should have all possible care at
+their hands.  When the ladies were gone the doctor explained his
+treatment.  He said that he hoped to cure me by the exhibition of
+sudorifices and mercurial pills, but he warned me I must be very
+careful in my diet and must not apply myself in any way.  I promised
+to abide by his directions, and he said that he would read me the
+newspaper himself twice a week to amuse me, and by way of a beginning
+he informed me that the famous Pompadour was dead.
+
+Thus I was condemned to a state of perfect rest, but it was not the
+remedies or the abstinence I dreaded most; I feared the effects of
+ennui; I thought I should die of it.  No doubt the doctor saw the
+danger as well as myself, for he asked me if I would mind his sister
+coming and working in my room occasionally with a few of her friends.
+I replied that, despite my shame of shewing myself to young ladies in
+such a condition, I accepted her offer with delight.  The sister was
+very grateful for what she was pleased to call my kindness, for my
+room was the only one which looked in the street, and as everyone
+knows girls are very fond of inspecting the passers-by. Unfortunately
+this arrangement turned out ill for Daturi.  The poor young man had
+only received the education of a mountebank, and it was tiresome for
+him to pass all his time in my company.  When he saw that I had
+plenty of friends, he thought I could dispense with his society, and
+only thought of amusing himself.  On the third day towards the
+evening he was carried home covered with bruises.  He had been in the
+guard-room with the soldiers, and some quarrel having arisen he had
+got a severe beating.  He was in a pitiable state; all over blood and
+with three teeth missing.  He told me the story with tears, and
+begged me to take vengeance on his foes.
+
+I sent my doctor to General Bekw----, who said that all he could do
+was to give the poor man a bed in the hospital.  Baturi had no bones
+broken, and in a few days was quite well, so I sent him on to
+Brunswick with a passport from General Salomon.  The loss of his
+teeth secured him from the conscription; this, at any rate, was a
+good thing.
+
+The treatment of the young doctor was even more successful than he
+had anticipated, for in a month I was perfectly well again, though
+terribly thin.  The worthy people of the house must have taken an
+idea of me not in the least like myself; I was thought to be the most
+patient of men, and the sister and her young lady friends must have
+considered me as modesty personified; but these virtues only resulted
+from my illness and my great depression.  If you want to discover the
+character of a man, view him in health and freedom; a captive and in
+sickness he is no longer the same man.
+
+I gave a beautiful dress to the sister, and twenty louis to the
+doctor, and both seemed to me extremely satisfied.
+
+On the eve of my departure I received a letter from Madame du Rumain,
+who had heard I was in want from my friend Baletti, and sent me a
+bill of exchange on Amsterdam for six hundred florins.  She said I
+could repay her at my convenience, but she died before I was able to
+discharge the debt.
+
+Having made up my mind to go to Brunswick, I could not resist the
+temptation to pass through Hanover, for whenever I thought of
+Gabrielle I loved her still.  I did not wish to stop any length of
+time, for I was poor and I had to be careful of my health.  I only
+wished to pay her a flying visit on the estate which her mother had
+at Stocken, as she had told me.  I may also say that curiosity was a
+motive for this visit.
+
+I had decided to start at day-break in my new carriage, but the fates
+had ordained it otherwise.
+
+The English general wrote me a note asking me to sup with him,
+telling me that some Italians would be present, and this decided me
+to stay on, but I had to promise the doctor to observe strict
+temperance.
+
+My surprise may be imagined when I saw the Redegonde and her
+abominable mother.  The mother did not recognize me at first, but
+Redegonde knew me directly, and said,--
+
+"Good Heavens! how thin you have become!"
+
+I complimented her on her beauty, and indeed she had improved
+wonderfully.
+
+"I have just recovered from a dangerous illness," said I, "and I am
+starting for Brunswick at day-break tomorrow."
+
+"So are we," she exclaimed, looking at her mother.
+
+The general, delighted to find that we knew each other, said we could
+travel together.
+
+"Hardly, I think," I replied, "unless the lady-mother has changed her
+principles since I knew her."
+
+"I am always the same," she said, dryly enough; but I only replied
+with a glance of contempt.
+
+The general held a bank at faro at a small table.  There were several
+other ladies and some officers, and the stakes were small.  He
+offered me a place, but I excused myself, saying that I never played
+while on a journey.
+
+At the end of the deal the general returned to the charge, and
+said,--
+
+"Really, chevalier, this maxim of yours is anti-social; you must
+play."
+
+So saying he drew several English bank notes from his pocket-book,
+telling me they were the same I had given him in London six months
+ago.
+
+"Take your revenge," he added; "there are four hundred pounds here."
+
+"I don't want to lose as much as that," I replied, "but I will risk
+fifty pounds to amuse you."
+
+With this I took out the bill of exchange that Madame du Rumain had
+sent me.
+
+The general went on dealing, and at the third deal I found I was
+fifty guineas to the good, and with that I was satisfied.  Directly
+afterwards supper was announced, and we went into the dining-room.
+
+Redegonde, who had learnt French admirably, kept everybody amused.
+She had been engaged by the Duke of Brunswick as second singer, and
+she had come from Brussels.  She bemoaned her journey in the
+uncomfortable post-chaise, and expressed a fear that she would be ill
+by the time she got to her journey's end.
+
+"Why, there's the Chevalier Seingalt all alone in a most comfortable
+carriage," said the general.
+
+Redegonde smiled.
+
+"How many people will your carriage hold?"
+
+"Only two."
+
+"Then it's out of the question, for I never let my daughter travel
+alone with anybody."
+
+A general burst of laughter, in which Redegonde joined, seemed to
+confuse the mother in some degree; but like a good daughter Redegonde
+explained that her mother was always afraid of her being
+assassinated.
+
+The evening passed away in pleasant conversation, and the younger
+singer did not need much persuasion to seat herself at the piano,
+where she sang in a manner that won genuine applause.
+
+When I wanted to go the general begged me to breakfast with him,
+saying that the post-chaise did not go till twelve, and that this act
+of politeness was due to my young fellow-countrywoman.  Redegonde
+joined in, reproaching me with my behaviour at Turin and Florence,
+though she had nothing really to complain of.  I gave in, and feeling
+that I wanted rest I went to bed.
+
+The next morning, at nine o'clock, I took leave of the worthy doctor
+and his family and walked to the general's, giving orders that my
+carriage should be brought round as soon as it was ready.
+
+In half an hour Redegonde and her mother arrived, and I was
+astonished to see them accompanied by the brother who had been my
+servant at Florence.
+
+When breakfast was over my carriage stood at the door, and I made my
+bow to the general and all the company, who were standing in the hall
+to see me off.  Redegonde came down the steps with me, and asked if
+my carriage was comfortable, and then got into it.  I got in after
+her without the slightest premeditation, and the postillion, seeing
+the carriage full, gave a crack with his whip and we were off,
+Redegonde shrieking with laughter.  I was on the point of telling him
+to stop, but seeing her enjoyment of the drive I held my tongue, only
+waiting for her to say, "I have had enough."  But I waited in vain,
+and we had gone over half a league before she said a word.
+
+"I have laughed, and laugh still," she said, "when I think of what my
+mother will say at this freak of mine.  I had no intentions in
+getting into the carriage, and I am sure you cannot have told the
+postillion to drive on."
+
+"You may be quite sure of that."
+
+"All the same my mother will believe it to be a deeply-laid plan, and
+that strikes me as amusing."
+
+"So it is; I am quite satisfied, certainly.  Now you are here you had
+better come on with me to Brunswick; you will be more comfortable
+than in a villainous stage coach."
+
+"I should be delighted, but that would be pushing matters too far.
+No, we will stop at the first stage and wait for the coach."
+
+"You may do so if you please, but you will excuse my waiting."
+
+"What! you would leave me all alone?"
+
+"You know, dear Redegonde, that I have always loved you, and I am
+ready to take you with me to Brunswick; what more can I say?"
+
+"If you love me you will wait with me and restore me to my mother,
+who must be in despair."
+
+"In spite of my devotion I am afraid I cannot do so."
+
+Instead of turning sulky the young madcap began to laugh again; and I
+determined she should come with me to Brunswick.
+
+When we got to the end of the stage there were no horses ready.  I
+arranged matters with the postillion, and after baiting the horses we
+set out once more.  The roads were fearful, and we did not come to
+the second posting-stage till nightfall.
+
+We might have slept there, but not wishing to be caught up by the
+coach and to lose my prize, I ordered fresh horses and we resumed our
+journey in spite of Redegonde's tears and supplications.  We
+travelled all night and reached Lippstadt in the early morning, and
+in spite of the unseasonableness of the hour I ordered something to
+eat.  Redegonde wanted a rest, as indeed did I, but she had to give
+way when I said caressingly that we could sleep at Minden.  Instead
+of scolding me she began to smile, and I saw she guessed what she had
+to expect; in fact, when we got to Minden we had supper, and then
+went to bed together as man and wife, and stayed in bed for five
+hours.  She was quite kind, and only made me entreat her for form's
+sake.
+
+We got to Hanover and put up at an excellent inn where we had a
+choice meal, and where I found the waiter who was at the inn in
+Zurich when I waited on the ladies at table.  Miss Chudleigh had
+dined there with the Duke of Kingston, and they had gone on to
+Berlin.
+
+We had a beautiful French bed in which to spend the night, and in the
+morning we were awakened by the noise of the stage coach.  Redegonde
+not wishing to be surprised in my arms rang the bell and told the
+waiter by no means to admit the lady who would come out of the coach
+and ask to be shewn in directly; but her precaution was vain, for, as
+the waiter went out, the mother and son came in, and we were taken in
+'flagrante delicto'.
+
+I told them to wait outside, and getting up in my shirt I locked the
+door.  The mother began to abuse me and her daughter, and threatened
+me with criminal proceedings if I did not give her up.  Redegonde,
+however, calmed her by telling her the story, and she believed, or
+pretended to believe, it was all chance; but she said,--
+
+"That's all very well; but you can't deny, you little slut, that you
+have been sleeping with him."
+
+"Oh, there's no harm in that, for you know, dear mamma, nobody does
+anything asleep."
+
+Without giving her the time to reply she threw her arms round her
+neck and promised to go on with her in the coach.
+
+After things had been thus settled, I dressed myself, and gave them
+all a good breakfast, and went on my way to Brunswick, where I
+arrived a few hours before them.
+
+Redegonde had deprived me of my curiosity to see Gabrielle; besides,
+in the condition I was in, my vanity would have suffered grievously.
+As soon as I had settled in a good inn I sent for Daturi, who came
+immediately, elegantly dressed, and very anxious to introduce to me a
+certain Signor Nicolini, theatrical manager.  This Nicolini
+understood his craft perfectly, and was high in favour with the
+prince to whom his daughter Anna was mistress.  He gave me a
+distinguished and a cordial greeting, and was very anxious that I
+should stay with him, but I was able to escape the constraint of such
+an arrangement without giving him any offense.  I accepted his offer
+to take my meals at his table, which was furnished by an excellent
+cook and surrounded by a distinguished company.  Here was no
+gathering of men of title, with the cold and haughty manners of the
+Court, all were talented, and such company to my mind was delightful.
+
+I was not well, and I was not rich, or else I should have made a
+longer stay at Brunswick, which had its charms for me.  But we will
+not anticipate, though as old age steals on a man he is never tired
+of dwelling again and again on the incidents of his past life, in
+spite of his desire to arrest the sands which run out so quickly.
+
+The third day after my arrival at Brunswick, Redegonde knowing that I
+was dining at Nicolini's came there too.  Everybody had found out,
+somehow or other, that we had travelled from Wesel to Hanover
+together, and they were at liberty to draw whatever conclusions they
+pleased.
+
+Two days later the crown prince arrived from Potsdam on a visit to
+his future bride, the daughter of the reigning duke, whom he married
+the year after.
+
+The Court entertained in the most magnificent manner, and the
+hereditary prince, now the reigning duke, honoured me with an
+invitation.  I had met his highness at an assembly in Soho Square,
+the day after he had been made a London citizen.
+
+It was twenty-two years since I had been in love with Daturi's
+mother.  I was curious to see the ravages which time had worked on
+her, but I had reason to repent of my visit, for she had grown
+terribly ugly.  She knew it herself, and a blush of shame appeared on
+those features which had once been fair.
+
+The prince had an army of six thousand foot in good condition.  This
+army was to be reviewed on a plain at a little distance from the
+town, and I went to see the spectacle, and was rewarded by having
+rain dripping down my back the whole time.  Among the numerous
+spectators were many persons of fashion, ladies in handsome dresses,
+and a good sprinkling of foreigners.  I saw the Honourable Miss
+Chudleigh, who honoured me by addressing me, and asked me, amongst
+other questions, how long I had left London.  She was dressed in
+Indian muslin, and beneath it she only wore a chemise of fine
+cambric, and by the time the rain had made her clothes cling to her
+body she looked more than naked, but she did not evince any
+confusion.  Most of the ladies sheltered themselves from the rain
+under elegant tents which had been erected.
+
+The troops, who took no notice of the weather, executed their
+manoeuvres, and fired their muskets in a manner which seemed to
+satisfy good judges.
+
+There was nothing further to attract me at Brunswick, and I thought
+of spending the summer at Berlin, which I concluded would be more
+amusing than a small provincial town.  Wanting an overcoat I bought
+the material from a Jew, who offered to discount bills of exchange
+for me if I had any.  I had the bill which Madame du Rumain had sent
+me, and finding that it would be convenient for me to get it
+discounted, I gave it to the Israelite, who cashed it, deducting
+commission at the ordinary rate of two per cent.  The letter was
+payable to the order of the Chevalier de Seingalt, and with that name
+I endorsed it.
+
+I thought no more of the matter, but early the next day the same Jew
+called on me, and told me that I must either return him his money, or
+give sureties for the amount till he had ascertained whether the bill
+was a forgery or not.
+
+I was offended at this piece of impertinence, and feeling certain
+that the bill was a good one I told the fellow that he might set his
+mind at rest and let me alone, as I should not give him any sureties.
+
+"I must either have the money or the surety," said he, "and if you
+refuse I will have you arrested; your character is well known."
+
+This was too much for me, and raising my cane I gave him a blow on
+the head which he must have felt for many a long day.  I then dressed
+and dined with Nicolini, without thinking or speaking of this
+disagreeable incident.
+
+The next day as I was taking a walk outside the town walls, I met the
+prince on horseback, followed by a single groom.  I bowed to him as
+he passed, but he came up to me and said,--
+
+"You are leaving Brunswick, chevalier?"
+
+"In two or three days, your highness."
+
+"I heard this morning that a Jew has brought a complaint against you
+for beating him because he asked you to give him security for a bill
+of exchange which he was afraid of."
+
+"My lord, I cannot answer for the effects of my indignation against a
+rascal who dared to come and insult me in my own house, but I do know
+that if I had given him security I should have impugned my own
+honour.  The impertinent scoundrel threatened to have me arrested,
+but I know that a just Government rules here, and not arbitrary
+power."
+
+"You are right; it would be unjust to have you arrested, but he is
+afraid for his ducats."
+
+"He need not be afraid, my lord, for the bill is drawn by a person of
+honour and of high station in society."
+
+"I am delighted to hear it.  The Jew said he would never have
+discounted the bill if you had not mentioned my name."
+
+"That's a lie!  Your highness' name never passed, my lips."
+
+"He also says that you endorsed the bill with a false name."
+
+"Then he lies again, for I signed myself Seingalt, and that name is
+mine."
+
+"In short, it is a case of a Jew who has been beaten, and is afraid
+of being duped.  I pity such an animal, and I must see what I can do
+to prevent his keeping you here till he learns the fate of the bill
+at Amsterdam.  As I have not the slightest doubt as to the goodness
+of the bill, I will take it up myself, and this very morning: thus
+you will be able to leave when you like.  Farewell, chevalier!
+I wish you a pleasant journey."
+
+With this compliment the prince left me, without giving me time to
+answer him.  I might have felt inclined to tell him that by taking up
+the bill he would give the Jew and everyone else to understand that
+it was a favour done to me, to the great hurt of my honour, and that
+consequently I should be obliged by his doing nothing of the kind.
+But though the prince was a man of generosity and magnanimity, he was
+deficient in that delicate quality which we call tact.  This defect,
+common amongst princes, arises from their education, which places
+them above the politeness which is considered necessary in ordinary
+mortals.
+
+He could not have treated me worse than he did, if he had been
+certain of my dishonesty, and wished me to understand that I was
+forgiven, and that he would bear all the consequences of my
+misdemeanour.  With this idea in my head, I said to myself; "Perhaps,
+indeed, this is exactly what the prince does think.  Is it the Jew or
+me that he pities?  If the latter, I think I must give him a lesson,
+though I do not wish to cause him any humiliation."
+
+Feeling deeply humiliated myself, and pondering on my position,
+I walked away, directing my attention especially to the duke's
+concluding words.  I thought his wish for a pleasant journey
+supremely out of place, under the circumstances, in the mouth of one
+who enjoyed almost absolute power.  It was equivalent to an order to
+leave the town, and I felt indignant at the thought.
+
+I therefore resolved to vindicate my honour by neither going away nor
+remaining.
+
+"If I stay," I said to myself, "the Jew will be adjudged to be in the
+right; and if I go the duke will think I have profited by his favour,
+and so to speak, by his present of fifty louis if the bill were
+protested.  I will not let anyone enjoy a satisfaction which is no
+one due."
+
+After these considerations, which I thought worthy of a wiser head
+than mine, I packed up my trunk, ordered horses, and after a good
+dinner and the payment of my bill I went to Wolfenbuttel with the
+idea of spending week there.  I was sure of finding amusement, for
+Wolfenbuttel contains the third largest library in Europe, and I had
+long been anxious to see it.
+
+The learned librarian, whose politeness was all the better for being
+completely devoid of affection, told me that not only could I have
+whatever books I wished to see, but that I could take them to my
+lodging, not even excepting the manuscripts, which are the chief
+feature in that fine library.
+
+I spent a week in the library, only leaving it to take my meals and
+go to bed, and I count this week as one of the happiest I have ever
+spent, for then I forgot myself completely; and in the delight of
+study, the past, the present, and the future were entirely blotted
+out.  Of some such sort, I think, must be the joys of the redeemed;
+and now I see that only a few trifling little circumstances and
+incidents were wanting to make me a perfect sage.  And here I must
+note a circumstance which my readers may scarcely believe, but which,
+for all that, is quite true-namely, that I have always preferred
+virtue to vice, and that when I sinned I did so out of mere lightness
+of heart, for which, no doubt, I shall be blamed by many persons.
+But, no matter--a man has only to give an account of his actions to
+two beings, to himself here and to God hereafter.
+
+At Wolfenbuttel I gathered a good many hints on the "Iliad" and
+"Odyssey," which will not be found in any commentator, and of which
+the great Pope knew nothing.  Some of these considerations will be
+found in my translation of the "Iliad," the rest are still in
+manuscript, and will probably never see the light.  However, I burn
+nothing, not even these Memoirs, though I often think of doing so,
+but the time never comes.
+
+At the end of the week I returned to the same inn at Brunswick which
+I had occupied before, and let my godson Daturi know of my arrival.
+
+I was delighted to hear that no one suspected that I had spent the
+fortnight within five leagues of Brunswick.  Daturi told me that the
+general belief was that I had returned the Jew his money and got the
+bill of exchange back.  Nevertheless I felt sure that the bill had
+been honoured at Amsterdam, and that the duke knew that I had been
+staying at Wolfenbuttel.
+
+Daturi told me that Nicolini was expecting to see me at dinner, and I
+was not astonished to hear of it, for I had not taken leave of
+anyone.  I accordingly went, and the following incident, which served
+to justify me in the eyes of all men, took place:
+
+We were at the roast when one of the prince's servants came in with
+the Jew I had beaten.  The poor man came up humbly to me, and spoke
+as follows:
+
+"I am ordered to come here, sir, to apologize for suspecting the
+authenticity of the bill of exchange you gave me.  I have been
+punished by being fined the amount of my commission."
+
+"I wish that had been your only punishment," said I.
+
+He made me a profound bow, and went out, saying that I was only too
+good.
+
+When I 'got back to the inn, I found a letter from Redegonde in which
+she reproached me tenderly for not having been once to see her all
+the time I had been at Brunswick, and begging me to breakfast with
+her in a little country house.
+
+"I shall not be in my mother's company," she added, "but in that of a
+young lady of your acquaintance, whom, I am sure, you will be glad to
+see once more."
+
+I liked Redegonde, and I had only neglected her at Brunswick because
+my means did not allow my making her a handsome present.  I resolved
+to accept her invitation, my curiosity being rather stimulated by the
+account of the young lady.
+
+I was exact at the time indicated, and I found Redegonde looking
+charming in a pretty room on the ground floor, and with her was a
+young artiste whom I had known as a child shortly before I had been
+put under the Leads.  I pretended to be delighted to see her, but I
+was really quite taken up with Redegonde, and congratulated her upon
+her pretty house.  She said she had taken it for six months, but did
+not sleep there.  After coffee had been served we were on the point
+of going out for a stroll, when who should come in but the prince.
+He smiled pleasantly when he saw us, and apologized to Redegonde for
+interrupting our little party.
+
+The appearance of the prince enlightened me as to the position of my
+delightful fellow countrywoman, and I understood why she had been so
+precise about the time at which I was to come.  Redegonde had made
+the conquest of the worthy prince, who was always disposed to
+gallantry, but felt it his duty during the first year of his marriage
+with the King of England's sister to preserve some kind of incognito
+in his amours.
+
+We spent an hour in walking up and down and talking of London and
+Berlin, but nothing was said of the Jew or the bill of exchange.  He
+was delighted with my warm eulogium of his library at Wolfenbuttel,
+and laughed with all his heart when I said that unless it had been
+for the intellectual nourishment I enjoyed, the bad fare at the inn
+would certainly have reduced me to half my present size.
+
+After bidding a graceful farewell to the nymph, the prince left us,
+and we heard him galloping away on his horse.
+
+When I was alone with Redegonde, far from begging for new favours, I
+advised her to be faithful to the prince; but though appearances were
+certainly not deceitful in this case, she would not admit anything.
+This was in accordance with her part as young mistress, and I did not
+reproach her for her want of confidence.
+
+I spent the rest of the day at the inn, and started the next morning
+at day-break.
+
+When I got to Magdeburg, I took a letter of introduction from General
+Bekw---- to an officer.  He shewed me the fortress, and kept me for
+three days making me taste all the pleasures of the table, women, and
+gaming.  However, I was very moderate, and managed to increase my
+savings in a small degree, contenting myself with modest wagers.
+
+>From Magdeburg I went straight to Berlin, without caring to stop at
+Potsdam, as the king was not there.  The fearful Prussian roads with
+their sandy soil made me take three days to do eighteen Prussian
+miles.  Prussia is a country of which much could be made with labour
+and capital, but I do not think it will ever become a really fine
+country.
+
+I put up at the "Hotel de Paris," which was both comfortable and
+economical.  Madame Rufin who kept it had entered into the spirit of
+her business without losing her French politeness, and thus the inn
+had got a reputation.  As soon as I was in my room she came to ask me
+if I were satisfied, and to make divers arrangements for my comfort.
+There was a table d'hote, and those who ate in their private rooms
+paid double.
+
+"This arrangement," I said, "may suit you, but for the present it
+will not suit me.  I want to dine in my own room, but I don't want to
+pay double; I will therefore pay as if I were in the public room, but
+if you like you need only send me up half the number of dishes."
+
+"I agree, on the condition that you sup with me; we will not put it
+in the accounts, and you will only meet friends at my little
+suppers."
+
+I thought her proposal so curious a one that I had a great
+inclination to laugh, but finding it at the same time very
+advantageous I accepted frankly, and as if we had long been friends.
+
+On the first day I was tired, and did not sup with her till the day
+following.  Madame Rufin had a husband who attended to the cooking,
+and a son, but neither of them came to these suppers.  The first time
+I went to one of them I met an elderly but agreeable and sensible
+gentleman.  He lodged in a room adjoining mine, and called himself
+Baron Treidel; his sister had married the Duke of Courland, Jean
+Ernest Biron, or Birlen.  The baron, who was extremely pleasant,
+became my friend, and remained so for the couple of months I spent in
+Berlin.  I also met a Hamburg merchant, named Greve, and his wife,
+whom he had just married and had brought to Berlin that she might see
+the marvels of the Warrior-King's Court.  She was as pleasant as her
+husband, and I paid her an assiduous court.  A lively and high-
+spirited individual called Noel, who was the sole and beloved cook of
+his Prussian Majesty, was the fourth person.  He only came rarely to
+the suppers on account of his duties in the king's kitchen.  As I
+have said, his majesty had only this one cook, and Noel had only one
+scullion to help him.
+
+M. Noel, the ambassador of the French Republic at the Hague, is, as I
+am assured, the son of this cook, who was an excellent man.  And here
+I must say, in despite of my hatred for the French Revolutionary
+Government, that I am not at all ill pleased that a man of talents
+should be enabled to fill exalted offices, which under the old system
+of privilege were often occupied by fools.
+
+If it had not been for the culinary skill of Noel the cook, the
+famous Atheist physician Lametrie would not have died of indigestion,
+for the pie he succeeded in eating in his extremity was made by Noel.
+
+Lametrie often supped with Madame Rufin and I thought it disobliging
+of him to die so soon, for I should have liked to know him, as he was
+a learned man and full of mirth.  He expired laughing, though it is
+said that death from indigestion is the most painful of all.
+Voltaire told me that he thought Lametrie the most obstinate Atheist
+in the world, and I could easily believe it after reading his works.
+The King of Prussia himself pronounced his funeral oration, using the
+words, "It is not wonderful that he only believed in the existence of
+matter, for all the spirit in the world was enclosed in his own body.
+No one but a king would venture on such a sally in a funeral oration.
+However, Frederick the Great was a Deist and not an Atheist; but that
+is of little consequence, since he never allowed the belief in a God
+to influence his actions in the slightest degree.  Some say that an
+Atheist who ponders over the possible existence of a God is better
+than a Deist who never thinks of the Deity, but I will not venture to
+decide this point.
+
+The first visit I paid in Berlin was to Calsabigi, the younger
+brother of the Calsabigi with whom I had founded the lottery in Paris
+in 1757.  He had left Paris and his wife too, and had set up a
+lottery in Brussels; but his extravagance was so great that he became
+a bankrupt in spite of the efforts of Count Cobenzl to keep him
+going.  He fled from Brussels to Berlin, and was introduced to the
+King of Prussia.  He was a plausible speaker, and persuaded the
+monarch to establish a lottery, to make him the manager, and to give
+him the title of Counsellor of State.  He promised that the lottery
+should bring in an annual revenue of at least two hundred thousand
+crowns, and only asked a percentage of ten per cent. for himself.
+
+The lottery had been going for two years, and had had a great
+success, as hitherto it had had no large losses; but the king, who
+knew that the luck might turn, was always in a fidget about it.  With
+this idea he told Calsabigi that he must carry it on on his own
+responsibility and pay him a hundred thousand crowns per annum, that
+being the cost of his Italian Theatre.
+
+I happened to call on Calsabigi on the very day on which the king
+intimated to him this decision.  After talking over our old
+relationship and the vicissitudes we had both experienced, he told me
+what had happened; it seemed an unexpected blow to him.  The next
+drawing, he said, would be at the king's risk; but the public would
+have to be informed that in future the lottery would be a private
+one.  He wanted capital to the amount of two million crowns, for he
+foresaw that otherwise the lottery would collapse, as people would
+not risk their money without the certainty of being paid in the event
+of their winning.  He said he would guarantee me an income of ten
+thousand crowns per annum if I succeeded in making the king change
+his mind, and by way of encouragement he recalled to my mind the
+effect of my persuasive powers at Paris seven years before.
+
+"'Tis a good omen," said he, "and without any superstition I believe
+that the good genius of the lottery has brought me to Berlin just
+now."
+
+I laughed at his illusions, but I pitied him.  I shewed him the
+impossibility of convincing an individual whose only argument was,
+"I am afraid, and I don't wish to be afraid any longer."  He begged
+me to stay to dinner and introduced me to his wife.  This was a
+double surprise for me, in the first place because I thought General
+La Motte, as his first wife was called, to be still living, and in
+the second place because I recognized in this second wife of his,
+Mdlle. Belanger.  I addressed the usual compliments to her and
+enquired after her mother.  She replied with a profound sigh, and
+told me not to ask any questions about her family as she had only bad
+news to tell me.
+
+I had known Madame Belanger at Paris; she was a widow with one
+daughter, and seemed to be well off.  Now I saw this daughter, pretty
+enough and well married, and yet in this doleful humour, and I felt
+embarrassed and yet curious.
+
+After Calsabigi had placed me in a position to entertain a high
+opinion of the skill of his cook, he shewed me his horses and
+carriages, begging me to take a drive with his wife and come back to
+supper, which, as he said, was his best meal.
+
+When we were in the carriage together, the necessity of talking about
+something led me to ask the lady by what happy chain of circumstances
+she found herself the wife of Calsabigi.
+
+"His real wife is still alive, so I have not the misfortune of
+occupying that position, but everyone in Berlin thinks I am his
+lawful wife.  Three years ago I was deprived of my mother and the
+means of livelihood at one stroke, for my mother had an annuity.
+None of my relations were rich enough to help me, and wishing to live
+virtuously above all things I subsisted for two years on the sale of
+my mother's furniture, boarding with a worthy woman who made her
+living by embroidery.  I learnt her art, and only went out to mass on
+Sundays.  I was a prey to melancholy, and when I had spent all I had
+I went to M. Brea, a Genoese, on whom I thought I could rely.  I
+begged him to get me a place as a mere waiting-maid, thinking that I
+was tolerably competent for such a position.  He promised to do what
+he could for me, and five or six days afterwards he made me the
+following proposal:
+
+"He read me a letter from Calsabigi, of whom I had never heard, in
+which he charged him to send a virtuous young lady to Berlin.  She
+must be of good birth, good education, and pleasant appearance, as
+when his aged and infirm wife died he intended to marry her.
+
+"As such a person would most probably be badly off, Calsabigi begged
+M. Brea to give her fifty Louis to buy clothes and linen and fifty
+Louis to journey to Berlin with a maid.  M. Brea was also authorized
+to promise that the young lady should hold the position of
+Calsabigi's wife, and be presented in that character to all his
+friends; that she should have a waiting-maid, a carriage, an
+allowance of clothes, and a certain monthly amount as pin-money to be
+spent as she chose.  He promised, if the arrangement was not found
+suitable, to set her free at the end of a year, giving her a hundred
+Louis, and leaving her in possession of whatever money she might have
+saved, and such clothes and jewels as he might have given her; in
+fine, if the lady agreed to live with him till he was able to marry
+her, Calsabigi promised to execute a deed of gift in her favour to
+the amount of ten thousand crowns which the public would believe to
+be her dowry, and if he died before being able to marry her she would
+have a right to claim the aforesaid sum from his estate.
+
+"With such fine promises did Brea persuade me to leave my native
+country to come and dishonour myself here, for though everybody
+treats me as if I were his wife, it is probably known that I am only
+his mistress.  I have been here for six months, and I have never had
+an instant's happiness."
+
+"Has he not kept the conditions you have mentioned?"  "Conditions!
+Calsabigi's state of health will kill him long before his wife, and
+in that case I shall have nothing, for he is loaded with debt, and
+his creditors would have the first claim on the estate.  Besides, I
+do not like him; and the reason is that he loves me too much.  You
+can understand that; his devotion worries me."
+
+"At all events, you can return to Paris in six months' time, or, in
+fact, do anything you like when the term stipulated has expired.  You
+will get your hundred louis, and can lay in a pretty stock of linen."
+
+"If I go to Paris I shall be dishonoured, and if I remain here I
+shall be dishonoured.  In fact, I am very unhappy, and Brea is the
+cause of my woe.  Nevertheless, I can't blame him, as he could not
+have been aware that his friend's property only consisted of debts.
+And now the king has withdrawn his countenance, the lottery will
+fail, and Calsabigi will inevitably become a bankrupt."
+
+She had studiously refrained from exaggeration, and I could not help
+confessing that she was to be pitied.  I advised her to try and sell
+the deed of gift for ten thousand crowns, as it was not likely he
+would raise any objection.
+
+"I have thought it over," said she, "but to do that I have need of a
+friend; of course, I do not expect to dispose of it save at a great
+loss."
+
+I promised to see what I could do for her.
+
+There were four of us at supper.  The fourth person was a young man
+who had helped in the Paris and Brussels Lotteries, and had followed
+Calsabigi to Berlin.  He was evidently in love with Mdlle. Belanger,
+but I did not think his love was crowned with success.
+
+At dessert Calsabigi begged me to give him my opinion of a scheme he
+had drafted, the aim of which was to bring in a sum of two million
+crowns, so that the credit of the lottery might remain secure.
+
+The lady left us to talk business at our ease.  She was between
+twenty-four and twenty-five, and without having much wit she
+possessed a great knowledge of the usages of society, which is better
+than wit in a woman; in fine, she had all that a man could well
+desire.  The sentiments I felt for her were confined to those of
+friendship and esteem after the confidence she had placed in me.
+
+Calsabigi's project was brief, but clear and well imagined.  He
+invited capitalists not to speculate in the lottery, but to guarantee
+it for a certain sum.  In the case of the lottery's losing, each
+guarantor would have to share in paying according to the sum named,
+and in like manner they would share in the profits.
+
+I promised to give him my opinion in writing by the next day, and I
+substituted the following plan for his:
+
+1.  A capital of a million, would, I judged, be ample.
+
+2.  This million should be divided into a hundred shares of ten
+thousand crowns each.
+
+3.  Each share must be taken up before a notary, who would answer for
+the shareholder's solvency.
+
+4.  All dividends to be paid the third day after the drawing.
+
+5.  In case of loss the shareholder to renew his share.
+
+6.  A cashier, chosen by a majority of four-fifths of the
+shareholders, to have the control of all moneys.
+
+7.  Winning tickets to be paid the day after the drawing.
+
+8.  On the eve of a drawing the shareholders' cashier to have an
+account of receipts from the lottery cashier, and the former to lock
+the safe with three keys, one of which to remain in his hands, one in
+the hands of the lottery cashier, and one in the hands of the manager
+of the lottery.
+
+9.  Only the simple drawing, the ambe and the terne to be retained;
+the quarterne and the quine to be abolished.
+
+10.  On the three combinations a shilling to be the minimum, and a
+crown the maximum stake; the offices to be closed twenty-four hours
+before the drawing.
+
+11.  Ten per cent. to go to Calsabigi, the manager; all expenses of
+farming to be paid by him.
+
+12.  Calsabigi to be entitled to the possession of two shares,
+without a guarantee being required.
+
+
+I saw by Calsabigi's face that the plan did not please him, but I
+told him that he would not get shareholders save on these terms, or
+on terms even less favourable to himself.
+
+He had degraded the lottery to the level of biribi; his luxury and
+extravagance caused him to be distrusted; it was known that he was
+head over ears in debt, and the king could not banish the fear that
+he would be cheated in spite of the keenness of his comptroller-
+general.
+
+The last drawing under the king's sanction made everyone in good
+spirits, for the lottery lost twenty thousand crowns.  The king sent
+the money immediately by a privy councillor, but it was said, when he
+heard the result of the drawing, that he burst out laughing,
+observing,--
+
+"I knew it would be so, and I am only too happy to have got quit of
+it so cheaply."
+
+I thought it my duty to go and sup with the director to console him,
+and I found him in a state of great depression.  He could not help
+thinking that his unhappy drawing would make the task of getting
+shareholders more difficult than ever.  Hitherto the lottery had
+always been a gainer, but its late loss could not have come at a
+worse time.
+
+Nevertheless, he did not lose heart, and the next morning the public
+were informed by printed bills that the office would remain closed
+till a sufficient number of guarantors were found.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+Lord Keith--My Appointment to Meet the King in the Garden of Sans-
+Souci My Conversation with Frederick the Great--Madame Denis The
+Pomeranian Cadets--Lambert--I Go to Mitau My Welcome at the Court,
+and My Administrative Journey
+
+
+The fifth day after my arrival at Berlin I presented myself to the
+lord-marshal, who since the death of his brother had been styled Lord
+Keith.  I had seen him in London after his return from Scotland,
+where he had been reinstated in the family estates, which had been
+confiscated for Jacobinism.  Frederick the Great was supposed to have
+brought this about.  Lord Keith lived at Berlin, resting on his
+laurels, and enjoying the blessings of peace.
+
+With his old simplicity of manner he told me he was glad to see me
+again, and asked if I proposed making any stay at Berlin.  I replied
+that I would willingly do so if the king would give me a suitable
+office.  I asked him if he would speak a word in my favour; but he
+replied that the king liked to judge men's characters for himself,
+and would often discover merit where no one had suspected its
+presence, and vice versa.
+
+He advised me to intimate to the king in writing that I desired to
+have the honour of an interview.  "When you speak to him," the good
+old man added, "you may say that you know me, and the king will
+doubtless address me on the subject, and you may be sure what I say
+shall not be to your disadvantage."
+
+"But, my lord, how can I write to a monarch of whom I know nothing,
+and who knows nothing of me?  I should not have thought of such a
+step."
+
+"I daresay, but don't you wish to speak to him?"
+
+"Certainly."
+
+"That is enough.  Your letter will make him aware of your desire and
+nothing more."
+
+"But will he reply?"
+
+"Undoubtedly; he replies to everybody.  He will tell you when and
+where he will see you.  His Majesty is now at Sans-Souci.  I am
+curious to know the nature of your interview with the monarch who, as
+you can see, is not afraid of being imposed on."
+
+When I got home I wrote a plain but respectful letter to the king,
+asking where and at what time I could introduce myself to him.
+
+In two days I received a letter signed "Frederick," in which the
+receipt of my letter was acknowledged, and I was told that I should
+find his majesty in the garden of Sans-Souci at four o'clock.
+
+As may be imagined I was punctual to my appointment.  I was at Sans-
+Souci at three, clad in a simple black dress.  When I got into the
+court-yard there was not so much as a sentinel to stop me, so I went
+on mounted a stair, and opened a door in front of me.  I found myself
+in a picture-gallery, and the curator came up to me and offered to
+shew me over it.
+
+"I have not come to admire these masterpieces," I replied, "but to
+see the king, who informed me in writing that I should find him in
+the garden."
+
+"He is now at a concert playing the flute; he does so every day after
+dinner.  Did he name any time?"
+
+"Yes, four o'clock, but he will have forgotten that."
+
+"The king never forgets anything; he will keep the appointment, and
+you will do well to go into the garden and await him."
+
+I had been in the garden for some minutes when I saw him appear,
+followed by his reader and a pretty spaniel.  As soon as he saw me he
+accosted me, taking off his old hat, and pronouncing my name.  Then
+he asked in a terrible voice what I wanted of him.  This greeting
+surprised me, and my voice stuck in my throat.
+
+"Well, speak out.  Are you not the person who wrote to me?"
+
+"Yes, sire, but I have forgotten everything now.  I thought that I
+should not be awed by the majesty of a king, but I was mistaken.  My
+lord-marshal should have warned me."
+
+"Then he knows you?  Let us walk.  What is it that you want?  What do
+you think of my garden?"
+
+His enquiries after my needs and of his garden were simultaneous.  To
+any other person I should have answered that I did not know anything
+about gardening, but this would have been equivalent to refusing to
+answer the question; and no monarch, even if he be a philosopher,
+could endure that.  I therefore replied that I thought the garden
+superb.
+
+"But," he said, "the gardens of Versailles are much finer."
+
+"Yes, sire, but that is chiefly on account of the fountains."
+
+"True, but it is not my fault; there is no water here.  I have spent
+more than three hundred thousand crowns to get water, but
+unsuccessfully."
+
+"Three hundred thousand crowns, sire!  If your majesty had spent them
+all at once, the fountains should be here."
+
+"Oh, oh!  I see you are acquainted with hydraulics."
+
+I could not say that he was mistaken, for fear of offending him, so I
+simply bent my head, which might mean either yes or no.  Thank God
+the king did not trouble to test my knowledge of the science of
+hydraulics, with which I was totally unacquainted.
+
+He kept on the move all the time, and as he turned his head from one
+side to the other hurriedly asked me what forces Venice could put
+into the field in war time.
+
+"Twenty men-of-war, sire, and a number of galleys."
+
+"What are the land forces?"
+
+"Seventy thousand men, sire; all of whom are subjects of the
+Republic, and assessing each village at one man."
+
+"That is not true; no doubt you wish to amuse me by telling me these
+fables.  Give me your opinions on taxation."
+
+This was the first conversation I had ever had with a monarch.  I
+made a rapid review of the situation, and found myself much in the
+same position as an actor of the improvised comedy of the Italians,
+who is greeted by the hisses of the gods if he stops short a moment.
+I therefore replied with all the airs of a doctor of finance that I
+could say something about the theory of taxation.
+
+"That's what I want," he replied, "for the practice is no business of
+yours."
+
+"There are three kinds of taxes, considered as to their effects.  The
+first is ruinous, the second a necessary evil, and the third
+invariably beneficial"
+
+"Good!  Go on."
+
+"The ruinous impost is the royal tax, the necessary is the military,
+and the beneficial is the popular."
+
+As I had not given the subject any thought I was in a disagreeable
+position, for I was obliged to go on speaking, and yet not to talk
+nonsense.
+
+"The royal tax, sire, is that which deplenishes the purses of the
+subject to fill the coffers of the king."
+
+"And that kind of tax is always ruinous, you think."
+
+"Always, sire; it prevents the circulation of money--the soul of
+commerce and the mainstay of the state."
+
+"But if the tax be levied to keep up the strength of the army, you
+say it is a necessary evil."
+
+"Yes, it is necessary and yet evil, for war is an evil."
+
+"Quite so; and now about the popular tax."
+
+"This is always a benefit, for the monarch takes with one hand and
+gives with the other; he improves towns and roads, founds schools,
+protects the sciences, cherishes the arts; in fine, he directs this
+tax towards improving the condition and increasing the happiness of
+his people."
+
+"There is a good deal of truth in that.  I suppose you know
+Calsabigi?"
+
+"I ought to, your majesty, as he and I established the Genoa Lottery
+at Paris seven years ago."
+
+"In what class would you put this taxation, for you will agree that
+it is taxation of a kind?"
+
+"Certainly, sire, and not the least important.  It is beneficial when
+the monarch spends his profits for the good of the people."
+
+"But the monarch may lose?"
+
+"Once in fifty."
+
+"Is that conclusion the result of a mathematical calculation?"
+
+"Yes, sire."
+
+"Such calculations often prove deceptive."
+
+"Not so, may it please your majesty, when God remains neutral."
+
+"What has God got to do with it?"
+
+"Well, sire, we will call it destiny or chance."
+
+"Good!  I may possibly be of your opinion as to the calculation, but
+I don't like your Genoese Lottery.  It seems to me an elaborate
+swindle, and I would have nothing more to do with it, even if it were
+positively certain that I should never lose."
+
+"Your majesty is right, for the confidence which makes the people
+risk their money in a lottery is perfectly fallacious."
+
+This was the end of our strange dialogue, and stopping before a
+building he looked me over, and then, after a short silence,
+observed,--
+
+"Do you know that you are a fine man?"
+
+"Is it possible that, after the scientific conversation we have had,
+your majesty should select the least of the qualities which adorn
+your life guardsmen for remark?"
+
+The king smiled kindly, and said,--
+
+"As you know Marshal Keith, I will speak to him of you."
+
+With that he took off his hat, and bade me farewell.  I retired with
+a profound bow.
+
+Three or four days after the marshal gave me the agreeable news that
+I had found favour in the king's eyes, and that his majesty thought
+of employing me.
+
+I was curious to learn the nature of this employment, and being in no
+kind of hurry I resolved to await events in Berlin.  The time passed
+pleasantly enough, for I was either with Calsabigi, Baron Treidel, or
+my landlady, and when these resources failed me, I used to walk in
+the park, musing over the events of my life.
+
+Calsabigi had no difficulty in obtaining permission to continue the
+lottery on his own account, and he boldly announced that henceforward
+he would conduct the lottery on his own risk.  His audacity was
+crowned with success, and he obtained a profit of a hundred thousand
+crowns.  With this he paid most of his debts, and gave his mistress
+ten thousand crowns, she returning the document entitling her to that
+amount.  After this lucky drawing it was easy to find guarantors, and
+the lottery went on successfully for two or three years.
+
+Nevertheless Calsabigi ended by becoming bankrupt and died poor
+enough in Italy.  He might be compared to the Danaides; the more he
+got the more he spent.  His mistress eventually made a respectable
+marriage and returned to Paris, where she lived in comfort.
+
+At the period of which I am speaking, the Duchess of Brunswick, the
+king's sister, came to pay him a visit.  She was accompanied by her
+daughter who married the Crown Prince of Prussia in the following
+year.  I saw the king in a suit of lustring trimmed with gold lace,
+and black silk stockings on his legs.  He looked truly comic, and
+more like a theatrical heavy father than a great king.  He came into
+the hall with his sister on his arm and attracted universal
+attention, for only very old men could remember seeing him without
+his uniform and top-boots.
+
+I was not aware that the famous Madame Denis was at Berlin, and it
+was therefore an agreeable surprise to me to see her in the ballet
+one evening, dancing a pas seul in an exquisite manner.  We were old
+friends, and I resolved to pay her a visit the next day.
+
+I must tell the reader (supposing I ever have one), that when I was
+about twelve years old I went to the theatre with my mother and saw,
+not without much heart-beating, a girl of eight who danced a minuet
+in so ravishing a manner that the whole house applauded loudly.  This
+young dancer, who was the pantaloon's daughter, charmed me to such a
+degree that I could not resist going to her dressing-room to
+compliment her on her performance.  I wore the cassock in those days,
+and she was astonished when she heard her father order her to get up
+and kiss me.  She kissed me, nevertheless, with much grace, and
+though I received the compliment with a good deal of awkwardness I
+was so delighted, that I could not help buying her a little ring from
+a toy merchant in the theatre.  She kissed me again with great
+gratitude and enthusiasm.
+
+The pleasantest part about this was that the sequin I had given for
+the ring belonged to Dr. Gozzi, and so when I went back to him I was
+in a pitiable state, for I had not only spent money which did not
+belong to me, but I had spent it for so small a favour as a kiss.
+
+I knew that the next day I should have to give an account of the
+money he had entrusted to me, and not having the least idea as to
+what I should say, I had a bad night of it.  The next morning
+everything came out, and my mother made up the sequin to the doctor.
+I laugh now when I think of this childish piece of gallantry, which
+was an omen of the extent to which my heart was to be swayed by the
+fair sex.
+
+The toy-woman who had sold me the ring came the next day at dinner-
+time to our house, and after producing several rings and trinkets
+which were judged too dear, she began to praise my generosity, and
+said that I had not thought the ring I had given to pretty Jeannette
+too dear.  This did my business; and I had to confess the whole,
+laying my fault to the account of love, and promising not to do such
+a thing again.  But when I uttered the word love, everybody roared
+with laughter, and began to make cruel game of me.  I wished myself a
+mile away, and registered an interior resolve never to confess my
+faults again.  The reader knows how well I kept my promise.
+
+The pantaloon's little daughter was my mother's goddaughter, and my
+thoughts were full of her.  My mother, who loved me and saw my pain,
+asked me if I would like the little girl to be asked to supper.  My
+grandmother, however, opposed the idea, and I was obliged to her.
+
+The day after this burlesque scene I returned to Padua, where Bettina
+soon made me forget the little ballet-girl.  I saw her again at
+Charlottenbourg, and that was now seventeen years ago.
+
+I longed to have a talk with her, and to see whether she would
+remember me, though I did not expect her to do so.  I asked if her
+husband Denis was with her, and they told me that the king had
+banished him because he ill-treated her.
+
+I called on her the day after the performance, and was politely
+received, but she said she did not think she had had the pleasure of
+seeing me before.
+
+By degrees I told her of the events of her childhood, and how she
+enchanted all Venice by the grace with which she danced the minuet.
+She interrupted me by saying that at that time she was only six years
+old.
+
+"You could not be more," I replied, "for I was only ten; and
+nevertheless, I fell in love with you, and never have I forgotten the
+kiss you gave me by your father's order in return for some trifling
+present I made you."
+
+"Be quiet; you gave me a beautiful ring, and I kissed you of my own
+free will.  You wore the cassock then.  I have never forgotten you.
+But can it really be you?"
+
+"It is indeed."
+
+"I am.  delighted to see you again.  But I could never have
+recognized you, and I suppose you would not have recognized me."
+
+"No, I should not have known you, unless I had heard your name
+mentioned."
+
+"One alters in twenty years, you know."
+
+"Yes, one cannot expect to have the same face as at six."
+
+"You can bear witness that I am not more than twenty-six, though some
+evil speakers give me ten years more."
+
+"You should not take any notice of such calumnies, my dear.  You are
+in the flower of your age, and made for the service of love.  For my
+part, I congratulate myself on being able to tell you that you are
+the first woman that inspired me with a real passion."
+
+We could not help becoming affectionate if we continued to keep up
+the conversation in this style, but experience had taught us that it
+was well to remain as we were for the present.
+
+Madame Denis was still fresh and youthful looking, though she
+persisted in abbreviating her age by ten years.  Of course she could
+not deceive me, and she must have known it, nevertheless, she liked
+me to bear outward testimony to her youthfulness.  She would have
+detested me if I had attempted to prove to her what she knew
+perfectly well, but did not care to confess.  No doubt she cared
+little for my thoughts on the subject, and she may have imagined that
+I owed her gratitude for diminishing her age, as it enabled me to
+diminish my own to make our tales agree.  However, I did not trouble
+myself much about it, for it is almost a duty in an actress to
+disguise her age, as in spite of talent the public will not forgive a
+woman for having been born too soon.
+
+I thought her behaviour augured well, and I hoped she would not make
+me languish long.  She shewed me her house, which was all elegance
+and good taste.  I asked her if she had a lover, and she replied with
+a smile that all Berlin thought so, but that it was nevertheless
+deceived on the principal point, as the individual in question was
+more of a father than a lover.
+
+"But you deserve to have a real lover; I cannot conceive how you can
+do without one."
+
+"I assure you I don't trouble myself about it.  I am subject to
+convulsions, which are the plague of my life.  I want to try the
+Teplitz waters, which are said to be excellent for all nervous
+affections; but the king has refused his permission, which I,
+nevertheless, hope to obtain next year."
+
+I felt ardently disposed, and I thought she was pleased with the
+restraint I put upon myself.
+
+"Will you be annoyed," said I, "if I call upon you frequently?"
+
+"If you don't mind I will call myself your niece, or your cousin, and
+then we can see each other."
+
+"Do you know that that may possibly be true?  I would not swear that
+you were not my sister."
+
+This sally made us talk of the friendship that had subsisted between
+her father and my mother, and we allowed ourselves those caresses
+which are permitted to near relations; but feeling that things were
+going too far we ceased.  As she bade me farewell, she asked me to
+dine with her the next day, and I accepted.
+
+As I went back to my inn I reflected on the strange combinations
+which made my life one continuous chain of events, and I felt it my
+duty to give thanks to eternal Providence, for I felt that I had been
+born under a happy star.
+
+The next day, when I went to dine with Madame Denis, I found a
+numerous company assembled.  The first person who greeted me with the
+warmth of an old friend was a young dancer named Aubri, whom I had
+known at Paris and at Venice.  He was famous for having been the
+lover of one of the most exalted Venetian ladies, and at the same
+time her husband's pathic.  It was said that this scandalous intimacy
+was of such a nature that Aubri used to sleep between the husband and
+wife.  At the beginning of Lent the State Inquisitors sent him to
+Trieste.  He introduced me to his wife, who danced like himself and
+was called La Panting.  He had married her at St. Petersburg, from
+which city he had just come, and they were going to spend the winter
+in Paris.  The next person who advanced to greet me was a fat man,
+who held out his hand and said we had been friends twenty-five years
+ago, but that we were so young then that it would be no wonder if we
+did not know each other.  "We knew each other at Padua, at Dr.
+Gozzi's," he added; "my name is Joseph da Loglio."
+
+"I remember you," I replied, "in those days you were violoncello at
+the Russian chapel."
+
+"Exactly; and now I am returning to my native land to leave it no
+more.  I have the honour to introduce you to my wife, who was born at
+St. Petersburg, but is a daughter of Modonis the violinist, whose
+reputation is European.  In a week I shall be at Dresden, where I
+hope to have the honour of seeing Madame Casanova, your mother."
+
+I was delighted to find myself in such congenial society, but I could
+see that Madame Denis did not relish these recollections extending
+over a quarter of a century, and I turned the conversation to the
+events at St. Petersburg which had resulted in Catherine the Great
+ascending the throne.  Da Loglio told us that he had taken a small
+part in this conspiracy, and had thought it prudent to get out of the
+way.  "Fortunately," he added, "this was a contingency I had long
+provided against, and I am in a position to spend the rest of my days
+in comfort in Italy."
+
+Madame Denis then observed:
+
+"A week ago a Piedmontese, named Audar, was introduced to me.  He had
+been a chief mover in the conspiracy, and the empress gave him a
+present of a hundred thousand roubles and an order to leave Russia
+immediately."
+
+I heard afterwards that this Audar bought an estate in Piedmont on
+which he built a fine mansion.  In two or three years it was struck
+by a thunder-bolt, and the unfortunate man was killed in the ruins of
+his own house.  If this was a blow from an Almighty hand, it could
+not, at all events, have been directed by the genius of Russia, for
+if the unfortunate Peter III. had lived, he would have retarded
+Russian civilization by a hundred years.
+
+The Empress Catherine rewarded all the foreigners who had assisted
+her in her plots most magnificently, and shewed herself grateful to
+the Russians who had helped her to mount the throne; while, like a
+crafty politician, she sent such nobles as she suspected to be averse
+to revolution out of the country.
+
+It was Da Loglio and his pretty wife who determined me to betake
+myself to Russia in case the King of Prussia did not give me any
+employment.  I was assured that I should make my fortune there, and
+Da Loglio promised to give me good instructions.
+
+As soon as this worthy man left Berlin my intimacy with Madame Denis
+commenced.  One night when I was supping with her she was seized with
+convulsions which lasted all the night.  I did not leave her for a
+moment, and in the morning, feeling quite recovered, her gratitude
+finished what my love had begun twenty-six years before, and our
+amorous commerce lasted while I stayed at Berlin.  We shall hear of
+her again at Florence six years later.
+
+Some days after Madame Denis took me to Potsdam to shew me all the
+sights of the town.  Our intimacy offended no one, for she was
+generally believed to be my niece, and the general who kept her
+either believed the report, or like a man of sense pretended to
+believe it.
+
+Amongst other notable things I saw at Potsdam was the sight of the
+king commanding the first battalion of his grenadiers, all picked
+men, the flower of the Prussian army.
+
+The room which we occupied at the inn faced a walk by which the king
+passed when he came from the castle.  The shutters were all closed,
+and our landlady told us that on one occasion when a pretty dancer
+called La Reggiana was sleeping in the same room, the king had seen
+her in 'puris naturalibus'.  This was too much for his modesty, and
+he had ordered the shutters to be closed, and closed they had
+remained, though this event was four years old.  The king had some
+cause to fear, for he had been severely treated by La Barbarina.  In
+the king's bedroom we saw her portrait, that of La Cochois, sister to
+the actress who became Marchioness d'Argens, and that of Marie
+Theresa, with whom Frederick had been in love, or rather he had been
+in love with the idea of becoming emperor.
+
+After we had admired the beauty and elegance of the castle, we could
+not help admiring the way in which the master of the castle was
+lodged.  He had a mean room, and slept on a little bed with a screen
+around it.  There was no dressing-gown and no slippers.  The valet
+shewed us an old cap which the king put on when he had a cold; it
+looked as if it must be very uncomfortable.  His majesty's bureau was
+a table covered with pens, paper, half-burnt manuscripts, and an ink-
+pot; beside it was a sofa.  The valet told us that these manuscripts
+contained the history of the last Prussian war, and the king had been
+so annoyed by their accidentally getting burnt that he had resolved
+to have no more to do with the work.  He probably changed his mind,
+for the book, which is little esteemed, was published shortly after
+his death.
+
+Five or six weeks after my curious conversation with the monarch,
+Marshal Keith told me that his majesty had been pleased to create me
+a tutor to the new corps of Pomeranian cadets which he was just
+establishing.  There were to be fifteen cadets and five tutors, so
+that each should have the care of three pupils.  The salary was six
+hundred crowns and board found.  The duty of the tutors was to follow
+or accompany the cadets wherever they went, Court included.  I had to
+be quick in making up my mind, for the four others were already
+installed, and his majesty did not like to be kept waiting.  I asked
+Lord Keith where the college was, and I promised to give him a reply
+by the next day.
+
+I had to summon all my powers of self-restraint to my assistance when
+I heard this extravagant proposal as coming from a man who was so
+discreet in most things, but my astonishment was increased when I saw
+the abode of these fifteen young noblemen of rich Pomerania.  It
+consisted of three or four great rooms almost devoid of furniture,
+several whitewashed bedrooms, containing a wretched bed, a deal
+table, and two deal chairs.  The young cadets, boys of twelve or
+thirteen, all looked dirty and untidy, and were boxed up in a
+wretched uniform which matched admirably their rude and rustic faces.
+They were in company with their four governors, whom I took for their
+servants, and who looked at me in a stupefied manner, not daring to
+think that I was to be their future colleague.
+
+Just as I was going to bid an eternal farewell to this abode of
+misery, one of the governors put his head out of the window and
+exclaimed,--
+
+"The king is riding up."
+
+I could not avoid meeting him, and besides, I was glad enough to see
+him again, especially in such a place.
+
+His majesty came up with his friend Icilius, examined everything, and
+saw me, but did not honour me with a word.  I was elegantly dressed,
+and wore my cross set with brilliants.  But I had to bite my lips so
+as not to burst out laughing when Frederick the Great got in a
+towering rage at a chamber utensil which stood beside one of the
+beds, and which did not appear to be in a very cleanly condition.
+
+"Whose bed is this?" cried the monarch.
+
+"Mine, sire," answered a trembling cadet.
+
+"Good! but it is not you I am angry with; where is your governor?"
+
+The fortunate governor presented himself, and the monarch, after
+honouring him with the title of blockhead, proceeded to scold him
+roundly.  However, he ended by saying that there was a servant, and
+that the governor ought to see that he did his work properly.
+This disgusting scene was enough for me, and I hastened to call on
+Marshal Keith to announce my determination.  The old soldier laughed
+at the description I gave him of the academy, and said I was quite
+right to despise such an office; but that I ought, nevertheless, to
+go and thank the king before I left Berlin.  I said I did not feel
+inclined for another interview with such a man, and he agreed to
+present my thanks and excuses in my stead.
+
+I made up my mind to go to Russia, and began my preparations in good
+earnest.  Baron Treidel supported my resolve by offering to give me a
+letter of introduction to his sister, the Duchess of Courland.  I
+wrote to M. de Bragadin to 'give me a letter for a banker at St.
+Petersburg, and to remit me through him every month a sum which would
+keep me in comfort.
+
+I could not travel without a servant, and chance kindly provided me
+with one.  I was sitting with Madame Rufin, when a young Lorrainer
+came in; like Bias, he bore all his fortune with him, but, in his
+case, it was carried under his arm.  He introduced himself thus:
+
+"Madam, my name is Lambert, I come from Lorraine, and I wish to lodge
+here."
+
+"Very good, sir, but you must pay for your board and lodging every
+day."
+
+"That, madam, is out of the question, for I have not got a farthing,
+but I shall have some money when I discover who I am."
+
+"I am afraid I cannot put you up on those conditions, sir."
+
+He was going away with a mortified air, when my heart was touched,
+and I called him back.
+
+"Stay," said I, "I will pay for you to-day."
+
+Happiness beamed over his face.
+
+"What have you got in that little bundle?" said I.
+
+"Two shirts, a score of mathematical books, and some other trifles."
+
+I took him to my room, and finding him tolerably well educated, I
+asked him how he came to be in such a state of destitution.
+
+"I come from Strasburg," he replied, "and a cadet of a regiment
+stationed there having given me a blow in a coffee-house I paid him a
+visit the next day in his own room and stabbed him there.
+
+"After this I went home, made up my bundle, and left the town.  I
+walked all the way and lived soberly, so that my money lasted till
+this morning.  To-morrow I shall write to my mother, who lives at
+Luneville, and I am sure she will send me some money."
+
+"And what do you think of doing?"
+
+"I want to become a military engineer, but if needs must I am ready
+to enlist as a private soldier."
+
+"I can give you board and lodging till you hear from your mother."
+
+"Heaven has sent you in my way," said he, kissing my hand gratefully.
+
+I did not suspect him of deceiving me, though he stumbled somewhat in
+his narrative.  However my curiosity led me to write to M.
+Schauenbourg, who was then at Strasburg, to enquire if the tale were
+true.
+
+The next day I happened to meet an officer of engineers, who told me
+that young men of education were so plentiful that they did not
+receive them into the service unless they were willing to serve as
+common soldiers.  I was sorry for the young man to be reduced so low
+as that.  I began to spend some time with him every day in
+mathematical calculations, and I conceived the idea of taking him
+with me to St. Petersburg, and broached the subject to him.
+
+"It would be a piece of good fortune for me," he replied, "and to
+shew my gratitude I will gladly wait on you as a servant during the
+journey."
+
+He spoke French badly, but as he was a Lorrainer I was not astonished
+at that.  Nevertheless I was surprised to find that he did not know a
+word of Latin, and that his spelling was of the wildest description.
+He saw me laughing, but did not seem in the least ashamed.  Indeed he
+said that he had only gone to school to learn mathematics, and that
+he was very glad that he had escaped the infliction of learning
+grammar.  Indeed, on every subject besides mathematics, he was
+profoundly ignorant.  He had no manners whatever; in fact, he was a
+mere peasant.
+
+Ten or twelve days later I received a letter from M. de Schauenbourg,
+saying that the name of Lambert was unknown in Strasburg, and that no
+cadet had been killed or wounded.
+
+When I shewed Lambert this letter he said that as he wished to enter
+the army he thought it would be of service to him to shew that he was
+brave, adding that as this lie had not been told with the idea of
+imposing on me I should forgive it.
+
+"Poverty," said he, "is a rascally teacher, that gives a man some bad
+lessons.  I am not a liar by disposition, but I have nevertheless
+told you a lie on another and a more important matter.  I don't
+expect any money whatever from my poor mother, who rather needs that
+I should send money to her.  So forgive me, and be sure I shall be a
+faithful servant to you."
+
+I was always ready to forgive other men's peccadilloes, and not
+without cause.  I liked Lambert's line of argument, and told him that
+we would set out in five or six days.
+
+Baron Bodisson, a Venetian who wanted to sell the king a picture by
+Andrea del Sarto, asked me to come with him to Potsdam and the desire
+of seeing the monarch once again made me accept the invitation.  When
+I reached Potsdam I went to see the parade at which Frederick was
+nearly always to be found.  When he saw me he came up and asked me in
+a familiar manner when I was going to start for St. Petersburg.
+
+"In five or six days, if your majesty has no objection."
+
+"I wish you a pleasant journey; but what do you hope to do in that
+land?"
+
+"What I hoped to do in this land, namely, to please the sovereign."
+
+"Have you got an introduction to the empress?"
+
+"No, but I have an introduction to a banker."
+
+"Ah! that's much better.  If you pass through Prussia on your return
+I shall be delighted to hear of your adventures in Russia."
+
+"Farewell, sire."
+
+Such was the second interview I had with this great king, whom I
+never saw again.
+
+After I had taken leave of all my friends I applied to Baron Treidel,
+who gave me a letter for M. de Kaiserling, lord-chancellor at Mitau,
+and another letter for his sister, the Duchess of Courland, and I
+spent the last night with the charming Madame Denis.  She bought my
+post-chaise, and I started with two hundred ducats in my purse.  This
+would have been ample for the whole journey if I had not been so
+foolish as to reduce it by half at a party of pleasure with some
+young merchants at Dantzic.  I was thus unable to stay a few days at
+Koenigsberg, though I had a letter to Field-Marshal von Lewald, who
+was the governor of the place.  I could only stay one day to dine
+with this pleasant old soldier, who gave me a letter for his friend
+General Woiakoff, the Governor of Riga.
+
+I found I was rich enough to arrive at Mitau in state, and I
+therefore took a carriage and six, and reached my destination in
+three days.  At the inn where I put up I found a Florentine artiste
+named Bregonei, who overwhelmed me with caresses, telling me that I
+had loved her when I was a boy and wore the cassock.  I saw her six
+years later at Florence, where she was living with Madame Denis.
+
+The day after my departure from Memel, I was accosted in the open
+country by a man whom I recognized as a Jew.  He informed me that I
+was on Polish territory, and that I must pay duty on whatever
+merchandise I had with me.
+
+"I am no merchant," said I, "and you will get nothing out of me."
+
+"I have the right to examine your effects," replied the Israelite,
+"and I mean to make use of it."
+
+"You are a madman," I exclaimed, and I ordered the postillion to whip
+him off.
+
+But the Jew ran and seized the fore horses by the bridle and stopped
+us, and the postillion, instead of whipping him, waited with Teutonic
+calm for me to come and send the Jew away.  I was in a furious rage,
+and leaping out with my cane in one hand and a pistol in the other I
+soon put the Jew to flight after applying about a dozen good sound
+blows to his back.  I noticed that during the combat my fellow-
+traveller, my Archimedes-in-ordinary, who had been asleep all the
+way, did not offer to stir.  I reproached him for his cowardice; but
+he told me that he did not want the Jew to say that we had set on him
+two to one.
+
+I arrived at Mitau two days after this burlesque adventure and got
+down at the inn facing the castle.  I had only three ducats left.
+
+The next morning I called on M. de Kaiserling, who read the Baron de
+Treidel's letter, and introduced me to his wife, and left me with her
+to take the baron's letter to his sister.
+
+Madame de Kaiserling ordered a cup of chocolate to be brought me by a
+beautiful young Polish girl, who stood before me with lowered eyes as
+if she wished to give me the opportunity of examining her at ease.
+As I looked at her a whim came into my head, and, as the reader is
+aware, I have never resisted any of my whims.  However, this was a
+curious one.  As I have said, I had only three ducats left, but after
+I had emptied the cup of chocolate I put it back on the plate and the
+three ducats with it.
+
+The chancellor came back and told me that the duchess could not see
+me just then, but that she invited me to a supper and ball she was
+giving that evening.  I accepted the supper and refused the ball, on
+the pretext that I had only summer clothes and a black suit.  It was
+in the beginning of October, and the cold was already commencing to
+make itself felt.  The chancellor returned to the Court, and I to my
+inn.
+
+Half an hour later a chamberlain came to bring me her highness's
+compliments, and to inform me that the ball would be a masked one,
+and that I could appear in domino.
+
+"You can easily get one from the Jews," he added.  He further
+informed me that the ball was to have been a full-dress one, but that
+the duchess had sent word to all the guests that it would be masked,
+as a stranger who was to be present had sent on his trunks.
+
+"I am sorry to have caused so much trouble," said I.
+
+"Not at all," he replied, "the masked ball will be much more relished
+by the people."
+
+He mentioned the time it was to begin, and left me.
+
+No doubt the reader will think that I found myself in an awkward
+predicament, and I will be honest and confess I was far from being at
+my ease.  However, my good luck came to my assistance.
+
+As Prussian money (which is the worst in Germany) is not current in
+Russia, a Jew came and asked me if I had any friedrichs d'or,
+offering to exchange them against ducats without putting me to any
+loss.
+
+"I have only ducats," I replied, "and therefore I cannot profit by
+your offer."
+
+"I know it sir, and you give them away very cheaply."
+
+Not understanding what he meant, I simply gazed at him, and he went
+on to say that he would be glad to let me have two hundred ducats if
+I would kindly give him a bill on St. Petersburg for roubles to that
+amount.
+
+I was somewhat surprised at the fellow's trustfulness, but after
+pretending to think the matter over I said that I was not in want of
+ducats, but that I would take a hundred to oblige him.  He counted
+out the money gratefully, and I gave him a bill on the banker,
+Demetrio Papanelopoulo, for whom Da Loglio had given me a letter.
+The Jew went his way, thanking me, and saying that he would send me
+some beautiful dominos to choose from.  Just then I remembered that I
+wanted silk stockings, and I sent Lambert after the Jew to tell him
+to send some.  When he came back he told me that the landlord had
+stopped him to say that I scattered my ducats broadcast, as the Jew
+had informed him that I had given three ducats to Madame de
+Kaiserling's maid.
+
+This, then, was the key to the mystery, and it made me lose myself in
+wonder at the strangeness of the decrees of fortune.  I should not
+have been able to get a single crown at Mitau if it had not been for
+the way in which I scattered my three remaining ducats.  No doubt the
+astonished girl had published my generosity all over the town, and
+the Jew, intent on money-making, had hastened to offer his ducats to
+the rich nobleman who thought so little of his money.
+
+I repaired to Court at the time appointed, and M. de Kaiserling
+immediately presented me to the duchess, and she to the duke, who was
+the celebrated Biron, or Birlen, the former favourite of Anna
+Ivanovna.  He was six feet in height, and still preserved some traces
+of having been a fine man, but old age had laid its heavy hand on
+him.  I had a long talk with him the day after the ball.
+
+A quarter of an hour after my arrival, the ball began with a
+polonaise.  I was a stranger with introductions, so the duchess asked
+me to open the ball with her.  I did not know the dance, but I
+managed to acquit myself honourably in it, as the steps are simple
+and lend themselves to the fancy of the dancer.
+
+After the polonaise we danced minuets, and a somewhat elderly lady
+asked me if I could dance the "King Conqueror," so I proceeded to
+execute it with her.  It had gone out of fashion since the time of
+the Regency, but my companion may have shone in it in those days.
+All the younger ladies stood round and watched us with admiration.
+
+After a square dance, in which I had as partner Mdlle. de Manteufel,
+the prettiest of the duchess's maids of honour, her highness told me
+that supper was ready.  I came up to her and offered my arm, and
+presently found myself seated beside her at a table laid for twelve
+where I was the only gentleman.  However, the reader need not envy
+me; the ladies were all elderly dowagers, who had long lost the power
+of turning men's heads.  The duchess took the greatest care of my
+comforts, and at the end of the repast gave me with her own hands a
+glass of liqueur, which I took for Tokay and praised accordingly, but
+it turned out to be only old English ale.  I took her back to the
+ball when we rose from table.  The young chamberlain who had invited
+me told me the names of all the ladies present, but I had no time to
+pay my court to any of them.
+
+The next day I dined with M. de Kaiserling, and handed Lambert over
+to a Jew to be clothed properly.
+
+The day after I dined with the duke with a party consisting only of
+men.  The old prince made me do most of the talking, and towards the
+end of the dinner the conversation fell upon the resources of the
+country which was rich in minerals and semi-minerals.  I took it into
+my head to say that these resources ought to be developed, and that
+they would become precious if that were done.  To justify this remark
+I had to speak upon the matter as if I had made it my principal
+study.  An old chamberlain, who had the control of the mines, after
+allowing me to exhaust my enthusiasm, began to discuss the question
+himself, made divers objections, but seemed to approve of many of my
+remarks.
+
+If I had reflected when I began to speak in this manner that I should
+have to act up to my words, I should certainly have said much less;
+but as it was, the duke fancied that I knew much more than I cared to
+say.  The result was that, when the company had risen from the table,
+he asked me if I could spare him a fortnight on my way to St.
+Petersburg.  I said I should be glad to oblige him, and he took me to
+his closet and said that the chamberlain who had spoken to me would
+conduct me over all the mines and manufactories in his duchies, and
+that he would be much obliged if I would write down any observations
+that struck me.  I agreed to his proposal, and said I would start the
+next day.
+
+The duke was delighted with my compliance, and gave the chamberlain
+the necessary orders, and it was agreed that he should call for me at
+day-break with a carriage and six.
+
+When I got home I made my preparations, and told Lambert to be ready
+to accompany me with his case of instruments.  I then informed him of
+the object of the journey, and he promised to assist me to the best
+of his ability, though he knew nothing about mines, and still less of
+the science of administration.
+
+We started at day-break, with a servant on the box, and two others
+preceding us on horseback, armed to the teeth.  We changed horses
+every two or three hours, and the chamberlain having brought plenty
+of wine we refreshed ourselves now and again.
+
+The tour lasted a fortnight, and we stopped at five iron and copper
+manufactories.  I found it was not necessary to have much technical
+knowledge to make notes on what I saw; all I required was a little
+sound argument, especially in the matter of economy, which was the
+duke's main object.  In one place I advised reforms, and in another I
+counselled the employment of more hands as likely to benefit the
+revenue.  In one mine where thirty convicts were employed I ordered
+the construction of a short canal, by which three wheels could be
+turned and twenty men saved.  Under my direction Lambert drew the
+plans, and made the measurements with perfect accuracy.  By means of
+other canals I proposed to drain whole valleys, with a view to obtain
+the sulphur with which the soil was permeated.
+
+I returned to Mitau quite delighted at having made myself useful, and
+at having discovered in myself a talent which I had never suspected.
+I spent the following day in making a fair copy of my report and in
+having the plans done on a larger scale.  The day after I took the
+whole to the duke, who seemed well pleased; and as I was taking leave
+of him at the same time he said he would have me drive to Riga in one
+of his carriages, and he gave me a letter for his son, Prince
+Charles, who was in garrison there.
+
+The worthy old man told me to say plainly whether I should prefer a
+jewel or a sum of money of equivalent value.
+
+"From a philosopher like your highness," I replied, "I am not afraid
+to take money, for it may be more useful to me than jewels."
+
+Without more ado he gave me a draft for four hundred albertsthalers,
+which I got cashed immediately, the albertsthaler being worth half a
+ducat.  I bade farewell to the duchess, and dined a second time with
+M. de Kaiserling.
+
+The next day the young chamberlain came to bring me the duke's
+letter, to wish me a pleasant journey, and to tell me that the Court
+carriage was at my door.  I set out well pleased with the assistance
+the stuttering Lambert had given me, and by noon I was at Riga.  The
+first thing I did was to deliver my letter of introduction to Prince
+Charles.
+
+
+
+
+End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of MEMOIRES OF JACQUES CASANOVA
+IN LONDON AND MOSCOW, Vol. 5d, LONDON TO BERLIN
+by Jacques Casanova de Seingalt
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+The Project Gutenberg Etext of London to Berlin, by Jacques Casanova
+#24 in our series by Jacques Casanova de Seingalt
+
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+Title: Flight from London to Berlin, Casanova, v24
+
+Author: Jacques Casanova de Seingalt
+
+Release Date: December, 2001 [Etext #2974]
+[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule]
+[Most recently updated: December 10, 2001]
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+The Project Gutenberg Etext of London to Berlin, by Casanova
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+
+MEMOIRS OF JACQUES CASANOVA de SEINGALT 1725-1798
+IN LONDON AND MOSCOW, Volume 5d--LONDON TO BERLIN
+
+
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+FLIGHT FROM LONDON TO BERLIN
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+Bottarelli--A Letter from Pauline--The Avenging Parrot--Pocchini--
+Guerra, the Venetian--I Meet Sara Again; My Idea of Marrying Her and
+Settling in Switzerland--The Hanoverians
+
+Thus ended the first act of the comedy; the second began the next
+morning.  I was just getting up, when I heard a noise at the street
+door, and on putting my head out of the window I saw Pocchini, the
+scoundrel who had robbed me at Stuttgart trying to get into my house.
+I cried out wrathfully that I would have nothing to do with him, and
+slammed down my window.
+
+A little later Goudar put in an appearance.  He had got a copy of the
+St. James's Chronicle, containing a brief report of my arrest, and of
+my being set a liberty under a bail of eighty guineas.  My name and
+the lady's were disguised, but Rostaing and Bottarelli were set down
+plainly, and the editor praised their conduct.  I felt as if I should
+like to know Bottarelli, and begged Goudar to take me to him, and
+Martinelli, happening to call just then, said he would come with us.
+
+We entered a wretched room on the third floor of a wretched house,
+and there we beheld a picture of the greatest misery.  A woman and
+five children clothed in rags formed the foreground, and in the
+background was Bottarelli, in an old dressing-gown, writing at a
+table worthy of Philemon and Baucis.  He rose as we came in, and the
+sight of him moved me to compassion.  I said,--
+
+"Do you know me, sir?"
+
+"No, sir, I do not."
+
+"I am Casanova, against whom you bore false witness; whom you tried
+to cast into Newgate."
+
+"I am very sorry, but look around you and say what choice have I?  I
+have no bread to give my children.  I will do as much in your favour
+another time for nothing."
+
+"Are you not afraid of the gallows?"
+
+"No, for perjury is not punished with death; besides it is very
+difficult to prove."
+
+"I have heard you are a poet."
+
+"Yes.  I have lengthened the Didone and abridged the Demetrio."
+
+"You are a great poet, indeed!"
+
+I felt more contempt than hatred for the rascal, and gave his wife a
+guinea, for which she presented me with a wretched pamphlet by her
+husband: "The Secrets of the Freemasons Displayed."  Bottarelli had
+been a monk in his native city, Pisa, and had fled to England with
+his wife, who had been a nun.
+
+About this time M. de Saa surprised me by giving me a letter from my
+fair Portuguese, which confirmed the sad fate of poor Clairmont.
+Pauline said she was married to Count Al----.  I was astonished to
+hear M. de Saa observe that he had known all about Pauline from the
+moment she arrived in London.  That is the hobby of all diplomatists;
+they like people to believe that they are omniscient.  However, M. de
+Saa was a man of worth and talent, and one could excuse this weakness
+as an incident inseparable from his profession; while most
+diplomatists only make themselves ridiculous by their assumption of
+universal knowledge.
+
+M. de Saa had been almost as badly treated by the Charpillon as
+myself, and we might have condoled with one another, but the subject
+was not mentioned.
+
+A few days afterwards, as I was walking idly about, I passed a place
+called the Parrot Market.  As I was amusing myself by looking at
+these curious birds, I saw a fine young one in a cage, and asked what
+language it spoke.  They told me that it was quite young and did not
+speak at all yet, so I bought it for ten guineas.  I thought I would
+teach the bird a pretty speech, so I had the cage hung by my bed, and
+repeated dozens of times every day the following sentence: "The
+Charpillon is a bigger wh--e than her mother."
+
+The only end I had in view was my private amusement, and in a
+fortnight the bird had learnt the phrase with the utmost exactness;
+and every time it uttered the words it accompanied them with a shriek
+of laughter which I had not taught it, but which made me laugh
+myself.
+
+One day Gondar heard the bird, and told me that if I sent it to the
+Exchange I should certainly get fifty guineas for it.  I welcomed the
+idea, and resolved to make the parrot the instrument of my vengeance
+against the woman who had treated me so badly.  I secured myself from
+fear of the law, which is severe in such cases, by entrusting the
+bird to my negro, to whom such merchandise was very suitable.
+
+For the first two or three days my parrot did not attract much
+attention, its observations being in French; but as soon as those who
+knew the subject of them had heard it, its audience increased and
+bids were made.  Fifty guineas seemed rather too much, and my negro
+wanted me to lower the price, but I would not agree, having fallen in
+love with this odd revenge.
+
+In the course of a week Goudar came to inform me of the effect the
+parrot's criticism had produced in the Charpillon family.  As the
+vendor was my negro, there could be no doubt as to whom it belonged,
+and who had been its master of languages.  Goudar said that the
+Charpillon thought my vengeance very ingenious, but that the mother
+and aunts were furious.  They had consulted several counsel, who
+agreed in saying that a parrot could not be indicted for libel, but
+that they could make me pay dearly for my jest if they could prove
+that I had been the bird's instructor.  Goudar warned me to be
+careful of owning to the fact, as two witnesses would suffice to undo
+me.
+
+The facility with which false witnesses may be produced in London is
+something dreadful.  I have myself seen the word evidence written in
+large characters in a window; this is as much as to say that false
+witnesses may be procured within.
+
+The St. James's Chronicle contained an article on my parrot, in which
+the writer remarked that the ladies whom the bird insulted must be
+very poor and friendless, or they would have bought it at once, and
+have thus prevented the thing from becoming the talk of the town.  He
+added,--
+
+"The teacher of the parrot has no doubt made the bird an instrument
+of his vengeance, and has displayed his wit in doing so; he ought to
+be an Englishman."
+
+I met my good friend Edgar, and asked him why he had not bought the
+little slanderer.
+
+"Because it delights all who know anything about the object of the
+slander," said he.
+
+At last Jarbe found a purchaser for fifty guineas, and I heard
+afterwards that Lord Grosvenor had bought it to please the
+Charpillon, with whom he occasionally diverted himself.
+
+Thus my relations with that girl came to an end.  I have seen her
+since with the greatest indifference, and without any renewal of the
+old pain.
+
+One day, as I was going into St. James's Park, I saw two girls
+drinking milk in a room on the ground floor of a house.  They called
+out to me, but not knowing them I passed on my way.  However, a young
+officer of my acquaintance came after me and said they were Italians,
+and being curious to see them I retracted my steps.
+
+When I entered the room I was accosted by the scoundrelly Pocchini,
+dressed in a military uniform, who said he had the honour of
+introducing me to his daughters.
+
+"Indeed," said I, "I remember two other daughters of yours robbing me
+of a snuff-box and two watches at Stuttgart."
+
+"You lie!" said the impudent rascal.
+
+I gave him no verbal answer, but took up a glass of milk and flung it
+in his face, and then left the room without more ado.
+
+I was without my sword.  The young officer who had brought me into
+the place followed me and told me I must not go without giving his
+friend some satisfaction.
+
+"Tell him to come out, and do you escort him to the Green Park, and I
+shall have the pleasure of giving him a caning in your presence,
+unless you would like to fight for him; if so, you must let me go
+home and get my sword.  But do you know this man whom you call your
+friend?"
+
+"No, but he is an officer, and it is I that brought him here."
+
+"Very good, I will fight to the last drop of my blood; but I warn you
+your friend is a thief.  But go; I will await you."
+
+In the course of a quarter of an hour they all came out, but the
+Englishman and Pocchini followed me alone.  There were a good many
+people about, and I went before them till we reached Hyde Park.
+Pocchini attempted to speak to me, but I replied, lifting my cane,--
+
+"Scoundrel, draw your sword, unless you want me to give you a
+thrashing!"
+
+"I will never draw upon a defenceless man."
+
+I gave him a blow with my cane by way of answer, and the coward,
+instead of drawing his sword, began to cry out that I wished to draw
+him into a fight.  The Englishman burst out laughing and begged me to
+pardon his interference, and then, taking me by the arm, said,--
+
+"Come along, sir, I see you know the gentleman."
+
+The coward went off in another direction, grumbling as he went.
+
+On the way I informed the officer of the very good reasons I had for
+treating Pocchini as a rogue, and he agreed that I had been perfectly
+right.  "Unfortunately," he added, "I am in love with one of his
+daughters."
+
+When we were in the midst of St. James's Park we saw them, and I
+could not help laughing when I noticed Goudar with one of them on
+each side.
+
+"How did you come to know these ladies?" said I.
+
+"Their father the captain," he answered, "has sold me jewels; he
+introduced me to them."
+
+"Where did you leave our father?" asked one.
+
+"In Hyde Park, after giving him a caning."
+
+"You served him quite right."
+
+The young Englishman was indignant to hear them approving my ill-
+treatment of their father, and shook my hand and went away, swearing
+to me that he would never be seen in their company again.
+
+A whim of Goudar's, to which I was weak enough to consent, made me
+dine with these miserable women in a tavern on the borders of London.
+The rascally Goudar made them drunk, and in this state they told some
+terrible truths about their pretended father.  He did not live with
+them, but paid them nocturnal visits in which he robbed them of all
+the money they had earned.  He was their pander, and made them rob
+their visitors instructing them to pass it off as a joke if the theft
+was discovered.  They gave him the stolen articles, but he never said
+what he did with them.  I could not help laughing at this involuntary
+confession, remembering what Goudar had said about Pocchini selling
+him jewels.
+
+After this wretched meal I went away leaving the duty of escorting
+them back to Goudar.  He came and saw me the next day, and informed
+me that the girls had been arrested and taken to prison just as they
+were entering their house.
+
+"I have just been to Pocchini's," said he, "but the landlord tells me
+he has not been in since yesterday."
+
+The worthy and conscientious Goudar added that he did not care if he
+never saw him again, as he owed the fellow ten guineas for a watch,
+which his daughters had probably stolen, and which was well worth
+double.
+
+Four days later I saw him again, and he informed me that the rascal
+had left London with a servant-maid, whom he had engaged at a
+registry office where any number of servants are always ready to take
+service with the first comer.  The keeper of the office answers for
+their fidelity.
+
+"The girl he has gone with is a pretty one, from what the man tells
+me, and they have taken ship from London.  I am sorry he went away
+before I could pay him for the watch; I am dreading every moment to
+meet the individual from whom it was stolen."
+
+I never heard what became of the girls, but Pocchini will re-appear
+on the scene in due course.
+
+I led a tranquil and orderly life, which I should have been pleased
+to continue for the remainder of my days; but circumstances and my
+destiny ordered it otherwise, and against these it is not becoming in
+a Christian philosopher to complain.  I went several times to see my
+daughter at her school, and I also frequented the British Museum,
+where I met Dr. Mati.  One day I found an Anglican minister with him,
+and I asked the clergyman how many different sects there were in
+England.
+
+"Sir," he replied in very tolerable Italian, "no one can give a
+positive answer to that question, for every week some sect dies and
+some new one is brought into being.  All that is necessary is for a
+man of good faith, or some rogue desirous of money or notoriety, to
+stand in some frequented place and begin preaching.  He explains some
+texts of the Bible in his own fashion, and if he pleases the gapers
+around him they invite him to expound next Sunday, often in a tavern.
+He keeps the appointment and explains his new doctrines in a spirited
+manner.  Then people begin to talk of him; he disputes with ministers
+of other sects; he and his followers give themselves a name, and the
+thing is done.  Thus, or almost thus, are all the numerous English
+sects produced."
+
+About this time M. Steffano Guerra, a noble Venetian who was
+travelling with the leave of his Government, lost a case against an
+English painter who had executed a miniature painting of one of the
+prettiest ladies in London, Guerra having given a written promise to
+pay twenty-five guineas.  When it was finished Guerra did not like
+it, and would not take it or pay the price.  The Englishman, in
+accordance with the English custom, began by arresting his debtor;
+but Guerra was released on bail, and brought the matter before the
+courts, which condemned him to pay the twenty-five guineas.  He
+appealed, lost again, and was in the end obliged to pay.  Guerra
+contented that he had ordered a portrait, that a picture bearing no
+likeness to the lady in question was not a portrait, and that he had
+therefore a right to refuse payment.  The painter replied that it was
+a portrait as it had been painted from life.  The judgment was that
+the painter must live by his trade, and that as Guerra had given him
+painting to do he must therefore provide him with the wherewithal to
+live, seeing that the artist swore he had done his best to catch the
+likeness.  Everybody thought this sentence just, and so did I; but I
+confess it also seemed rather hard, especially to Guerra, who with
+costs had to pay a hundred guineas for the miniature.
+
+Malingan's daughter died just as her father received a public box on
+the ear from a nobleman who liked piquet, but did not like players
+who corrected the caprices of fortune.  I gave the poor wretch the
+wherewithal to bury his daughter and to leave England.  He died soon
+after at Liege, and his wife told me of the circumstance, saying that
+he had expired regretting his inability to pay his debts.
+
+M. M---- F---- came to London as the representative of the canton of
+Berne, and I called, but was not received.  I suspected that he had
+got wind of the liberties I had taken with pretty Sara, and did not
+want me to have an opportunity for renewing them.  He was a somewhat
+eccentric man, so I did not take offence, and had almost forgotten
+all about it when chance led me to the Marylebone Theatre one
+evening.  The spectators sat at little tables, and the charge for
+admittance was only a shilling, but everyone was expected to order
+something, were it only a pot of ale.
+
+On going into the theatre I chanced to sit down beside a girl whom I
+did not notice at first, but soon after I came in she turned towards
+me, and I beheld a ravishing profile which somehow seemed familiar;
+but I attributed that to the idea of perfect beauty that was graven
+on my soul.  The more I looked at her the surer I felt that I had
+never seen her before, though a smile of inexpressible slyness had
+begun to play about her lips.  One of her gloves fell, and I hastened
+to restore it to her, whereupon she thanked me in a few well-chosen
+French sentences.
+
+"Madam is not English, then?" said I, respectfully.
+
+"No, sir, I am a Swiss, and a friend of yours."
+
+At this I looked round, and on my right hand sat Madame M---- F----,
+then her eldest daughter, then her husband.  I got up, and after
+bowing to the lady, for whom I had a great esteem, I saluted her
+husband, who only replied by a slight movement of the head.  I asked
+Madame M---- F---- what her husband had against me, and she said that
+Possano had written to him telling some dreadful stories about me.
+
+There was not time for me to explain and justify myself, so I devoted
+all my energies to the task of winning the daughter's good graces.
+In three years she had grown into a perfect beauty: she knew it, and
+by her blushes as she spoke to me I knew she was thinking of what had
+passed between us in the presence of my housekeeper.  I was anxious
+to find out whether she would acknowledge the fact, or deny it
+altogether.  If she had done so I should have despised her.  When I
+had seen her before, the blossom of her beauty was still in the bud,
+now it had opened out in all its splendour.
+
+"Charming Sara," I said, "you have so enchanted me that I cannot help
+asking you a couple of questions, which if you value my peace of mind
+you will answer.  Do you remember what happened at Berne?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"And do you repent of what you did?"
+
+"No."
+
+No man of any delicacy could ask the third question, which may be
+understood.  I felt sure that Sara would make me happy-nay, that she
+was even longing for the moment, and gave reins to my passions,
+determined to convince her that I was deserving of her love.
+The waiter came to enquire if we had any orders, and I begged Madame
+M---- F---- to allow me to offer her some oysters.  After the usual
+polite refusals she gave in, and I profited by her acceptance to
+order all the delicacies of the season, including a hare (a great
+delicacy in London), champagne, choice liqueurs, larks, ortolans,
+truffles, sweetmeats--everything, in fact, that money could buy, and
+I was not at all surprised when the bill proved to amount to ten
+guineas.  But I was very much surprised when M. M---- F----, who had
+eaten like a Turk and drunk like a Swiss, said calmly that it was too
+dear.
+
+I begged him politely not to trouble himself about the cost; and by
+way of proving that I did not share his opinion, I gave the waiter
+half-a-guinea; the worthy man looked as if he wished that such
+customers came more often.  The Swiss, who had been pale and gloomy
+enough a short while before; was rubicund and affable.  Sara glanced
+at me and squeezed my hand; I had conquered.
+
+When the play was over, M---- F---- asked me if I would allow him to
+call on me.  I embraced him in reply.  His servant came in, and said
+that he could not find a coach; and I, feeling rather surprised that
+he had not brought his carriage, offered him the use of mine, telling
+my man to get me a sedan-chair.
+
+"I accept your kind offer," said he, "on the condition that you allow
+me to occupy the chair."
+
+I consented to this arrangement, and took the mother and the two
+daughters with me in the carriage.
+
+On the way, Madame M---- F---- was very polite, gently blaming her
+husband for the rudeness of which I had to complain.  I said that I
+would avenge myself by paying an assiduous court to him in the
+future; but she pierced me to the heart by saying that they were on
+the point of departing.  "We wanted to go on the day after next," she
+said, "and to-morrow we shall have to leave our present rooms to
+their new occupants.  A matter of business which my husband was not
+able to conclude will oblige us to stay for another week, and to-
+morrow we shall have the double task of moving and finding new
+apartments."
+
+"Then you have not yet got new rooms?"
+
+"No, but my husband says he is certain to find some to-morrow
+morning."
+
+"Furnished, I suppose, for as you intend to leave you will be
+selling, your furniture."
+
+"Yes, and we shall have to pay the expenses of carriage to the
+buyer."
+
+On hearing that M. M---- F---- was sure of finding lodgings, I was
+precluded from offering to accommodate them in my own house, as the
+lady might think that I only made the offer because I was sure it
+would not be accepted.
+
+When we got to the door of their house we alighted, and the mother
+begged me to come in.  She and her husband slept on the second floor,
+and the two girls on the third.  Everything was upside down, and as
+Madame M---- F---- had something to say to the landlady she asked me
+to go up with her daughters.  It was cold, and the room we entered
+had no fire in it.  The sister went into the room adjoining and I
+stayed with Sara, and all of a sudden I clasped her to my breast, and
+feeling that her desires were as ardent as mine I fell with her on to
+a sofa where we mingled our beings in all the delights of voluptuous
+ardours.  But this happiness was short lived; scarcely was the work
+achieved when we heard a footstep on the stair.  It was the father.
+
+If M---- F---- had had any eyes he must have found us out, for my
+face bore the marks of agitation, the nature of which it was easy to
+divine.  We exchanged a few brief compliments; I shook his hand and
+disappeared.  I was in such a state of excitement when I got home
+that I made up my mind to leave England and to follow Sara to
+Switzerland.  In the night I formed my plans, and resolved to offer
+the family my house during the time they stayed in England, and if
+necessary to force them to accept my offer.
+
+In the morning I hastened to call on M---- F----, and found him on
+his doorstep.
+
+"I am going to try and get a couple of rooms," said he.
+
+"They are already found," I replied.  "My house is at your service,
+and you must give me the preference.  Let us come upstairs."
+
+"Everybody is in bed."
+
+"Never mind," said I, and we proceeded to go upstairs.
+
+Madame M---- F---- apologized for being in bed.  Her husband told her
+that I wanted to let them some rooms, but I laughed and said I
+desired they would accept my hospitality as that of a friend.  After
+some polite denials my offer was accepted, and it was agreed that the
+whole family should take up their quarters with me in the evening.
+
+I went home, and was giving the necessary orders when I was told that
+two young ladies wished to see me.  I went down in person, and I was
+agreeably surprised to see Sara and her sister.  I asked them to come
+in, and Sara told me that the landlady would not let their belongings
+out of the house before her father paid a debt of forty guineas,
+although a city merchant had assured her it should be settled in a
+week.  The long and snort of it was that Sara's father had sent me a
+bill and begged me to discount it.
+
+I took the bill and gave her a bank note for fifty pounds in
+exchange, telling her that she could give me the change another time.
+She thanked me with great simplicity and went her way, leaving me
+delighted with the confidence she had placed in me.
+
+The fact of M. M---- F----'s wanting forty guineas did not make me
+divine that he was in some straits, for I looked at everything
+through rose-coloured glasses, and was only too happy to be of
+service to him.
+
+I made a slight dinner in order to have a better appetite for supper,
+and spent the afternoon in writing letters.  In the evening M. M----
+F----'s man came with three great trunks and innumerable card-board
+boxes, telling me that the family would soon follow; but I awaited
+them in vain till nine o'clock.  I began to get alarmed and went to
+the house, where I found them all in a state of consternation.  Two
+ill-looking fellows who were in the room enlightened me; and assuming
+a jovial and unconcerned air, I said,--
+
+"I'll wager, now, that this is the work of some fierce creditor."
+
+"You are right," answered the father, "but I am sure of discharging
+the debt in five or six days, and that's why I put off my departure."
+
+"Then you were arrested after you had sent on your trunks."
+
+"Just after."
+
+"And what have you done?"
+
+"I have sent for bail."
+
+"Why did you not send to me?"
+
+"Thank you, I am grateful for your kindness, but you are a foreigner,
+and sureties have to be householders."
+
+"But you ought to have told me what had happened, for I have got you
+an excellent supper, and I am dying of hunger."
+
+It was possible that this debt might exceed my means, so I did not
+dare to offer to pay it.  I took Sara aside, and on hearing that all
+his trouble was on account of a debt of a hundred and fifty pounds, I
+asked the bailiff whether we could go away if the debt was paid.
+
+"Certainly," said he, shewing me the bill of exchange.
+
+I took out three bank notes of fifty pounds each, and gave them to
+the man, and taking the bill I said to the poor Swiss,--
+
+"You shall pay me the money before you leave England."
+
+The whole family wept with joy, and after embracing them all I
+summoned them to come and sup with me and forget the troubles of
+life.
+
+We drove off to my house and had a merry supper, though the worthy
+mother could not quite forget her sadness.  After supper I took them
+to the rooms which had been prepared for them, and with which they
+were delighted, and so I wished them good night, telling them that
+they should be well entertained till their departure, and that I
+hoped to follow them into Switzerland.
+
+When I awoke the next day I was in a happy frame of mind.  On
+examining my desires I found that they had grown too strong to be
+overcome, but I did not wish to overcome them.  I loved Sara, and I
+felt so certain of possessing her that I put all desires out of my
+mind; desires are born only of doubt, and doubt torments the soul.
+Sara was mine; she had given herself to me out of pure passion,
+without any shadow of self-interest.
+
+I went to the father's room, and found him engaged in opening his
+trunks.  His wife looked sad, so I asked her if she were not well.
+She replied that her health was perfect, but that the thought of the
+sea voyage troubled her sorely.  The father begged me to excuse him
+at breakfast as he had business to attend to.  The two young ladies
+came down, and after we had breakfast I asked the mother why they
+were unpacking their trunks so short a time before starting.  She
+smiled and said that one trunk would be ample for all their
+possessions, as they had resolved to sell all superfluities.  As I
+had seen some beautiful dresses, fine linen, and exquisite lace, I
+could not refrain from saying that it would be a great pity to sell
+cheaply what would have to be replaced dearly.
+
+"You are right," she said, "but, nevertheless, there is no pleasure
+so great as the consciousness of having paid one's debts."
+
+"You must not sell anything," I replied, in a lively manner, "for as
+I am going to Switzerland with you I can pay your debts, and you
+shall repay me when you can."
+
+At these words astonishment was depicted on her face.
+
+"I did not think you were speaking seriously," said she.
+
+"Perfectly seriously, and here is the object of my vows."
+
+With these words I seized Sara's hand and covered it with kisses.
+
+Sara blushed, said nothing, and the mother looked kindly at us; but
+after a moment's silence she spoke at some length, and with the
+utmost candour and wisdom.  She gave me circumstantial information as
+to the position of the family and her husband's restricted means,
+saying that under the circumstances he could not have avoided running
+into debt, but that he had done wrong to bring them all with him to
+London.
+
+"If he had been by himself," she said, "he could have lived here
+comfortably enough with only one servant, but with a family to
+provide for the two thousand crowns per annum provided by the
+Government are quite insufficient.  My old father has succeeded in
+persuading the State to discharge my husband's debts, but to make up
+the extra expense they will not employ a Charge d'affaires; a banker
+with the title of agent will collect the interest on their English
+securities."
+
+She ended by saying that she thought Sara was fortunate to have
+pleased me, but that she was not sure whether her husband would
+consent to the marriage.
+
+The word "marriage" made Sara blush, and I was pleased, though it was
+evident there would be difficulties in the way.
+
+M---- F---- came back and told his wife that two clothes dealers
+would come to purchase their superfluous clothes in the afternoon;
+but after explaining my ideas I had not much trouble in convincing
+him that it would be better not to sell them, and that he could
+become my debtor to the amount of two hundred pounds, on which he
+could pay interest till he was able to return me my capital.  The
+agreement was written out the same day, but I did not mention the
+marriage question, as his wife had told me she would discuss it with
+him in private.
+
+On the third day he came down by himself to talk with me.
+
+"My wife," he began, "has told me of your intentions, and I take it
+as a great honour, I assure you; but I cannot give you my Sara, as
+she is promised to M. de W----, and family reasons prevent me from
+going back from my word.  Besides my old father, a strict Calvinist,
+would object to the difference in religion.  He would never believe
+that his dear little grandchild would be happy with a Roman Catholic"
+
+As a matter of fact I was not at all displeased at what he said.  I
+was certainly very fond of Sara, but the word "marriage" had a
+disagreeable sound to me.  I answered that circumstances might change
+in time, and that in the meanwhile I should be quite content if he
+would allow me to be the friend of the family and to take upon myself
+all the responsibility of the journey.  He promised everything, and
+assured me that he was delighted at his daughter having won my
+affection.
+
+After this explanation I gave Sara as warm marks of my love as
+decency would allow in the presence of her father and mother, and I
+could see that all the girl thought of was love.
+
+The fifth day I went up to her room, and finding her in bed all the
+fires of passion flamed up in my breast, for since my first visit to
+their house I had not been alone with her.  I threw myself upon her,
+covering her with kisses, and she shewed herself affectionate but
+reserved.  In vain I endeavoured to succeed; she opposed a gentle
+resistance to my efforts, and though she caressed me, she would not
+let me attain my end.
+
+"Why, divine Sara," said I, "do you oppose my loving ecstasy?"
+
+"Dearest, I entreat of you not to ask for any more than I am willing
+to give."
+
+"Then you no longer love me?"
+
+"Cruel man, I adore you!"
+
+"Then why do you treat me to a refusal, after having once surrendered
+unreservedly?"
+
+"I have given myself to you, and we have both been happy, and I think
+that should be enough for us."
+
+"There must be some reason for this change.  If you love me, dearest
+Sara, this renunciation must be hard for you to bear."
+
+"I confess it, but nevertheless I feel it is my duty.  I have made up
+my mind to subdue my passion from no weak motive, but from a sense of
+what I owe to myself.  I am under obligations to you, and if I were
+to repay the debt I have contracted with my body I should be degraded
+in my own eyes.  When we enjoyed each other before only love was
+between us--there was no question of debit and credit.  My heart is
+now the thrall of what I owe you, and to these debts it will not give
+what it gave so readily to love."
+
+"This is a strange philosophy, Sara; believe me it is fallacious, and
+the enemy of your happiness as well as mine.  These sophisms lead you
+astray and wound me to the heart.  Give me some credit for delicacy
+of feeling, and believe me you owe me nothing."
+
+"You must confess that if you had not loved me you would have done
+nothing for my father."
+
+"Certainly I will confess nothing of the kind; I would readily do as
+much, and maybe more, out of regard for your worthy mother.  It is
+quite possible, indeed, that in doing this small service for your
+father I had no thoughts of you at all."
+
+"It might be so; but I do not believe it was so.  Forgive me,
+dearest, but I cannot make up my mind to pay my debts in the way you
+wish."
+
+"It seems to me that if you are grateful to me your love ought to be
+still more ardent."
+
+"It cannot be more ardent than it is already."
+
+"Do you know how grievously you make me suffer?"
+
+"Alas!  I suffer too; but do not reproach me; let us love each other
+still."
+
+This dialogue is not the hundredth part of what actually passed
+between us till dinner-time.  The mother came in, and finding me
+seated at the foot of the daughter's bed, laughed, and asked me why I
+kept her in bed.  I answered with perfect coolness that we had been
+so interested in our conversation that we had not noticed the flight
+of time.
+
+I went to dress, and as I thought over the extraordinary change which
+had taken place in Sara I resolved that it should not last for long.
+We dined together gaily, and Sara and I behaved in all respects like
+two lovers.  In the evening I took them to the Italian Opera, coming
+home to an excellent supper.
+
+The next morning I passed in the city, having accounts to settle with
+my bankers.  I got some letters of exchange on Geneva, and said
+farewell to the worthy Mr. Bosanquet.  In the afternoon I got a coach
+for Madame M---- F---- to pay some farewells calls, and I went to say
+good-bye to my daughter at school.  The dear little girl burst into
+tears, saying that she would be lost without me, and begging me not
+to forget her.  I was deeply moved.  Sophie begged me to go and see
+her mother before I left England, and I decided on doing so.
+
+At supper we talked over our journey, and M. M---- F---- agreed with
+me that it would be better to go by Dunkirk than Ostend.  He had very
+little more business to attend to.  His debts were paid, and he said
+he thought he would have a matter of fifty guineas in his pocket at
+the journey's end, after paying a third share of all the travelling
+expenses.  I had to agree to this, though I made up my mind at the
+same time not to let him see any of the accounts.  I hoped to win
+Sara, in one way or another, when we got to Berne.
+
+The next day, after breakfast, I took her hand in presence of her
+mother, and asked her if she would give me her heart if I could
+obtain her father's consent at Berne.
+
+"Your mother," I added, "has promised me that hers shall not be
+wanting."
+
+At this the mother got up, and saying that we had no doubt a good
+deal to talk over, she and her eldest daughter went out to pay some
+calls.
+
+As soon as we were alone Sara said that she could not understand how
+I could have the smallest doubt as to whether her consent would be
+given.
+
+"I have shewn you how well I love you," said she, tenderly; "and I am
+sure I should be very happy as your wife.  You may be sure that your
+wishes will be mine, and that, however far you lead me, Switzerland
+shall claim no thought of mine."
+
+I pressed the amorous Sara to my bosom in a transport of delight,
+which was shared by her; but as she saw me grow more ardent she
+begged me to be moderate.  Clasping me in her arms she adjured me not
+to ask her for that which she was determined not to grant till she
+was mine by lawful wedlock.
+
+"You will drive me to despair!  Have you reflected that this
+resistance may cost me my life?  Can you love, and yet entertain this
+fatal prejudice?  And yet I am sure you love me, and pleasure too."
+
+"Yes, dearest one, I do love you, and amorous pleasure with you; but
+you must respect my delicacy."
+
+My eyes were wet with tears, and she was so affected that she fell
+fainting to the ground.  I lifted her up and gently laid her on the
+bed.  Her pallor alarmed me.  I brought smelling-salts, I rubbed her
+forehead with Savoy-water, and she soon opened her eyes, and seemed
+delighted to find me calm again.
+
+The thought of taking advantage of her helplessness would have
+horrified me.  She sat up on the bed, and said,--
+
+"You have just given a true proof of the sincerity of your
+affection."
+
+"Did you think, sweetheart, that I was vile enough to abuse your
+weakness?  Could I enjoy a pleasure in which you had no share?"
+
+"I did not think you would do such a thing, but I should not have
+resisted, though it is possible that I should not have loved you
+afterwards."
+
+"Sara, though you do not know, you charm my soul out of my body."
+
+After this I sat down sadly on the bed, and abandoned myself to the
+most melancholy reflections, from which Sara did not endeavour to
+rouse me.
+
+Her mother came in and asked why she was on the bed, but not at all
+suspiciously.  Sara told her the truth.
+
+M. M---- F---- came in soon after, and we dined together, but
+silently.  What I had heard from the girl's lips had completely
+overwhelmed me.  I saw I had nothing to hope for, and that it was
+time for me to look to myself.  Six weeks before, God had delivered
+me from my bondage to an infamous woman, and now I was in danger of
+becoming the slave of an angel.  Such were my reflections whilst Sara
+was fainting, but it was necessary for me to consider the matter at
+my leisure.
+
+There was a sale of valuable articles in the city, the means taken
+for disposing of them being a lottery.  Sara had read the
+announcement, and I asked her with her mother and sister to come with
+me and take part in it.  I had not much trouble in obtaining their
+consent, and we found ourselves in distinguished company, among the
+persons present being the Countess of Harrington, Lady Stanhope, and
+Emilie and her daughters.  Emilie had a strange case before the
+courts.  She had given information to the police that her husband had
+been robbed of six thousand pounds, though everyone said that she
+herself was the thief.
+
+Madame M---- F---- did not take a ticket, but she allowed me to take
+tickets for her daughters, who were in high glee, since for ten or
+twelve guineas they got articles worth sixty.
+
+Every day I was more taken with Sara; but feeling sure that I should
+only obtain slight favours from her, I thought it was time to come to
+an explanation.  So after supper I said that as it was not certain
+that Sara could become my wife I had determined not to accompany them
+to Berne.  The father told me I was very wise, and that I could still
+correspond with his daughter, Sara said nothing, but I could see she
+was much grieved.
+
+I passed a dreadful night; such an experience was altogether new to
+me.  I weighed Sara's reasons, and they seemed to me to be merely
+frivolous, which drove me to conclude that my caresses had displeased
+her.
+
+For the last three days I found myself more than once alone with her;
+but I was studiously moderate, and she caressed me in a manner that
+would have made my bliss if I had not already obtained the one great
+favour.  It was at this time I learnt the truth of the maxim that if
+abstinence is sometimes the spur of love, it has also the contrary
+effect.  Sara had brought my feeling to a pitch of gentle friendship,
+while an infamous prostitute like the Charpillon, who knew how to
+renew hope and yet grant nothing, ended by inspiring me with
+contempt, and finally with hatred.
+
+The family sailed for Ostend, and I accompanied them to the mouth of
+the Thames.  I gave Sara a letter for Madame de W----.  This was the
+name of the learned Hedvig whom she did not know.  They afterwards
+became sisters-in-law, as Sara married a brother of M. de W----, and
+was happy with him.
+
+Even now I am glad to hear tidings of my old friends and their
+doings, but the interest I take in such matters is not to be compared
+to my interest in some obscure story of ancient history.  For our
+contemporaries, the companions, of our youthful follies, we have a
+kind of contempt, somewhat similar to that which we entertain for
+ourselves.  Four years ago I wrote to Madame G---- at Hamburg, and my
+letter began:
+
+"After a silence of twenty-one years .  .  ."
+
+She did not deign to reply, and I was by no means displeased.  We
+cared no longer for one another, and it is quite natural that it
+should be so.
+
+When I tell my reader who Madame G---- is, he will be amused.  Two
+years ago I set out for Hamburg, but my good genius made me turn back
+to Dux; what had I to do at Hamburg?
+
+After my guests were gone I went to the Italian Opera at Covent
+Garden, and met Goudar, who asked me if I would come to the Sartori's
+concert.  He told me I should see a beautiful young English woman
+there who spoke Italian.  As I had just lost Sara I did not much care
+about making new acquaintances, but still I was curious to see the
+young marvel.  I indulged my curiosity, and I am glad to say that
+instead of being amused I was wearied, though the young English woman
+was pretty enough.  A young Livonian, who called himself Baron of
+Stenau, seemed extremely interested in her.  After supper she offered
+us tickets for the next concert, and I took one for myself and one
+for Gondar, giving her two guineas, but the Livonian baron took fifty
+tickets, and gave her a bank note for fifty guineas.  I saw by this
+that he wanted to take the place by storm, and I liked his way of
+doing it.  I supposed him to be rich, without caring to enquire into
+his means.  He made advances to me and we became friends, and the
+reader will see in due time what a fatal acquaintance he was.
+
+One day as I was walking with Goudar in Hyde Park he left me to speak
+to two ladies who seemed pretty.
+
+He was not long absent, and said, when he rejoined me,--
+
+"A Hanoverian lady, a widow and the mother of five daughters, came to
+England two months ago with her whole family.  She lives close by,
+and is occupied in soliciting compensation from the Government for
+any injury that was done her by the passage of the Duke of
+Cumberland's army.  The mother herself is sick and and never leaves
+her bed; she sends her two eldest daughters to petition the
+Government, and they are the two young ladies you have just seen.
+They have not met with any success.  The eldest daughter is twenty-
+two, and the youngest fourteen; they are all pretty and can speak
+English, French, and German equally well, and are always glad to see
+visitors.  I had been to visit them myself, but as I gave them
+nothing I do not care to go there alone a second time.  If you like,
+however, I can introduce you."
+
+"You irritate my curiosity.  Come along, but if the one that pleases
+me is not complaisant she shall have nothing."
+
+"They will not even allow one to take them by the hand."
+
+"They are Charpillons, I suppose."
+
+"It looks like it.  But you won't see any men there:"
+
+We were shewn into a large room where I noticed three pretty girls
+and an evil-looking man.  I began with the usual compliments, to
+which the girls replied politely, but with an air of great sadness.
+
+Goudar spoke to the man, and then came to me shrugging his shoulders,
+and saying,--
+
+"We have come at a sad time.  That man is a bailiff who has come to
+take the mother to prison if she can't pay her landlord the twenty
+guineas' rent she owes him, and they haven't got a farthing.  When
+the mother has been sent to prison the landlord will no doubt turn
+the girls out of doors."
+
+"They can live with their mother for nothing."
+
+"Not at all.  If they have got the money they can have their meals in
+prison, but no one is allowed to live in a prison except the
+prisoners."
+
+I asked one of them where her sisters were.
+
+"They have gone out, to look for money, for the landlord won't accept
+any surety, and we have nothing to sell."
+
+"All this is very sad; what does your mother say?"
+
+"She only weeps, and yet, though she is ill and cannot leave her bed,
+they are going to take her to prison.  By way of consolation the
+landlord says he will have her carried."
+
+"It is very hard.  But your looks please me, mademoiselle, and if you
+will be kind I may be able to extricate you from the difficulty."
+
+"I do not know what you mean by 'kind.'"
+
+"Your mother will understand; go and ask her."
+
+"Sir, you do not know us; we are honest girls, and ladies of position
+besides."
+
+With these words the young woman turned her back on me, and began to
+weep again.  The two others, who were quite as pretty, stood straight
+up and said not a word.  Goudar whispered to me in Italian that
+unless we did something for them we should cut but a sorry figure
+there; and I was cruel enough to go away without saying a word.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+The Hanoverians
+
+
+As we were leaving the house we met the two eldest sisters, who came
+home looking very sad.  I was struck by their beauty, and extremely
+surprised to hear myself greeted by one of them, who said,--
+
+"It is M. the Chevalier de Seingalt."
+
+"Himself, mademoiselle, and sorely grieved at your misfortune."
+
+"Be kind enough to come in again for a moment."
+
+"I am sorry to say that I have an important engagement."
+
+"I will not keep you for longer than a quarter of an hour."
+
+I could not refuse so small a favour, and she employed the time in
+telling me how unfortunate they had been in Hanover, how they had
+come to London to obtain compensation, of their failure, their debts,
+the cruelty of the landlord, their mother's illness, the prison that
+awaited her, the likelihood of their being cast into the street, and
+the cruelty of all their acquaintances.
+
+"We have nothing to sell, and all our resources consist of two
+shillings, which we shall have to spend on bread, on which we live."
+
+"Who are your friends?  How can they abandon you at such a time?"
+
+She mentioned several names--among others, Lord Baltimore, Marquis
+Carracioli, the Neapolitan ambassador, and Lord Pembroke.
+
+"I can't believe it," said I, "for I know the two last noblemen to be
+both rich and generous.  There must be some good reason for their
+conduct, since you are beautiful; and for these gentlemen beauty is a
+bill to be honoured on sight."
+
+"Yes, there is a reason.  These rich noblemen abandon us with
+contempt.  They refuse to take pity on us because we refuse to yield
+to their guilty passion."
+
+"That is to say, they have taken a fancy to you, and as you will not
+have pity on them they refuse to have pity on you.  Is it not so?"
+
+"That is exactly the situation."
+
+"Then I think they are in the right."
+
+"In the right?"
+
+"Yes, I am quite of their opinion.  We leave you to enjoy your sense
+of virtue, and we spend our money in procuring those favours which
+you refuse us.  Your misfortune really is your prettiness, if you
+were ugly you would get twenty guineas fast enough.  I would give you
+the money myself, and the action would be put down to benevolence;
+whereas, as the case stands, if I were to give you anything it would
+be thought that I was actuated by the hope of favours to come, and I
+should be laughed at, and deservedly, as a dupe."
+
+I felt that this was the proper way to speak to the girl, whose
+eloquence in pleading her cause was simply wonderful.
+
+She did not reply to my oration, and I asked her how she came to know
+me.
+
+"I saw you at Richmond with the Charpillon."
+
+"She cost me two thousand guineas, and I got nothing for my money;
+but I have profited by the lesson, and in future I shall never pay in
+advance."
+
+Just then her mother called her, and, begging me to wait a moment,
+she went into her room, and returned almost directly with the request
+that I would come and speak to the invalid.
+
+I found her sitting up in her bed; she looked about forty-five, and
+still preserved traces of her former beauty; her countenance bore the
+imprint of sadness, but had no marks of sickness whatsoever.  Her
+brilliant and expressive eyes, her intellectual face, and a
+suggestion of craft about her, all bade me be on my guard, and a sort
+of false likeness to the Charpillon's mother made me still more
+cautious, and fortified me in my resolution to give no heed to the
+appeals of pity.
+
+"Madam," I began, "what can I do for you?"
+
+"Sir," she replied, "I have heard the whole of your conversations
+with my daughters, and you must confess that you have not talked to
+them in a very fatherly manner."
+
+"Quite so, but the only part which I desire to play with them is that
+of lover, and a fatherly style would not have been suitable to the
+part.  If I had the happiness of being their father, the case would
+be altered.  What I have said to your daughters is what I feel, and
+what I think most likely to bring about the end I have in view.  I
+have not the slightest pretence to virtue, but I adore the fair sex,
+and now you and they know the road to my purse.  If they wish to
+preserve their virtue, why let them; nobody will trouble them, and
+they, on their side, must not expect anything from men.  Good-bye,
+madam; you may reckon on my never addressing your daughters again."
+
+"Wait a moment, sir.  My husband was the Count of ----, and you see
+that my daughters are of respectable birth."
+
+"Have you not pity for our situation?"
+
+"I pity you extremely, and I would relieve you in an instant if your
+daughters were ugly, but as it is they are pretty, and that alters
+the case."
+
+"What an argument!"
+
+"It is a very strong one with me, and I think I am the best judge of
+arguments which apply to myself.  You want twenty guineas; well, you
+shall have them after one of your five countesses has spent a joyous
+night with me."
+
+"What language to a woman of my station!  Nobody has ever dared to
+speak to me in such a way before."
+
+"Pardon me, but what use is rank without a halfpenny?  Allow me to
+retire.
+
+"To-day we have only bread to eat."
+
+"Well, certainly that is rather hard on countesses."
+
+"You are laughing at the title, apparently."
+
+"Yes, I am; but I don't want to offend you.  If you like, I will stop
+to dinner, and pay for all, yourself included."
+
+"You are an eccentric individual.  My girls are sad, for I am going
+to prison.  You will find their company wearisome."
+
+"That is my affair."
+
+"You had much better give them the money you would spend on the
+dinner."
+
+"No, madam.  I must have at least the pleasures of sight and sound
+for my money.  I will stay your arrest till to-morrow, and afterwards
+Providence may possibly intervene on your behalf."
+
+"The landlord will not wait."
+
+"Leave me to deal with him."
+
+I told Goudar to go and see what the man would take to send the
+bailiff away for twenty-four hours.  He returned with the message
+that he must have a guinea and bail for the twenty guineas, in case
+the lodgers might take to flight before the next day.
+
+My wine merchant lived close by.  I told Gondar to wait for me, and
+the matter was soon settled and the bailiff sent away, and I told the
+five girls that they might take their ease for twenty-four hours
+more.
+
+I informed Gondar of the steps I had taken, and told him to go out
+and get a good dinner for eight people.  He went on his errand, and I
+summoned the girls to their mother's bedside, and delighted them all
+by telling them that for the next twenty-four hours they were to make
+good cheer.  They could not get over their surprise at the suddenness
+of the change I had worked in the house.
+
+"But this is all I can do for you," said I to the mother.  "Your
+daughters are charming, and I have obtained a day's respite for you
+all without asking for anything in return; I shall dine, sup, and
+pass the night with them without asking so much as a single kiss, but
+if your ideas have not changed by to-morrow you will be in exactly
+the same position as you were a few minutes ago, and I shall not
+trouble you any more with my attentions."
+
+"What do you mean my 'changing my ideas'?"
+
+"I need not tell you, for you know perfectly well what I mean."
+
+"My daughters shall never become prostitutes."
+
+"I will proclaim their spotless chastity all over London--but I shall
+spend my guineas elsewhere."
+
+"You are a cruel man."
+
+"I confess I can be very cruel, but it is only when I don't meet with
+kindness."
+
+Goudar came back and we returned to the ladies' room, as the mother
+did not like to shew herself to my friend, telling me that I was the
+only man she had permitted to see her in bed during the whole time
+she had been in London.
+
+Our English dinner was excellent in its way, but my chief pleasure
+was to see the voracity with which the girls devoured the meal.  One
+would have thought they were savages devouring raw meat after a long
+fast.  I had got a case of excellent wine and I made each of them
+drink a bottle, but not being accustomed to such an indulgence they
+became quite drunk.  The mother had devoured the whole of the
+plentiful helpings I had sent in to her, and she had emptied a bottle
+of Burgundy, which she carried very well.
+
+In spite of their intoxication, the girls were perfectly safe; I kept
+my word, and Goudar did not take the slightest liberty.  We had a
+pleasant supper, and after a bowl of punch I left them feeling in
+love with the whole bevy, and very uncertain whether I should be able
+to shew as brave a front the next day.
+
+As we were going away Goudar said that I was conducting the affair
+admirably, but if I made a single slip I should be undone.
+
+I saw the good sense of his advice, and determined to shew that I was
+as sharp as he.
+
+The next day, feeling anxious to hear the result of the council which
+the mother had doubtless held with the daughters, I called at their
+house at ten o'clock.  The two eldest sisters were out, endeavouring
+to beat up some more friends, and the three youngest rushed up to me
+as if they had been spaniels and I their master, but they would not
+even allow me to kiss them.  I told them they made a mistake, and
+knocked at the mother's door.  She told me to come in, and thanked me
+for the happy day I had given them.
+
+"Am I to withdraw my bail, countess?"
+
+"You can do what you like, but I do not think you capable of such an
+action."
+
+"You are mistaken.  You have doubtless made a deep study of the human
+heart; but you either know little of the human mind, or else you
+think you have a larger share than any other person.  All your
+daughters have inspired me with love, but were it a matter of life
+and death I would not do a single thing for them or you before you
+have done me the only favour that is in your power.  I leave you to
+your reflections, and more especially to your virtues."
+
+She begged me to stay, but I did not even listen to her.  I passed by
+the three charmers, and after telling my wine merchant to withdraw
+his security I went in a furious mood to call on Lord Pembroke.  As
+soon as I mentioned the Hanoverians he burst out laughing, and said
+these false innocents must be made to fulfil their occupation in a
+proper manner.
+
+"They came whining to me yesterday," he proceeded, "and I not only
+would not give them anything, but I laughed them to scorn.  They have
+got about twelve guineas out of me on false pretences; they are as
+cunning sluts as the Charpillon."
+
+I told him what I had done the day before, and what I intended to
+offer: twenty guineas for the first, and as much for each of the
+others, but nothing to be paid in advance.
+
+"I had the same idea myself, but I cried off, and I don't think
+you'll succeed, as Lord Baltimore offered them forty apiece; that is
+two hundred guineas in all, and the bargain has fallen through
+because they want the money to be paid in advance.  They paid him a
+visit yesterday, but found him pitiless, for he has been taken in
+several times by them."
+
+"We shall see what will happen when the mother is under lock and key;
+I'll bet we shall have them cheaply."
+
+I came home for dinner, and Goudar, who had just been at their house,
+reported that the bailiff would only wait till four o'clock, that the
+two eldest daughters had come back empty-handed, and that they had
+been obliged to sell one of their dresses to buy a morsel of bread.
+
+I felt certain that they would have recourse to me again, and I was
+right.  We were at dessert when they put in an appearance.  I made
+them sit down, and the eldest sister exhausted her eloquence to
+persuade me to give them another three days' grace.
+
+"You will find me insensible," said I, "unless you are willing to
+adopt my plan.  If you wish to hear it, kindly follow me into the
+next room."
+
+She did so, leaving her sister with Goudar, and making her sit down
+on a sofa beside me, I shewed her twenty guineas, saying,--
+
+"These are yours; but you know on what terms?"
+
+She rejected my offer with disdain, and thinking she might wish to
+salve her virtue by being attacked, I set to work; but finding her
+resistance serious I let her alone, and begged her to leave my house
+immediately.  She called to her sister, and they both went out.
+
+In the evening, as I was going to the play, I called on my wine
+merchant to hear the news.  He told me that the mother had been taken
+to prison, and that the youngest daughter had gone with her; but he
+did not know what had become of the four others.
+
+I went home feeling quite sad, and almost reproaching myself for not
+having taken compassion on then; however, just as I was sitting down
+to supper they appeared before me like four Magdalens.  The eldest,
+who was the orator of the company, told me that their mother was in
+prison, and that they would have to pass the night in the street if I
+did not take pity on them.
+
+"You shall have rooms, beds, and good fires," said I, "but first let
+me see you eat."
+
+Delight appeared on every countenance, and I had numerous dishes
+brought for them.  They ate eagerly but sadly, and only drank water.
+
+"Your melancholy and your abstinence displeases me," said I, to the
+eldest girl; "go upstairs and you will find everything necessary for
+your comfort, but take care to be gone at seven in the morning and
+not to let me see your faces again."
+
+They went up to the second floor without a word.
+
+An hour afterwards, just as I was going to bed, the eldest girl came
+into my room and said she wished to have a private interview with me.
+I told my negro to withdraw, and asked her to explain herself.
+
+"What will you do for us," said she, "if I consent to share your
+couch?"
+
+"I will give you twenty guineas, and I will lodge and board you as
+long as you give me satisfaction."
+
+Without saying a word she began to undress, and got into bed.  She
+was submissive and nothing more, and did not give me so much as a
+kiss.  At the end of a quarter of an hour I was disgusted with her
+and got up, and giving her a bank note for twenty guineas I told her
+to put on her clothes and go back to her room.
+
+"You must all leave my house to-morrow," I said, "for I am ill
+pleased with you.  Instead of giving yourself up for love you have
+prostituted yourself.  I blush for you."
+
+She obeyed mutely, and I went to sleep in an ill humour.
+
+At about seven o'clock in the morning I was awakened by a hand
+shaking me gently.  I opened my eyes, and I was surprised to see the
+second daughter.
+
+"What do you want?" I said, coldly.
+
+"I want you to take pity on us, and shelter us in your house for a
+few days longer.  I will be very grateful.  My sister has told me
+all, you are displeased with her, but you must forgive her, for her
+heart is not her own.  She is in love with an Italian who is in
+prison for debt."
+
+"And I suppose you are in love with someone else?"  "No, I am not."
+
+"Could you love me?"
+
+She lowered her eyes, and pressed my hand gently.  I drew her towards
+me, and embraced her, and as I felt her kisses answer mine,
+I said,--
+
+"You have conquered."
+
+"My name is Victoire."
+
+"I like it, and I will prove the omen a true one."
+
+Victoire, who was tender and passionate, made me spend two delicious
+hours, which compensated me for my bad quarter of an hour of the
+night before.
+
+When our exploits were over, I said,--
+
+"Dearest Victoire, I am wholly throe.  Let your mother be brought
+here as soon as she is free.  Here are twenty guineas for you."
+
+She did not expect anything, and the agreeable surprise made her in
+an ecstasy; she could not speak, but her heart was full of happiness.
+I too was happy, and I believed that a great part of my happiness was
+caused by the knowledge that I had done a good deed.  We are queer
+creatures all of us, whether we are bad or good.  From that moment I
+gave my servants orders to lay the table for eight persons every day,
+and told them that I was only at home to Goudar.  I spent money
+madly, and felt that I was within a measurable distance of poverty.
+
+At noon the mother came in a sedan-chair, and went to bed directly.
+I went to see her, and did not evince any surprise when she began to
+thank me for my noble generosity.  She wanted me to suppose that she
+thought I had given her daughters forty guineas for nothing, and I
+let her enjoy her hypocrisy.
+
+In the evening I took them to Covent Garden, where the castrato
+Tenducci surprised me by introducing me to his wife, of whom he had
+two children.  He laughed at people who said that a castrato could
+not procreate.  Nature had made him a monster that he might remain a
+man; he was born triorchis, and as only two of the seminal glands had
+been destroyed the remaining one was sufficient to endow him with
+virility.
+
+When I got back to my small seraglio I supped merrily with the five
+nymphs, and spent a delicious night with Victoire, who was overjoyed
+at having made my conquest.  She told me that her sister's lover was
+a Neapolitan, calling himself Marquis de Petina, and that they were
+to get married as soon as he was out of prison.  It seemed he was
+expecting remittances, and the mother would be delighted to see her
+daughter a marchioness.
+
+"How much does the marquis owe?"
+
+"Twenty guineas."
+
+"And the Neapolitan ambassador allows him to languish in prison for
+such a beggarly sum?  I can't believe it."
+
+"The ambassador won't have anything to do with him, because he left
+Naples without the leave of the Government."
+
+"Tell your sister that if the ambassador assures me that her lover's
+name is really the Marquis de Petina, I will get him out of prison
+immediately."
+
+I went out to ask my daughter, and another boarder of whom I was very
+fond, to dinner, and on my way called on the Marquis of Caraccioli,
+an agreeable man, whose acquaintance I had made at Turin.  I found
+the famous Chevalier d'Eon at his house, and I had no need of a
+private interview to make my inquiries about Petina.
+
+"The young man is really what he professes to me," said the
+ambassador, "but I will neither receive him nor give him any money
+till I hear from my Government that he has received leave to travel."
+
+That was enough for me, and I stayed there for an hour listening to
+d'Eon's amusing story.
+
+Eon had deserted the embassy on account of ten thousand francs which
+the department of foreign affairs at Versailles had refused to allow
+him, though the money was his by right.  He had placed himself under
+the protection of the English laws, and after securing two thousand
+subscribers at a guinea apiece, he had sent to press a huge volume in
+quarto containing all the letters he had received from the French
+Government for the last five or six years.
+
+About the same time a London banker had deposited the sum of twenty
+thousand guineas at the Bank of England, being ready to wager that
+sum that Eon was a woman.  The bet was taken by a number of persons
+who had formed themselves into a kind of company for the purpose, and
+the only way to decide it was that Eon should be examined in the
+presence of witnesses.  The chevalier was offered half the wager, but
+he laughed them to scorn.  He said that such an examination would
+dishonour him, were he man or woman.  Caraccioli said that it could
+only dishonour him if he were a woman, but I could not agree with
+this opinion.  At the end of a year the bet was declared off; but in
+the course of three years he received his pardon from the king, and
+appeared at Court in woman's dress, wearing the cross of St. Louis.
+
+Louis XV.  had always been aware of the chevalier's sex, but Cardinal
+Fleuri had taught him that it became kings to be impenetrable, and
+Louis remained so all his life.
+
+When I got home I gave the eldest Hanoverian twenty guineas, telling
+her to fetch her marquis out of prison, and bring him to dine with
+us, as I wanted to know him.  I thought she would have died with joy.
+
+The third sister, having taken counsel with Victoire, and doubtless
+with her mother also, determined to earn twenty guineas for herself,
+and she had not much trouble in doing so.  She it was on whom Lord
+Pembroke had cast the eye of desire.
+
+These five girls were like five dishes placed before a gourmand, who
+enjoys them one after the other.  To my fancy the last was always the
+best.  The third sister's name was Augusta.
+
+Next Sunday I had a large number of guests.  There were my daughter
+and her friend, Madame Cornelis, and her son.  Sophie was kissed and
+caressed by the Hanoverians, while I bestowed a hundred kisses on
+Miss Nancy Steyne, who was only thirteen, but whose young beauty
+worked sad havoc with my senses.  My affection was supposed to be
+fatherly in its character, but, alas I it was of a much more fleshly
+kind.  This Miss Nancy, who seemed to me almost divine, was the
+daughter of a rich merchant.  I said that I wanted to make her
+father's acquaintance, and she replied that her father proposed
+coming to call on me that very day.  I was delighted to hear of the
+coincidence, and gave order that he should be shewn in as soon as he
+came.
+
+The poor marquis was the only sad figure in the company.  He was
+young and well-made, but thin and repulsively ugly.  He thanked me
+for my kindness, saying that I had done a wise thing, as he felt sure
+the time would come when he would repay me a hundredfold.
+
+I had given my daughter six guineas to buy a pelisse, and she took me
+to my bedroom to shew it me.  Her mother followed her to congratulate
+me on my seraglio.
+
+At dinner gaiety reigned supreme.  I sat between my daughter and Miss
+Nancy Steyne, and felt happy.  Mr. Steyne came in as we were at the
+oysters.  He kissed his daughter with that tender affection which is
+more characteristic, I think, of English parents than those of any
+other nation.
+
+Mr. Steyne had dined, but he nevertheless ate a hundred scolloped
+oysters, in the preparation of which my cook was wonderfully expert;
+he also honoured the champagne with equal attention.
+
+We spent three hours at the table and then proceeded to the third
+floor, where Sophie accompanied her mother's singing on the piano,
+and young Cornelis displayed his flute-playing talents.  Mr. Steyne
+swore that he had never been present at such a pleasant party in his
+life, adding that pleasure was forbidden fruit in England on Sundays
+and holidays.  This convinced me that Steyne was an intelligent man,
+though his French was execrable.  He left at seven, after giving a
+beautiful ring to my daughter, whom he escorted back to school with
+Miss Nancy.
+
+The Marquis Petina foolishly observed to me that he did not know
+where to find a bed.  I understood what he wanted, but I told him he
+would easily find one with a little money.  Taking his sweetheart
+aside I gave her a guinea for him, begging her to tell him not to
+visit me again till he was invited.
+
+When all the guests were gone, I led the five sisters to the mother's
+room.  She was wonderfully well, eating, drinking, and sleeping to
+admiration, and never doing anything, not even reading or writing.
+She enjoyed the 'dolce far niente' in all the force of the term.
+However, she told me she was always thinking of her family, and of
+the laws which it imposed on her.
+
+I could scarcely help laughing, but I only said that if these laws
+were the same as those which her charming daughters followed, I
+thought them wiser than Solon's.
+
+I drew Augusta on to my knee, and said,--
+
+"My lady, allow me to kiss your delightful daughter."
+
+Instead of giving me a direct answer, the old hypocrite began a long
+sermon on the lawfulness of the parental kiss.  All the time Augusta
+was lavishing on me secret but delicious endearments.
+
+          'O tempora! O mores!'
+
+The next day I was standing at my window, when the Marquis
+Caraccioli, who was passing by, greeted me, and asked me if he could
+come in.  I bade him welcome, and summoning the eldest sister told
+the ambassador that this young lady was going to marry the Marquis
+Petina as soon as his remittances arrived.
+
+He addressed himself to her, and spoke as follows:
+
+"Mademoiselle, it is true that your lover is really a marquis, but he
+is very poor and will never have any money; and if he goes back to
+Naples he will be imprisoned, and if he is released from the State
+prison his creditors will put him in the Vittoria."
+
+However this salutary warning had no effect.
+
+After the ambassador had taken his leave I was dressing to take a
+ride when Augusta told me that, if I liked, Hippolyta her sister
+would come with me, as she could ride beautifully.
+
+"That's amusing," said I, "make her come down."
+
+Hippolyta came down and begged me to let her ride with me, saying
+that she would do me credit.
+
+"Certainly;" said I, "but have you a man's riding suit or a woman's
+costume?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Then we must put off the excursion till to-morrow."
+
+I spent the day in seeing that a suit was made for her, and I felt
+quite amorous when Pegu, the tailor, measured her for the breeches.
+Everything was done in time and we had a charming ride, for she
+managed her horse with wonderful skill.
+
+After an excellent supper, to which wine had not been lacking, the
+happy Hippolyta accompanied Victoire into my room and helped her to
+undress.  When she kissed her sister I asked if she would not give me
+a kiss too, and after some jesting Augusta changed the joke into
+earnest by bidding her come to bed beside me, without taking the
+trouble to ask my leave, so sure did she feel of my consent.  The
+night was well spent, and I had no reason to complain of want of
+material, but Augusta wisely let the newcomer have the lion's share
+of my attentions.
+
+Next day we rode out again in the afternoon, followed by my negro,
+who was a skilful horseman himself.  In Richmond Park Hippolyta's
+dexterity astonished me; she drew all eyes on her.  In the evening we
+came home well pleased with our day's ride, and had a good supper.
+
+As the meal proceeded I noticed that Gabrielle, the youngest of all,
+looked sad and a little sulky.  I asked her the reason, and with a
+little pout that became her childish face admirably, she replied,--
+
+"Because I can ride on horseback as well as my sister."
+
+"Very good," said I, "then you shall ride the day after to-morrow."
+This put her into a good temper again.
+
+Speaking of Hippolyta's skill, I asked her where she had learnt to
+ride.  She simply burst out laughing.  I asked her why she laughed,
+and she said,--
+
+"Why, because I never learnt anywhere; my only masters were courage
+and some natural skill."
+
+"And has your sister learnt?"
+
+"No," said Gabrielle, "but I can ride just as well."
+
+I could scarcely believe it, for Hippolyta had seemed to float on her
+horse, and her riding skewed the utmost skill and experience.  Hoping
+that her sister would vie with her, I said that I would take them out
+together, and the very idea made them both jump with joy.
+
+Gabrielle was only fifteen, and her shape, though not fully
+developed, was well marked, and promised a perfect beauty by the time
+she was in her maturity.  Full of grace and simplicity, she said she
+would like to come with me to my room, and I readily accepted her
+offer, not caring whether the scheme had been concerted between her
+and her other sisters.
+
+As soon as we were alone, she told me that she had never had a lover,
+and she allowed me to assure myself of the fact with the same child-
+like simplicity.  Gabrielle was like all the others; I would have
+chosen her if I had been obliged to make the choice.  She made me
+feel sorry for her sake, to hear that the mother had made up her mind
+to leave.  In the morning I gave her her fee of twenty guineas and a
+handsome ring as a mark of my peculiar friendship, and we spent the
+day in getting ready our habits for the ride of the day following.
+
+Gabrielle got on horseback as if she had had two years in the riding
+school.  We went along the streets at a walking pace, but as soon as
+we were in the open country we broke into a furious gallop, and kept
+it up till we got to Barnet, where we stopped to breakfast.  We had
+done the journey in twenty-five minutes, although the distance is
+nearly ten miles.  This may seem incredible, but the English horses
+are wonderfully swift, and we were all of us well mounted.  My two
+nymphs looked ravishing.  I adored them, and I adored myself for
+making them so happy.
+
+Just as we were remounting, who should arrive but Lord Pembroke.  He
+was on his way to St. Alban's.  He stopped his horse, and admired the
+graceful riding of my two companions; and not recognizing them
+immediately, he begged leave to pay his court to them.  How I laughed
+to myself!  At last he recognized them, and congratulated me on my
+conquest, asking if I loved Hippolyta.  I guessed his meaning, and
+said I only loved Gabrielle.
+
+"Very good," said he; "may I come and see you?"
+
+"Certainly," I replied.
+
+After a friendly hand-shake we set out once more, and were soon back
+in London.
+
+Gabrielle was done up and went to bed directly; she slept on till the
+next morning without my disturbing her peaceful sleep, and when she
+awoke and found herself in my arms, she began to philosophise.
+
+"How easy it is," said she, "to be happy when one is rich, and how
+sad it is to see happiness out of one's reach for lack of a little
+money.  Yesterday I was the happiest of beings, and why should I not
+be as happy all my days?  I would gladly agree that my life should be
+short provided that it should be a happy one."
+
+I, too, philosophised, but my reflections were sombre.  I saw my
+resources all but exhausted, and I began to meditate a journey to
+Lisbon.  If my fortune had been inexhaustible, the Hanoverians might
+have held me in their silken fetters to the end of my days.  It
+seemed to me as if I loved them more like a father than a lover, and
+the fact that I slept with them only added to the tenderness of the
+tie.  I looked into Gabrielle's eyes, and there I saw but love.  How
+could such a love exist in her unless she were naturally virtuous,
+and yet devoid of those prejudices which are instilled into us in our
+early years.
+
+The next day Pembroke called and asked me to give him a dinner.
+Augusta delighted him.  He made proposals to her which excited her
+laughter as he did not want to pay till after the event, and she
+would not admit this condition.  However, he gave her a bank note for
+ten guineas before he left, and she accepted it with much grace.  The
+day after he wrote her a letter, of which I shall speak presently.
+
+A few minutes after the nobleman had gone the mother sent for me to
+come to her, and after paying an eloquent tribute to my virtues, my
+generosity, and my unceasing kindness towards her family, she made
+the following proposal:
+
+"As I feel sure that you have all the love of a father for my
+daughters, I wish you to become their father in reality!  I offer you
+my hand and heart; become my husband, you will be their father, their
+lord and mine.  What do you say to this?"
+
+I bit my lips hard and had great difficulty in restraining my
+inclination to laughter.  Nevertheless, the amazement, the contempt,
+and the indignation which this unparalleled piece of impudence
+aroused in me soon brought me to myself.  I perceived that this
+consummate hypocrite had counted on an abrupt refusal, and had only
+made this ridiculous offer with the idea of convincing me that she
+was under the impression that I had left her daughters as I had found
+them, and that the money I had spent on them was merely a sign of my
+tender and fatherly affection.  Of course she knew perfectly well how
+the land lay, but she thought to justify herself by taking this step.
+She was aware that I could only look upon such a proposal as an
+insult, but she did not care for that.
+
+I resolved to keep on the mask, and replied that her proposition was
+undoubtedly a very great honour for me, but it was also a very
+important question, and so I begged her to allow me some time for
+consideration.
+
+When I got back to my room I found there the mistress of the wretched
+Marquis Petina, who told me that her happiness depended on a
+certificate from the Neapolitan ambassador that her lover was really
+the person he professed to be.  With this document he would be able
+to claim a sum of two hundred guineas, and then they could both go to
+Naples, and he would marry her there.  "He will easily obtain the
+royal pardon," said she.  "You, and you alone, can help us in the
+matter, and I commend myself to your kindness."
+
+I promised to do all I could for her.  In fact, I called on the
+ambassador, who made no difficulty about giving the required
+certificate.  For the moment my chilly conquest was perfectly happy,
+but though I saw she was very grateful to me I did not ask her to
+prove her gratitude.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+Augusta Becomes Lord Pembroke's Titular Mistress  The King of
+Corsica's Son--M. du Claude, or the Jesuit Lavalette--Departure of
+the Hanoverians I Balance My Accounts--The Baron Stenau--The English
+Girl, and What She Gave Me--Daturi--My Flight from London--Comte St.
+Germain--Wesel
+
+
+Lord Pembroke wrote to Augusta offering her fifty guineas a month for
+three years, with lodging, board, servants, and carriage at St.
+Albans, without reckoning what she might expect from his grateful
+affection if it were returned.
+
+Augusta translated the letter for me, and asked for my advice.
+
+"I can't give you any counsel," said I, "in a matter which only
+concerns your own heart and your own interests."
+
+She went up to her mother, who would come to no conclusion without
+first consulting me, because, as she said, I was the wisest and most
+virtuous of men.  I am afraid the reader will differ from her here,
+but I comfort myself by the thought that I, too, think like the
+reader.  At last it was agreed that Augusta should accept the offer
+if Lord Pembroke would find a surety in the person of some reputable
+London merchant, for with her beauty and numerous graces she was sure
+to, become Lady Pembroke before long.  Indeed, the mother said she
+was perfectly certain of it, as otherwise she could not have given
+her consent, as her daughters were countesses, and too good to be any
+man's mistresses.
+
+The consequence was that Augusta wrote my lord a letter, and in three
+days it was all settled.  The merchant duly signed the contract, at
+the foot of which I had the honour of inscribing my name as a
+witness, and then I took the merchant to the mother, and he witnessed
+her cession of her daughter.  She would not see Pembroke, but she
+kissed her daughter, and held a private colloquy with her.
+
+The day on which Augusta left my house was signalized by an event
+which I must set down.
+
+The day after I had given the Marquis Petina's future bride the
+required certificate, I had taken out Gabrielle and Hippolyta for a
+ride.  When I got home I found waiting for me a person calling
+himself Sir Frederick, who was said to be the son of Theodore, King
+of Corsica, who had died in London.  This gentleman said he wished to
+speak to me in private, and when we were alone he said he was aware
+of my acquaintance with the Marquis Petina, and being on the eve of
+discounting a bill of two hundred guineas for him he wished to be
+informed whether it was likely that he could meet the bill when it
+fell due.
+
+"It is important that I should be informed on that point," he added,
+"for the persons who are going to discount the bill want me to put my
+signature to it."
+
+"Sir," I replied, "I certainly am acquainted with the marquis, but I
+know nothing about his fortune.  However, the Neapolitan ambassador
+assured me that he was the Marquis Petina."
+
+"If the persons who have the matter in hand should drop it, would you
+discount the bill?  You shall have it cheap."
+
+"I never meddle with these speculations.  Good day, Sir Frederick."
+
+The next day Goudar came and said that a M. du Claude wanted to speak
+to me.
+
+"Who is M. du Claude?"
+
+"The famous Jesuit Lavalette, who was concerned in the great
+bankruptcy case which ruined the Society in France.  He fled to
+England under a false name.  I advise you to listen to him, for he
+must have plenty of money."
+
+"A Jesuit and a bankrupt; that does not sound very well."
+
+"Well, I have met him in good houses, and knowing that I was
+acquainted with you he addressed himself to me.  After all, you run
+no risk in listening to what he has to say."
+
+"Well, well, you can take me to him; it will be easier to avoid any
+entanglement than if he came to see me."
+
+Goudar went to Lavalette to prepare the way, and in the afternoon he
+took me to see him.  I was well enough pleased to see the man, whose
+rascality had destroyed the infamous work of many years.  He welcomed
+me with great politeness, and as soon as we were alone he shewed me a
+bill of Petina's, saying,--
+
+"The young man wants me to discount it, and says you can give me the
+necessary information."
+
+I gave the reverend father the same answer as I had given the King of
+Corsica's son, and left him angry with this Marquis of Misery who had
+given me so much needless trouble.  I was minded to have done with
+him, and resolved to let him know through his mistress that I would
+not be his reference, but I could not find an opportunity that day.
+
+The next day I took my two nymphs for a ride, and asked Pembroke to
+dinner.  In vain we waited for Petina's mistress; she was nowhere to
+be found.  At nine o'clock I got a letter from her, with a German
+letter enclosed for her mother.  She said that feeling certain that
+her mother would not give her consent to her marriage, she had eloped
+with her lover, who had got together enough money to go to Naples,
+and when they reached that town he would marry her.  She begged me to
+console her mother and make her listen to reason, as she had not gone
+off with an adventurer but with a man of rank, her equal.  My lips
+curled into a smile of pity and contempt, which made the three
+sisters curious.  I shewed them the letter I had just received, and
+asked them to come with me to their mother.
+
+"Not to-night," said Victoire, "this terrible news would keep her
+awake."
+
+I took her advice and we supped together, sadly enough.
+
+I thought the poor wretch was ruined for life, and I reproached
+myself with being the cause of her misfortune; for if I had not
+released the marquis from prison this could never have happened.  The
+Marquis Caraccioli had been right in saying that I had done a good
+deed, but a foolish one.  I consoled myself in the arms of my dear
+Gabrielle.
+
+I had a painful scene with the mother the next morning.  She cursed
+her daughter and her seducer, and even blamed me.  She wept and
+stormed alternately.
+
+It is never of any use to try and convince people in distress that
+they are wrong, for one may only do harm, while if they are left to
+themselves they soon feel that they have been unjust, and are
+grateful to the person who let them exhaust their grief without any
+contradiction.
+
+After this event I spent a happy fortnight in the society of
+Gabrielle, whom Hippolyta and Victoire looked on as my wife.  She
+made my happiness and I made hers in all sorts of ways, but
+especially by my fidelity; for I treated her sisters as if they had
+been my sisters, shewing no recollection of the favours I had
+obtained from them, and never taking the slightest liberty, for I
+knew that friendship between women will hardly brook amorous rivalry.
+I had bought them dresses and linen in abundance, they were well
+lodged and well fed, I took them to the theatre and to the country,
+and the consequence was they all adored me, and seemed to think that
+this manner of living would go on for ever.  Nevertheless, I was
+every day nearer and nearer to moral and physical bankruptcy.  I had
+no more money, and I had sold all my diamonds and precious stones.  I
+still possessed my snuff-boxes, my watches, and numerous trifles,
+which I loved and had not the heart to sell; and, indeed, I should
+not have got the fifth part of what I gave for them.  For a whole
+month I had not paid my cook, or my wine merchant, but I liked to
+feel that they trusted me.  All I thought of was Gabrielle's love,
+and of this I assured myself by a thousand delicacies and attentions.
+
+This was my condition when one day Victoire came to me with sadness
+on her face, and said that her mother had made up her mind to return
+to Hanover, as she had lost all hope of getting anything from the
+English Court.
+
+"When does she intend to leave?"
+
+"In three or four days."
+
+"And is she going without telling me, as if she were leaving an inn
+after paying her bill?"
+
+"On the contrary, she wishes to have a private talk with you."
+
+I paid her a visit, and she began by reproaching me tenderly for not
+coming to see her more often.  She said that as I had refused her
+hand she would not run the risk of incurring censure or slander of
+any kind.  "I thank you from my heart," she added, "for all the
+kindness you have shewn my girls, and I am going to take the three I
+have left away, lest I lose them as I have lost the two eldest.  If
+you like, you may come too and stay with us as long as you like in my
+pretty country house near the capital."
+
+Of course I had to thank her and reply that my engagements did not
+allow me to accept her kind offer.
+
+Three days after, Victoire told me, as I was getting up, that they
+were going on board ship at three o'clock.  Hippolyta and Gabrielle
+made me come for a ride, according to a promise I had given them the
+night before.  The poor things amused themselves, while I grieved
+bitterly, as was my habit when I had to separate from anyone that I
+loved.
+
+When we came home I lay down on my bed, not taking any dinner, and
+seeing nothing of the three sisters till they had made everything
+ready for the journey.  I got up directly before they left, so as not
+to see the mother in my own room, and I saw her in hers just as she
+was about to be taken down into my carriage, which was in readiness
+at the door.  The impudent creature expected me to give her some
+money for the journey, but perceiving that I was not likely to bleed,
+she observed, with involuntary sincerity, that her purse contained
+the sum of a hundred and fifty guineas, which I had given to her
+daughters; and these daughters of hers were present, and sobbed
+bitterly.
+
+When they were gone I closed my doors to everyone, and spent three
+days in the melancholy occupation of making up my accounts.  In the
+month I had spent with the Hanoverians I had dissipated the whole of
+the sum resulting from the sale of the precious stones, and I found
+that I was in debt to the amount of four hundred guineas.  I resolved
+to go to Lisbon by sea, and sold my diamond cross, six or seven gold
+snuff-boxes (after removing the portraits), all my watches except
+one, and two great trunks full of clothes.  I then discharged my
+debts and found I was eighty guineas to the good, this being what
+remained of the fine fortune I had squandered away like a fool or a
+philosopher, or, perhaps, a little like both.  I left my fine house
+where I had lived so pleasantly, and took a little room at a guinea a
+week.  I still kept my negro, as I had every reason to believe him to
+be a faithful servant.
+
+After taking these measures I wrote to M. de Bragadin, begging him to
+send me two hundred sequins.
+
+Thus having made up my mind to leave London without owing a penny to
+anyone, and under obligations to no man's purse, I waited for the
+bill of exchange from Venice.  When it came I resolved to bid
+farewell to all my friends and to try my fortune in Lisbon, but such
+was not the fate which the fickle goddess had assigned to me.
+
+A fortnight after the departure of the Hanoverians (it was the end of
+February in the year 1764), my evil genius made me go to the "Canon
+Tavern," where I usually dined in a room by myself.  The table was
+laid and I was just going to sit down, when Baron Stenau came in and
+begged me to have my dinner brought into the next room, where he and
+his mistress were dining.
+
+"I thank you," said I, "for the solitary man grows weary of his
+company."
+
+I saw the English woman I had met at Sartori's, the same to whom the
+baron had been so generous.  She spoke Italian, and was attractive in
+many ways, so I was well pleased to find myself opposite to her, and
+we had a pleasant dinner.
+
+After a fortnight's abstinence it was not surprising that she
+inspired me with desires, but I concealed them nevertheless, for her
+lover seemed to respect her.  I only allowed myself to tell the baron
+that I thought him the happiest of men.
+
+Towards the close of the dinner the girl noticed three dice on the
+mantel and took them up, saying,--
+
+"Let us have a wager of a guinea, and spend it on oysters and
+champagne."
+
+We could not refuse, and the baron having lost called the waiter and
+gave him his orders.
+
+While we were eating the oysters she suggested that we should throw
+again to see which should pay for the dinner.
+
+We did so and she lost.
+
+I did not like my luck, and wishing to lose a couple of guineas I
+offered to throw against the baron.  He accepted, and to my annoyance
+I won.  He asked for his revenge and lost again.
+
+"I don't want to win your money," said I, "and I will give you your
+revenge up to a hundred guineas."
+
+He seemed grateful and we went on playing, and in less than half an
+hour he owed me a hundred guineas.
+
+"Let us go on," said he.
+
+"My dear baron, the luck's against you; you might lose a large sum of
+money.  I really think we have had enough."
+
+Without heeding my politeness, he swore against fortune and against
+the favour I seemed to be shewing him.  Finally he got up, and taking
+his hat and cane, went out, saying,--
+
+"I will pay you when I come back."
+
+As soon as he had gone the girl said:
+
+"I am sure you have been regarding me as your partner at play."
+
+"If you have guessed that, you will also have guessed that I think
+you charming."
+
+"Yes, I think I have."
+
+"Are you angry with me?"
+
+"Not in the least."
+
+"You shall have the fifty guineas as soon as he has paid me."
+
+"Very good, but the baron must know nothing about it."
+
+"Of course not."
+
+The bargain was scarcely struck before I began to shew her how much I
+loved her.  I had every reason to congratulate myself on her
+complaisance, and I thought this meeting a welcome gleam of light
+when all looked dark around me.  We had to make haste, however, as
+the door was only shut with a catch.  I had barely time to ascertain
+her address and the hour at which she could see me, and whether I
+should have to be careful with her lover.  She replied that the
+baron's fidelity was not of a character to make him very exacting.  I
+put the address in my pocket, and promised to pass a night with her.
+
+The baron came in again, and said,--
+
+"I have been to a merchant to discount this bill of exchange, and
+though it is drawn on one of the best house in Cadiz, and made out by
+a good house in London, he would not have anything to do with it."
+
+I took the bill and saw some millions mentioned on it, which
+astonished me.
+
+The baron said with a laugh that the currency was Portuguese milries,
+and that they amounted to five hundred pounds sterling.
+
+"If the signatures are known," said I, "I don't understand why the
+man won't discount it.  Why don't you take it to your banker?"
+
+"I haven't got one.  I came to England with a thousand gold pieces in
+my pocket, and I have spent them all.  As I have not got any letters
+of credit I cannot pay you unless the bill is discounted.  If you
+have got any friends on the Exchange, however, you could get it
+done."
+
+"If the names prove good ones I will let you have the money to-morrow
+morning."
+
+"Then I will make it payable to your order."
+
+He put his name to it, and I promised to send him either the money or
+the bill before noon on the day following.  He gave me his address
+and begged me to come and dine with him, and so we parted.
+
+The next day I went to Bosanquet, who told me that Mr. Leigh was
+looking out for bills of exchange on Cadiz, and I accordingly waited
+on him.  He exclaimed that such paper was worth more than gold to
+him, and gave me five hundred and twenty guineas, of course after I
+had endorsed it.
+
+I called on the baron and gave him the money I had just received, and
+he thanked me and gave me back the hundred guineas.  Afterwards we
+had dinner, and fell to talking of his mistress.
+
+"Are you in love with her?" said I.
+
+"No; I have plenty of others, and if you like her you can have her
+for ten guineas."
+
+I liked this way of putting it, though I had not the slightest idea
+of cheating the girl out of the sum I had promised her.  On leaving
+the baron I went to see her, and as soon as she heard that the baron
+had paid me she ordered a delicious supper, and made me spend a night
+that obliterated all my sorrows from my memory.  In the morning, when
+I handed over the fifty guineas, she said that as a reward for the
+way in which I kept my promise I could sup with her whenever I liked
+to spend six guineas.  I promised to come and see her often.
+
+The next morning I received a letter through the post, written in bad
+Italian, and signed, "Your obedient godson, Daturi."  This godson of
+mine was in prison for debt, and begged me to give him a few
+shillings to buy some food.
+
+I had nothing particular to do, the appellation of godson made me
+curious, and so I went to the prison to see Daturi, of whose identity
+I had not the slightest idea.  He was a fine young man of twenty; he
+did not know me, nor I him.  I gave him his letter, and begging me to
+forgive him he drew a paper from his pocket and shewed me his
+certificate of baptism, on which I saw my own name inscribed beside
+his name and those of his father and mother, the parish of Venice,
+where he was born, and the church in which he was baptized; but still
+I racked my memory in vain; I could not recollect him.
+
+"If you will listen to me," he said, "I can set you right; my mother
+has told me the story a hundred times."
+
+"Go on," said I, "I will listen;" and as he told his story I
+remembered who he was.
+
+This young man whom I had held at the font as the son of the actor
+Daturi was possibly my own son.  He had come to London with a troupe
+of jugglers to play the illustrious part of clown, or pagliazzo, but
+having quarrelled with the company he had lost his place and had got
+into debt to the extent of ten pounds sterling, and for this debt he
+had been imprisoned.  Without saying anything to him about my
+relations with his mother, I set him free on the spot, telling him to
+come to me every morning, as I would give him two shillings a day for
+his support.
+
+A week after I had done this good work I felt that I had caught the
+fearful disease from which the god Mercury had already delivered me
+three times, though with great danger and peril of my life.  I had
+spent three nights with the fatal English woman, and the misfortune
+was doubly inconvenient under the circumstances.  I was on the eve of
+a long sea voyage, and though Venus may have risen from the waves of
+the sea, sea air is by no means favourable to those on whom she has
+cast her malign aspect.  I knew what to do, and resolved to have my
+case taken in hand without delay.
+
+I left my house, not with the intention of reproaching the English
+woman after the manner of fools, but rather of going to a good
+surgeon, with whom I could make an agreement to stay in his house
+till my cure was completed.
+
+I had my trunks packed just as if I was going to leave London,
+excepting my linen, which I sent to my washerwoman who lived at a
+distance of six miles from town, and drove a great trade.
+
+The very day I meant to change my lodging a letter was handed to me.
+It was from Mr. Leigh, and ran as follows:
+
+"The bill of exchange I discounted for you is a forgery, so please to
+send me at your earliest convenience the five hundred and twenty
+guineas; and if the man who has cheated you will not reimburse the
+money, have him arrested.  For Heaven's sake do not force me to have
+you arrested to-morrow, and whatever you do make haste, for this may
+prove a hanging matter."
+
+Fortunately I was by myself when I received the letter.  I fell upon
+my bed, and in a moment I was covered with a cold sweat, while I
+trembled like a leaf.  I saw the gallows before me, for nobody would
+lend me the money, and they would not wait for my remittance from
+Venice to reach me.
+
+To my shuddering fit succeeded a burning fever.  I loaded my pistols,
+and went out with the determination of blowing out Baron Stenau's
+brains, or putting him under arrest if he did not give me the money.
+I reached his house, and was informed that he had sailed for Lisbon
+four days ago.
+
+This Baron Stenau was a Livonian, and four months after these events
+he was hanged at Lisbon.  I only anticipate this little event in his
+life because I might possibly forget it when I come to my sojourn at
+Riga.
+
+As soon as I heard he was gone I saw there was no remedy, and that I
+must save myself.  I had only ten or twelve guineas left, and this
+sum was insufficient.  I went to Treves, a Venetian Jew to whom I had
+a letter from Count Algarotti, the Venetian banker.  I did not think
+of going to Bosanquet, or Sanhel, or Salvador, who might possibly
+have got wind of my trouble, while Treves had no dealings with these
+great bankers, and discounted a bill for a hundred sequins readily
+enough.  With the money in my pocket I made my way to my lodging,
+while deadly fear dogged every step.  Leigh had given me twenty-four
+hours' breathing time, and I did not think him capable of breaking
+his word, still it would not do to trust to it.  I did not want to
+lose my linen nor three fine suits of clothes which my tailor was
+keeping for me, and yet I had need of the greatest promptitude.
+
+I called in Jarbe and asked him whether he would prefer to take
+twenty guineas and his dismissal, or to continue in my service.  I
+explained that he would have to wait in London for a week, and join
+me at the place from which I wrote to him.
+
+"Sir," said he, "I should like to remain in your service, and I will
+rejoin you wherever you please.  When are you leaving?"
+
+"In an hour's time; but say not a word, or it will cost me my life."
+
+"Why can't you take me with you?"
+
+"Because I want you to bring my linen which is at the wash, and my
+clothes which the tailor is making.  I will give you sufficient money
+for the journey."
+
+"I don't want anything.  You shall pay me what I have spent when I
+rejoin you.  Wait a moment."
+
+He went out and came back again directly, and holding out sixty
+guineas, said,--
+
+"Take this, sir, I entreat you, my credit is good for as much more in
+case of need."
+
+"I thank you, my good fellow, but I will not take your money, but be
+sure I will not forget your fidelity."
+
+My tailor lived close by and I called on him, and seeing that my
+clothes were not yet made up I told him that I should like to sell
+them, and also the gold lace that was to be used in the trimming.  He
+instantly gave me thirty guineas which meant a gain to him of twenty-
+five per cent.  I paid the week's rent of my lodging, and after
+bidding farewell to my negro I set out with Daturi.  We slept at
+Rochester, as my strength would carry me no farther.  I was in
+convulsions, and had a sort of delirium.  Daturi was the means of
+saving my life.
+
+I had ordered post-horses to continue our journey, and Daturi of his
+own authority sent them back and went for a doctor, who pronounced me
+to be in danger of an apoplectic fit and ordered a copious blood-
+letting, which restored my calm.  Six hours later he pronounced me
+fit to travel.  I got to Dover early in the morning, and had only
+half an hour to stop, as the captain of the packet said that the tide
+would not allow of any delay.  The worthy sailor little knew how well
+his views suited mine.  I used this half hour in writing to Jarbe,
+telling him to rejoin me at Calais, and Mrs. Mercier, my landlady, to
+whom I had addressed the letter, wrote to tell me that she had given
+it him with her own hands.  However, Jarbe did not come.  We shall
+hear more of this negro in the course of two years.
+
+The fever and the virus that was in my blood put me in danger of my
+life, and on the third day I was in extremis.  A fourth blood-letting
+exhausted my strength, and left me in a state of coma which lasted
+for twenty-four hours.  This was succeeded by a crisis which restored
+me to life again, but it was only by dint of the most careful
+treatment that I found myself able to continue my journey a fortnight
+after my arrival in France.
+
+Weak in health, grieved at having been the innocent cause of the
+worthy Mr. Leigh's losing a large sum of money, humiliated by my
+flight from London, indignant with Jarbe, and angry at being obliged
+to abandon my Portuguese project, I got into a post-chaise with
+Daturi, not knowing where to turn or where to go, or whether I had
+many more weeks to live.
+
+I had written to Venice asking M. de Bragadin to send the sum I have
+mentioned to Brussels instead of London.
+
+When I got to Dunkirk, the day after I left Paris, the first person I
+saw was the merchant S----, the husband of that Therese whom my
+readers may remember, the niece of Tiretta's mistress, with whom I
+had been in love seven years ago.  The worthy man recognized me, and
+seeing his astonishment at the change in my appearance I told him I
+was recovering from a long illness, and then asked after his wife.
+
+"She is wonderfully well," he answered, "and I hope we shall have the
+pleasure of seeing you to dinner tomorrow."
+
+I said I wanted to be off at day-break, but he would not hear of it,
+and protested he would be quite hurt if I went away without seeing
+his wife and his three children.  At last I appeased him by saying
+that we would sup together.
+
+My readers will remember that I had been on the point of marrying
+Therese, and this circumstance made me ashamed of presenting myself
+to her in such a sorry plight.
+
+In a quarter of an hour the husband arrived with his wife and three
+children, the eldest of whom looked, about six.  After the usual
+greetings and tiresome enquiries after my health, Therese sent back
+the two younger children, rightly thinking that the eldest would be
+the only one in whom I should take any interest.  He was a charming
+boy; and as he was exactly like his mother, the worthy merchant had
+no doubts as to the parentage of the child.
+
+I laughed to myself at finding my offspring thus scattered all over
+Europe.  At supper Therese gave me news of Tiretta.  He had entered
+the Dutch East India Company's service, but having been concerned in
+a revolt at Batavia, he had only escaped the gallows by flight--I had
+my own thoughts as to the similarity between his destiny and mine,
+but I did not reveal them.  After all it is an easy enough matter for
+an adventurous man, who does not look where he is going, to get
+hanged for a mere trifle.
+
+The next day, when I got to Tournay, I saw some grooms walking fine
+horses up and down, and I asked to whom they belonged.
+
+"'To the Comte de St. Germain, the adept, who has been here a month,
+and never goes out.  Everybody who passes through the place wants to
+see him; but he is invisible."
+
+This was enough to give me the same desire, so I wrote him a letter,
+expressing my wish to speak to him, and asking him to name an hour.
+His reply, which I have preserved, ran as follows:
+
+"The gravity of my occupation compels me to exclude everyone, but you
+are an exception.  Come whenever you like, you will be shewn in.  You
+need not mention my name nor your own.  I do not ask you to share my
+repast, far my food is not suitable to others--to you least of all,
+if your appetite is what it used to be."
+
+At nine o'clock I paid my call, and found he had grown a beard two
+inches long.  He had a score of retorts before him, full of liquids
+in various stages of digestion.  He told me he was experimenting with
+colours for his own amusement, and that he had established a hat
+factory for Count Cobenzl, the Austrian ambassador at Brussels.  He
+added that the count had only given him a hundred and fifty thousand
+florins, which were insufficient.  Then we spoke of Madame d'Urfe.
+
+"She poisoned herself," said he, "by taking too strong a dose of the
+Universal Medicine, and her will shews that she thought herself to be
+with child.  If she had come to me, I could have really made her so,
+though it is a difficult process, and science has not advanced far
+enough for us to be able to guarantee the sex of the child."
+
+When he heard the nature of my disease, he wanted me to stay three
+days at Tournay for him to give me fifteen pills, which would
+effectually cure me, and restore me to perfect health.  Then he
+shewed me his magistrum, which he called athoeter.  It was a white
+liquid contained in a well-stoppered phial.  He told me that this
+liquid was the universal spirit of nature, and that if the wax on the
+stopper was pricked ever so lightly, the whole of the contents would
+disappear.  I begged him to make the experiment.  He gave me the
+phial and a pin, and I pricked the wax, and to lo! the phial was
+empty.
+
+"It is very fine," said I, "but what good is all this?"
+
+"I cannot tell you; that is my secret."
+
+He wanted to astonish me before I went, and asked me if I had any
+money about me.  I took out several pieces and put them on the table.
+He got up, and without saying what he was going to do he took a
+burning coal and put it on a metal plate, and placed a twelve-sols
+piece with a small black grain on the coal.  He then blew it, and in
+two minutes it seemed on fire.
+
+"Wait a moment," said the alchemist, "let it get cool;" and it cooled
+almost directly.
+
+"Take it; it is yours," said he.
+
+I took up the piece of money and found it had become gold.  I felt
+perfectly certain that he had smuggled my silver piece away, and had
+substituted a gold piece coated with silver for it.  I did not care
+to tell him as much, but to let him see that I was not taken in, I
+said,--
+
+"It is really very wonderful, but another time you should warn me
+what you are going to do, so that the operation might be attentively
+watched, and the piece of money noted before being placed on the
+burning coal."
+
+"Those that are capable of entertaining doubts of my art," said the
+rogue, "are not worthy to speak to me."
+
+This was in his usual style of arrogance, to which I was accustomed.
+This was the last time I saw this celebrated and learned impostor; he
+died at Schlesing six or seven years after.  The piece of money he
+gave me was pure gold, and two months after Field-marshal Keith took
+such a fancy to it that I gave it him.
+
+I left Tournay the next morning, and stopped at Brussels to await the
+answer of the letter which I had written to M. de Bragadin.  Five
+days after I got the letter with a bill of exchange for two hundred
+ducats.
+
+I thought of staying in Brussels to get cured, but Daturi told me
+that he had heard from a rope-dancer that his father and mother and
+the whole family were at Brunswick, and he persuaded me to go there,
+assuring me that I should be carefully looked after.
+
+He had not much difficulty in getting me to go to Brunswick, as I was
+curious to see again the mother of my godson, so I started the same
+day.  At Ruremonde I was so ill that I had to stop for thirty-six
+hours.  At Wesel I wished to get rid of my post-chaise, for the
+horses of the country are not used to going between shafts, but what
+was my surprise to meet General Bekw there.
+
+After the usual compliments had passed, and the general had condoled
+with me on my weak state of health, he said he should like to buy my
+chaise and exchange it for a commodious carriage, in which I could
+travel all over Germany.  The bargain was soon struck, and the
+general advised me to stay at Wesel where there was a clever young
+doctor from the University of Leyden, who would understand my case
+better than the Brunswick physicians.
+
+Nothing is easier than to influence a sick man, especially if he be
+in search of fortune, and knows not where to look for the fickle
+goddess.  General Bekw----, who was in garrison at Wesel, sent for
+Dr. Pipers, and was present at my confession and even at the
+examination.
+
+I will not revolt my readers by describing the disgusting state in
+which I was, suffice it to say that I shudder still when I think of
+it.
+
+The young doctor, who was gentleness personified, begged me to come
+and stay with him, promising that his mother and sisters should take
+the greatest care of me, and that he would effect a radical cure in
+the course of six weeks if I would carry out all his directions.  The
+general advised me strongly to stay with the doctor, and I agreed all
+the more readily as I wished to have some amusement at Brunswick and
+not to arrive there deprived of the use of all my limbs.  I therefore
+gave in, but the doctor would not hear of any agreement.  He told me
+that I could give him whatever I liked when I went away, and he would
+certainly be satisfied.  He took his leave to go and make my room
+ready, and told me to come in an hour's time.  I went to his house in
+a sedan-chair, and held a handkerchief before my face, as I was
+ashamed that the young doctor's mother and sisters should see me in
+the state I was in.
+
+As soon as I got to my room, Daturi undressed me and I went to bed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+My Cure--Daturi is Beaten by Some Soldiers--I Leave Wesel for
+Brunswick--Redegonde--Brunswick--The Hereditary Prince--The Jew--
+My Stay at Wolfen-Buttel The Library--Berlin Calsabigi and the Berlin
+Lottery--Mdlle. Belanger
+
+
+At Supper-time, the doctor, his mother, and one of his sisters came
+to see me.  All of them bore the love of their kind written on their
+features; they assured me that I should have all possible care at
+their hands.  When the ladies were gone the doctor explained his
+treatment.  He said that he hoped to cure me by the exhibition of
+sudorifices and mercurial pills, but he warned me I must be very
+careful in my diet and must not apply myself in any way.  I promised
+to abide by his directions, and he said that he would read me the
+newspaper himself twice a week to amuse me, and by way of a beginning
+he informed me that the famous Pompadour was dead.
+
+Thus I was condemned to a state of perfect rest, but it was not the
+remedies or the abstinence I dreaded most; I feared the effects of
+ennui; I thought I should die of it.  No doubt the doctor saw the
+danger as well as myself, for he asked me if I would mind his sister
+coming and working in my room occasionally with a few of her friends.
+I replied that, despite my shame of shewing myself to young ladies in
+such a condition, I accepted her offer with delight.  The sister was
+very grateful for what she was pleased to call my kindness, for my
+room was the only one which looked in the street, and as everyone
+knows girls are very fond of inspecting the passers-by. Unfortunately
+this arrangement turned out ill for Daturi.  The poor young man had
+only received the education of a mountebank, and it was tiresome for
+him to pass all his time in my company.  When he saw that I had
+plenty of friends, he thought I could dispense with his society, and
+only thought of amusing himself.  On the third day towards the
+evening he was carried home covered with bruises.  He had been in the
+guard-room with the soldiers, and some quarrel having arisen he had
+got a severe beating.  He was in a pitiable state; all over blood and
+with three teeth missing.  He told me the story with tears, and
+begged me to take vengeance on his foes.
+
+I sent my doctor to General Bekw----, who said that all he could do
+was to give the poor man a bed in the hospital.  Baturi had no bones
+broken, and in a few days was quite well, so I sent him on to
+Brunswick with a passport from General Salomon.  The loss of his
+teeth secured him from the conscription; this, at any rate, was a
+good thing.
+
+The treatment of the young doctor was even more successful than he
+had anticipated, for in a month I was perfectly well again, though
+terribly thin.  The worthy people of the house must have taken an
+idea of me not in the least like myself; I was thought to be the most
+patient of men, and the sister and her young lady friends must have
+considered me as modesty personified; but these virtues only resulted
+from my illness and my great depression.  If you want to discover the
+character of a man, view him in health and freedom; a captive and in
+sickness he is no longer the same man.
+
+I gave a beautiful dress to the sister, and twenty louis to the
+doctor, and both seemed to me extremely satisfied.
+
+On the eve of my departure I received a letter from Madame du Rumain,
+who had heard I was in want from my friend Baletti, and sent me a
+bill of exchange on Amsterdam for six hundred florins.  She said I
+could repay her at my convenience, but she died before I was able to
+discharge the debt.
+
+Having made up my mind to go to Brunswick, I could not resist the
+temptation to pass through Hanover, for whenever I thought of
+Gabrielle I loved her still.  I did not wish to stop any length of
+time, for I was poor and I had to be careful of my health.  I only
+wished to pay her a flying visit on the estate which her mother had
+at Stocken, as she had told me.  I may also say that curiosity was a
+motive for this visit.
+
+I had decided to start at day-break in my new carriage, but the fates
+had ordained it otherwise.
+
+The English general wrote me a note asking me to sup with him,
+telling me that some Italians would be present, and this decided me
+to stay on, but I had to promise the doctor to observe strict
+temperance.
+
+My surprise may be imagined when I saw the Redegonde and her
+abominable mother.  The mother did not recognize me at first, but
+Redegonde knew me directly, and said,--
+
+"Good Heavens! how thin you have become!"
+
+I complimented her on her beauty, and indeed she had improved
+wonderfully.
+
+"I have just recovered from a dangerous illness," said I, "and I am
+starting for Brunswick at day-break tomorrow."
+
+"So are we," she exclaimed, looking at her mother.
+
+The general, delighted to find that we knew each other, said we could
+travel together.
+
+"Hardly, I think," I replied, "unless the lady-mother has changed her
+principles since I knew her."
+
+"I am always the same," she said, dryly enough; but I only replied
+with a glance of contempt.
+
+The general held a bank at faro at a small table.  There were several
+other ladies and some officers, and the stakes were small.  He
+offered me a place, but I excused myself, saying that I never played
+while on a journey.
+
+At the end of the deal the general returned to the charge, and
+said,--
+
+"Really, chevalier, this maxim of yours is anti-social; you must
+play."
+
+So saying he drew several English bank notes from his pocket-book,
+telling me they were the same I had given him in London six months
+ago.
+
+"Take your revenge," he added; "there are four hundred pounds here."
+
+"I don't want to lose as much as that," I replied, "but I will risk
+fifty pounds to amuse you."
+
+With this I took out the bill of exchange that Madame du Rumain had
+sent me.
+
+The general went on dealing, and at the third deal I found I was
+fifty guineas to the good, and with that I was satisfied.  Directly
+afterwards supper was announced, and we went into the dining-room.
+
+Redegonde, who had learnt French admirably, kept everybody amused.
+She had been engaged by the Duke of Brunswick as second singer, and
+she had come from Brussels.  She bemoaned her journey in the
+uncomfortable post-chaise, and expressed a fear that she would be ill
+by the time she got to her journey's end.
+
+"Why, there's the Chevalier Seingalt all alone in a most comfortable
+carriage," said the general.
+
+Redegonde smiled.
+
+"How many people will your carriage hold?"
+
+"Only two."
+
+"Then it's out of the question, for I never let my daughter travel
+alone with anybody."
+
+A general burst of laughter, in which Redegonde joined, seemed to
+confuse the mother in some degree; but like a good daughter Redegonde
+explained that her mother was always afraid of her being
+assassinated.
+
+The evening passed away in pleasant conversation, and the younger
+singer did not need much persuasion to seat herself at the piano,
+where she sang in a manner that won genuine applause.
+
+When I wanted to go the general begged me to breakfast with him,
+saying that the post-chaise did not go till twelve, and that this act
+of politeness was due to my young fellow-countrywoman.  Redegonde
+joined in, reproaching me with my behaviour at Turin and Florence,
+though she had nothing really to complain of.  I gave in, and feeling
+that I wanted rest I went to bed.
+
+The next morning, at nine o'clock, I took leave of the worthy doctor
+and his family and walked to the general's, giving orders that my
+carriage should be brought round as soon as it was ready.
+
+In half an hour Redegonde and her mother arrived, and I was
+astonished to see them accompanied by the brother who had been my
+servant at Florence.
+
+When breakfast was over my carriage stood at the door, and I made my
+bow to the general and all the company, who were standing in the hall
+to see me off.  Redegonde came down the steps with me, and asked if
+my carriage was comfortable, and then got into it.  I got in after
+her without the slightest premeditation, and the postillion, seeing
+the carriage full, gave a crack with his whip and we were off,
+Redegonde shrieking with laughter.  I was on the point of telling him
+to stop, but seeing her enjoyment of the drive I held my tongue, only
+waiting for her to say, "I have had enough."  But I waited in vain,
+and we had gone over half a league before she said a word.
+
+"I have laughed, and laugh still," she said, "when I think of what my
+mother will say at this freak of mine.  I had no intentions in
+getting into the carriage, and I am sure you cannot have told the
+postillion to drive on."
+
+"You may be quite sure of that."
+
+"All the same my mother will believe it to be a deeply-laid plan, and
+that strikes me as amusing."
+
+"So it is; I am quite satisfied, certainly.  Now you are here you had
+better come on with me to Brunswick; you will be more comfortable
+than in a villainous stage coach."
+
+"I should be delighted, but that would be pushing matters too far.
+No, we will stop at the first stage and wait for the coach."
+
+"You may do so if you please, but you will excuse my waiting."
+
+"What! you would leave me all alone?"
+
+"You know, dear Redegonde, that I have always loved you, and I am
+ready to take you with me to Brunswick; what more can I say?"
+
+"If you love me you will wait with me and restore me to my mother,
+who must be in despair."
+
+"In spite of my devotion I am afraid I cannot do so."
+
+Instead of turning sulky the young madcap began to laugh again; and I
+determined she should come with me to Brunswick.
+
+When we got to the end of the stage there were no horses ready.  I
+arranged matters with the postillion, and after baiting the horses we
+set out once more.  The roads were fearful, and we did not come to
+the second posting-stage till nightfall.
+
+We might have slept there, but not wishing to be caught up by the
+coach and to lose my prize, I ordered fresh horses and we resumed our
+journey in spite of Redegonde's tears and supplications.  We
+travelled all night and reached Lippstadt in the early morning, and
+in spite of the unseasonableness of the hour I ordered something to
+eat.  Redegonde wanted a rest, as indeed did I, but she had to give
+way when I said caressingly that we could sleep at Minden.  Instead
+of scolding me she began to smile, and I saw she guessed what she had
+to expect; in fact, when we got to Minden we had supper, and then
+went to bed together as man and wife, and stayed in bed for five
+hours.  She was quite kind, and only made me entreat her for form's
+sake.
+
+We got to Hanover and put up at an excellent inn where we had a
+choice meal, and where I found the waiter who was at the inn in
+Zurich when I waited on the ladies at table.  Miss Chudleigh had
+dined there with the Duke of Kingston, and they had gone on to
+Berlin.
+
+We had a beautiful French bed in which to spend the night, and in the
+morning we were awakened by the noise of the stage coach.  Redegonde
+not wishing to be surprised in my arms rang the bell and told the
+waiter by no means to admit the lady who would come out of the coach
+and ask to be shewn in directly; but her precaution was vain, for, as
+the waiter went out, the mother and son came in, and we were taken in
+'flagrante delicto'.
+
+I told them to wait outside, and getting up in my shirt I locked the
+door.  The mother began to abuse me and her daughter, and threatened
+me with criminal proceedings if I did not give her up.  Redegonde,
+however, calmed her by telling her the story, and she believed, or
+pretended to believe, it was all chance; but she said,--
+
+"That's all very well; but you can't deny, you little slut, that you
+have been sleeping with him."
+
+"Oh, there's no harm in that, for you know, dear mamma, nobody does
+anything asleep."
+
+Without giving her the time to reply she threw her arms round her
+neck and promised to go on with her in the coach.
+
+After things had been thus settled, I dressed myself, and gave them
+all a good breakfast, and went on my way to Brunswick, where I
+arrived a few hours before them.
+
+Redegonde had deprived me of my curiosity to see Gabrielle; besides,
+in the condition I was in, my vanity would have suffered grievously.
+As soon as I had settled in a good inn I sent for Daturi, who came
+immediately, elegantly dressed, and very anxious to introduce to me a
+certain Signor Nicolini, theatrical manager.  This Nicolini
+understood his craft perfectly, and was high in favour with the
+prince to whom his daughter Anna was mistress.  He gave me a
+distinguished and a cordial greeting, and was very anxious that I
+should stay with him, but I was able to escape the constraint of such
+an arrangement without giving him any offense.  I accepted his offer
+to take my meals at his table, which was furnished by an excellent
+cook and surrounded by a distinguished company.  Here was no
+gathering of men of title, with the cold and haughty manners of the
+Court, all were talented, and such company to my mind was delightful.
+
+I was not well, and I was not rich, or else I should have made a
+longer stay at Brunswick, which had its charms for me.  But we will
+not anticipate, though as old age steals on a man he is never tired
+of dwelling again and again on the incidents of his past life, in
+spite of his desire to arrest the sands which run out so quickly.
+
+The third day after my arrival at Brunswick, Redegonde knowing that I
+was dining at Nicolini's came there too.  Everybody had found out,
+somehow or other, that we had travelled from Wesel to Hanover
+together, and they were at liberty to draw whatever conclusions they
+pleased.
+
+Two days later the crown prince arrived from Potsdam on a visit to
+his future bride, the daughter of the reigning duke, whom he married
+the year after.
+
+The Court entertained in the most magnificent manner, and the
+hereditary prince, now the reigning duke, honoured me with an
+invitation.  I had met his highness at an assembly in Soho Square,
+the day after he had been made a London citizen.
+
+It was twenty-two years since I had been in love with Daturi's
+mother.  I was curious to see the ravages which time had worked on
+her, but I had reason to repent of my visit, for she had grown
+terribly ugly.  She knew it herself, and a blush of shame appeared on
+those features which had once been fair.
+
+The prince had an army of six thousand foot in good condition.  This
+army was to be reviewed on a plain at a little distance from the
+town, and I went to see the spectacle, and was rewarded by having
+rain dripping down my back the whole time.  Among the numerous
+spectators were many persons of fashion, ladies in handsome dresses,
+and a good sprinkling of foreigners.  I saw the Honourable Miss
+Chudleigh, who honoured me by addressing me, and asked me, amongst
+other questions, how long I had left London.  She was dressed in
+Indian muslin, and beneath it she only wore a chemise of fine
+cambric, and by the time the rain had made her clothes cling to her
+body she looked more than naked, but she did not evince any
+confusion.  Most of the ladies sheltered themselves from the rain
+under elegant tents which had been erected.
+
+The troops, who took no notice of the weather, executed their
+manoeuvres, and fired their muskets in a manner which seemed to
+satisfy good judges.
+
+There was nothing further to attract me at Brunswick, and I thought
+of spending the summer at Berlin, which I concluded would be more
+amusing than a small provincial town.  Wanting an overcoat I bought
+the material from a Jew, who offered to discount bills of exchange
+for me if I had any.  I had the bill which Madame du Rumain had sent
+me, and finding that it would be convenient for me to get it
+discounted, I gave it to the Israelite, who cashed it, deducting
+commission at the ordinary rate of two per cent.  The letter was
+payable to the order of the Chevalier de Seingalt, and with that name
+I endorsed it.
+
+I thought no more of the matter, but early the next day the same Jew
+called on me, and told me that I must either return him his money, or
+give sureties for the amount till he had ascertained whether the bill
+was a forgery or not.
+
+I was offended at this piece of impertinence, and feeling certain
+that the bill was a good one I told the fellow that he might set his
+mind at rest and let me alone, as I should not give him any sureties.
+
+"I must either have the money or the surety," said he, "and if you
+refuse I will have you arrested; your character is well known."
+
+This was too much for me, and raising my cane I gave him a blow on
+the head which he must have felt for many a long day.  I then dressed
+and dined with Nicolini, without thinking or speaking of this
+disagreeable incident.
+
+The next day as I was taking a walk outside the town walls, I met the
+prince on horseback, followed by a single groom.  I bowed to him as
+he passed, but he came up to me and said,--
+
+"You are leaving Brunswick, chevalier?"
+
+"In two or three days, your highness."
+
+"I heard this morning that a Jew has brought a complaint against you
+for beating him because he asked you to give him security for a bill
+of exchange which he was afraid of."
+
+"My lord, I cannot answer for the effects of my indignation against a
+rascal who dared to come and insult me in my own house, but I do know
+that if I had given him security I should have impugned my own
+honour.  The impertinent scoundrel threatened to have me arrested,
+but I know that a just Government rules here, and not arbitrary
+power."
+
+"You are right; it would be unjust to have you arrested, but he is
+afraid for his ducats."
+
+"He need not be afraid, my lord, for the bill is drawn by a person of
+honour and of high station in society."
+
+"I am delighted to hear it.  The Jew said he would never have
+discounted the bill if you had not mentioned my name."
+
+"That's a lie!  Your highness' name never passed, my lips."
+
+"He also says that you endorsed the bill with a false name."
+
+"Then he lies again, for I signed myself Seingalt, and that name is
+mine."
+
+"In short, it is a case of a Jew who has been beaten, and is afraid
+of being duped.  I pity such an animal, and I must see what I can do
+to prevent his keeping you here till he learns the fate of the bill
+at Amsterdam.  As I have not the slightest doubt as to the goodness
+of the bill, I will take it up myself, and this very morning: thus
+you will be able to leave when you like.  Farewell, chevalier!
+I wish you a pleasant journey."
+
+With this compliment the prince left me, without giving me time to
+answer him.  I might have felt inclined to tell him that by taking up
+the bill he would give the Jew and everyone else to understand that
+it was a favour done to me, to the great hurt of my honour, and that
+consequently I should be obliged by his doing nothing of the kind.
+But though the prince was a man of generosity and magnanimity, he was
+deficient in that delicate quality which we call tact.  This defect,
+common amongst princes, arises from their education, which places
+them above the politeness which is considered necessary in ordinary
+mortals.
+
+He could not have treated me worse than he did, if he had been
+certain of my dishonesty, and wished me to understand that I was
+forgiven, and that he would bear all the consequences of my
+misdemeanour.  With this idea in my head, I said to myself; "Perhaps,
+indeed, this is exactly what the prince does think.  Is it the Jew or
+me that he pities?  If the latter, I think I must give him a lesson,
+though I do not wish to cause him any humiliation."
+
+Feeling deeply humiliated myself, and pondering on my position,
+I walked away, directing my attention especially to the duke's
+concluding words.  I thought his wish for a pleasant journey
+supremely out of place, under the circumstances, in the mouth of one
+who enjoyed almost absolute power.  It was equivalent to an order to
+leave the town, and I felt indignant at the thought.
+
+I therefore resolved to vindicate my honour by neither going away nor
+remaining.
+
+"If I stay," I said to myself, "the Jew will be adjudged to be in the
+right; and if I go the duke will think I have profited by his favour,
+and so to speak, by his present of fifty louis if the bill were
+protested.  I will not let anyone enjoy a satisfaction which is no
+one due."
+
+After these considerations, which I thought worthy of a wiser head
+than mine, I packed up my trunk, ordered horses, and after a good
+dinner and the payment of my bill I went to Wolfenbuttel with the
+idea of spending week there.  I was sure of finding amusement, for
+Wolfenbuttel contains the third largest library in Europe, and I had
+long been anxious to see it.
+
+The learned librarian, whose politeness was all the better for being
+completely devoid of affection, told me that not only could I have
+whatever books I wished to see, but that I could take them to my
+lodging, not even excepting the manuscripts, which are the chief
+feature in that fine library.
+
+I spent a week in the library, only leaving it to take my meals and
+go to bed, and I count this week as one of the happiest I have ever
+spent, for then I forgot myself completely; and in the delight of
+study, the past, the present, and the future were entirely blotted
+out.  Of some such sort, I think, must be the joys of the redeemed;
+and now I see that only a few trifling little circumstances and
+incidents were wanting to make me a perfect sage.  And here I must
+note a circumstance which my readers may scarcely believe, but which,
+for all that, is quite true-namely, that I have always preferred
+virtue to vice, and that when I sinned I did so out of mere lightness
+of heart, for which, no doubt, I shall be blamed by many persons.
+But, no matter--a man has only to give an account of his actions to
+two beings, to himself here and to God hereafter.
+
+At Wolfenbuttel I gathered a good many hints on the "Iliad" and
+"Odyssey," which will not be found in any commentator, and of which
+the great Pope knew nothing.  Some of these considerations will be
+found in my translation of the "Iliad," the rest are still in
+manuscript, and will probably never see the light.  However, I burn
+nothing, not even these Memoirs, though I often think of doing so,
+but the time never comes.
+
+At the end of the week I returned to the same inn at Brunswick which
+I had occupied before, and let my godson Daturi know of my arrival.
+
+I was delighted to hear that no one suspected that I had spent the
+fortnight within five leagues of Brunswick.  Daturi told me that the
+general belief was that I had returned the Jew his money and got the
+bill of exchange back.  Nevertheless I felt sure that the bill had
+been honoured at Amsterdam, and that the duke knew that I had been
+staying at Wolfenbuttel.
+
+Daturi told me that Nicolini was expecting to see me at dinner, and I
+was not astonished to hear of it, for I had not taken leave of
+anyone.  I accordingly went, and the following incident, which served
+to justify me in the eyes of all men, took place:
+
+We were at the roast when one of the prince's servants came in with
+the Jew I had beaten.  The poor man came up humbly to me, and spoke
+as follows:
+
+"I am ordered to come here, sir, to apologize for suspecting the
+authenticity of the bill of exchange you gave me.  I have been
+punished by being fined the amount of my commission."
+
+"I wish that had been your only punishment," said I.
+
+He made me a profound bow, and went out, saying that I was only too
+good.
+
+When I 'got back to the inn, I found a letter from Redegonde in which
+she reproached me tenderly for not having been once to see her all
+the time I had been at Brunswick, and begging me to breakfast with
+her in a little country house.
+
+"I shall not be in my mother's company," she added, "but in that of a
+young lady of your acquaintance, whom, I am sure, you will be glad to
+see once more."
+
+I liked Redegonde, and I had only neglected her at Brunswick because
+my means did not allow my making her a handsome present.  I resolved
+to accept her invitation, my curiosity being rather stimulated by the
+account of the young lady.
+
+I was exact at the time indicated, and I found Redegonde looking
+charming in a pretty room on the ground floor, and with her was a
+young artiste whom I had known as a child shortly before I had been
+put under the Leads.  I pretended to be delighted to see her, but I
+was really quite taken up with Redegonde, and congratulated her upon
+her pretty house.  She said she had taken it for six months, but did
+not sleep there.  After coffee had been served we were on the point
+of going out for a stroll, when who should come in but the prince.
+He smiled pleasantly when he saw us, and apologized to Redegonde for
+interrupting our little party.
+
+The appearance of the prince enlightened me as to the position of my
+delightful fellow countrywoman, and I understood why she had been so
+precise about the time at which I was to come.  Redegonde had made
+the conquest of the worthy prince, who was always disposed to
+gallantry, but felt it his duty during the first year of his marriage
+with the King of England's sister to preserve some kind of incognito
+in his amours.
+
+We spent an hour in walking up and down and talking of London and
+Berlin, but nothing was said of the Jew or the bill of exchange.  He
+was delighted with my warm eulogium of his library at Wolfenbuttel,
+and laughed with all his heart when I said that unless it had been
+for the intellectual nourishment I enjoyed, the bad fare at the inn
+would certainly have reduced me to half my present size.
+
+After bidding a graceful farewell to the nymph, the prince left us,
+and we heard him galloping away on his horse.
+
+When I was alone with Redegonde, far from begging for new favours, I
+advised her to be faithful to the prince; but though appearances were
+certainly not deceitful in this case, she would not admit anything.
+This was in accordance with her part as young mistress, and I did not
+reproach her for her want of confidence.
+
+I spent the rest of the day at the inn, and started the next morning
+at day-break.
+
+When I got to Magdeburg, I took a letter of introduction from General
+Bekw---- to an officer.  He shewed me the fortress, and kept me for
+three days making me taste all the pleasures of the table, women, and
+gaming.  However, I was very moderate, and managed to increase my
+savings in a small degree, contenting myself with modest wagers.
+
+From Magdeburg I went straight to Berlin, without caring to stop at
+Potsdam, as the king was not there.  The fearful Prussian roads with
+their sandy soil made me take three days to do eighteen Prussian
+miles.  Prussia is a country of which much could be made with labour
+and capital, but I do not think it will ever become a really fine
+country.
+
+I put up at the "Hotel de Paris," which was both comfortable and
+economical.  Madame Rufin who kept it had entered into the spirit of
+her business without losing her French politeness, and thus the inn
+had got a reputation.  As soon as I was in my room she came to ask me
+if I were satisfied, and to make divers arrangements for my comfort.
+There was a table d'hote, and those who ate in their private rooms
+paid double.
+
+"This arrangement," I said, "may suit you, but for the present it
+will not suit me.  I want to dine in my own room, but I don't want to
+pay double; I will therefore pay as if I were in the public room, but
+if you like you need only send me up half the number of dishes."
+
+"I agree, on the condition that you sup with me; we will not put it
+in the accounts, and you will only meet friends at my little
+suppers."
+
+I thought her proposal so curious a one that I had a great
+inclination to laugh, but finding it at the same time very
+advantageous I accepted frankly, and as if we had long been friends.
+
+On the first day I was tired, and did not sup with her till the day
+following.  Madame Rufin had a husband who attended to the cooking,
+and a son, but neither of them came to these suppers.  The first time
+I went to one of them I met an elderly but agreeable and sensible
+gentleman.  He lodged in a room adjoining mine, and called himself
+Baron Treidel; his sister had married the Duke of Courland, Jean
+Ernest Biron, or Birlen.  The baron, who was extremely pleasant,
+became my friend, and remained so for the couple of months I spent in
+Berlin.  I also met a Hamburg merchant, named Greve, and his wife,
+whom he had just married and had brought to Berlin that she might see
+the marvels of the Warrior-King's Court.  She was as pleasant as her
+husband, and I paid her an assiduous court.  A lively and high-
+spirited individual called Noel, who was the sole and beloved cook of
+his Prussian Majesty, was the fourth person.  He only came rarely to
+the suppers on account of his duties in the king's kitchen.  As I
+have said, his majesty had only this one cook, and Noel had only one
+scullion to help him.
+
+M. Noel, the ambassador of the French Republic at the Hague, is, as I
+am assured, the son of this cook, who was an excellent man.  And here
+I must say, in despite of my hatred for the French Revolutionary
+Government, that I am not at all ill pleased that a man of talents
+should be enabled to fill exalted offices, which under the old system
+of privilege were often occupied by fools.
+
+If it had not been for the culinary skill of Noel the cook, the
+famous Atheist physician Lametrie would not have died of indigestion,
+for the pie he succeeded in eating in his extremity was made by Noel.
+
+Lametrie often supped with Madame Rufin and I thought it disobliging
+of him to die so soon, for I should have liked to know him, as he was
+a learned man and full of mirth.  He expired laughing, though it is
+said that death from indigestion is the most painful of all.
+Voltaire told me that he thought Lametrie the most obstinate Atheist
+in the world, and I could easily believe it after reading his works.
+The King of Prussia himself pronounced his funeral oration, using the
+words, "It is not wonderful that he only believed in the existence of
+matter, for all the spirit in the world was enclosed in his own body.
+No one but a king would venture on such a sally in a funeral oration.
+However, Frederick the Great was a Deist and not an Atheist; but that
+is of little consequence, since he never allowed the belief in a God
+to influence his actions in the slightest degree.  Some say that an
+Atheist who ponders over the possible existence of a God is better
+than a Deist who never thinks of the Deity, but I will not venture to
+decide this point."
+
+The first visit I paid in Berlin was to Calsabigi, the younger
+brother of the Calsabigi with whom I had founded the lottery in Paris
+in 1757.  He had left Paris and his wife too, and had set up a
+lottery in Brussels; but his extravagance was so great that he became
+a bankrupt in spite of the efforts of Count Cobenzl to keep him
+going.  He fled from Brussels to Berlin, and was introduced to the
+King of Prussia.  He was a plausible speaker, and persuaded the
+monarch to establish a lottery, to make him the manager, and to give
+him the title of Counsellor of State.  He promised that the lottery
+should bring in an annual revenue of at least two hundred thousand
+crowns, and only asked a percentage of ten per cent. for himself.
+
+The lottery had been going for two years, and had had a great
+success, as hitherto it had had no large losses; but the king, who
+knew that the luck might turn, was always in a fidget about it.  With
+this idea he told Calsabigi that he must carry it on on his own
+responsibility and pay him a hundred thousand crowns per annum, that
+being the cost of his Italian Theatre.
+
+I happened to call on Calsabigi on the very day on which the king
+intimated to him this decision.  After talking over our old
+relationship and the vicissitudes we had both experienced, he told me
+what had happened; it seemed an unexpected blow to him.  The next
+drawing, he said, would be at the king's risk; but the public would
+have to be informed that in future the lottery would be a private
+one.  He wanted capital to the amount of two million crowns, for he
+foresaw that otherwise the lottery would collapse, as people would
+not risk their money without the certainty of being paid in the event
+of their winning.  He said he would guarantee me an income of ten
+thousand crowns per annum if I succeeded in making the king change
+his mind, and by way of encouragement he recalled to my mind the
+effect of my persuasive powers at Paris seven years before.
+
+"'Tis a good omen," said he, "and without any superstition I believe
+that the good genius of the lottery has brought me to Berlin just
+now."
+
+I laughed at his illusions, but I pitied him.  I shewed him the
+impossibility of convincing an individual whose only argument was,
+"I am afraid, and I don't wish to be afraid any longer."  He begged
+me to stay to dinner and introduced me to his wife.  This was a
+double surprise for me, in the first place because I thought General
+La Motte, as his first wife was called, to be still living, and in
+the second place because I recognized in this second wife of his,
+Mdlle. Belanger.  I addressed the usual compliments to her and
+enquired after her mother.  She replied with a profound sigh, and
+told me not to ask any questions about her family as she had only bad
+news to tell me.
+
+I had known Madame Belanger at Paris; she was a widow with one
+daughter, and seemed to be well off.  Now I saw this daughter, pretty
+enough and well married, and yet in this doleful humour, and I felt
+embarrassed and yet curious.
+
+After Calsabigi had placed me in a position to entertain a high
+opinion of the skill of his cook, he shewed me his horses and
+carriages, begging me to take a drive with his wife and come back to
+supper, which, as he said, was his best meal.
+
+When we were in the carriage together, the necessity of talking about
+something led me to ask the lady by what happy chain of circumstances
+she found herself the wife of Calsabigi.
+
+"His real wife is still alive, so I have not the misfortune of
+occupying that position, but everyone in Berlin thinks I am his
+lawful wife.  Three years ago I was deprived of my mother and the
+means of livelihood at one stroke, for my mother had an annuity.
+None of my relations were rich enough to help me, and wishing to live
+virtuously above all things I subsisted for two years on the sale of
+my mother's furniture, boarding with a worthy woman who made her
+living by embroidery.  I learnt her art, and only went out to mass on
+Sundays.  I was a prey to melancholy, and when I had spent all I had
+I went to M. Brea, a Genoese, on whom I thought I could rely.  I
+begged him to get me a place as a mere waiting-maid, thinking that I
+was tolerably competent for such a position.  He promised to do what
+he could for me, and five or six days afterwards he made me the
+following proposal:
+
+"He read me a letter from Calsabigi, of whom I had never heard, in
+which he charged him to send a virtuous young lady to Berlin.  She
+must be of good birth, good education, and pleasant appearance, as
+when his aged and infirm wife died he intended to marry her.
+
+"As such a person would most probably be badly off, Calsabigi begged
+M. Brea to give her fifty Louis to buy clothes and linen and fifty
+Louis to journey to Berlin with a maid.  M. Brea was also authorized
+to promise that the young lady should hold the position of
+Calsabigi's wife, and be presented in that character to all his
+friends; that she should have a waiting-maid, a carriage, an
+allowance of clothes, and a certain monthly amount as pin-money to be
+spent as she chose.  He promised, if the arrangement was not found
+suitable, to set her free at the end of a year, giving her a hundred
+Louis, and leaving her in possession of whatever money she might have
+saved, and such clothes and jewels as he might have given her; in
+fine, if the lady agreed to live with him till he was able to marry
+her, Calsabigi promised to execute a deed of gift in her favour to
+the amount of ten thousand crowns which the public would believe to
+be her dowry, and if he died before being able to marry her she would
+have a right to claim the aforesaid sum from his estate.
+
+"With such fine promises did Brea persuade me to leave my native
+country to come and dishonour myself here, for though everybody
+treats me as if I were his wife, it is probably known that I am only
+his mistress.  I have been here for six months, and I have never had
+an instant's happiness."
+
+"Has he not kept the conditions you have mentioned?"  "Conditions!
+Calsabigi's state of health will kill him long before his wife, and
+in that case I shall have nothing, for he is loaded with debt, and
+his creditors would have the first claim on the estate.  Besides, I
+do not like him; and the reason is that he loves me too much.  You
+can understand that; his devotion worries me."
+
+"At all events, you can return to Paris in six months' time, or, in
+fact, do anything you like when the term stipulated has expired.  You
+will get your hundred louis, and can lay in a pretty stock of linen."
+
+"If I go to Paris I shall be dishonoured, and if I remain here I
+shall be dishonoured.  In fact, I am very unhappy, and Brea is the
+cause of my woe.  Nevertheless, I can't blame him, as he could not
+have been aware that his friend's property only consisted of debts.
+And now the king has withdrawn his countenance, the lottery will
+fail, and Calsabigi will inevitably become a bankrupt."
+
+She had studiously refrained from exaggeration, and I could not help
+confessing that she was to be pitied.  I advised her to try and sell
+the deed of gift for ten thousand crowns, as it was not likely he
+would raise any objection.
+
+"I have thought it over," said she, "but to do that I have need of a
+friend; of course, I do not expect to dispose of it save at a great
+loss."
+
+I promised to see what I could do for her.
+
+There were four of us at supper.  The fourth person was a young man
+who had helped in the Paris and Brussels Lotteries, and had followed
+Calsabigi to Berlin.  He was evidently in love with Mdlle. Belanger,
+but I did not think his love was crowned with success.
+
+At dessert Calsabigi begged me to give him my opinion of a scheme he
+had drafted, the aim of which was to bring in a sum of two million
+crowns, so that the credit of the lottery might remain secure.
+
+The lady left us to talk business at our ease.  She was between
+twenty-four and twenty-five, and without having much wit she
+possessed a great knowledge of the usages of society, which is better
+than wit in a woman; in fine, she had all that a man could well
+desire.  The sentiments I felt for her were confined to those of
+friendship and esteem after the confidence she had placed in me.
+
+Calsabigi's project was brief, but clear and well imagined.  He
+invited capitalists not to speculate in the lottery, but to guarantee
+it for a certain sum.  In the case of the lottery's losing, each
+guarantor would have to share in paying according to the sum named,
+and in like manner they would share in the profits.
+
+I promised to give him my opinion in writing by the next day, and I
+substituted the following plan for his:
+
+1.  A capital of a million, would, I judged, be ample.
+
+2.  This million should be divided into a hundred shares of ten
+thousand crowns each.
+
+3.  Each share must be taken up before a notary, who would answer for
+the shareholder's solvency.
+
+4.  All dividends to be paid the third day after the drawing.
+
+5.  In case of loss the shareholder to renew his share.
+
+6.  A cashier, chosen by a majority of four-fifths of the
+shareholders, to have the control of all moneys.
+
+7.  Winning tickets to be paid the day after the drawing.
+
+8.  On the eve of a drawing the shareholders' cashier to have an
+account of receipts from the lottery cashier, and the former to lock
+the safe with three keys, one of which to remain in his hands, one in
+the hands of the lottery cashier, and one in the hands of the manager
+of the lottery.
+
+9.  Only the simple drawing, the ambe and the terne to be retained;
+the quarterne and the quine to be abolished.
+
+10.  On the three combinations a shilling to be the minimum, and a
+crown the maximum stake; the offices to be closed twenty-four hours
+before the drawing.
+
+11.  Ten per cent. to go to Calsabigi, the manager; all expenses of
+farming to be paid by him.
+
+12.  Calsabigi to be entitled to the possession of two shares,
+without a guarantee being required.
+
+
+I saw by Calsabigi's face that the plan did not please him, but I
+told him that he would not get shareholders save on these terms, or
+on terms even less favourable to himself.
+
+He had degraded the lottery to the level of biribi; his luxury and
+extravagance caused him to be distrusted; it was known that he was
+head over ears in debt, and the king could not banish the fear that
+he would be cheated in spite of the keenness of his comptroller-
+general.
+
+The last drawing under the king's sanction made everyone in good
+spirits, for the lottery lost twenty thousand crowns.  The king sent
+the money immediately by a privy councillor, but it was said, when he
+heard the result of the drawing, that he burst out laughing,
+observing,--
+
+"I knew it would be so, and I am only too happy to have got quit of
+it so cheaply."
+
+I thought it my duty to go and sup with the director to console him,
+and I found him in a state of great depression.  He could not help
+thinking that his unhappy drawing would make the task of getting
+shareholders more difficult than ever.  Hitherto the lottery had
+always been a gainer, but its late loss could not have come at a
+worse time.
+
+Nevertheless, he did not lose heart, and the next morning the public
+were informed by printed bills that the office would remain closed
+till a sufficient number of guarantors were found.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+Lord Keith--My Appointment to Meet the King in the Garden of Sans-
+Souci My Conversation with Frederick the Great--Madame Denis The
+Pomeranian Cadets--Lambert--I Go to Mitau My Welcome at the Court,
+and My Administrative Journey
+
+
+The fifth day after my arrival at Berlin I presented myself to the
+lord-marshal, who since the death of his brother had been styled Lord
+Keith.  I had seen him in London after his return from Scotland,
+where he had been reinstated in the family estates, which had been
+confiscated for Jacobinism.  Frederick the Great was supposed to have
+brought this about.  Lord Keith lived at Berlin, resting on his
+laurels, and enjoying the blessings of peace.
+
+With his old simplicity of manner he told me he was glad to see me
+again, and asked if I proposed making any stay at Berlin.  I replied
+that I would willingly do so if the king would give me a suitable
+office.  I asked him if he would speak a word in my favour; but he
+replied that the king liked to judge men's characters for himself,
+and would often discover merit where no one had suspected its
+presence, and vice versa.
+
+He advised me to intimate to the king in writing that I desired to
+have the honour of an interview.  "When you speak to him," the good
+old man added, "you may say that you know me, and the king will
+doubtless address me on the subject, and you may be sure what I say
+shall not be to your disadvantage."
+
+"But, my lord, how can I write to a monarch of whom I know nothing,
+and who knows nothing of me?  I should not have thought of such a
+step."
+
+"I daresay, but don't you wish to speak to him?"
+
+"Certainly."
+
+"That is enough.  Your letter will make him aware of your desire and
+nothing more."
+
+"But will he reply?"
+
+"Undoubtedly; he replies to everybody.  He will tell you when and
+where he will see you.  His Majesty is now at Sans-Souci.  I am
+curious to know the nature of your interview with the monarch who, as
+you can see, is not afraid of being imposed on."
+
+When I got home I wrote a plain but respectful letter to the king,
+asking where and at what time I could introduce myself to him.
+
+In two days I received a letter signed "Frederick," in which the
+receipt of my letter was acknowledged, and I was told that I should
+find his majesty in the garden of Sans-Souci at four o'clock.
+
+As may be imagined I was punctual to my appointment.  I was at Sans-
+Souci at three, clad in a simple black dress.  When I got into the
+court-yard there was not so much as a sentinel to stop me, so I went
+on mounted a stair, and opened a door in front of me.  I found myself
+in a picture-gallery, and the curator came up to me and offered to
+shew me over it.
+
+"I have not come to admire these masterpieces," I replied, "but to
+see the king, who informed me in writing that I should find him in
+the garden."
+
+"He is now at a concert playing the flute; he does so every day after
+dinner.  Did he name any time?"
+
+"Yes, four o'clock, but he will have forgotten that."
+
+"The king never forgets anything; he will keep the appointment, and
+you will do well to go into the garden and await him."
+
+I had been in the garden for some minutes when I saw him appear,
+followed by his reader and a pretty spaniel.  As soon as he saw me he
+accosted me, taking off his old hat, and pronouncing my name.  Then
+he asked in a terrible voice what I wanted of him.  This greeting
+surprised me, and my voice stuck in my throat.
+
+"Well, speak out.  Are you not the person who wrote to me?"
+
+"Yes, sire, but I have forgotten everything now.  I thought that I
+should not be awed by the majesty of a king, but I was mistaken.  My
+lord-marshal should have warned me."
+
+"Then he knows you?  Let us walk.  What is it that you want?  What do
+you think of my garden?"
+
+His enquiries after my needs and of his garden were simultaneous.  To
+any other person I should have answered that I did not know anything
+about gardening, but this would have been equivalent to refusing to
+answer the question; and no monarch, even if he be a philosopher,
+could endure that.  I therefore replied that I thought the garden
+superb.
+
+"But," he said, "the gardens of Versailles are much finer."
+
+"Yes, sire, but that is chiefly on account of the fountains."
+
+"True, but it is not my fault; there is no water here.  I have spent
+more than three hundred thousand crowns to get water, but
+unsuccessfully."
+
+"Three hundred thousand crowns, sire!  If your majesty had spent them
+all at once, the fountains should be here."
+
+"Oh, oh!  I see you are acquainted with hydraulics."
+
+I could not say that he was mistaken, for fear of offending him, so I
+simply bent my head, which might mean either yes or no.  Thank God
+the king did not trouble to test my knowledge of the science of
+hydraulics, with which I was totally unacquainted.
+
+He kept on the move all the time, and as he turned his head from one
+side to the other hurriedly asked me what forces Venice could put
+into the field in war time.
+
+"Twenty men-of-war, sire, and a number of galleys."
+
+"What are the land forces?"
+
+"Seventy thousand men, sire; all of whom are subjects of the
+Republic, and assessing each village at one man."
+
+"That is not true; no doubt you wish to amuse me by telling me these
+fables.  Give me your opinions on taxation."
+
+This was the first conversation I had ever had with a monarch.  I
+made a rapid review of the situation, and found myself much in the
+same position as an actor of the improvised comedy of the Italians,
+who is greeted by the hisses of the gods if he stops short a moment.
+I therefore replied with all the airs of a doctor of finance that I
+could say something about the theory of taxation.
+
+"That's what I want," he replied, "for the practice is no business of
+yours."
+
+"There are three kinds of taxes, considered as to their effects.  The
+first is ruinous, the second a necessary evil, and the third
+invariably beneficial"
+
+"Good!  Go on."
+
+"The ruinous impost is the royal tax, the necessary is the military,
+and the beneficial is the popular."
+
+As I had not given the subject any thought I was in a disagreeable
+position, for I was obliged to go on speaking, and yet not to talk
+nonsense.
+
+"The royal tax, sire, is that which deplenishes the purses of the
+subject to fill the coffers of the king."
+
+"And that kind of tax is always ruinous, you think."
+
+"Always, sire; it prevents the circulation of money--the soul of
+commerce and the mainstay of the state."
+
+"But if the tax be levied to keep up the strength of the army, you
+say it is a necessary evil."
+
+"Yes, it is necessary and yet evil, for war is an evil."
+
+"Quite so; and now about the popular tax."
+
+"This is always a benefit, for the monarch takes with one hand and
+gives with the other; he improves towns and roads, founds schools,
+protects the sciences, cherishes the arts; in fine, he directs this
+tax towards improving the condition and increasing the happiness of
+his people."
+
+"There is a good deal of truth in that.  I suppose you know
+Calsabigi?"
+
+"I ought to, your majesty, as he and I established the Genoa Lottery
+at Paris seven years ago."
+
+"In what class would you put this taxation, for you will agree that
+it is taxation of a kind?"
+
+"Certainly, sire, and not the least important.  It is beneficial when
+the monarch spends his profits for the good of the people."
+
+"But the monarch may lose?"
+
+"Once in fifty."
+
+"Is that conclusion the result of a mathematical calculation?"
+
+"Yes, sire."
+
+"Such calculations often prove deceptive."
+
+"Not so, may it please your majesty, when God remains neutral."
+
+"What has God got to do with it?"
+
+"Well, sire, we will call it destiny or chance."
+
+"Good!  I may possibly be of your opinion as to the calculation, but
+I don't like your Genoese Lottery.  It seems to me an elaborate
+swindle, and I would have nothing more to do with it, even if it were
+positively certain that I should never lose."
+
+"Your majesty is right, for the confidence which makes the people
+risk their money in a lottery is perfectly fallacious."
+
+This was the end of our strange dialogue, and stopping before a
+building he looked me over, and then, after a short silence,
+observed,--
+
+"Do you know that you are a fine man?"
+
+"Is it possible that, after the scientific conversation we have had,
+your majesty should select the least of the qualities which adorn
+your life guardsmen for remark?"
+
+The king smiled kindly, and said,--
+
+"As you know Marshal Keith, I will speak to him of you."
+
+With that he took off his hat, and bade me farewell.  I retired with
+a profound bow.
+
+Three or four days after the marshal gave me the agreeable news that
+I had found favour in the king's eyes, and that his majesty thought
+of employing me.
+
+I was curious to learn the nature of this employment, and being in no
+kind of hurry I resolved to await events in Berlin.  The time passed
+pleasantly enough, for I was either with Calsabigi, Baron Treidel, or
+my landlady, and when these resources failed me, I used to walk in
+the park, musing over the events of my life.
+
+Calsabigi had no difficulty in obtaining permission to continue the
+lottery on his own account, and he boldly announced that henceforward
+he would conduct the lottery on his own risk.  His audacity was
+crowned with success, and he obtained a profit of a hundred thousand
+crowns.  With this he paid most of his debts, and gave his mistress
+ten thousand crowns, she returning the document entitling her to that
+amount.  After this lucky drawing it was easy to find guarantors, and
+the lottery went on successfully for two or three years.
+
+Nevertheless Calsabigi ended by becoming bankrupt and died poor
+enough in Italy.  He might be compared to the Danaides; the more he
+got the more he spent.  His mistress eventually made a respectable
+marriage and returned to Paris, where she lived in comfort.
+
+At the period of which I am speaking, the Duchess of Brunswick, the
+king's sister, came to pay him a visit.  She was accompanied by her
+daughter who married the Crown Prince of Prussia in the following
+year.  I saw the king in a suit of lustring trimmed with gold lace,
+and black silk stockings on his legs.  He looked truly comic, and
+more like a theatrical heavy father than a great king.  He came into
+the hall with his sister on his arm and attracted universal
+attention, for only very old men could remember seeing him without
+his uniform and top-boots.
+
+I was not aware that the famous Madame Denis was at Berlin, and it
+was therefore an agreeable surprise to me to see her in the ballet
+one evening, dancing a pas seul in an exquisite manner.  We were old
+friends, and I resolved to pay her a visit the next day.
+
+I must tell the reader (supposing I ever have one), that when I was
+about twelve years old I went to the theatre with my mother and saw,
+not without much heart-beating, a girl of eight who danced a minuet
+in so ravishing a manner that the whole house applauded loudly.  This
+young dancer, who was the pantaloon's daughter, charmed me to such a
+degree that I could not resist going to her dressing-room to
+compliment her on her performance.  I wore the cassock in those days,
+and she was astonished when she heard her father order her to get up
+and kiss me.  She kissed me, nevertheless, with much grace, and
+though I received the compliment with a good deal of awkwardness I
+was so delighted, that I could not help buying her a little ring from
+a toy merchant in the theatre.  She kissed me again with great
+gratitude and enthusiasm.
+
+The pleasantest part about this was that the sequin I had given for
+the ring belonged to Dr. Gozzi, and so when I went back to him I was
+in a pitiable state, for I had not only spent money which did not
+belong to me, but I had spent it for so small a favour as a kiss.
+
+I knew that the next day I should have to give an account of the
+money he had entrusted to me, and not having the least idea as to
+what I should say, I had a bad night of it.  The next morning
+everything came out, and my mother made up the sequin to the doctor.
+I laugh now when I think of this childish piece of gallantry, which
+was an omen of the extent to which my heart was to be swayed by the
+fair sex.
+
+The toy-woman who had sold me the ring came the next day at dinner-
+time to our house, and after producing several rings and trinkets
+which were judged too dear, she began to praise my generosity, and
+said that I had not thought the ring I had given to pretty Jeannette
+too dear.  This did my business; and I had to confess the whole,
+laying my fault to the account of love, and promising not to do such
+a thing again.  But when I uttered the word love, everybody roared
+with laughter, and began to make cruel game of me.  I wished myself a
+mile away, and registered an interior resolve never to confess my
+faults again.  The reader knows how well I kept my promise.
+
+The pantaloon's little daughter was my mother's goddaughter, and my
+thoughts were full of her.  My mother, who loved me and saw my pain,
+asked me if I would like the little girl to be asked to supper.  My
+grandmother, however, opposed the idea, and I was obliged to her.
+
+The day after this burlesque scene I returned to Padua, where Bettina
+soon made me forget the little ballet-girl.  I saw her again at
+Charlottenbourg, and that was now seventeen years ago.
+
+I longed to have a talk with her, and to see whether she would
+remember me, though I did not expect her to do so.  I asked if her
+husband Denis was with her, and they told me that the king had
+banished him because he ill-treated her.
+
+I called on her the day after the performance, and was politely
+received, but she said she did not think she had had the pleasure of
+seeing me before.
+
+By degrees I told her of the events of her childhood, and how she
+enchanted all Venice by the grace with which she danced the minuet.
+She interrupted me by saying that at that time she was only six years
+old.
+
+"You could not be more," I replied, "for I was only ten; and
+nevertheless, I fell in love with you, and never have I forgotten the
+kiss you gave me by your father's order in return for some trifling
+present I made you."
+
+"Be quiet; you gave me a beautiful ring, and I kissed you of my own
+free will.  You wore the cassock then.  I have never forgotten you.
+But can it really be you?"
+
+"It is indeed."
+
+"I am.  delighted to see you again.  But I could never have
+recognized you, and I suppose you would not have recognized me."
+
+"No, I should not have known you, unless I had heard your name
+mentioned."
+
+"One alters in twenty years, you know."
+
+"Yes, one cannot expect to have the same face as at six."
+
+"You can bear witness that I am not more than twenty-six, though some
+evil speakers give me ten years more."
+
+"You should not take any notice of such calumnies, my dear.  You are
+in the flower of your age, and made for the service of love.  For my
+part, I congratulate myself on being able to tell you that you are
+the first woman that inspired me with a real passion."
+
+We could not help becoming affectionate if we continued to keep up
+the conversation in this style, but experience had taught us that it
+was well to remain as we were for the present.
+
+Madame Denis was still fresh and youthful looking, though she
+persisted in abbreviating her age by ten years.  Of course she could
+not deceive me, and she must have known it, nevertheless, she liked
+me to bear outward testimony to her youthfulness.  She would have
+detested me if I had attempted to prove to her what she knew
+perfectly well, but did not care to confess.  No doubt she cared
+little for my thoughts on the subject, and she may have imagined that
+I owed her gratitude for diminishing her age, as it enabled me to
+diminish my own to make our tales agree.  However, I did not trouble
+myself much about it, for it is almost a duty in an actress to
+disguise her age, as in spite of talent the public will not forgive a
+woman for having been born too soon.
+
+I thought her behaviour augured well, and I hoped she would not make
+me languish long.  She shewed me her house, which was all elegance
+and good taste.  I asked her if she had a lover, and she replied with
+a smile that all Berlin thought so, but that it was nevertheless
+deceived on the principal point, as the individual in question was
+more of a father than a lover.
+
+"But you deserve to have a real lover; I cannot conceive how you can
+do without one."
+
+"I assure you I don't trouble myself about it.  I am subject to
+convulsions, which are the plague of my life.  I want to try the
+Teplitz waters, which are said to be excellent for all nervous
+affections; but the king has refused his permission, which I,
+nevertheless, hope to obtain next year."
+
+I felt ardently disposed, and I thought she was pleased with the
+restraint I put upon myself.
+
+"Will you be annoyed," said I, "if I call upon you frequently?"
+
+"If you don't mind I will call myself your niece, or your cousin, and
+then we can see each other."
+
+"Do you know that that may possibly be true?  I would not swear that
+you were not my sister."
+
+This sally made us talk of the friendship that had subsisted between
+her father and my mother, and we allowed ourselves those caresses
+which are permitted to near relations; but feeling that things were
+going too far we ceased.  As she bade me farewell, she asked me to
+dine with her the next day, and I accepted.
+
+As I went back to my inn I reflected on the strange combinations
+which made my life one continuous chain of events, and I felt it my
+duty to give thanks to eternal Providence, for I felt that I had been
+born under a happy star.
+
+The next day, when I went to dine with Madame Denis, I found a
+numerous company assembled.  The first person who greeted me with the
+warmth of an old friend was a young dancer named Aubri, whom I had
+known at Paris and at Venice.  He was famous for having been the
+lover of one of the most exalted Venetian ladies, and at the same
+time her husband's pathic.  It was said that this scandalous intimacy
+was of such a nature that Aubri used to sleep between the husband and
+wife.  At the beginning of Lent the State Inquisitors sent him to
+Trieste.  He introduced me to his wife, who danced like himself and
+was called La Panting.  He had married her at St. Petersburg, from
+which city he had just come, and they were going to spend the winter
+in Paris.  The next person who advanced to greet me was a fat man,
+who held out his hand and said we had been friends twenty-five years
+ago, but that we were so young then that it would be no wonder if we
+did not know each other.  "We knew each other at Padua, at Dr.
+Gozzi's," he added; "my name is Joseph da Loglio."
+
+"I remember you," I replied, "in those days you were violoncello at
+the Russian chapel."
+
+"Exactly; and now I am returning to my native land to leave it no
+more.  I have the honour to introduce you to my wife, who was born at
+St. Petersburg, but is a daughter of Modonis the violinist, whose
+reputation is European.  In a week I shall be at Dresden, where I
+hope to have the honour of seeing Madame Casanova, your mother."
+
+I was delighted to find myself in such congenial society, but I could
+see that Madame Denis did not relish these recollections extending
+over a quarter of a century, and I turned the conversation to the
+events at St. Petersburg which had resulted in Catherine the Great
+ascending the throne.  Da Loglio told us that he had taken a small
+part in this conspiracy, and had thought it prudent to get out of the
+way.  "Fortunately," he added, "this was a contingency I had long
+provided against, and I am in a position to spend the rest of my days
+in comfort in Italy."
+
+Madame Denis then observed:
+
+"A week ago a Piedmontese, named Audar, was introduced to me.  He had
+been a chief mover in the conspiracy, and the empress gave him a
+present of a hundred thousand roubles and an order to leave Russia
+immediately."
+
+I heard afterwards that this Audar bought an estate in Piedmont on
+which he built a fine mansion.  In two or three years it was struck
+by a thunder-bolt, and the unfortunate man was killed in the ruins of
+his own house.  If this was a blow from an Almighty hand, it could
+not, at all events, have been directed by the genius of Russia, for
+if the unfortunate Peter III. had lived, he would have retarded
+Russian civilization by a hundred years.
+
+The Empress Catherine rewarded all the foreigners who had assisted
+her in her plots most magnificently, and shewed herself grateful to
+the Russians who had helped her to mount the throne; while, like a
+crafty politician, she sent such nobles as she suspected to be averse
+to revolution out of the country.
+
+It was Da Loglio and his pretty wife who determined me to betake
+myself to Russia in case the King of Prussia did not give me any
+employment.  I was assured that I should make my fortune there, and
+Da Loglio promised to give me good instructions.
+
+As soon as this worthy man left Berlin my intimacy with Madame Denis
+commenced.  One night when I was supping with her she was seized with
+convulsions which lasted all the night.  I did not leave her for a
+moment, and in the morning, feeling quite recovered, her gratitude
+finished what my love had begun twenty-six years before, and our
+amorous commerce lasted while I stayed at Berlin.  We shall hear of
+her again at Florence six years later.
+
+Some days after Madame Denis took me to Potsdam to shew me all the
+sights of the town.  Our intimacy offended no one, for she was
+generally believed to be my niece, and the general who kept her
+either believed the report, or like a man of sense pretended to
+believe it.
+
+Amongst other notable things I saw at Potsdam was the sight of the
+king commanding the first battalion of his grenadiers, all picked
+men, the flower of the Prussian army.
+
+The room which we occupied at the inn faced a walk by which the king
+passed when he came from the castle.  The shutters were all closed,
+and our landlady told us that on one occasion when a pretty dancer
+called La Reggiana was sleeping in the same room, the king had seen
+her in 'puris naturalibus'.  This was too much for his modesty, and
+he had ordered the shutters to be closed, and closed they had
+remained, though this event was four years old.  The king had some
+cause to fear, for he had been severely treated by La Barbarina.  In
+the king's bedroom we saw her portrait, that of La Cochois, sister to
+the actress who became Marchioness d'Argens, and that of Marie
+Theresa, with whom Frederick had been in love, or rather he had been
+in love with the idea of becoming emperor.
+
+After we had admired the beauty and elegance of the castle, we could
+not help admiring the way in which the master of the castle was
+lodged.  He had a mean room, and slept on a little bed with a screen
+around it.  There was no dressing-gown and no slippers.  The valet
+shewed us an old cap which the king put on when he had a cold; it
+looked as if it must be very uncomfortable.  His majesty's bureau was
+a table covered with pens, paper, half-burnt manuscripts, and an ink-
+pot; beside it was a sofa.  The valet told us that these manuscripts
+contained the history of the last Prussian war, and the king had been
+so annoyed by their accidentally getting burnt that he had resolved
+to have no more to do with the work.  He probably changed his mind,
+for the book, which is little esteemed, was published shortly after
+his death.
+
+Five or six weeks after my curious conversation with the monarch,
+Marshal Keith told me that his majesty had been pleased to create me
+a tutor to the new corps of Pomeranian cadets which he was just
+establishing.  There were to be fifteen cadets and five tutors, so
+that each should have the care of three pupils.  The salary was six
+hundred crowns and board found.  The duty of the tutors was to follow
+or accompany the cadets wherever they went, Court included.  I had to
+be quick in making up my mind, for the four others were already
+installed, and his majesty did not like to be kept waiting.  I asked
+Lord Keith where the college was, and I promised to give him a reply
+by the next day.
+
+I had to summon all my powers of self-restraint to my assistance when
+I heard this extravagant proposal as coming from a man who was so
+discreet in most things, but my astonishment was increased when I saw
+the abode of these fifteen young noblemen of rich Pomerania.  It
+consisted of three or four great rooms almost devoid of furniture,
+several whitewashed bedrooms, containing a wretched bed, a deal
+table, and two deal chairs.  The young cadets, boys of twelve or
+thirteen, all looked dirty and untidy, and were boxed up in a
+wretched uniform which matched admirably their rude and rustic faces.
+They were in company with their four governors, whom I took for their
+servants, and who looked at me in a stupefied manner, not daring to
+think that I was to be their future colleague.
+
+Just as I was going to bid an eternal farewell to this abode of
+misery, one of the governors put his head out of the window and
+exclaimed,--
+
+"The king is riding up."
+
+I could not avoid meeting him, and besides, I was glad enough to see
+him again, especially in such a place.
+
+His majesty came up with his friend Icilius, examined everything, and
+saw me, but did not honour me with a word.  I was elegantly dressed,
+and wore my cross set with brilliants.  But I had to bite my lips so
+as not to burst out laughing when Frederick the Great got in a
+towering rage at a chamber utensil which stood beside one of the
+beds, and which did not appear to be in a very cleanly condition.
+
+"Whose bed is this?" cried the monarch.
+
+"Mine, sire," answered a trembling cadet.
+
+"Good! but it is not you I am angry with; where is your governor?"
+
+The fortunate governor presented himself, and the monarch, after
+honouring him with the title of blockhead, proceeded to scold him
+roundly.  However, he ended by saying that there was a servant, and
+that the governor ought to see that he did his work properly.
+This disgusting scene was enough for me, and I hastened to call on
+Marshal Keith to announce my determination.  The old soldier laughed
+at the description I gave him of the academy, and said I was quite
+right to despise such an office; but that I ought, nevertheless, to
+go and thank the king before I left Berlin.  I said I did not feel
+inclined for another interview with such a man, and he agreed to
+present my thanks and excuses in my stead.
+
+I made up my mind to go to Russia, and began my preparations in good
+earnest.  Baron Treidel supported my resolve by offering to give me a
+letter of introduction to his sister, the Duchess of Courland.  I
+wrote to M. de Bragadin to 'give me a letter for a banker at St.
+Petersburg, and to remit me through him every month a sum which would
+keep me in comfort.
+
+I could not travel without a servant, and chance kindly provided me
+with one.  I was sitting with Madame Rufin, when a young Lorrainer
+came in; like Bias, he bore all his fortune with him, but, in his
+case, it was carried under his arm.  He introduced himself thus:
+
+"Madam, my name is Lambert, I come from Lorraine, and I wish to lodge
+here."
+
+"Very good, sir, but you must pay for your board and lodging every
+day."
+
+"That, madam, is out of the question, for I have not got a farthing,
+but I shall have some money when I discover who I am."
+
+"I am afraid I cannot put you up on those conditions, sir."
+
+He was going away with a mortified air, when my heart was touched,
+and I called him back.
+
+"Stay," said I, "I will pay for you to-day."
+
+Happiness beamed over his face.
+
+"What have you got in that little bundle?" said I.
+
+"Two shirts, a score of mathematical books, and some other trifles."
+
+I took him to my room, and finding him tolerably well educated, I
+asked him how he came to be in such a state of destitution.
+
+"I come from Strasburg," he replied, "and a cadet of a regiment
+stationed there having given me a blow in a coffee-house I paid him a
+visit the next day in his own room and stabbed him there.
+
+"After this I went home, made up my bundle, and left the town.  I
+walked all the way and lived soberly, so that my money lasted till
+this morning.  To-morrow I shall write to my mother, who lives at
+Luneville, and I am sure she will send me some money."
+
+"And what do you think of doing?"
+
+"I want to become a military engineer, but if needs must I am ready
+to enlist as a private soldier."
+
+"I can give you board and lodging till you hear from your mother."
+
+"Heaven has sent you in my way," said he, kissing my hand gratefully.
+
+I did not suspect him of deceiving me, though he stumbled somewhat in
+his narrative.  However my curiosity led me to write to M.
+Schauenbourg, who was then at Strasburg, to enquire if the tale were
+true.
+
+The next day I happened to meet an officer of engineers, who told me
+that young men of education were so plentiful that they did not
+receive them into the service unless they were willing to serve as
+common soldiers.  I was sorry for the young man to be reduced so low
+as that.  I began to spend some time with him every day in
+mathematical calculations, and I conceived the idea of taking him
+with me to St. Petersburg, and broached the subject to him.
+
+"It would be a piece of good fortune for me," he replied, "and to
+shew my gratitude I will gladly wait on you as a servant during the
+journey."
+
+He spoke French badly, but as he was a Lorrainer I was not astonished
+at that.  Nevertheless I was surprised to find that he did not know a
+word of Latin, and that his spelling was of the wildest description.
+He saw me laughing, but did not seem in the least ashamed.  Indeed he
+said that he had only gone to school to learn mathematics, and that
+he was very glad that he had escaped the infliction of learning
+grammar.  Indeed, on every subject besides mathematics, he was
+profoundly ignorant.  He had no manners whatever; in fact, he was a
+mere peasant.
+
+Ten or twelve days later I received a letter from M. de Schauenbourg,
+saying that the name of Lambert was unknown in Strasburg, and that no
+cadet had been killed or wounded.
+
+When I shewed Lambert this letter he said that as he wished to enter
+the army he thought it would be of service to him to shew that he was
+brave, adding that as this lie had not been told with the idea of
+imposing on me I should forgive it.
+
+"Poverty," said he, "is a rascally teacher, that gives a man some bad
+lessons.  I am not a liar by disposition, but I have nevertheless
+told you a lie on another and a more important matter.  I don't
+expect any money whatever from my poor mother, who rather needs that
+I should send money to her.  So forgive me, and be sure I shall be a
+faithful servant to you."
+
+I was always ready to forgive other men's peccadilloes, and not
+without cause.  I liked Lambert's line of argument, and told him that
+we would set out in five or six days.
+
+Baron Bodisson, a Venetian who wanted to sell the king a picture by
+Andrea del Sarto, asked me to come with him to Potsdam and the desire
+of seeing the monarch once again made me accept the invitation.  When
+I reached Potsdam I went to see the parade at which Frederick was
+nearly always to be found.  When he saw me he came up and asked me in
+a familiar manner when I was going to start for St. Petersburg.
+
+"In five or six days, if your majesty has no objection."
+
+"I wish you a pleasant journey; but what do you hope to do in that
+land?"
+
+"What I hoped to do in this land, namely, to please the sovereign."
+
+"Have you got an introduction to the empress?"
+
+"No, but I have an introduction to a banker."
+
+"Ah! that's much better.  If you pass through Prussia on your return
+I shall be delighted to hear of your adventures in Russia."
+
+"Farewell, sire."
+
+Such was the second interview I had with this great king, whom I
+never saw again.
+
+After I had taken leave of all my friends I applied to Baron Treidel,
+who gave me a letter for M. de Kaiserling, lord-chancellor at Mitau,
+and another letter for his sister, the Duchess of Courland, and I
+spent the last night with the charming Madame Denis.  She bought my
+post-chaise, and I started with two hundred ducats in my purse.  This
+would have been ample for the whole journey if I had not been so
+foolish as to reduce it by half at a party of pleasure with some
+young merchants at Dantzic.  I was thus unable to stay a few days at
+Koenigsberg, though I had a letter to Field-Marshal von Lewald, who
+was the governor of the place.  I could only stay one day to dine
+with this pleasant old soldier, who gave me a letter for his friend
+General Woiakoff, the Governor of Riga.
+
+I found I was rich enough to arrive at Mitau in state, and I
+therefore took a carriage and six, and reached my destination in
+three days.  At the inn where I put up I found a Florentine artiste
+named Bregonei, who overwhelmed me with caresses, telling me that I
+had loved her when I was a boy and wore the cassock.  I saw her six
+years later at Florence, where she was living with Madame Denis.
+
+The day after my departure from Memel, I was accosted in the open
+country by a man whom I recognized as a Jew.  He informed me that I
+was on Polish territory, and that I must pay duty on whatever
+merchandise I had with me.
+
+"I am no merchant," said I, "and you will get nothing out of me."
+
+"I have the right to examine your effects," replied the Israelite,
+"and I mean to make use of it."
+
+"You are a madman," I exclaimed, and I ordered the postillion to whip
+him off.
+
+But the Jew ran and seized the fore horses by the bridle and stopped
+us, and the postillion, instead of whipping him, waited with Teutonic
+calm for me to come and send the Jew away.  I was in a furious rage,
+and leaping out with my cane in one hand and a pistol in the other I
+soon put the Jew to flight after applying about a dozen good sound
+blows to his back.  I noticed that during the combat my fellow-
+traveller, my Archimedes-in-ordinary, who had been asleep all the
+way, did not offer to stir.  I reproached him for his cowardice; but
+he told me that he did not want the Jew to say that we had set on him
+two to one.
+
+I arrived at Mitau two days after this burlesque adventure and got
+down at the inn facing the castle.  I had only three ducats left.
+
+The next morning I called on M. de Kaiserling, who read the Baron de
+Treidel's letter, and introduced me to his wife, and left me with her
+to take the baron's letter to his sister.
+
+Madame de Kaiserling ordered a cup of chocolate to be brought me by a
+beautiful young Polish girl, who stood before me with lowered eyes as
+if she wished to give me the opportunity of examining her at ease.
+As I looked at her a whim came into my head, and, as the reader is
+aware, I have never resisted any of my whims.  However, this was a
+curious one.  As I have said, I had only three ducats left, but after
+I had emptied the cup of chocolate I put it back on the plate and the
+three ducats with it.
+
+The chancellor came back and told me that the duchess could not see
+me just then, but that she invited me to a supper and ball she was
+giving that evening.  I accepted the supper and refused the ball, on
+the pretext that I had only summer clothes and a black suit.  It was
+in the beginning of October, and the cold was already commencing to
+make itself felt.  The chancellor returned to the Court, and I to my
+inn.
+
+Half an hour later a chamberlain came to bring me her highness's
+compliments, and to inform me that the ball would be a masked one,
+and that I could appear in domino.
+
+"You can easily get one from the Jews," he added.  He further
+informed me that the ball was to have been a full-dress one, but that
+the duchess had sent word to all the guests that it would be masked,
+as a stranger who was to be present had sent on his trunks.
+
+"I am sorry to have caused so much trouble," said I.
+
+"Not at all," he replied, "the masked ball will be much more relished
+by the people."
+
+He mentioned the time it was to begin, and left me.
+
+No doubt the reader will think that I found myself in an awkward
+predicament, and I will be honest and confess I was far from being at
+my ease.  However, my good luck came to my assistance.
+
+As Prussian money (which is the worst in Germany) is not current in
+Russia, a Jew came and asked me if I had any friedrichs d'or,
+offering to exchange them against ducats without putting me to any
+loss.
+
+"I have only ducats," I replied, "and therefore I cannot profit by
+your offer."
+
+"I know it sir, and you give them away very cheaply."
+
+Not understanding what he meant, I simply gazed at him, and he went
+on to say that he would be glad to let me have two hundred ducats if
+I would kindly give him a bill on St. Petersburg for roubles to that
+amount.
+
+I was somewhat surprised at the fellow's trustfulness, but after
+pretending to think the matter over I said that I was not in want of
+ducats, but that I would take a hundred to oblige him.  He counted
+out the money gratefully, and I gave him a bill on the banker,
+Demetrio Papanelopoulo, for whom Da Loglio had given me a letter.
+The Jew went his way, thanking me, and saying that he would send me
+some beautiful dominos to choose from.  Just then I remembered that I
+wanted silk stockings, and I sent Lambert after the Jew to tell him
+to send some.  When he came back he told me that the landlord had
+stopped him to say that I scattered my ducats broadcast, as the Jew
+had informed him that I had given three ducats to Madame de
+Kaiserling's maid.
+
+This, then, was the key to the mystery, and it made me lose myself in
+wonder at the strangeness of the decrees of fortune.  I should not
+have been able to get a single crown at Mitau if it had not been for
+the way in which I scattered my three remaining ducats.  No doubt the
+astonished girl had published my generosity all over the town, and
+the Jew, intent on money-making, had hastened to offer his ducats to
+the rich nobleman who thought so little of his money.
+
+I repaired to Court at the time appointed, and M. de Kaiserling
+immediately presented me to the duchess, and she to the duke, who was
+the celebrated Biron, or Birlen, the former favourite of Anna
+Ivanovna.  He was six feet in height, and still preserved some traces
+of having been a fine man, but old age had laid its heavy hand on
+him.  I had a long talk with him the day after the ball.
+
+A quarter of an hour after my arrival, the ball began with a
+polonaise.  I was a stranger with introductions, so the duchess asked
+me to open the ball with her.  I did not know the dance, but I
+managed to acquit myself honourably in it, as the steps are simple
+and lend themselves to the fancy of the dancer.
+
+After the polonaise we danced minuets, and a somewhat elderly lady
+asked me if I could dance the "King Conqueror," so I proceeded to
+execute it with her.  It had gone out of fashion since the time of
+the Regency, but my companion may have shone in it in those days.
+All the younger ladies stood round and watched us with admiration.
+
+After a square dance, in which I had as partner Mdlle. de Manteufel,
+the prettiest of the duchess's maids of honour, her highness told me
+that supper was ready.  I came up to her and offered my arm, and
+presently found myself seated beside her at a table laid for twelve
+where I was the only gentleman.  However, the reader need not envy
+me; the ladies were all elderly dowagers, who had long lost the power
+of turning men's heads.  The duchess took the greatest care of my
+comforts, and at the end of the repast gave me with her own hands a
+glass of liqueur, which I took for Tokay and praised accordingly, but
+it turned out to be only old English ale.  I took her back to the
+ball when we rose from table.  The young chamberlain who had invited
+me told me the names of all the ladies present, but I had no time to
+pay my court to any of them.
+
+The next day I dined with M. de Kaiserling, and handed Lambert over
+to a Jew to be clothed properly.
+
+The day after I dined with the duke with a party consisting only of
+men.  The old prince made me do most of the talking, and towards the
+end of the dinner the conversation fell upon the resources of the
+country which was rich in minerals and semi-minerals.  I took it into
+my head to say that these resources ought to be developed, and that
+they would become precious if that were done.  To justify this remark
+I had to speak upon the matter as if I had made it my principal
+study.  An old chamberlain, who had the control of the mines, after
+allowing me to exhaust my enthusiasm, began to discuss the question
+himself, made divers objections, but seemed to approve of many of my
+remarks.
+
+If I had reflected when I began to speak in this manner that I should
+have to act up to my words, I should certainly have said much less;
+but as it was, the duke fancied that I knew much more than I cared to
+say.  The result was that, when the company had risen from the table,
+he asked me if I could spare him a fortnight on my way to St.
+Petersburg.  I said I should be glad to oblige him, and he took me to
+his closet and said that the chamberlain who had spoken to me would
+conduct me over all the mines and manufactories in his duchies, and
+that he would be much obliged if I would write down any observations
+that struck me.  I agreed to his proposal, and said I would start the
+next day.
+
+The duke was delighted with my compliance, and gave the chamberlain
+the necessary orders, and it was agreed that he should call for me at
+day-break with a carriage and six.
+
+When I got home I made my preparations, and told Lambert to be ready
+to accompany me with his case of instruments.  I then informed him of
+the object of the journey, and he promised to assist me to the best
+of his ability, though he knew nothing about mines, and still less of
+the science of administration.
+
+We started at day-break, with a servant on the box, and two others
+preceding us on horseback, armed to the teeth.  We changed horses
+every two or three hours, and the chamberlain having brought plenty
+of wine we refreshed ourselves now and again.
+
+The tour lasted a fortnight, and we stopped at five iron and copper
+manufactories.  I found it was not necessary to have much technical
+knowledge to make notes on what I saw; all I required was a little
+sound argument, especially in the matter of economy, which was the
+duke's main object.  In one place I advised reforms, and in another I
+counselled the employment of more hands as likely to benefit the
+revenue.  In one mine where thirty convicts were employed I ordered
+the construction of a short canal, by which three wheels could be
+turned and twenty men saved.  Under my direction Lambert drew the
+plans, and made the measurements with perfect accuracy.  By means of
+other canals I proposed to drain whole valleys, with a view to obtain
+the sulphur with which the soil was permeated.
+
+I returned to Mitau quite delighted at having made myself useful, and
+at having discovered in myself a talent which I had never suspected.
+I spent the following day in making a fair copy of my report and in
+having the plans done on a larger scale.  The day after I took the
+whole to the duke, who seemed well pleased; and as I was taking leave
+of him at the same time he said he would have me drive to Riga in one
+of his carriages, and he gave me a letter for his son, Prince
+Charles, who was in garrison there.
+
+The worthy old man told me to say plainly whether I should prefer a
+jewel or a sum of money of equivalent value.
+
+"From a philosopher like your highness," I replied, "I am not afraid
+to take money, for it may be more useful to me than jewels."
+
+Without more ado he gave me a draft for four hundred albertsthalers,
+which I got cashed immediately, the albertsthaler being worth half a
+ducat.  I bade farewell to the duchess, and dined a second time with
+M. de Kaiserling.
+
+The next day the young chamberlain came to bring me the duke's
+letter, to wish me a pleasant journey, and to tell me that the Court
+carriage was at my door.  I set out well pleased with the assistance
+the stuttering Lambert had given me, and by noon I was at Riga.  The
+first thing I did was to deliver my letter of introduction to Prince
+Charles.
+
+
+
+
+End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of MEMOIRES OF JACQUES CASANOVA
+IN LONDON AND MOSCOW, Vol. 5d, LONDON TO BERLIN
+by Jacques Casanova de Seingalt
+
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