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Title: Return to Italy
Author: Jacques Casanova
Release Date: December, 2001 [Etext #2967]
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MEMOIRS OF JACQUES CASANOVA de SEINGALT 1725-1798
ADVENTURES IN THE SOUTH, Volume 4b--RETURN TO ITALY
THE RARE UNABRIDGED LONDON EDITION OF 1894 TRANSLATED BY ARTHUR
MACHEN TO WHICH HAS BEEN ADDED THE CHAPTERS DISCOVERED
BY ARTHUR SYMONS.
RETURN TO ITALY
GENOA--TUSCANY--ROME
CHAPTER IV
The Play--The Russian--Petri--Rosalie at the Convent
When the marquis had gone, seeing Rosalie engaged with Veronique,
I set myself to translate the 'Ecossaise' for the actors at Genoa,
who seemed pretty good ones, to play.
I thought Rosalie looking sad at dinner, and said,
"What is the matter, dearest? You know I do not like to see you
looking melancholy."
"I am vexed at Veronique's being prettier than I."
"I see what you mean; I like that! But console your, self,
Veronique is nothing compared to you, in my eyes at all events.
You are my only beauty; but to reassure you I will ask M. de
Grimaldi to tell her mother to come and fetch her away, and to get
me another maid as ugly as possible."
"Oh, no! pray do not do so; he will think I am jealous, and I
wouldn't have him think so for the world."
"Well, well, smile again if you do not wish to vex me."
"I shall soon do that, if, as you assure me, she will not make me
lose your love. But what made the old gentleman get me a girl
like that? Do you think he did it out of mischief?"
"No, I don't think so. I am sure, on the other hand, that he
wanted to let you know that you need not fear being compared with
anybody. Are you pleased with her in other respects?"
"She works well, and she is very respectful. She does not speak
four words without addressing me as signora, and she is careful to
translate what she says from Italian into French. I hope that in
a month I shall speak well enough for us to dispense with her
services when we go to Florence. I have ordered Le Duc to clear
out the room I have chosen for her, and I will send her her dinner
from our own table. I will be kind to her, but I hope you will
not make me wretched."
"I could not do so; and I do not see what there can be in common
between the girl and myself."
"Then you will pardon my fears."
"The more readily as they shew your love."
"I thank you, but keep my secret."
I promised never to give a glance to Veronique, of whom I was
already afraid, but I loved Rosalie and would have done anything
to save her the least grief.
I set to at my translation after dinner; it was work I liked. I
did not go out that day, and I spent the whole of the next morning
with M. de Grimaldi.
I went to the banker Belloni and changed all my gold into gigliati
sequins. I made myself known after the money was changed, and the
head cashier treated me with great courtesy. I had bills on this
banker for forty thousand Roman crowns, and on Lepri bills for
twenty thousand.
Rosalie did not want to go to the play again, so I got her a piece
of embroidery to amuse her in the evening. The theatre was a
necessity for me; I always went unless it interferred with some
still sweeter pleasure. I went by myself, and when I got home I
found the marquis talking to my mistress. I was pleased, and
after I had embraced the worthy nobleman I complimented Rosalie on
having kept him till my arrival, adding gently that she should
have put down her work.
"Ask him," she replied, "if he did not make me keep on. He said
he would go if I didn't, so I gave in to keep him."
She then rose, stopped working, and in the course of an
interesting conversation she succeeded in making the marquis
promise to stay to supper, thus forestalling my intention. He was
not accustomed to take anything at that hour, and ate little; but
I saw he was enchanted with my treasure, and that pleased me, for
I did not think I had anything to fear from a man of sixty;
besides, I was glad at the opportunity of accustoming Rosalie to
good society. I wanted her to be a little coquettish, as a woman
never pleases in society unless she shews a desire to please.
Although the position was quite a strange one for her, she made me
admire the natural aptitude of women, which may be improved or
spoiled by art but which exists more or less in them all, from the
throne to the milk-pail. She talked to M. de Grimaldi in a way
that seemed to hint she was willing to give a little hope. As our
guest did not eat, she said graciously that he must come to dinner
some day that she might have an opportunity of seeing whether he
really had any appetite.
When he had gone I took her on my knee, and covering her with
kisses asked her where she had learnt to talk to great people so
well.
"It's an easy matter," she replied. "Your eyes speak to my soul,
and tell me what to do and what to say."
A professed rhetorician could not have answered more elegantly or
more flatteringly.
I finished the translation; I had it copied out by Costa and took
it to Rossi, the manager, who said he would put it on directly,
when I told him I was going to make him a present of the play. I
named the actors of my choice, and asked him to bring them to dine
with me at my inn, that I might read the play and distribute the
parts.
As will be guessed, my invitation was accepted, and Rosalie
enjoyed dining with the actors and actresses, and especially
hearing herself called Madame Casanova every moment. Veronique
explained everything she did not understand.
When my actors were round me in a ring, they begged me to tell
them their parts, but I would not give in on this point.
"The first thing to be done," said I, "is for you to listen
attentively to the whole piece without minding about your parts.
When you know the whole play I will satisfy your curiosity."
I knew that careless or idle actors often pay no attention to
anything except their own parts, and thus a piece, though well
played in its parts, is badly rendered as a whole.
They submitted with a tolerably good grace, which the high and
mighty players of the Comedie Francaise would certainly not have
done. Just as I was beginning my heading the Marquis de Grimaldi
and the banker Belloni came in to call on me. I was glad for them
to be present at the trial, which only lasted an hour and a
quarter.
After I had heard the opinion of the actors, who by their praise
of various situations shewed me that they had taken in the plot, I
told Costa to distribute the parts; but no sooner was this done
than the first actor and the first actress began to express their
displeasure; she, because I had given her the part of Lady Alton;
he, because I had not given him Murray's part; but they had to
bear it as it was my will. I pleased everybody by asking them all
to dinner for the day after the morrow, after dinner the piece to
be rehearsed for the first time.
The banker Belloni asked me to dinner for the following day,
including my lady, who excused herself with great politeness, in
the invitation; and M. Grimaldi was glad to take my place at
dinner at her request.
When I got to M. Belloni's, I was greatly surprised to see the
impostor Ivanoff, who instead of pretending not to know me, as he
ought to have done, came forward to embrace me. I stepped back
and bowed, which might be put down to a feeling of respect,
although my coldness and scant ceremony would have convinced any
observant eye of the contrary. He was well dressed, but seemed
sad, though he talked a good deal, and to some purpose, especially
on politics. The conversation turned on the Court of Russia,
where Elizabeth Petrovna reigned; and he said nothing, but sighed
and turned away pretending to wipe the tears from his eyes. At
dessert, he asked me if I had heard anything of Madame Morin,
adding, as if to recall the circumstance to my memory, that we had
supped together there:
"I believe she is quite well," I answered.
His servant, in yellow and red livery, waited on him at table.
After dinner he contrived to tell me that he had a matter of the
greatest importance he wanted to discuss with me.
"My only desire sir, is to avoid all appearance of knowing
anything about you."
"One word from you will gain me a hundred thousand crowns, and you
shall have half."
I turned my back on him, and saw him no more at Genoa.
When I got back to the inn I found M. de Grimaldi giving Rosalie
a lesson in Italian.
"She has given me an exquisite dinner," said he, "you must be very
happy with her."
In spite of his honest face, M. Grimaldi was in love with her,
but I thought I had nothing to fear. Before he went she invited
him to come to the rehearsal next day.
When the actors came I noticed amongst them a young man whose face
I did not know, and on my enquiring Rossi told me he was the
prompter.
"I won't have any prompter; send him about his business."
"We can't get on without him."
"You'll have to; I will be the prompter."
The prompter was dismissed, but the three actresses began to
complain.
"If we knew our parts as well as the 'pater noster' we should be
certain to come to a dead stop if the prompter isn't in his box."
"Very good," said I to the actress, who was to play Lindane, "I
will occupy the box myself, but I shall see your drawers."
"You would have some difficulty in doing that," said the first
actor, "she doesn't wear any."
"So much the better."
"You know nothing about it," said the actress.
These remarks put us all in high spirits, and the ministers of
Thalia ended by promising that they would dispense with a
prompter. I was pleased with the way the piece was read, and they
said they would be letter-perfect in three days. But something
happened.
On the day fixed for the rehearsal they came without the Lindane
and Murray. They were not well, but Rossi said they would not
fail us eventually. I took the part of Murray, and asked Rosalie
to be the Lindane.
"I don't read Italian well enough," she whispered, "and I don't
wish to have the actors laughing at me; but Veronique could do
it."
"Ask if she will read the part."
However, Veronique said that she could repeat it by heart.
"All the better," said I to her, laughing internally, as I thought
of Soleure, for I saw that I should thus be obliged to make love
to the girl to whom I had not spoken for the fortnight she had
been with us. I had not even had a good look at her face. I was
so afraid of Rosalie (whom I loved better every day) taking
fright.
What I had feared happened. When I took Veronique's hand, and
said, "Si, bella Lindana, debbe adorarvi!" everybody clapped,
because I gave the words their proper expression; but glancing at
Rosalie I saw a shadow on her face, and I was angry at not having
controlled myself better. Nevertheless, I could not help feeling
amazed at the way Veronique played the part. When I told her that
I adored her she blushed up to her eyes; she could not have played
the love-sick girl better.
We fixed a day for the dress-rehearsal at the theatre, and the
company announced the first night a week in advance to excite
public curiosity. The bills ran:
"We shall give Voltaire's Ecossaise, translated by an anonymous
author: no prompter will be present."
I cannot give the reader any idea of the trouble I had to quiet
Rosalie. She refused to be comforted; wept incessantly, and
touched my heart by gentle reproaches.
"You love Veronique," said she, "and you only translated that
piece to have an opportunity of declaring your love."
I succeeded in convincing her that she wronged me, and at last
after I had lavished caresses on her she suffered herself to be
calmed. Next morning she begged pardon for her jealousy, and to
cure it insisted on my speaking constantly to Veronique. Her
heroism went farther. She got up before me and sent me my coffee
by Veronique, who was as astonished as I was.
At heart Rosalie was a great creature, capable of noble resolves,
but like all women she gave way to sudden emotions. From that day
she gave me no more signs of jealousy, and treated her maid with
more kindness than ever. Veronique was an intelligent and well-
mannered girl, and if my heart had not been already occupied she
would have reigned there.
The first night of the play I took Rosalie to a box, and she would
have Veronique with her. M. de Grimaldi did not leave her for a
moment. The play was praised to the skies; the large theatre was
full of the best people in Genoa. The actors surpassed
themselves, though they had no prompter, and were loudly
applauded. The piece ran five nights and was performed to full
houses. Rossi, hoping perhaps that I would make him a present of
another play, asked my leave to give my lady a superb pelisse of
lynx-fur, which pleased her immensely.
I would have done anything to spare my sweetheart the least
anxiety, and yet from my want of thought I contrived to vex her.
I should never have forgiven myself if Providence had not ordained
that I should be the cause of her final happiness.
"I have reason to suspect," she said one day, "that I am with
child, and I am enchanted at the thought of giving you a dear
pledge of my love."
"If it comes at such a time it will be mine, and I assure you I
shall love it dearly."
"And if it comes two or three weeks sooner you will not be sure
that you are the parent?"
"Not quite sure; but I shall love it just as well, and look upon
it as my child as well as yours."
"I am sure you must be the father. It is impossible the child can
be Petri's, who only knew me once, and then very imperfectly,
whilst you and I have lived in tender love for so long a time."
She wept hot tears.
"Calm yourself, dearest, I implore you! You are right; it cannot
be Petri's child. You know I love you, and I cannot doubt that
you are with child by me and by me alone. If you give me a baby
as pretty as yourself, it will be mine indeed. Calm yourself."
"How can I be calm when you can have such a suspicion?"
We said no more about it; but in spite of my tenderness, my
caresses, and all the trifling cares which bear witness to love,
she was often sad and thoughtful. How many times I reproached
myself bitterly for having let out my silly calculations.
A few days later she gave me a sealed letter, saying,--
"The servant has given me this letter when you were away. I am
offended by his doing so, and I want you to avenge me."
I called the man, and said,--
"Where did you get this letter?"
"From a young man, who is unknown to me. He gave me a crown, and
begged me to give the letter to the lady without your seeing me,
and he promised to give me two crowns more if I brought him a
reply tomorrow. I did not think I was doing wrong, sir, as the
lady was at perfect liberty to tell you."
"That's all very well, but you must go, as the lady, who gave me
the letter unopened, as you can see for yourself, is offended with
you."
I called Le Duc, who paid the man and sent him away. I opened the
letter, and found it to be from Petri. Rosalie left my side, not
wishing to read the contents. The letter ran as follows:
"I have seen you, my dear Rosalie. It was just as you were coming
out of the theatre, escorted by the Marquis de Grimaldi, who is my
godfather. I have not deceived you; I was still intending to come
and marry you at Marseilles next spring, as I promised. I love
you faithfully, and if you are still my good Rosalie I am ready to
marry you here in the presence of my kinfolk. If you have done
wrong I promise never to speak of it, for I know that it was I who
led you astray. Tell me, I entreat you, whether I may speak to
the Marquis de Grimaldi with regard to you. I am ready to receive
you from the hands of the gentleman with whom you are living,
provided you are not his wife. Be sure, if you are still free,
that you can only recover your honour by marrying your seducer."
"This letter comes from an honourable man who is worthy of
Rosalie," I thought to myself, "and that's more than I shall be,
unless I marry her myself. But Rosalie must decide."
I called her to me, gave her the letter, and begged her to read it
attentively. She did so, and gave it me back, asking me if I
advised her to accept Petri's offer.
"If you do dear Rosalie, I shall die of grief; but if I do not
yield you, my honour bids me marry you, and that I am quite ready
to do."
At this the charming girl threw herself on my breast, crying in
the voice of true love, "I love you and you alone, darling; but it
is not true that your honour bids you marry me. Ours is a
marriage of the heart; our love is mutual, and that is enough for
my happiness."
"Dear Rosalie, I adore you, but I am the best judge of my own
honour. If Petri is a well-to-do man and a man who would make you
happy, I must either give you up or take you myself."
"No, no; there is no hurry to decide. If you love me I am happy,
for I love you and none other. I shall not answer the letter, and
I don't want to hear anything more of Petri."
"You may be sure that I will say no more of him, but I am sure
that the marquis will have a hand in it."
"I daresay, but he won't speak to me twice on the subject."
After this treaty--a more sincere one than the Powers of Europe
usually make--I resolved to leave Genoa as soon as I got some
letters for Florence and Rome. In the meanwhile all was peace and
love between myself and Rosalie. She had not the slightest shadow
of jealousy in her soul, and M. de Grimaldi was the sole witness
of our happiness.
Five or six days later I went to see the marquis at his casino at
St. Pierre d'Arena, and he accosted me by saying that he was
happy to see me as he had an important matter he wished to discuss
with me. I guessed what it would be, but begged him to explain
himself. He then spoke as follows:
"A worthy merchant of the town brought his nephew, a young man
named Petri, to see me two days ago. He told me that the young
man is my godson, and he asked me to protect him. I answered that
as his godfather I owed him my protection, and I promised to do
what I could.
"He left my godson to talk it over with me, and he informed me
that he knew your mistress before you did at Marseilles, that he
had promised to marry her next spring, that he had seen her in my
company, and that having followed us he found out that she lived
with you. He was told that she was your wife, but not believing
it, wrote her a letter saying that he was ready to marry her; but
this letter fell into your hands, and he has had no reply to it.
"He could not make up his mind to lose a hope which made his
happiness, so he resolved to ascertain, through my good offices,
whether Rosalie would accept his proposition. He flatters himself
that on his informing me of his prosperous condition, I can tell
you that he is a likely man to make his wife happy. I told him
that I knew you, and would speak to you on the matter, and
afterwards inform him of the result of our interview.
"I have made enquires into his condition, and find that he has
already amassed a considerable sum of money. His credit, morals,
and reputation, are all excellent; besides, he is his uncle's sole
heir, and the uncle passes for a man very comfortably off. And
now, my dear M. Casanova, tell me what answer I am to make."
"Tell him that Rosalie is much obliged to him, and begs him to
forget her. We are going away in three or four days. Rosalie
loves me, and I her, and I am ready to marry her whenever she
likes."
"That's plain speaking; but I should have thought a man like you
would prefer freedom to a woman, however beautiful, to whom you
would be bound by indissoluble ties. Will you allow me to speak
to Rosalie myself about it?"
"You need not ask, my leave; speak to her, but in your own person
and not as representing my opinions. I adore her, and would not
have her think that I could cherish the thought of separating from
her."
"If you don't want me to meddle in the matter, tell me so
frankly."
"On the contrary, I wish you to see for yourself that I am not the
tyrant of the woman I adore."
"I will talk to her to-night."
I did not come home till supper-time, that the marquis might say
what he had to say in perfect freedom. The noble Genoese supped
with us, and the conversation turned on indifferent subjects.
After he had gone, my sweetheart told me what had passed between
them. He had spoken to her in almost the same words that he had
addressed to me, and our replies were nearly identical, though she
had requested the marquis to say no more about his godson, to
which request he had assented.
We thought the matter settled, and busied ourselves with
preparations for our departure; but three or four days after, the
marquis (who we imagined had forgotten all about his godson) came
and asked us to dine with him at St. Pierre d'Arena, where Rosalie
had never been.
"I want you to see my beautiful garden before you go," said M.
Grimaldi to her; "it will be one more pleasant recollection of
your stay for me."
We went to see him at noon the next day. He was with an elderly
man and woman, to whom he introduced us. He introduced me by
name, and Rosalie as a person who belonged to me.
We proceeded to walk in the garden, where the two old people got
Rosalie between them, and overwhelmed her with politeness and
complimentary remarks. She, who was happy and in high spirits,
answered in Italian, and delighted them by her intelligence, and
the grace which she gave to her mistakes in grammar.
The servants came to tell us that dinner was ready, and what was
my astonishment on entering the room to see the table laid for
six. I did not want much insight now to see through the marquis's
trick, but it was too late. We sat down, and just then a young
man came in.
"You are a little late," said the marquis; and then, without
waiting for his apology, he introduced him to me as M. Petri, his
godson, and nephew to his other guests, and he made him sit down
at his left hand, Rosalie being on his right. I sat opposite to
her, and seeing that she turned as pale as death the blood rushed
to my face; I was terribly enraged. This small despot's plot
seemed disgraceful to me; it was a scandalous insult to Rosalie
and myself--an insult which should be washed away in blood. I was
tempted to stab him at his table, but in spite of my agitation I
constrained myself. What could I do? Take Rosalie's arm, and
leave the room with her? I thought it over, but foreseeing the
consequences I could not summon up courage.
I have never spent so terrible an hour as at that fatal dinner.
Neither Rosalie nor myself ate a morsel, and the marquis who
helped all the guests was discreet enough not to see that we left
one course after another untouched. Throughout dinner he only
spoke to Petri and his uncle, giving them opportunities for saying
how large a trade they did. At dessert the marquis told the young
man that he had better go and look after his affairs, and after
kissing his hand he withdrew with a bow to which nobody replied.
Petri was about twenty-four, of a moderate height, with ordinary
but yet good-natured and honest features; respectful in his
manner, and sensible though not witty in what he said. After all
was said and done, I thought him worthy of Rosalie, but I
shuddered at the thought that if she became his wife she was lost
to me forever. After he had gone, the marquis said he was sorry
he had not known him before as he might be of use to him in his
business.
"However, we will see to that in the future," said he, meaningly,
"I mean to make his fortune."
At this the uncle and aunt, who no doubt knew what to say, began
to laud and extol their nephew, and ended by saying that as they
had no children they were delighted that Petri, who would be their
heir, was to have his excellency's patronage.
"We are longing," they added, "to see the girl from Marseilles he
is going to marry. We should welcome her as a beloved daughter."
Rosalie whispered to me that she could bear it no longer, and
begged me to take her away. We rose, and after we had saluted the
company with cold dignity we left the room. The marquis was
visibly disconcerted. As he escorted us to the door he stammered
out compliments, for the want of something to say, telling Rosalie
that he should not have the honour of seeing her that evening, but
that he hoped to call on her the next day.
When we were by ourselves we seemed to breathe again, and spoke to
one another to relieve ourselves of the oppression which weighed
on our minds.
Rosalie thought, as well as I, that the marquis had played us a
shameful trick, and she told me I ought to write him a note,
begging him not to give himself the trouble of calling on us
again.
"I will find some means of vengeance," said I ; "but I don't think
it would be a good plan to write to him. We will hasten our
preparations for leaving, and receive him to-morrow with that cold
politeness which bears witness to indignation. Above all, we will
not make the slightest reference to his godson."
"If Petri really loves me," said she, "I pity him. I think he is
a good fellow, and I don't feel angry with him for being present
at dinner, as he may possibly be unaware that leis presence was
likely to give me offence. But I still shudder when I think of
it: I thought I should have died when our eyes met! Throughout
dinner he could not see my eyes, as I kept them nearly shut, and
indeed he could hardly see me. Did he look at me while he was
talking?"
"No, he only looked at me. I am as sorry for him as you are, for,
as you say, he looks an honest fellow."
"Well, it's over now, and I hope I shall make a good supper. Did
you notice what the aunt said? I am sure she was in the plot.
She thought she would gain me over by saying she was ready to
treat me like her own child. She was a decent-looking woman,
too."
We made a good supper, and a pleasant night inclined us to forget
the insult the marquis had put upon us. When we woke up in the
morning we laughed at it. The marquis came to see us in the
evening, and greeting me with an air of mingled confusion and
vexation, he said that he knew he had done wrong in surprising me
as he had, but that he was ready to do anything in his power by
way of atonement, and to give whatever satisfaction I liked.
Rosalie did not give me time to answer. "If you really feel,"
said she, "that you have insulted us, that is enough; we are amply
avenged. But all the same, sir, we shall be on our guard against
you for the future, though that will be for a short while, as we
are just leaving."
With this proud reply she made him a low bow and left the room.
When he was left alone with me M. Grimaldi addressed me as
follows:
"I take a great interest in your mistress's welfare; and as I feel
sure that she cannot long be happy in her present uncertain
position, while I am sure that she would make my godson an
excellent wife, I was determined that both of you should make his
acquaintance, for Rosalie herself knows very little of him. I
confess that the means I employed were dishonourable, but you will
pardon the means for the sake of the excellent end I had in view.
I hope you will have a pleasant journey, and that you may live for
a long time in uninterrupted happiness with your charming
mistress. I hope you will write to me, and always reckon on my
standing your friend, and doing everything in my power for you.
Before I go, I will tell you something which will give you an idea
of the excellent disposition of young Petri, to whose happiness
Rosalie seems essential.
"He only told me the following, after I had absolutely refused to
take charge of a letter he had written to Rosalie, despairing of
being able to send it any other way. After assuring me that
Rosalie had loved him, and that consequently she could not have
any fixed aversion for him, he added that if the fear of being
with child was the reason why she would not marry him he would
agree to put off the marriage till after the child was born,
provided that she would agree to stay in Genoa in hiding, her
presence to be unknown to all save himself. He offers to pay all
the expenses of her stay. He made a remarkably wise reflection
when we were talking it over.
"'If she gave birth to a child too soon after our marriage,' said
he, 'both her honour and mine would suffer hurt; she might also
lose the liking of my relations, and if Rosalie is to be my wife I
want her to be happy in everything."'
At this Rosalie, who had no doubt been listening at the door after
the manner of her sex, burst into the room, and astonished me by
the following speech:
"If M. Petri chid not tell you that it was possible that I might
be with child by him, he is a right honest man, but now I tell you
so myself. I do not think it likely, but still it is possible.
Tell him, sir, that I will remain at Genoa until the child is
born, in the case of my being pregnant, of which I have no certain
knowledge, or until I am quite sure that I am not with child. If
I do have a child the truth will be made known. In the case of
there being no doubt of M. Petri's being the parent, I am ready to
marry him; but if he sees for himself that the child is not his I
hope he will be reasonable enough to let me alone for the future.
As to the expenses and my lodging at Genoa, tell him that he need
not trouble himself about either."
I was petrified. I saw the consequence of my own imprudent words,
and my heart seemed broken. The marquis asked me if this decision
was given with my authority, and I replied that as my sweetheart's
will was mine he might take her words for law. He went away in
high glee, for he foresaw that all would go well with his plans
when once he was able to exert his influence on Rosalie. The
absent always fare ill.
"You want to leave me, then, Rosalie?" said I, when we were alone.
"Yes, dearest, but it will not be for long."
"I think we shall never see each other again."
"Why not, dearest? You have only to remain faithful to me.
Listen to me. Your honour and my own make it imperative that I
should convince Petri that I am not with child by him, and you
that I am with child by you."
"I never doubted it, dear Rosalie."
"Yes, dear, you doubted it once and that is enough. Our parting
will cost me many a bitter tear, but these pangs are necessary to
my future happiness. I hope you will write to me, and after the
child is born it will be for you to decide on how I shall rejoin
you. If I am not pregnant I will rejoin you in a couple of months
at latest."
"Though I may grieve at your resolve I will not oppose it, for I
promised I would never cross you. I suppose you will go into a
convent; and the marquis must find you a suitable one, and protect
you like a father. Shall I speak to him on the subject? I will
leave you as much money as you will want."
"That will not be much. As for M. de Grimaldi, he is bound in
honour to procure me an asylum. I don't think it will be
necessary for you to speak to him about it."
She was right, and I could not help admiring the truly astonishing
tact of this girl.
In the morning I heard that the self-styled Ivanoff had made his
escape an hour before the police were to arrest him at the suit of
the banker, who had found out that one of the bills he had
presented was forged. He had escaped on foot, leaving all his
baggage behind him.
Next day the marquis came to tell Rosalie that his godson had no
objection to make to her plan. He added that the young man hoped
she would become his wife, whether the child proved to be his or
not.
"He may hope as much as he likes," said Rosalie, with a smile.
"He also hopes that you will allow him to call on you now and
then. I have spoken to my kinswoman, the mother-superior of
convent. You are to have two rooms, and a very good sort of woman
is to keep you company, wait on you, and nurse you when the time
comes. I have paid the amount you are to pay every month for your
board. Every morning I will send you a confidential man, who will
see your companion and will bring me your orders. And I myself
will come and see you at the grating as often as you please."
It was then my sad duty, which the laws of politeness enjoined, to
thank the marquis for his trouble.
"'Tis to you, my lord," said I, "I entrust Rosalie. I am placing
her, I am sure, in good hands. I will go on my way as soon as she
is in the convent; I hope you will write a letter to the mother-
superior for her to take."
"I will write it directly," said he.
And as Rosalie had told him before that she would pay for
everything herself, he gave her a written copy of the agreement he
had made.
"I have resolved," said Rosalie to the marquis, "to go into the
convent to-morrow, and I shall be very glad to have a short visit
from you the day after."
"I will be there," said the marquis, "and you may be sure that I
will do all in my power to make your stay agreeable."
The night was a sad one for both of us. Love scarcely made a
pause amidst our alternate complaints and consolations. We swore
to be faithful for ever, and our oaths were sincere, as ardent
lovers' oaths always are. But they are as nought unless they are
sealed by destiny, and that no mortal mind may know.
Rosalie, whose eyes were red and wet with tears, spent most of the
morning in packing up with Veronique, who cried too. I could not
look at her, as I felt angry with myself for thinking how pretty
she was. Rosalie would only take two hundred sequins, telling me
that if she wanted more she could easily let me know.
She told Veronique to look after me well for the two or three days
I should spend at Genoa, made me a mute curtsy, and went out with
Costa to get a sedan-chair. Two hours after, a servant of the
marquis's came to fetch her belongings, and I was thus left alone
and full of grief till the marquis came and asked me to give him
supper, advising that Veronique should be asked in to keep us
company.
"That's a rare girl," said he, "you really don't know her, and you
ought to know her better."
Although I was rather surprised, I did not stop to consider what
the motives of the crafty Genoese might be, and I went and asked
Veronique to come in. She replied politely that she would do so,
adding that she knew how great an honour I did her.
I should have been the blindest of men if I had not seen that the
clever marquis had succeeded in his well-laid plans, and that he
had duped me as if I had been the merest freshman. Although I
hoped with all my heart that I should get Rosalie back again, I
had good reasons for suspecting that all the marquis's wit would
be employed to seduce her, and I could not help thinking that he
would succeed.
Nevertheless, in the position I was in, I could only keep my fears
to myself and let him do his utmost.
He was nearly sixty, a thorough disciple of Epicurus, a heavy
player, rich, eloquent, a master of state-craft, highly popular at
Genoa, and well acquainted with the hearts of men, and still more
so with the hearts of women. He had spent a good deal of time at
Venice to be more at liberty, and to enjoy the pleasures of life
at his ease. He had never married, and when asked the reason
would reply that he knew too well that women would be either
tyrants or slaves, and that he did not want to be a tyrant to any
woman, nor to be under any woman's orders. He found some way of
returning to his beloved Venice, in spite of the law forbidding
any noble who has filled the office of doge to leave his native
soil. Though he behaved to me in a very friendly manner he knew
how to maintain an air of superiority which imposed on me.
Nothing else could have given him the courage to ask me to dinner
when Petri was to be present. I felt that I had been tricked, and
I thought myself in duty bound to make him esteem me by my
behaviour for the future. It was gratitude on his part which made
him smooth the way to my conquest of Veronique, who doubtless
struck him as a fit and proper person to console me for the loss
of Rosalie.
I did not take any part in the conversation at supper, but the
marquis drew out Veronique, and she shone. It was easy for me to
see that she had more wit and knowledge of the world than Rosalie,
but in my then state of mind this grieved rather than rejoiced me.
M. de Grimaldi seemed sorry to see me melancholy, and forced me,
as it were, to join in the conversation. As he was reproaching me
in a friendly manner for my silence, Veronique said with a
pleasing smile that I had a good reason to be silent after the
declaration of love I had made to her, and which she had received
so ill. I was astonished at this, and said that I did not
remember having ever made her such a declaration; but she made me
laugh in spite of myself, when she said that her name that day was
Lindane.
"Ah, that's in a play," said I, "in real life the man who declares
his love in words is a simpleton; 'tis with deeds the true lover
shews his love."
"Very true, but your lady was frightened all the same."
"No, no, Veronique; she is very fond of you."
"I know she is; but I have seen her jealous of me."
"If so, she was quite wrong."
This dialogue, which pleased me little, fell sweetly on the
marquis's ears; he told me that he was going to call on Rosalie
next morning, and that if I liked to give him a supper, he would
come and tell me about her in the evening. Of course I told him
that he would be welcome.
After Veronique had lighted me to my room, she asked me to let my
servants wait on me, as if she did so now that my lady was gone,
people might talk about her.
"You are right," said I, "kindly send Le Duc to me."
Next morning I had a letter from Geneva. It came from my
Epicurean syndic, who had presented M. de Voltaire with my
translation of his play, with an exceedingly polite letter from
me, in which I begged his pardon for having taken the liberty of
travestying his fine French prose in Italian. The syndic told me
plainly that M. de Voltaire had pronounced my translation to be a
bad one.
My self-esteem was so wounded by this, and by his impoliteness in
not answering my letter, with which he could certainly find no
fault, whatever his criticism of my translation might be, that I
became the sworn enemy of the great Voltaire. I have censured him
in all the works I have published, thinking that in wronging him I
was avenging myself, to such an extent did passion blind me. At
the present time I feel that even if my works survive, these
feeble stings of mine can hurt nobody but myself. Posterity will
class me amongst the Zoiluses whose own impotence made them attack
this great man to whom civilization and human happiness owe so
much. The only crime that can truthfully be alleged against
Voltaire is his attacks on religion. If he had been a true
philosopher he would never have spoken on such matters, for, even
if his attacks were based on truth, religion is necessary to
morality, without which there can be no happiness.
CHAPTER V
I Fall in Love With Veronique--Her Sister--Plot Against Plot--My
Victory--Mutual Disappointment
I have never liked eating by myself, and thus I have never turned
hermit, though I once thought of turning monk; but a monk without
renouncing all the pleasures of life lives well in a kind of holy
idleness. This dislike to loneliness made me give orders that the
table should be laid for two, and indeed, after supping with the
marquis and myself, Veronique had some right to expect as much, to
say nothing of those rights which her wit and beauty gave her.
I only saw Costa, and asked him what had become of Le Duc. He
said he was ill. "Then go behind the lady's chair," said I. He
obeyed, but smiled as he did so. Pride is a universal failing,
and though a servant's pride is the silliest of all it is often
pushed to the greatest extremes.
I thought Veronique prettier than before. Her behaviour, now free
and now reserved, as the occasion demanded, shewed me that she was
no new hand, and that she could have played the part of a princess
in the best society. Nevertheless (so strange a thing is the
heart of man), I was sorry to find I liked her, and my only
consolation was that her mother would come and take her away
before the day was over. I had adored Rosalie, and my heart still
bled at the thought of our parting.
The girl's mother came while we were still at table. She was
astounded at the honour I shewed her daughter, and she overwhelmed
me with thanks.
"You owe me no gratitude," said I to her; "your daughter is
clever, good, and beautiful."
"Thank the gentleman for his compliment," said the mother, "for
you are really stupid, wanton, and ugly;" and then she added, "But
how could you have the face to sit at table with the gentleman in
a dirty chemise?"
"I should blush, mother, if I thought you were right; but I put a
clean one on only two hours ago."
"Madam," said I to the mother, "the chemise cannot look white
beside your daughter's whiter skin."
This made the mother laugh, and pleased the girl immensely. When
the mother told her that she was come to take her back, Veronique
said, with a sly smile,--
"Perhaps the gentleman won't be pleased at my leaving him twenty-
four hours before he goes away."
"On the contrary," said I, "I should be very vexed."
"Well; then, she can stay, sir," said the mother; "but for
decency's sake I must send her younger sister to sleep with her."
"If you please," I rejoined. And with that I left them.
The thought of Veronique troubled me, as I knew I was taken with
her, and what I had to dread was a calculated resistance.
The mother came into my room where I was writing, and wished me a
pleasant journey, telling me for the second time that she was
going to send her daughter Annette. The girl came in the evening,
accompanied by a servant, and after lowering her mezzaro, and
kissing my hand respectfully, she ran gaily to kiss her sister.
I wanted to see what she was like, and called for candles; and on
their being brought I found she was a blonde of a kind I had never
before seen. Her hair, eyebrows, and eyelashes were the colour of
pale gold, fairer almost than her skin, which was extremely
delicate. She was very short-sighted, but her large pale blue
eyes were wonderfully beautiful. She had the smallest mouth
imaginable, but her teeth, though regular, were not so white as
her skin. But for this defect Annette might have passed for a
perfect beauty.
Her shortness of sight made too brilliant a light painful to her,
but as she stood before me she seemed to like me looking at her.
My gaze fed hungrily on the two little half-spheres, which were
not yet ripe, but so white as to make me guess how ravishing the
rest of her body must be. Veronique did not shew her breasts so
freely. One could see that she was superbly shaped, but
everything was carefully hidden from the gaze. She made her
sister sit down beside her and work, but when I saw that she was
obliged to hold the stuff close to her face I told her that she
should spare her eyes, for that night at all events, and with that
she obediently put the work down.
The marquis came as usual, and like myself he thought Annette,
whom he had never seen before, an astonishing miniature beauty.
Taking advantage of his age and high rank, the voluptuous old man
dared to pass his hand over her breast, and she, who was too
respectful to cross my lord, let him do it without making the
slightest objection. She was a compound of innocence and
coquetry.
The woman who shewing little succeeds in making a man want to see
more, has accomplished three-fourths of the task of making him
fall in love with her; for is love anything else than a kind of
curiosity? I think not; and what makes me certain is that when the
curiosity is satisfied the love disappears. Love, however,
is the strongest kind of curiosity in existence, and I was already
curious about Annette.
M. Grimaldi told Veronique that Rosalie wished her to stay with me
till I left Genoa, and she was as much astonished at this as I
was.
"Be kind enough to tell her," said I to the marquis, "that
Veronique has anticipated her wishes and has got her sister
Annette to stay with her."
"Two are always better than one, my dear fellow," replied the
crafty Genoese.
After these remarks we left the two sisters together and went into
my room, where he said,--
"Your Rosalie is contented, and you ought to congratulate yourself
on having made her happy, as I am sure she will be. The only
thing that vexes me is that you can't go and see her yourself with
any decency."
"You are in love with her, my lord."
"I confess that I am, but I am an old man, and it vexes me."
"That's no matter, she will love you tenderly; and if Petri ever
becomes her husband, I am sure she will never be anything more
than a good friend to him. Write to me at Florence and tell me
how she receives him."
"Stay here for another three days; the two beauties there will
make the time seem short."
"It's exactly for that reason that I want to go tomorrow. I am
afraid of Veronique."
"I shouldn't have thought that you would have allowed any woman to
frighten you."
"I am afraid she has cast her fatal nets around me, and when the
time comes she will be strictly moral. Rosalie is my only love."
"Well, here's a letter from her."
I went apart to read the letter, the sight of which made my heart
beat violently; it ran as follows:
"Dearest,--I see you have placed me in the hands of one who
will care for me like a father. This is a new kindness which
I owe to the goodness of your heart. I will write to you at
whatever address you send me. If you like Veronique, my
darling, do not fear any jealousy from me; I should be wrong
to entertain such a feeling in my present position. I expect
that if you make much of her she will not be able to resist,
and I shall be glad to hear that she is lessening your
sadness. I hope you will write me a few lines before you
go."
I went up to the marquis and told him to read it. He seemed
greatly moved.
"Yes," said he, "the dear girl will find in me her friend and
father, and if she marries my godson and he does not treat her as
he ought, he will not possess her long. I shall remember her in
my will, and thus when I am dead my care will still continue. But
what do you think of her advice as to Veronique? I don't expect
she is exactly a vestal virgin, though I have never heard anything
against her."
I had ordered that the table should be laid for four, so Annette
sat down without our having to ask her. Le Duc appeared on the
scene, and I told him that if he were ill he might go to bed.
"I am quite well," said he.
"I am glad to hear it; but don't trouble now, you shall wait on me
when I am at Leghorn."
I saw that Veronique was delighted at my sending him away, and I
resolved then and there to lay siege to her heart. I began by
talking to her in a very meaning manner all supper-time, while the
marquis entertained Annette. I asked him if he thought I could
get a felucca next day to take me to Lerici.
"Yes," said he, "whenever you like and with as many oarsmen as you
please; but I hope you will put off your departure for two or
three days."
"No," I replied, ogling Veronique, "the delay might cost me too
dear."
The sly puss answered with a smile that shewed she understood my
meaning.
When we rose from the table I amused myself with Annette, and the
marquis with Veronique. After a quarter of an hour he came and
said to me,--
"Certain persons have asked me to beg you to stay a few days
longer, or at least to sup here to-morrow night."
"Very good. We will talk of the few days more at supper to-
morrow."
"Victory!" said the marquis; and Veronique seemed very grateful to
me for granting her request. When our guest was gone, I asked my
new housekeeper if I might send Costa to bed.
"As my sister is with me, there can be no ground for any
suspicion."
"I am delighted that you consent; now I am going to talk to you."
She proceeded to do my hair, but she gave no answer to my soft
speeches. When I was on the point of getting into bed she wished
me good night, and I tried to kiss her by way of return. She
repulsed me and ran to the door, much to my surprise. She was
going to leave the room, when I addressed her in a voice of grave
politeness.
"I beg you will stay; I want to speak to you; come and sit by me.
Why should you refuse me a pleasure which after all is a mere mark
of friendship?"
"Because, things being as they are, we could not remain friends,
neither could we be lovers."
"Lovers! why not, we are perfectly free"
"I am not free; I am bound by certain prejudices which do not
trouble you."
"I should have thought you were superior to prejudices."
"There are some prejudices which a woman ought to respect. The
superiority you mention is a pitiful thing; always the dupe of
itself. What would become of me, I should like to know, if I
abandoned myself to the feelings I have for you?"
"I was waiting for you to say that, dear Veronique. What you feel
for me is not love. If it were so, you would feel as I do, and
you would soon break the bonds of prejudice."
"I confess that my head is not quite turned yet, but still I feel
that I shall grieve at your departure."
"If so, that is no fault of mine. But tell me what I can do for
you during my short stay here."
"Nothing; we do not know one another well enough."
"I understand you, but I would have you know that I do not intend
to marry any woman who is not my friend."
"You mean you will not marry her till you have ceased to be her
lover?"
"Exactly."
"You would like to finish where I would begin."
"You may be happy some day, but you play for high stakes."
"Well, well, it's a case of win all or lose all."
"That's as may be. But without further argument it seems to me
that we could safely enjoy our love, and pass many happy moments
undisturbed by prejudice."
"Possibly, but one gets burnt fingers at that game, and I shudder
at the very thought of it. No, no; leave me alone, there is my
sister who will wonder why I am in your arms."
"Very good; I see I was mistaken, and Rosalie too."
"Why what did she think about me?"
"She wrote and told me that she thought you would be kind."
"I hope she' mayn't have to repent for having been too kind
herself."
"Good bye, Veronique."
I felt vexed at having made the trial, for in these matters one
always feels angry at failure. I decided I would leave her and
her precepts, true or false, alone; but when I awoke in the
morning and saw her coming to my bed with a pleasant smile on her
face, I suddenly changed my mind. I had slept upon my anger and I
was in love again. I thought she had repented, and that I should
be victorious when I attacked her again. I put on a smile myself
and breakfasted gaily with her and her sister. I behaved in the
same way at dinner; and the general high spirits which M. de
Grimaldi found prevailing in the evening, made him think,
doubtless, that we were getting on well, and he congratulated us.
Veronique behaved exactly as if the marquis had guessed the truth,
and I felt sure of having her after supper, and in the ecstasy of
the thought I promised to stay for four days longer.
"Bravo, Veronique!" said the marquis, "that's the way. You are
intended by nature to rule your lovers with an absolute sway."
I thought she would say something to diminish the marquis's
certainty that there was an agreement between us, but she did
nothing of the sort, seeming to enjoy her triumph which made her
appear more beautiful than ever; whilst I looked at her with the
submissive gaze of a captive who glories in, his chain. I took
her behaviour as an omen of my approaching conquest, and did not
speak to M. de Grimaldi alone lest he might ask me questions which
I should not care to answer. He told us before he went away that
he was engaged on the morrow, and so could not come to see us till
the day after.
As soon as we were alone Veronique said to me, "You see how I let
people believe what they please; I had rather be thought kind, as
you call it, than ridiculous, as an honest girl is termed now-a-
days. Is it not so?"
"No, dear Veronique, I will never call you ridiculous, but I shall
think you hate me if you make me pass another night in torture.
You have inflamed me."
"Oh, pray be quiet! For pity's sake leave me alone! I will not
inflame you any more. Oh! Oh!"
I had enraged her by thrusting a daring hand into the very door of
the sanctuary. She repulsed me and fled. Three or four minutes
later her sister came to undress me. I told her gently to go to
bed as I had to write for three or four hours; but not caring that
she should come on a bootless errand I opened a box and gave her a
watch. She took it modestly, saying,--
"This is for my sister, I suppose?"
"No, dear Annette, it's for you."
She gave a skip of delight, and I could not prevent her kissing my
hand.
I proceeded to write Rosalie a letter of four pages. I felt
worried and displeased with myself and everyone else. I tore up
my letter without reading it over, and making an effort to calm
myself I wrote her another letter more subdued than the first, in
which I said nothing of Veronique, but informed my fair recluse
that I was going on the day following.
I did not go to bed till very late, feeling out of temper with the
world. I considered that I had failed in my duty to Veronique,
whether she loved me or not, for I loved her and I was a man of
honour. I had a bad night, and when I awoke it was noon, and on
ringing Costa and Annette appeared. The absence of Veronique
shewed how I had offended her. When Costa had left the room I
asked Annette after her sister, and she said that she was working.
I wrote her a note, in which I begged her pardon, promising that I
would never offend her again, and begging her to forget everything
and to be just the same as before. I was taking my coffee when
she came into my room with an expression of mortification which
grieved me excessively.
"Forget everything, I beg, and I will trouble you no more. Give
me my buckles, as I am going for a country walk, and I shall not
be in till suppertime. I shall doubtless get an excellent
appetite, and as you have nothing more to fear you need not
trouble to send me Annette again."
I dressed myself in haste, and left the town by the first road
that came in my way, and I walked fast for two hours with the
intention of tiring myself, and of thus readjusting the balance
between mind and body. I have always found that severe exercise
and fresh air are the best cure for any mental perturbation.
I had walked for more than three leagues when hunger and weariness
made me stop at a village inn, where I had an omelette cooked. I
ate it hungrily with brown bread and wine, which seemed to me
delicious though it was rather sharp.
I felt too tired to walk back to Genoa, so I asked for a carriage;
but there was no such thing to be had. The inn-keeper provided me
with a sorry nag and a man to guide me. Darkness was coming on,
and we had more than six miles to do. Fine rain began to fall
when I started, and continued all the way, so that I got home by
eight o'clock wet to the skin, shivering with cold, dead tired,
and in a sore plight from the rough saddle, against which my satin
breeches were no protection. Costa helped me to change my
clothes, and as he went out Annette came in.
"Where is your sister?"
"She is in bed with a bad headache. She gave me a letter for you;
here it is."
"I have been obliged to go to bed on account of a severe headache
to which I am subject. I feel better already, and I shall be able
to wait on you to-morrow. I tell you as much, because I do not
wish you to think that my illness is feigned. I am sure that your
repentance for having humiliated me is sincere, and I hope in your
turn that you will forgive me or pity me, if my way of thinking
prevents me from conforming to yours."
"Annette dear, go and ask your sister if she would like us to sup
in her room."
She soon came back telling me that Veronique was obliged, but
begged me to let her sleep.
I supped with Annette, and was glad to see that, though she only
drank water, her appetite was better than mine. My passion for
her sister prevented me thinking of her, but I felt that Annette
would otherwise have taken my fancy. When we were taking dessert,
I conceived the idea of making her drunk to get her talk of her
sister, so I gave her a glass of Lunel muscat.
"I only drink water, sir."
"Don't you like wine?"
"Yes, but as I am not used to it I am afraid of its getting into
my head."
"Then you can go to bed; you will sleep all the better."
She drank the first glass, which she enjoyed immensely, then a
second, and then a third. Her little brains were in some
confusion when she had finished the third glass. I made her talk
about her sister, and in perfect faith she told me all the good
imaginable.
"Then you are very fond of Veronique?" said I.
"Oh, yes! I love her with all my heart, but she will not let me
caress her."
"No doubt she is afraid of your ceasing to love her. But do you
think she ought to make me suffer so?"
"No, but if you love her you ought to forgive her."
Annette was still quite reasonable. I made her drink a fourth
glass of muscat, but an instant after she told me that she could
not see anything, and we rose from the table. Annette began to
please me a little too much, but I determined not to make any
attempts upon her for fear of finding her too submissive. A
little resistance sharpens the appetite, while favours granted
with too much ease lose a great deal of their charm. Annette was
only fourteen, she had a soft heart, no knowledge of the world or
her own rights, and she would not have resisted my embraces for
fear of being rude. That sort of thing would only please a rich
and voluptuous Turk.
I begged her to do my hair, intending to dismiss her directly
after, but when she had finished I asked her to give me the
ointment.
"What do you want it for?"
"For the blisters that cursed saddle on which I rode six miles
gave me."
"Does the ointment do them good?"
"Certainly; it takes away the smart, and by to-morrow I shall be
cured, but you must send Costa to me, as I cannot put it on
myself."
"Can't I do it?"
"Yes, but I am afraid that would be an abuse of your kindness."
"I guess why; but as I am short-sighted, how shall I see the
blisters?"
"If you want to do it for me, I will place myself so that it will
be easier for you. Stay, put the candle on this table."
"There you are, but don't let Costa put it on again to-morrow, or
he will guess that I or my sister did it to-night."
"You will do me the same service, then, to-morrow?"
"I or my sister, for she will get up early."
"Your sister! No, my dear; she would be afraid of giving me too
much pleasure by touching me so near."
"And I am only afraid of hurting you. Is that right? Good
heavens! what a state your skin is in!"
"You have not finished yet."
"I am so short-sighted; turn round."
"With pleasure. Here I am."
The little wanton could not resist laughing at what she saw,
doubtless, for the first time. She was obliged to touch it to
continue rubbing the ointment in, and I saw that she liked it, as
she touched it when she had no need, and not being able to stand
it any longer I took hold of her hand and made her stop her work
in favour of a pleasanter employment.
When she had finished I burst out laughing to hear her ask, in the
most serious way, the pot of ointment still in her left hand,
"Did I do it right!"
"Oh, admirably, dear Annette! You are an angel, and I am sure you
know what pleasure you gave me. Can you come and spend an hour
with me?"
"Wait a bit."
She went out and shut the door, and I waited for her to return;
but my patience being exhausted I opened the door slightly, and
saw her undressing and getting into bed with her sister. I went
back to my room and to bed again, without losing all hope. I was
not disappointed, for in five minutes back she came, clad in her
chemise and walking on tip-toe.
"Come to my arms, my love; it is very cold."
"Here I am. My sister is asleep and suspects nothing; and even if
she awoke the bed is so large that she would not notice my
absence."
"You are a divine creature, and I love you with all my heart."
"So much the better. I give myself up to you; do what you like
with me, on the condition that you think of my sister no more."
"That will not cost me much. I promise that I will not think of
her."
I found Annette a perfect neophyte, and though I saw no blood on
the altar of love next morning I did not suspect her on that
account. I have often seen such cases, and I know by experience
that the effusion of blood or its absence proves nothing. As a
general rule a girl cannot be convicted of having had a lover
unless she be with child.
I spent two hours of delight with this pretty baby, for she was so
small, so delicate, and so daintily shaped all over, that I can
find no better name for her. Her docility did not detract from
the piquancy of the pleasure, for she was voluptuously inclined.
When I rose in the morning she came to my room with Veronique, and
I was glad to see that while the younger sister was radiant with
happiness the elder looked pleasant and as if she desired to make
herself agreeable. I asked her how she was, and she told me that
diet and sleep had completely cured her. "I have always found
them the best remedy for a headache." Annette had also cured me
of the curiosity I had felt about her. I congratulated myself on
my achievement.
I was in such high spirits at supper that M. de Grimaldi thought I
had won everything from Veronique, and I let him think so. I
promised to dine with him the next day, and I kept my word. After
dinner I gave him a long letter for Rosalie, whom I did not expect
to see again except as Madame Petri, though I took care not to let
the marquis know what I thought.
In the evening I supped with the two sisters, and I made myself
equally agreeable to both of them. When Veronique was alone with
me, putting my hair into curl-papers, she said that she loved me
much more now that I behaved discreetly.
"My discretion," I replied, "only means that I have given up the
hope of winning you. I know how to take my part."
"Your love was not very great, then?"
"It sprang up quickly, and you, Veronique, could have made it
increase to a gigantic size."
She said nothing, but bit her lip, wished me good night and left
the room. I went to bed expecting a visit from Annette, but I
waited in vain. When I rang the next morning the dear girl
appeared looking rather sad. I asked her the reason.
"Because my sister is ill, and spent the whole night in writing,"
said she.
Thus I learnt the reason of her not having paid me a visit.
"Do you know what she was writing about?"
"Oh, no! She does not tell me that kind of thing, but here is a
letter for you."
I read through the long and well-composed letter, but as it bore
marks of craft and dissimulation it made me laugh. After several
remarks of no consequence she said that she had repulsed me
because she loved me so much and that she was afraid that if she
satisfied my fancy she might lose me.
"I will be wholly yours," she added, "if you will give me the
position which Rosalie enjoyed. I will travel in your company,
but you must give me a document, which M. de Grimaldi will sign as
a witness, in which you must engage to marry me in a year, and to
give me a portion of fifty thousand francs; and if at the end of a
year you do not wish to marry me, that sum to be at my absolute
disposal."
She stipulated also that if she became a mother in the course of a
year the child should be hers in the event of our separating. On
these conditions she would become my mistress, and would have for
me all possible love and kindness.
This proposal, cleverly conceived, but foolishly communicated to
me, shewed me that Veronique had not the talent of duping others.
I saw directly that M. de Grimaldi had nothing to do with it, and
I felt sure that he would laugh when I told him the story.
Annette soon came back with the chocolate, and told me that her
sister hoped I would answer her letter.
"Yes, dear," said I, "I will answer her when I get up."
I took my chocolate, put on my dressing-gown, and went to
Veronique's room. I found her sitting up in bed in a negligent
attire that might have attracted me if her letter had not deprived
her of my good opinion. I sat on the bed, gave her back the
letter, and said,--
"Why write, when we can talk the matter over?"
"Because one is often more at ease in writing than in speaking."
"In diplomacy and business that will pass, but not in love. Love
makes no conditions. Let us have no documents, no safeguards, but
give yourself up to me as Rosalie did, and begin to-night without
my promising anything. If you trust in love, you will make him
your prisoner. That way will honour us and our pleasures, and if
you like I will consult M. de Grimaldi on the subject. As to your
plan, if it does not injure your honour, it does small justice to
your common sense, and no one but a fool would agree to it. You
could not possibly love the man to whom you make such a proposal,
and as to M. de Grimaldi, far from having anything to do with it,
I am sure he would be indignant at the very idea."
This discourse did not put Veronique out of countenance. She said
she did not love me well enough to give herself to me
unconditionally; to which I replied that I was not sufficiently
taken with her charms to buy them at the price she fixed, and so I
left her.
I called Costa, and told him to go and warn the master of the
felucca that I was going the next day, and with this idea I went
to bid good-bye to the marquis, who informed me that he had just
been taking Petri to see Rosalie, who had received him well
enough. I told him I was glad to hear it, and said that I
commended to him the care of her happiness, but such commendations
were thrown away.
It is one of the most curious circumstances of my history, that in
one year two women whom I sincerely loved and whom I might have
married were taken from me by two old men, whose affections I had
fostered without wishing to do so. Happily these gentlemen made
my mistresses' fortunes, but on the other hand they did me a still
greater service in relieving me of a tie which I should have found
very troublesome in course of time. No doubt they both saw that
my fortune, though great in outward show, rested on no solid
basis, which, as the reader will see, was unhappily too true. I
should be happy if I thought that my errors or rather follies
would serve as a warning to the readers of these Memoirs.
I spent the day in watching the care with which Veronique and
Annette packed up my trunks, for I would not let my two servants
help in any way. Veronique was neither sad nor gay. She looked
as if she had made up her mind, and as if there had never been any
differences between us. I was very glad, for as I no longer cared
for her I should have been annoyed to find that she still cared
for me.
We supped in our usual manner, discussing only commonplace topics,
but just as I was going to bed Annette shook my hand in a way that
told me to prepare for a visit from her. I admired the natural
acuteness of young girls, who take their degrees in the art of
love with so much ease and at such an early age. Annette, almost
a child, knew more than a young man of twenty. I decided on
giving her fifty sequins without letting Veronique see me, as I
did not intend to be so liberal towards her. I took a roll of
ducats and gave them to her as soon as she came.
She lay down beside me, and after a moment devoted to love she
said that Veronique was asleep, adding,--
"I heard all you said to my sister, and I am sure you love her."
"If I did, dear Annette, I should not have made my proposal in
such plain terms."
"I should like to believe that, but what would you have done if
she had accepted your offer? You would be in one bed by this, I
suppose?"
"I was more than certain, dearest, that her pride would hinder her
receiving me."
We had reached this point in our conversation when we were
surprised by the sudden appearance of Veronique with a lighted
candle, and wearing only her chemise. She laughed at her sister
to encourage her, and I joined in the laughter, keeping a firm
hold on the little one for fear of her escaping. Veronique looked
ravishing in her scanty attire, and as she laughed I could not be
angry with her. However, I said,--
"You have interrupted our enjoyment, and hurt your sister's
feelings; perhaps you will despise her for the future?"
"On the contrary, I shall always love her."
"Her feelings overcame her, and she surrendered to me without
making any terms."
"She has more sense than I"
"Do you mean that?"
"I do, really."
"I am astonished and delighted to hear it; but as it is so, kiss
your sister."
At this invitation Veronique put down the candle, and covered
Annette's beautiful body with kisses. The scene made me feel very
happy.
"Come, Veronique," said I, "you will die of cold; come and lie
down."
I made room for her, and soon there were three of us under the
same sheet. I was in an ecstasy at this group, worthy of Aretin's
pencil.
"Dearest ones," said I, "you have played me a pretty trick; was it
premeditated? And was Veronique false this morning, or is she
false now?"
"We did not premeditate anything, I was true this morning, and I
am true now. I feel that I and my plan were very silly, and I
hope you will forgive me, since I have repented and have had my
punishment. Now I think I am in my right senses, as I have
yielded to the feelings with which you inspired me when I saw you
first, and against which I have fought too long."
"What you say pleases me extremely."
"Well, forgive me and finish my punishment by shewing that you are
not angry with me."
"How am I to do that?"
"By telling me that you are vexed no longer, and by continuing to
give my sister proofs of your love."
"I swear to you that so far from being angry with you I am very
fond of you; but would you like us to be fond in your presence?"
"Yes, if you don't mind me."
Feeling excited by voluptuous emotions, I saw that my part could
no longer be a passive one.
"What do you say," said I to my blonde, "will you allow your
heroic sister to remain a mere looker-on at our sweet struggles?
Are you not generous enough to let me make her an actress in the
drama?"
"No; I confess I do not feel as if I could be so generous to-
night, but next night, if you will play the same part, we will
change. Veronique shall act and I will look on."
"That would do beautifully," said Veronique, with some vexation in
her manner, "if the gentleman was not going to-morrow morning."
"I will stay, dear Veronique, if only to prove how much I love
you,"
I could not have wished for plainer speech on her part, and I
should have liked to shew her how grateful I felt on the spot; but
that would have been at Annette's expense, as I had no right to
make any alteration in the piece of which she was the author and
had a right to expect all the profits. Whenever I recall this
pleasant scene I feel my heart beat with voluptuous pleasure, and
even now, with the hand of old age upon me, I can not recall it
without delight.
Veronique resigned herself to the passive part which her younger
sister imposed on her, and turning aside she leant her head on her
hand, disclosing a breast which would have excited the coldest of
men, and bade me begin my attack on Annette. It was no hard task
she laid upon me, for I was all on fire, and I was certain of
pleasing her as long as she looked at me. As Annette was short-
sighted, she could not distinguish in the heat of the action which
way I was looking, and I succeeded in getting my right hand free,
without her noticing me, and I was thus enabled to communicate a
pleasure as real though not as acute as that enjoyed by her
sister. When the coverlet was disarranged, Veronique took the
trouble to replace it, and thus offered me, as if by accident, a
new spectacle. She saw how I enjoyed the sight of her charms, and
her eye brightened. At last, full of unsatisfied desire, she
shewed me all the treasures which nature had given her, just as I
had finished with Annette for the fourth time. She might well
think that I was only rehearsing for the following night, and her
fancy must have painted her coming joys in the brightest colours.
Such at all events were my thoughts, but the fates determined
otherwise. I was in the middle of the seventh act, always slower
and more pleasant for the actress than the first two or three,
when Costa came knocking loudly at my door, calling out that the
felucca was ready. I was vexed at this untoward incident, got up
in a rage, and after telling him to pay the master for the day, as
I was not going till the morrow, I went back to bed, no longer,
however, in a state to continue the work I begun. My two
sweethearts were delighted with me, but we all wanted rest, though
the piece should not have finished with an interruption. I wanted
to get some amusement out of the interval, and proposed an
ablution, which made Annette laugh and which Veronique pronounced
to be absolutely necessary. I found it a delicious hors d'oeuvre
to the banquet I had enjoyed. The two sisters rendered each other
various services, standing in the most lascivious postures, and I
found my situation as looker-on an enviable one.
When the washing and the laughter it gave rise to were over, we
returned to the stage where the last act should have been
performed. I longed to begin again, and I am sure I should have
succeeded if I had been well backed up by my partner; but Annette,
who was young and tired out with the toils of the night, forgot
her part, and yielded to sleep as she had yielded to love.
Veronique began to laugh when she saw her asleep, and I had to do
the same, when I saw that she was as still as a corpse.
"What a pity!" said Veronique's eyes; but she said it with her
eyes alone, while I was waiting for these words to issue from her
lips. We were both of us wrong: she for not speaking, and I for
waiting for her to speak. It was a favourable moment, but we let
it pass by, and love punished us. I had, it is true, another
reason for abstaining. I wished to reserve myself for the night.
Veronique went to her own bed to quiet her excited feelings, and I
stayed in bed with my sleeping beauty till noon, when I wished her
good morning by a fresh assault which was completed neither on her
side nor on mine to the best of my belief.
The day was spent in talking about ourselves, and determined to
eat only one meal, we did not sit down to table till night began
to fall. We spent two hours in the consumption of delicate
dishes, and in defying Bacchus to make us feel his power. We rose
as we saw Annette falling asleep, but we were not much annoyed at
the thought that she would not see the pleasures we promised each
other. I thought that I should have enough to do to contemplate
the charms of the one nymph without looking at Annette's beauties.
We went to bed, our arms interlaced, our bodies tight together,
and lip pressed on lip, but that was all. Veronique saw what
prevented me going any further, and she was too polite and modest
to complain. She dissembled her feelings and continued to caress
me, while I was in a frenzy of rage. I had never had such a
misfortune, unless as the result of complete exhaustion, or from a
strong mental impression capable of destroying my natural
faculties. Let my readers imagine what I suffered; in the flower
of my age, with a strong constitution, holding the body of a woman
I had ardently desired in my arms, while she tenderly caressed me,
and yet I could do nothing for her. I was in despair; one cannot
offer a greater insult to a woman.
At last we had to accept the facts and speak reasonably, and I was
the first to bewail my misfortune.
"You tired yourself too much yesterday," said she, "and you were
not sufficiently temperate at supper. Do not let it trouble you,
dearest, I am sure you love me. Do not try to force nature, you
will only weaken yourself more. I think a gentle sleep would
restore your manly powers better than anything. I can't sleep myself,
but don't mind me. Sleep, we will make love together afterwards."
After those excellent and reasonable suggestions, Veronique turned
her back to me and I followed her example, but in vain did I
endeavour to obtain a refreshing slumber; nature which would not
give me the power of making her, the loveliest creature, happy,
envied me the power of repose as well. My amorous ardour and my
rage forbade all thoughts of rest, and my excited passions
conspired against that which would enable them to satisfy their
desires. Nature punished me for having distrusted her, and
because I had taken stimulants fit only for the weak. If I had
fasted, I should have done great things, but now there was a
conflict between the stimulants and nature, and by my desire for
enjoyment I had deprived myself of the power to enjoy. Thus
nature, wise like its Divine Author, punishes the ignorance and
presumption of poor weak mortals.
Throughout this terrible and sleepless night my mind roamed
abroad, and amidst the reproaches with which I overwhelmed myself
I found a certain satisfaction in the thought that they were not
wholly undeserved. This is the sole enjoyment I still have when I
meditate on my past life and its varied adventures. I feel that
no misfortune has befallen me save by my own fault, whilst I
attribute to natural causes the blessings, of which I have enjoyed
many. I think I should go mad if in my soliloquies I came across
any misfortune which I could not trace to my own fault, for I
should not know where to place the reason, and that would degrade
me to the rank of creatures governed by instinct alone. I feel
that I am somewhat more than a beast. A beast, in truth, is a
foolish neighbour of mine, who tries to argue that the brutes
reason better than we do.
"I will grant," I said, "that they reason better than you, but I
can go no farther; and I think every reasonable man would say as
much."
This reply has made me an enemy, although he admits the first part
of the thesis.
Happier than I, Veronique slept for three hours; but she was
disagreeably surprised on my telling her that I had not been able
to close an eye, and on finding me in the same state of impotence
as before. She began to get angry when I tried to convince her
rather too forcibly that my misfortune was not due to my want of
will, and then she blamed herself as the cause of my impotence;
and mortified by the idea, she endeavoured to destroy the spell by
all the means which passion suggested, and which I had hitherto
thought infallible; but her efforts and mine were all thrown away.
My despair was as great as hers when at last, wearied, ashamed,
and degraded in her own eyes, she discontinued her efforts, her
eyes full of tears. She went away without a word, and left me
alone for the two or three hours which had still to elapse before
the dawn appeared.
At day-break Costa came and told me that the sea being rough and a
contrary wind blowing, the felucca would be in danger of
perishing.
"We will go as soon as the weather improves," said I ; "in the
mean time light me a fire"
I arose, and proceeded to write down the sad history of the night.
This occupation soothed me, and feeling inclined to sleep I lay
down again and slept for eight hours. When I awoke I felt better,
but still rather sad. The two sisters were delighted to see me in
good health, but I thought I saw on Veronique's features an
unpleasant expression of contempt. However, I had deserved it,
and I did not take the trouble of changing her opinion, though if
she had been more caressing she might easily have put me in a
state to repair the involuntary wrongs I had done her in the
night. Before we sat down to table I gave her a present of a
hundred sequins, which made her look a little more cheerful. I
gave an equal present to my dear Annette, who had not expected
anything, thinking herself amply recompensed by my first gift and
by the pleasure I had afforded her.
At midnight the master of the felucca came to tell me that the
wind had changed, and I took leave of the sisters. Veronique shed
tears, but I knew to what to attribute them. Annette kissed me
affectionately; thus each played her own part. I sailed for
Lerici, where I arrived the next day, and then posted to Leghorn.
Before I speak of this town I think I shall interest my readers by
narrating a circumstance not unworthy of these Memoirs.
CHAPTER VI
A Clever Cheat--Passano--Pisa--Corilla--My Opinion of Squinting
Eyes--Florence- I See Therese Again--My Son--Corticelli
I was standing at some distance from my carriage into which they
were putting four horses, when a man accosted me and asked me if I
would pay in advance or at the next stage. Without troubling to
look at him I said I would pay in advance, and gave him a coin
requesting him to bring me the change.
"Directly, sir," said he, and with that he went into the inn.
A few minutes after, just as I was going to look after my change,
the post-master came up and asked me to pay for the stage.
"I have paid already, and I am waiting for my change. Did I not
give the money to you?"
"Certainly not, sir."
"Whom did I give it to, then?"
"I really can't say; but you will be able to recognize the man,
doubtless."
"It must have been you or one of your people."
I was speaking loud, and all the men came about me.
"These are all the men in my employ," said the master, and he
asked if any of them had received the money from me.
They all denied the fact with an air of sincerity which left no
room for suspicion. I cursed and swore, but they let me curse and
swear as much as I liked. At last I discovered that there was no
help for it, and I paid a second time, laughing at the clever
rascal who had taken me in so thoroughly. Such are the lessons of
life; always full of new experiences, and yet one never knows
enough. From that day I have always taken care not to pay for
posting except to the proper persons.
In no country are knaves so cunning as in Italy, Greece ancient
and modern excepted.
When I got to the best inn at Leghorn they told me that there was
a theatre, and my luck made me go and see the play. I was
recognized by an actor who accosted me, and introduced me to one
of his comrades, a self-styled poet, and a great enemy of the Abbe
Chiari, whom I did not like, as he had written a biting satire
against me, and I had never succeeded in avenging myself on him.
I asked them to come and sup with me--a windfall which these
people are not given to refusing. The pretended poet was a
Genoese, and called himself Giacomo Passano. He informed me that
he had written three hundred sonnets against the abbe, who would
burst with rage if they were ever printed. As I could not
restrain a smile at the good opinion the poet had of his works, he
offered to read me a few sonnets. He had the manuscript about
him, and I could not escape the penance. He read a dozen or so,
which I thought mediocre, and a mediocre sonnet is necessarily a
bad sonnet, as this form of poetry demands sublimity; and thus
amongst the myriads of sonnets to which Italy gives birth very few
can be called good.
If I had given myself time to examine the man's features, I
should, no doubt, have found him to be a rogue; but I was blinded
by passion, and the idea of three hundred sonnets against the Abbe
Chiari fascinated me.
I cast my eyes over the title of the manuscript, and read, "La
Chiareide di Ascanio Pogomas."
"That's an anagram of my Christian name and my surname; is it not
a happy combination?"
This folly made me smile again. Each of the sonnets was a dull
diatribe ending with "l'abbate Chiari e un coglione." He did not
prove that he was one, but he said so over and over again, making
use of the poet's privilege to exaggerate and lie. What he wanted
to do was to annoy the abbe, who was by no means what Passano
called him, but on the contrary, a wit and a poet; and if he had
been acquainted with the requirements of the stage he would have
written better plays than Goldoni, as he had a greater command of
language.
I told Passano, for civility's sake, that he ought to get his
Chiareide printed.
"I would do so," said he, "if I could find a publisher, for I am
not rich enough to pay the expenses, and the publishers are a pack
of ignorant beggars. Besides, the press is not free, and the
censor would not let the epithet I give to my hero pass. If I
could go to Switzerland I am sure it could be managed; but I must
have six sequins to walk to Switzerland, and I have not got them."
"And when you got to Switzerland, where there are no theatres,
what would you do for a living?"
"I would paint in miniature. Look at those."
He gave me a number of small ivory tablets, representing obscene
subjects, badly drawn and badly painted.
"I will give you an introduction to a gentleman at Berne," I said;
and after supper I gave him a letter and six sequins. He wanted
to force some of his productions on me, but I would not have them.
I was foolish enough to give him a letter to pretty Sara's father,
and I told him to write to me at Rome, under cover of the banker
Belloni.
I set out from Leghorn the next day and went to Pisa, where I
stopped two days. There I made the acquaintance of an Englishman,
of whom I bought a travelling carriage. He took me to see
Corilla, the celebrated poetess. She received me with great
politeness, and was kind enough to improvise on several subjects
which I suggested. I was enchanted, not so much with her grace
and beauty, as by her wit and perfect elocution. How sweet a
language sounds when it is spoken well and the expressions are
well chosen. A language badly spoken is intolerable even from a
pretty mouth, and I have always admired the wisdom of the Greeks
who made their nurses teach the children from the cradle to speak
correctly and pleasantly. We are far from following their good
example; witness the fearful accents one hears in what is called,
often incorrectly, good society.
Corilla was 'straba', like Venus as painted by the ancients--why,
I cannot think, for however fair a squint-eyed woman may be
otherwise, I always look upon her face as distorted. I am sure
that if Venus had been in truth a goddess, she would have made the
eccentric Greek, who first dared to paint her cross-eyed, feel the
weight of her anger. I was told that when Corilla sang, she had
only to fix her squinting eyes on a man and the conquest was
complete; but, praised be God! she did not fix them on me.
At Florence I lodged at the "Hotel Carrajo," kept by Dr. Vannini,
who delighted to confess himself an unworthy member of the Academy
Della Crusca. I took a suite of rooms which looked out on the
bank of the Arno. I also took a carriage and a footman, whom, as
well as a coachman, I clad in blue and red livery. This was M.
de Bragadin's livery, and I thought I might use his colours, not
with the intention of deceiving anyone, but merely to cut a dash.
The morning after my arrival I put on my great coat to escape
observation, and proceeded to walk about Florence. In the evening
I went to the theatre to see the famous harlequin, Rossi, but I
considered his reputation was greater than he deserved. I passed
the same judgment on the boasted Florentine elocution; I did not
care for it at all. I enjoyed seeing Pertici; having become old,
and not being able to sing any more, he acted, and, strange to
say, acted well; for, as a rule, all singers, men and women, trust
to their voice and care nothing for acting, so that an ordinary
cold entirely disables them for the time being.
Next day I called on the banker, Sasso Sassi, on whom I had a good
letter of credit, and after an excellent dinner I dressed and went
to the opera an via della Pergola, taking a stage box, not so much
for the music, of which I was never much of an admirer, as because
I wanted to look at the actress.
The reader may guess my delight and surprise when I recognised in
the prima donna Therese, the false Bellino, whom I had left at
Rimini in the year 1744; that charming Therese whom I should
certainly have married if M. de Gages had not put me under arrest.
I had not seen her for seventeen years, but she looked as
beautiful and ravishing as ever as she came forward on the stage.
It seemed impossible. I could not believe my eyes, thinking the
resemblance must be a coincidence, when, after singing an air, she
fixed her eyes on mine and kept them there. I could no longer
doubt that it was she; she plainly recognized me. As she left the
stage she stopped at the wings and made a sign to me with her fan
to come and speak to her.
I went out with a beating heart, though I could not explain my
perturbation, for I did not feel guilty in any way towards
Therese, save in that I had not answered the last letter she had
written me from Naples, thirteen years ago. I went round the
theatre, feeling a greater curiosity as to the results of our
interview than to know what had befallen her during the seventeen
years which seemed an age to me.
I came to the stage-door, and I saw Therese standing at the top of
the stair. She told the door-keeper to let me pass; I went up and
we stood face to face. Dumb with surprise I took her hand and
pressed it against my heart.
"Know from that beating heart," said I, "all that I feel."
"I can't follow your example," said she, "but when I saw you I
thought I should have fainted. Unfortunately I am engaged to
supper. I shall not shut my eyes all night. I shall expect you
at eight o'clock to-morrow morning. Where are you staying?"
"At Dr. Vannini's."
"Under what name?"
"My own."
"How long have you been here?"
"Since yesterday."
"Are you stopping long in Florence?"
"As long as you like."
"Are you married?"
"No."
"Cursed be that supper! What an event! You must leave me now,
I have to go on. Good-bye till seven o'clock to-morrow."
She had said eight at first, but an hour sooner was no harm.
I returned to the theatre, and recollected that I had neither asked
her name or address, but I could find out all that easily. She
was playing Mandane, and her singing and acting were admirable.
I asked a well-dressed young man beside me what that admirable
actress's name was.
"You have only come to Florence to-day, sir?"
"I arrived yesterday."
"Ah! well, then it's excusable. That actress has the same name as
I have. She is my wife, and I am Cirillo Palesi, at your
service."
I bowed and was silent with surprise. I dared not ask where she
lived, lest he might think my curiosity impertinent. Therese
married to this handsome young man, of whom, of all others, I had
made enquiries about her! It was like a scene in a play.
I could bear it no longer. I longed to be alone and to ponder
over this strange adventure at my ease, and to think about my
visit to Therese at seven o'clock the next morning. I felt the
most intense curiosity to see what the husband would do when he
recognized me, and he was certain to do so, for he had looked at
me attentively as he spoke. I felt that my old flame for Therese
was rekindled in my heart, and I did not know whether I was glad
or sorry at her being married.
I left the opera-house and told my footman to call my carriage.
"You can't have it till nine o'clock, sir; it was so cold the
coachman sent the horses back to the stable."
"We will return on foot, then."
"You will catch a cold."
"What is the prima donna's name?"
"When she came here, she called herself Lanti, but for the last
two months she has been Madame Palesi. She married a handsome
young man with no property and no profession, but she is rich, so
he takes his ease and does nothing."
"Where does she live?"
"At the end of this street. There's her house, sir; she lodges on
the first floor."
This was all I wanted to know, so I said no more, but took note of
the various turnings, that I might be able to find my way alone
the next day. I ate a light supper, and told Le Duc to call me at
six o'clock.
"But it is not light till seven."
"I know that."
"Very good"
At the dawn of day, I was at the door of the woman I had loved so
passionately. I went to the first floor, rang the bell, and an
old woman came out and asked me if I were M. Casanova. I told her
that I was, whereupon she said that the lady had informed her I
was not coming till eight.
"She said seven."
"Well, well, it's of no consequence. Kindly walk in here. I will
go and awake her."
In five minutes, the young husband in his night-cap and dressing-
gown came in, and said that his wife would not be long. Then
looking at me attentively with an astounded stare, he said,
"Are you not the gentleman who asked me my wife's name last
night?"
"You are right, I did. I have not seen your wife for many years,
but I thought I recognized her. My good fortune made me enquire
of her husband, and the friendship which formerly attached me to
her will henceforth attach me to you."
As I uttered this pretty compliment Therese, as fair as love,
rushed into the room with open arms. I took her to my bosom in a
transport of delight, and thus we remained for two minutes, two
friends, two lovers, happy to see one another after a long and sad
parting. We kissed each other again and again, and then bidding
her husband sit down she drew me to a couch and gave full course
to her tears. I wept too, and my tears were happy ones. At last
we wiped our eyes, and glanced towards the husband whom we had
completely forgotten. He stood in an attitude of complete
astonishment, and we burst out laughing. There was something so
comic in his surprise that it would have taxed all the talents of
the poet and the caricaturist to depict his expression of
amazement. Therese, who knew how to manage him, cried in a
pathetic an affectionate voice,--
"My dear Palesi, you see before you my father--nay, more than a
father, for this is my generous friend to whom I owe all. Oh,
happy moment for which my heart has longed for these ten years
past."
At the word "father" the unhappy husband fixed his gaze on me, but
I restrained my laughter with considerable difficulty. Although
Therese was young for her age, she was only two years younger than
I; but friendship gives a new meaning to the sweet name of father.
"Yes, sir," said I, "your Therese is my daughter, my sister, my
cherished friend; she is an angel, and this treasure is your
wife."
"I did not reply to your last letter," said I, not giving him time
to come to himself.
"I know all," she replied. "You fell in love with a nun. You
were imprisoned under the Leads, and I heard of your almost
miraculous flight at Vienna. I had a false presentiment that I
should see you in that town. Afterwards I heard of you in Paris
and Holland, but after you left Paris nobody could tell me any
more about you. You will hear some fine tales when I tell you all
that has happened to me during the past ten years. Now I am
happy. I have my dear Palesi here, who comes from Rome. I
married him a couple of months ago. We are very fond of each
other, and I hope you will be as much his friend as mine."
At this I arose and embraced the husband, who cut such an
extraordinary figure. He met me with open arms, but in some
confusion; he was, no doubt, not yet quite satisfied as to the
individual who was his wife's father, brother, friend, and perhaps
lover, all at once. Therese saw this feeling in his eyes, and
after I had done she came and kissed him most affectionately,
which confused me in my turn, for I felt all my old love for her
renewed, and as ardent as it was when Don Sancio Pico introduced
me to her at Ancona.
Reassured by my embrace and his wife's caress, M. Palesi asked me
if I would take a cup of chocolate with them, which he himself
would make. I answered that chocolate was my favourite breakfast-
dish, and all the more so when it was made by a friend. He went
away to see to it. Our time had come.
As soon as we were alone Therese threw herself into my arms, her
face shining with such love as no pen can describe.
"Oh, my love! whom I shall love all my life, clasp me to your
breast! Let us give each other a hundred embraces on this happy
day, but not again, since my fate has made me another's bride.
To-morrow we will be like brother and sister; to-day let us be
lovers."
She had not finished this speech before my bliss was crowned. Our
transports were mutual, and we renewed them again and again during
the half hour in which we had no fear of an interruption. Her
negligent morning dress and my great coat were highly convenient
under the circumstances.
After we had satiated in part our amorous ardour we breathed again
and sat down. There was a short pause, and then she said,
"You must know that I am in love with my husband and determined
not to deceive him. What I have just done was a debt I had to pay
to the remembrance of my first love. I had to pay it to prove how
much I love you; but let us forget it now. You must be contented
with the thought of my great affection for you--of which you can
have no doubt--and let me still think that you love me; but
henceforth do not let us be alone together, as I should give way,
and that would vex me. What makes you look so sad?"
"I find you bound, while I am free. I thought we had met never to
part again; you had kindled the old fires. I am the same to you
as I was at Ancona. I have proved as much, and you can guess how
sad I feel at your decree that I am to enjoy you no more. I find
that you are not only married but in love with your husband.
Alas! I have come too late, but if I had not stayed at Genoa I
should not have been more fortunate. You shall know all in due
time, and in the meanwhile I will be guided by you in everything.
I suppose your husband knows nothing of our connection, and my
best plan will be to be reserved, will it not?"
"Yes, dearest, for he knows nothing of my affairs, and I am glad
to say he shews no curiosity respecting them. Like everybody else,
he knows I made my fortune at Naples; I told him I went there when
I was ten years old. That was an innocent lie which hurts nobody;
and in my position I find that inconvenient truths have to give
way to lies. I give myself out as only twenty-four, how do you
think I look?"
"You look as if you were telling the truth, though I know you must
be thirty-two."
"You mean thirty-one, for when I knew you I couldn't have been
more than fourteen."
"I thought you were fifteen at least."
"Well, I might admit that between ourselves; but tell me if I look
more than twenty-four."
"I swear to you you don't look as old, but at Naples . . . ."
"At Naples some people might be able to contradict me, but nobody
would mind them. But I am waiting for what ought to be the
sweetest moment of your life."
"What is that, pray?"
"Allow me to keep my own counsel, I want to enjoy your surprise.
How are you off? If you want money, I can give you back all you
gave me, and with compound interest. All I have belongs to me; my
husband is not master of anything. I have fifty thousand ducats
at Naples, and an equal sum in diamonds. Tell me how much you
want--quick! the chocolate is coming."
Such a woman was Therese. I was deeply moved, and was about to
throw my arms about her neck without answering when the chocolate
came. Her husband was followed by a girl of exquisite beauty, who
carried three cups of chocolate on a silver-gilt dish. While we
drank it Palesi amused us by telling us with much humour how
surprised he was when he recognized the man who made him rise at
such an early hour as the same who had asked him his wife's name
the night before. Therese and I laughed till our sides ached, the
story was told so wittily and pleasantly. This Roman displeased
me less than I expected; his jealousy seemed only put on for
form's sake.
"At ten o'clock," said Theresa, "I have a rehearsal here of the
new opera. You can stay and listen if you like. I hope you will
dine with us every day, and it will give me great pleasure if you
will look upon my house as yours."
"To-day," said I, "I will stay with you till after supper, and
then I will leave you with your fortunate husband."
As I pronounced these words M. Palesi embraced me with effusion,
as if to thank me for not objecting to his enjoying his rights as
a husband.
He was between the ages of twenty and twenty-two, of a fair
complexion, and well-made, but too pretty for a man. I did not
wonder at Therese being in love with him, for I knew too well the
power of a handsome face; but I thought that she had made a
mistake in marrying him, for a husband acquires certain rights
which may become troublesome.
Therese's pretty maid came to tell me that my carriage was at the
door.
"Will you allow me," said I to her, "to have my footman in?"
"Rascal," said I, as soon as he came in, "who told you to come
here with my carriage?"
"Nobody, sir, but I know my duty."
"Who told you that I was here?"
"I guessed as much."
"Go and fetch Le Duc, and come back with him."
When they arrived I told Le Duc to pay the impertinent fellow
three days' wages, to strip him of his livery, and to ask Dr.
Vannini to get me a servant of the same build, not gifted with the
faculty of divination, but who knew how to obey his master's
orders. The rascal was much perturbed at the result of his
officiousness, and asked Therese to plead for him; but, like a
sensible woman, she told him that his master was the best judge of
the value of his services.
At ten o'clock all the actors and actresses arrived, bringing with
them a mob of amateurs who crowded the hall. Therese received
their greetings graciously, and I could see she enjoyed a great
reputation. The rehearsal lasted three hours, and wearied me
extremely. To relieve my boredom I talked to Palesi, whom I liked
for not asking me any particulars of my acquaintance with his
wife. I saw that he knew how to behave in the position in which
he was placed.
A girl from Parma, named Redegonde, who played a man's part and
sang very well, stayed to dinner. Therese had also asked a young
Bolognese, named Corticelli. I was struck with the budding charms
of this pretty dancer, but as I was just then full of Therese, I
did not pay much attention to her. Soon after we sat down I saw a
plump abbe coming in with measured steps. He looked to me a
regular Tartuffe, after nothing but Therese. He came up to her as
soon as he saw her, and going on one knee in the Portuguese
fashion, kissed her hand tenderly and respectfully. Therese
received him with smiling courtesy and put him at her right hand;
I was at their left. His voice, manner, and all about him told me
that I had known him, and in fact I soon recognized him as the
Abbe Gama, whom I had left at Rome seventeen years before with
Cardinal Acquaviva; but I pretended not to recognize him, and
indeed he had aged greatly. This gallant priest had eyes for no
one but Therese, and he was too busy with saying a thousand soft
nothings to her to take notice of anybody else in the company. I
hoped that in his turn he would either not recognize me or pretend
not to do so, so I was continuing my trifling talk with the
Corticelli, when Therese told me that the abbe wanted to know
whether I did not recollect him. I looked at his face
attentively, and with the air of a man who is trying to recollect
something, and then I rose and asked if he were not the Abbe Gama,
with whose acquaintance I was honoured.
"The same," said he, rising, and placing his arms round my neck he
kissed me again and again. This was in perfect agreement with his
crafty character; the reader will not have forgotten the portrait
of him contained in the first volume of these Memoirs.
After the ice had been thus broken it will be imagined that we had
a long conversation. He spoke of Barbaruccia, of the fair
Marchioness G----, of Cardinal S---- C----, and told me how he had
passed from the Spanish to the Portuguese service, in which he
still continued. I was enjoying his talk about numerous subjects
which had interested me in my early youth, when an unexpected
sight absorbed all my thinking faculties. A young man of fifteen
or sixteen, as well grown as Italians usually are at that age,
came into the room, saluted the company with easy grace, and
kissed Therese. I was the only person who did not know him, but I
was not the only one who looked surprised. The daring Therese
introduced him to me with perfect coolness with the words:--
"That is my brother."
I greeted him as warmly as I could, but my manner was slightly
confused, as I had not had time to recover my composure. This so-
called brother of Therese was my living image, though his
complexion was rather clearer than mine. I saw at once that he
was my son; nature had never been so indiscreet as in the amazing
likeness between us. This, then, was the surprise of which
Therese had spoken; she had devised the pleasure of seeing me at
once astounded and delighted, for she knew that my heart would be
touched at the thought of having left her such a pledge of our
mutual love. I had not the slightest foreknowledge in the matter,
for Therese had never alluded to her being with child in her
letters. I thought, however, that she should not have brought
about this meeting in the presence of a third party, for everyone
has eyes in their head, and anyone with eyes must have seen that
the young man was either my son or my brother. I glanced at her,
but she avoided meeting my eye, while the pretended brother was
looking at me so attentively that he did not hear what was said to
him. As to the others, they did nothing but look first at me and
then at him, and if they came to the conclusion that he was my son
they would be obliged to suppose that I had been the lover of
Therese's mother, if she were really his sister, for taking into
consideration the age she looked and gave herself out to be she
could not possibly be his mother. It was equally impossible that
I could be Therese's father, as I did not look any older than she
did.
My son spoke the Neapolitan dialect perfectly, but he also spoke
Italian very well, and in whatever he said I was glad to recognize
taste, good sense, and intelligence. He was well-informed, though
he had been brought up at Naples, and his manners were very
distinguished. His mother made him sit between us at table.
"His favourite amusement," she said to me, "is music. You must
hear him on the clavier, and though I am eight years older I shall
not be surprised if you pronounce him the better performer."
Only a woman's delicate instinct could have suggested this remark;
men hardly ever approach women in this respect.
Whether from natural impulses or self-esteem, I rose from the
table so delighted with my son that I embraced him with the utmost
tenderness, and was applauded by the company. I asked everybody
to dine with me the next day, and my invitation was joyfully
accepted; but the Corticelli said, with the utmost simplicity,
"May I come, too?"
"Certainty; you too."
After dinner the Abbe Gama asked me to breakfast with him, or to
have him to breakfast the next morning, as be was longing for a
good talk with me.
"Come and breakfast with me," said I, "I shall be delighted to see
you."
When the guests had gone Don Cesarino, as the pretended brother of
Therese was called, asked me if I would walk with him. I kissed
him, and replied that my carriage was at his service, and that he
and his brother-in-law could drive in it, but that I had resolved
not to leave his sister that day. Palesi seemed quite satisfied
with the arrangement, and they both went away.
When we were alone, I gave Therese an ardent embrace, and
congratulated her on having such a brother.
"My dear, he is the fruit of our amours; he is your son. He makes
me happy, and is happy himself, and indeed he has everything to
make him so."
"And I, too, am happy, dear Therese. You must have seen that I
recognized him at once."
"But do you want to give him a brother? How ardent you are!"
"Remember, beloved one, that to-morrow we are to be friends, and
nothing more."
By this my efforts were crowned with success, but the thought that
it was the last time was a bitter drop in the cup of happiness.
When we had regained our composure, Therese said,--
"The duke who took me from Rimini brought up our child; as soon as
I knew that I was pregnant I confided my secret to him. No one
knew of my delivery, and the child was sent to nurse at Sorrento,
and the duke had him baptized under the name of Caesar Philip
Land. He remained at Sorrento till he was nine, and then he was
boarded with a worthy man, who superintended his education and
taught him music. From his earliest childhood he has known me as
his sister, and you cannot think how happy I was when I saw him
growing so like you. I have always considered him as a sure
pledge of our final union. I was ever thinking what would happen
when we met, for I knew that he would have the same influence over
you as he has over me. I was sure you would marry me and make him
legitimate."
"And you have rendered all this, which would have made me happy,
an impossibility."
"The fates decided so; we will say no more about it. On the death
of the duke I left Naples, leaving Cesarino at the same boarding
school, under the protection of the Prince de la Riccia, who has
always looked upon him as a brother. Your son, though he does not
know it, possesses the sum of twenty thousand ducats, of which I
receive the interest, but you may imagine that I let him want for
nothing. My only regret is that I cannot tell him I am his
mother, as I think he would love me still more if he knew that he
owed his being to me. You cannot think how glad I was to see your
surprise to-day, and how soon you got to love him."
"He is wonderfully like me."
"That delights me. People must think that you were my mother's
lover. My husband thinks that our friendship is due to the
connection between you and my mother. He told me yesterday that
Cesarino might be my brother on the mother's side, but not on my
father's; as he had seen his father in the theatre, but that he
could not possibly be my father, too. If I have children by
Palesi all I have will go to them, but if not Cesarino will be my
heir. My property is well secured, even if the Prince de Riccia
were to die."
"Come," said she, drawing me in the direction of her bed-room.
She opened a large box which contained her jewels and diamonds,
and shares to the amount of fifty thousand ducats. Besides that
she had a large amount of plate, and her talents which assured her
the first place in all the Italian theatres.
"Do you know whether our dear Cesarino has been in love yet?" said I.
"I don't think so, but I fancy my pretty maid is in love with him.
I shall keep my eyes open."
"You mustn't be too strict."
"No, but it isn't a good thing for a young man to engage too soon
in that pleasure which makes one neglect everything else."
"Let me have him, I will teach him how to live."
"Ask all, but leave me my son. You must know that I never kiss
him for fear of my giving way to excessive emotion. I wish you
knew how good and pure he is, and how well he loves me, I could
not refuse him anything.
What will people say in Venice when they see Casanova again, who
escaped from The Leads and has become twenty years younger?"
"You are going to Venice, then, for the Ascensa?"
"Yes, and you are going to Rome?"
"And to Naples, to see my friend the Duke de Matalone."
"I know him well. He has already had a son by the daughter of the
Duke de Bovino, whom he married. She must be a charming woman to
have made a man of him, for all Naples knew that he was impotent."
"Probably, she only knew the secret of making him a father."
"Well, it is possible."
We spent the time by talking with interest on various topics till
Cesarino and the husband came back. The dear child finished his
conquest of me at supper; he had a merry random wit, and all the
Neapolitan vivacity. He sat down at the clavier, and after
playing several pieces with the utmost skill he began to sing
Neapolitan songs which made us all laugh. Therese only looked at
him and me, but now and again she embraced her husband, saying,
that in love alone lies happiness.
I thought then, and I think now, that this day was one of the
happiest I have ever spent.
CHAPTER VII
The Corticelli--The Jew Manager Beaten--The False Charles Ivanoff
and the Trick He Played Me--I Am Ordered to Leave Tuscany
--I Arrive at Rome--My Brother Jean
At nine o'clock the next morning, the Abbe Gama was announced.
The first thing he did was to shed tears of joy (as he said) at
seeing me so well and prosperous after so many years. The reader
will guess that the abbe addressed me in the most flattering
terms, and perhaps he may know that one may be clever, experienced
in the ways of the world, and even distrustful of flattery, but
yet one's self-love, ever on the watch, listens to the flatterer,
and thinks him pleasant. This polite and pleasant abbe, who had
become extremely crafty from having lived all his days amongst the
high dignitaries at the court of the 'Servus Servorum Dei' (the
best school of strategy), was not altogether an ill-disposed man,
but both his disposition and his profession conspired to make him
inquisitive; in fine, such as I have depicted him in the first
volume of these Memoirs. He wanted to hear my adventures, and did
not wait for me to ask him to tell his story. He told me at great
length the various incidents in his life for the seventeen years
in which we had not seen one another. He had left the service of
the King of Spain for that of the King of Portugal, he was
secretary of embassy to the Commander Almada, and be had been
obliged to leave Rome because the Pope Rezzonico would not allow
the King of Portugal to punish certain worthy Jesuit assassins,
who had only broken his arm as it happened, but who had none the
less meant to take his life. Thus, Gama was staying in Italy
corresponding with Almada and the famous Carvalho, waiting for the
dispute to be finished before he returned to Rome. In point of
fact this was the only substantial incident in the abbe's story,
but he worked in so many episodes of no consequence that it lasted
for an hour. No doubt he wished me to shew my gratitude by
telling him all my adventures without reserve; but the upshot of
it was that we both shewed ourselves true diplomatists, he in
lengthening his story, I in shortening mine, while I could not
help feeling some enjoyment in bulking the curiosity of my
cassocked friend.
"What are you going to do in Rome?" said he, indifferently.
"I am going to beg the Pope to use his influence in my favour with
the State Inquisitors at Venice."
It was not the truth, but one lie is as good as another, and if I
had said I was only going for amusement's sake he would not have
believed me. To tell the truth to an unbelieving man is to
prostitute, to murder it. He then begged me to enter into a
correspondence with him, and as that bound me to nothing I agreed
to do so.
"I can give you a mark of my friendship," said he, "by introducing
you to the Marquis de Botta-Adamo, Governor of Tuscany; he is
supposed to be a friend of the regent's."
I accepted his offer gratefully, and he began to sound me about
Therese, but found my lips as tightly closed as the lid of a
miser's coffer. I told him she was a child when I made the
acquaintance of her family at Bologna, and that the resemblance
between her brother and myself was a mere accident--a freak of
nature. He happened to catch sight of a well-written manuscript
on the table, and asked me if that superb writing was my
secretary's. Costa, who was present, answered in Spanish that he
wrote it. Gama overwhelmed him with compliments, and begged me to
send Costa to him to copy some letters. I guessed that he wanted
to pump him about me, and said that I needed his services all the
day.
"Well, well, said the abbe, "another time will do." I gave him no
answer. Such is the character of the curious.
I am not referring to that curiosity which depends on the occult
sciences, and endeavours to pry into the future--the daughter of
ignorance and superstition, its victims are either foolish or
ignorant. But the Abbe Gama was neither; he was naturally
curious, and his employment made him still more so, for he was
paid to find out everything. He was a diplomatist; if he had been
a little lower down in the social scale he would have been treated
as a spy.
He left me to pay some calls, promising to be back by dinner-time.
Dr. Vannini brought me another servant, of the same height as the
first, and engaged that he should obey orders and guess nothing.
I thanked the academician and inn-keeper, and ordered him to get
me a sumptuous dinner.
The Corticelli was the first to arrive, bringing with her her
brother, an effeminate-looking young man, who played the violin
moderately well, and her mother, who informed me that she never
allowed her daughter to dine out without herself and her son.
"Then you can take her back again this instant," said I, "or take
this ducat to dine somewhere else, as I don't want your company or
your son's."
She took the ducat, saying that she was sure she was leaving her
daughter in good hands.
"You may be sure of that," said I, "so be off."
The daughter made such witty observations on the above dialogue
that I could not help laughing, and I began to be in love with
her. She was only thirteen, and was so small that she looked ten.
She was well-made, lively, witty, and fairer than is usual with
Italian women, but to this day I cannot conceive how I fell in
love with her.
The young wanton begged me to protect her against the manager of
the opera, who was a Jew. In the agreement she had made with him
he had engaged to let her dance a 'pas de deux' in the second
opera, and he had not kept his word. She begged me to compel the
Jew to fulfil his engagement, and I promised to do so.
The next guest was Redegonde, who came from Parma. She was a
tall, handsome woman, and Costa told me she was the sister of my
new footman. After I had talked with her for two or three minutes
I found her remarks well worthy of attention.
Then came the Abbe Gama, who congratulated me on being seated
between two pretty girls. I made him take my place, and he began
to entertain them as if to the manner born; and though the girls
were laughing at him, he was not in the least disconcerted. He
thought he was amusing them, and on watching his expression I saw
that his self-esteem prevented him seeing that he was making a
fool of himself; but I did not guess that I might make the same
mistake at his age.
Wretched is the old man who will not recognize his old age;
wretched unless he learn that the sex whom he seduced so often
when he was young will despise him now if he still attempts to
gain their favour.
My fair Therese, with her husband and my son, was the last to
arrive. I kissed Therese and then my son, and sat down between
them, whispering to Therese that such a dear mysterious trinity
must not be parted; at which Therese smiled sweetly. The abbe sat
down between Redegonde and the Corticelli, and amused us all the
time by his agreeable conversation.
I laughed internally when I observed how respectfully my new
footman changed his sister's plate, who appeared vain of honours
to which her brother could lay no claim. She was not kind; she
whispered to me, so that he could not hear,--
"He is a good fellow, but unfortunately he is rather stupid."
I had put in my pocket a superb gold snuff-box, richly enamelled
and adorned with a perfect likeness of myself. I had had it made
at Paris, with the intention of giving it to Madame d'Urfe, and I
had not done so because the painter had made me too young. I had
filled it with some excellent Havana snuff which M. de Chavigny
had given me, and of which Therese was very fond; I was waiting
for her to ask me for a pinch before I drew it out of my pocket.
The Abbe Gama, who had some exceedingly good snuff in an Origonela
box, sent a pinch to Therese, and she sent him her snuff in a
tortoise-shell box encrusted with gold in arabesques--an exquisite
piece of workmanship. Gama criticised Therese's snuff, while I
said that I found it delicious but that I thought I had some
better myself. I took out my snuff-box, and opening it offered
her a pinch. She did not notice the portrait, but she agreed that
my snuff was vastly superior to hers.
"Well, would you like to make an exchange?" said I. "Certainly,
give me some paper."
"That is not requisite; we will exchange the snuff and the snuff-
boxes."
So saying, I put Therese's box in my pocket and gave her mine
shut. When she saw the portrait, she gave a cry which puzzled
everybody, and her first motion was to kiss the portrait.
"Look," said she to Cesarino, "here is your portrait."
Cesarino looked at it in astonishment, and the box passed from
hand to hand. Everybody said that it was my portrait, taken ten
years ago, and that it might pass for a likeness of Cesarino.
Therese got quite excited, and swearing that she would never let
the box out of her hands again, she went up to her son and kissed
him several times. While this was going on I watched the Abbe
Gama, and I could see that he was making internal comments of his
own on this affecting scene.
The worthy abbe went away towards the evening, telling me that he
would expect me to breakfast next morning.
I spent the rest of the day in making love to Redegonde, and
Therese, who saw that I was pleased with the girl, advised me to
declare myself, and promised that she would ask her to the house
as often as I liked. But Therese did not know her.
Next morning Gama told me that he had informed Marshal Botta that
I would come and see him, and he would present me at four o'clock.
Then the worthy abbe, always the slave of his curiosity,
reproached me in a friendly manner for not having told him
anything about my fortune.
"I did not think it was worth mentioning, but as you are
interested in the subject I may tell you that my means are small,
but that I have friends whose purses are always open to me."
"If you have true friends you are a rich man, but true friends are
scarce."
I left the Abbe Gama, my head full of Redegonde, whom I preferred
to the young Corticelli, and I went to pay her a visit; but what a
reception! She received me in a room in which were present her
mother, her uncle, and three or four dirty, untidy little monkeys:
these were her brothers.'
"Haven't you a better room to receive your friends in?" said I.
"I have no friends, so I don't want a room."
"Get it, my dear, and you will find the friends come fast enough.
This is all very well for you to welcome your relations in, but
not persons like myself who come to do homage to your charms and
your talents."
"Sir," said the mother, "my daughter has but few talents, and
thinks nothing of her charms, which are small."
"You are extremely modest, and I appreciate your feelings; but
everybody does not see your daughter with the same eyes, and she
pleased me greatly."
"That is an honour for her, and we are duly sensible of it, but
not so as to be over-proud. My daughter will see you as often as
you please, but here, and in no other place."
"But I am afraid of being in the way here."
"An honest man is never in the way."
I felt ashamed, for nothing so confounds a libertine as modesty in
the mouth of poverty; and not knowing what to answer I took my
leave.
I told Therese of my unfortunate visit, and we both, laughed at
it; it was the best thing we could do.
"I shall be glad to see you at the opera," said she, "and you can
get into my dressing-room if you give the door-keeper a small
piece of money."
The Abbe Gama came as he promised, to take me to Marshal Botta, a
man of high talents whom the affair of Genoa had already rendered
famous. He was in command of the Austrian army when the people,
growing angry at the sight of the foreigners, who had only come to
put them under the Austrian yoke, rose in revolt and made them
leave the town. This patriotic riot saved the Republic. I found
him in the midst of a crowd of ladies and gentlemen, whom he left
to welcome me. He talked about Venice in a way that shewed he
understood the country thoroughly, and I conversed to him on
France, and, I believe, satisfied him. In his turn he spoke of
the Court of Russia, at which he was staying when Elizabeth
Petrovna, who was still reigning at the period in question, so
easily mounted the throne of her father, Peter the Great. "It is
only in Russia," said he, "that poison enters into politics."
At the time when the opera began the marshal left the room, and
everybody went away. On my way the abbe assured me, as a matter
of course, that I had pleased the governor, and I afterwards went
to the theatre, and obtained admission to Therese's dressing-room
for a tester. I found her in the hands of her pretty chamber-
maid, and she advised me to go to Redegonde's dressing-room, as
she played a man's part, and might, perhaps, allow me to assist in
her toilette.
I followed her advice, but the mother would not let me come in, as
her daughter was just going to dress. I assured her that I would
turn my back all the time she was dressing, and on this condition
she let me in, and made me sit down at a table on which stood a
mirror, which enabled me to see all Redegonde's most secret parts
to advantage; above all, when she lifted her legs to put on her
breeches, either most awkwardly or most cleverly, according to her
intentions. She did not lose anything by what she shewed,
however, for I was so pleased, that to possess her charms I would
have signed any conditions she cared to impose upon me.
"Redegonde must know," I said to myself, "that I could see
everything in the glass;" and the idea inflamed me. I did not
turn round till the mother gave me leave, and I then admired my
charmer as a young man of five feet one, whose shape left nothing
to be desired.
Redegonde went out, and I followed her to the wings.
"My dear," said I, "I am going to talk plainly to you. You have
inflamed my passions and I shall die if you do not make me happy."
"You do not say that you will die if you chance to make me
unhappy."
"I could not say so, because I cannot conceive such a thing as
possible. Do not trifle with me, dear Redegonde, you must be
aware that I saw all in the mirror, and I cannot think that you
are so cruel as to arouse my passions and then leave me to
despair."
"What could you have seen? I don't know what you are talking
about."
"May be, but know that I have seen all your charms. What shall I
do to possess you?"
"To possess me? I don't understand you, sir; I'm an honest girl."
"I dare say; but you wouldn't be any less honest after making me
happy. Dear Redegonde, do not let me languish for you, but tell
me my fate now this instant."
"I do not know what to tell you, but you can come and see me
whenever you like"
"When shall I find you alone?"
"Alone! I am never alone."
"Well, well, that's of no consequence; if only your mother is
present, that comes to the same thing. If she is sensible, she
will pretend not to see anything, and I will give you a hundred
ducats each time."
"You are either a madman, or you do not know what sort of people
we are."
With these words she went on, and I proceeded to tell Therese what
had passed.
"Begin," said she, "by offering the hundred ducats to the mother,
and if she refuses, have no more to do with them, and go
elsewhere."
I returned to the dressing-room, where I found the mother alone,
and without any ceremony spoke as follows:--
"Good evening, madam, I am a stranger here; I am only staying a
week, and I am in love with your daughter. If you like to be
obliging, bring her to sup with me. I will give you a hundred
sequins each time, so you see my purse is in your power."
"Whom do you think you are talking to, sir? I am astonished at
your impudence. Ask the townsfolk what sort of character I bear,
and whether my daughter is an honest girl or not! and you will not
make such proposals again."
"Good-bye, madam."
"Good-bye, sir."
As I went out I met Redegonde, and I told her word for word the
conversation I had had with her mother. She burst out laughing.
"Have I done well or ill?" said I.
"Well enough, but if you love me come and see me."
"See you after what your mother said?"
"Well, why not, who knows of it?"
"Who knows? You don't know me, Redegonde. I do not care to
indulge myself in idle hopes, and I thought I had spoken to you
plainly enough."
Feeling angry, and vowing to have no more to do with this strange
girl, I supped with Therese, and spent three delightful hours with
her. I had a great deal of writing to do the next day and kept in
doors, and in the evening I had a visit from the young Corticelli,
her mother and brother. She begged me to keep my promise
regarding the manager of the theatre, who would not let her dance
the 'pas de deux' stipulated for in the agreement.
"Come and breakfast with me to-morrow morning," said I, "and I
will speak to the Israelite in your presence--at least I will do
so if he comes."
"I love you very much," said the young wanton, "can't I stop a
little longer here."
"You may stop as long as you like, but as I have got some letters
to finish, I must ask you to excuse my entertaining you."
"Oh! just as you please."
I told Costa to give her some supper.
I finished my letters and felt inclined for a little amusement, so
I made the girl sit by me and proceeded to toy with her, but in
such a way that her mother could make no objection. All at once
the brother came up and tried to join in the sport, much to my
astonishment.
"Get along with you," said I, "you are not a girl."
At this the young scoundrel proceeded to shew me his sex, but in
such an indecent fashion that his sister, who was sitting on my
knee, burst out laughing and took refuge with her mother, who was
sitting at the other end of the room in gratitude for the good
supper I had given her. I rose from my chair, and after giving
the impudent pederast a box on the ear I asked the mother with
what intentions she had brought the young rascal to my house. By
way of reply the infamous woman said,--
"He's a pretty lad, isn't he?"
I gave him a ducat for the blow I had given him, and told the
mother to begone, as she disgusted me. The pathic took my ducat,
kissed my hand, and they all departed.
I went to bed feeling amused at the incident, and wondering at the
wickedness of a mother who would prostitute her own son to the
basest of vices.
Next morning I sent and asked the Jew to call on me. The
Corticelli came with her mother, and the Jew soon after, just as
we were going to breakfast.
I proceeded to explain the grievance of the young dancer, and I
read the agreement he had made with her, telling him politely that
I could easily force him to fulfil it. The Jew put in several
excuses, of which the Corticelli demonstrated the futility. At
last the son of Judah was forced to give in, and promised to speak
to the ballet-master the same day, in order that she might dance
the 'pas' with the actor she named.
"And that, I hope, will please your excellency," he added, with a
low bow, which is not often a proof of sincerity, especially among
Jews.
When my guests had taken leave I went to the Abbe Gama, to dine
with Marshal Botta who had asked us to dinner. I made the
acquaintance there of Sir Mann, the English ambassador, who was
the idol of Florence, very rich, of the most pleasing manners
although an Englishman; full of wit, taste, and a great lover of
the fine arts. He invited me to come next day and see his house
and garden. In this home he had made--furniture, pictures, choice
books--all shewed the man of genius. He called on me, asked me to
dinner, and had the politeness to include Therese, her husband,
and Cesarino in the invitation. After dinner my son sat down at
the clavier and delighted the company by his exquisite playing.
While we were talking of likenesses, Sir Mann shewed us some
miniatures of great beauty.
Before leaving, Therese told me that she had been thinking
seriously of me.
"In what respect?" I asked.
"I have told Redegonde that I am going to call for her, that I
will keep her to supper, and have her taken home. You must see
that this last condition is properly carried out. Come to supper
too, and have your carriage in waiting. I leave the rest to you.
You will only be a few minutes with her, but that's something; and
the first step leads far."
"An excellent plan. I will sup with you, and my carriage shall be
ready. I will tell you all about it to-morrow."
I went to the house at nine o'clock, and was welcomed as an
unexpected guest. I told Redegonde that I was glad to meet her,
and she replied that she had not hoped to have the pleasure of
seeing me. Redegonde was the only one who had any appetite; she
ate capitally, and laughed merrily at the stories I told her.
After supper Therese asked her if she would like to have a sedan-
chair sent for, or if she would prefer to be taken back in my
carriage.
"If the gentleman will be so kind," said she, "I need not send for
a chair."
I thought this reply of such favourable omen that I no longer
doubted of my success. After she had wished the others good
night, she took my arm, pressing it as she did so; we went down
the stairs, and she got into the carriage. I got in after her,
and on attempting to sit down I found the place taken.
"Who is that?" I cried.
Redegonde burst out laughing, and informed me it was her mother.
I was done; I could not summon up courage to pass it off as a
jest. Such a shock makes a man stupid; for a moment it numbs all
the mental faculties, and wounded self-esteem only gives place to
anger.
I sat down on the front seat and coldly asked the mother why she
had not come up to supper with us. When the carriage stopped at
their door, she asked me to come in, but I told her I would rather
not. I felt that for a little more I would have boxed her ears,
and the man at the house door looked very like a cut-throat.
I felt enraged and excited physically as well as mentally, and
though I had never been to see the Corticelli, told the coachman
to drive there immediately, as I felt sure of finding her well
disposed. Everybody was gone to bed. I knocked at the door till
I got an answer, I gave my name, and I was let in, everything
being in total darkness. The mother told me she would light a
candle, and that if she had expected me she would have waited up
in spite of the cold. I felt as if I were in the middle of an
iceberg. I heard the girl laughing, and going up to the bed and
passing my hand over it I came across some plain tokens of the
masculine gender. I had got hold of her brother. In the
meanwhile the mother had got a candle, and I saw the girl with the
bedclothes up to her chin, for, like her brother, she was as naked
as my hand. Although no Puritan, I was shocked.
"Why do you allow this horrible union?" I said to the mother.
"What harm is there? They are brother and sister."
"That's just what makes it a criminal matter."
"Everything is perfectly innocent."
"Possibly; but it's not a good plan.'
The pathic escaped from the bed and crept into his mother's, while
the little wanton told me there was really no harm, as they only
loved each other as brother and sister, and that if I wanted her
to sleep by herself all I had to do was to get her a new bed.
This speech, delivered with arch simplicity, in her Bolognese
jargon, made me laugh with all my heart, for in the violence of
her gesticulations she had disclosed half her charms, and I saw
nothing worth looking at. In spite of that, it was doubtless
decreed that I should fall in love with her skin, for that was all
she had.
If I had been alone I should have brought matters to a crisis on
the spot, but I had a distaste to the presence of her mother and
her scoundrelly brother. I was afraid lest some unpleasant scenes
might follow. I gave her ten ducats to buy a bed, said good
night, and left the house. I returned to my lodging, cursing the
too scrupulous mothers of the opera girls.
I passed the whole of the next morning with Sir Mann, in his
gallery, which contained some exquisite paintings, sculptures,
mosaics, and engraved gems. On leaving him, I called on Therese
and informed her of my misadventure of the night before. She
laughed heartily at my story, and I laughed too, in spite of a
feeling of anger due to my wounded self-esteem.
"You must console yourself," said she; "you will not find much
difficulty in filling the place in your affections."
"Ah! why are you married?"
"Well, it's done; and there's no helping it. But listen to me.
As you can't do without someone, take up with the Corticelli;
she's as good as any other woman, and won't keep you waiting
long."
On my return to my lodging, I found the Abbe Gama, whom I had
invited to dinner, and he asked me if I would accept a post to
represent Portugal at the approaching European Congress at
Augsburg. He told me that if I did the work well, I could get
anything I liked at Lisbon.
"I am ready to do my best," said I ; "you have only to write to
me, and I will tell you where to direct your letters." This
proposal made me long to become a diplomatist.
In the evening I went to the opera-house and spoke to the ballet-
master, the dancer who was to take part in the 'pas de deux', and
to the Jew, who told me that my prot9gee should be satisfied in
two or three days, and that she should perform her favourite 'pas'
for the rest of the carnival. I saw the Corticelli, who told me
she had got her bed, and asked me to come to supper. I accepted
the invitation, and when the opera was over I went to her house.
Her mother, feeling sure that I would pay the bill, had ordered an
excellent supper for four, and several flasks of the best Florence
wine. Besides that, she gave me a bottle of the wine called
Oleatico, which I found excellent. The three Corticellis
unaccustomed to good fare and wine, ate like a troop, and began to
get intoxicated. The mother and son went to bed without ceremony,
and the little wanton invited me to follow their example. I
should have liked to do so, but I did not dare. It was very cold
and there was no fire in the room, there was only one blanket on
the bed, and I might have caught a bad cold, and I was too fond of
my good health to expose myself to such a danger. I therefore
satisfied myself by taking her on my knee, and after a few
preliminaries she abandoned herself to my transports, endeavouring
to persuade me that I had got her maidenhead. I pretended to
believe her, though I cared very little whether it were so or not.
I left her after I had repeated the dose three or four times, and
gave her fifty sequins, telling her to get a good wadded coverlet
and a large brazier, as I wanted to sleep with her the next night.
Next morning I received an extremely interesting letter from
Grenoble. M. de Valenglard informed me that the fair Mdlle.
Roman, feeling convinced that her horoscope would never come true
unless she went to Paris, had gone to the capital with her aunt.
Her destiny was a strange one; it depended on the liking I had
taken to her and my aversion to marriage, for it lay in my power
to have married the handsomest woman in France, and in that case
it is not likely that she would have become the mistress of Louis
XV. What strange whim could have made me indicate in her
horoscope the necessity of her journeying to Paris; for even if
there were such a science as astrology I was no astrologer; in
fine, her destiny depended on my absurd fancy. And in history,
what a number of extraordinary events would never have happened if
they had not been predicted!
In the evening I went to the theatre, and found my Corticelli clad
in a pretty cloak, while the other girls looked at me
contemptuously, for they were enraged at the place being taken;
while the proud favourite caressed me with an air of triumph which
became her to admiration.
In the evening I found a good supper awaiting me, a large brazier
on the hearth, and a warm coverlet on the bed. The mother shewed
me all the things her daughter had bought, and complained that she
had not got any clothes for her brother. I made her happy by
giving her a few louis.
When I went to bed I did not find my mistress in any amorous
transports, but in a wanton and merry mood. She made me laugh,
and as she let me do as I liked I was satisfied. I gave her a
watch when I left her, and promised to sup with her on the
following night. She was to have danced the pas de deux, and I
went to see her do it, but to my astonishment she only danced with
the other girls.
When I went to supper I found her in despair. She wept and said
that I must avenge her on the Jew, who had excused himself by
putting the fault on somebody else, but that he was a liar. I
promised everything to quiet her, and after spending several hours
in her company I returned home, determined to give the Jew a bad
quarter of an hour. Next morning I sent Costa to ask him to call
on me, but the rascal sent back word that he was not coming, and
if the Corticelli did not like his theatre she might try another.
I was indignant, but I knew that I must dissemble, so I only
laughed. Nevertheless, I had pronounced his doom, for an Italian
never forgets to avenge himself on his enemy; he knows it is the
pleasure of the gods.
As soon as Costa had left the room, I called Le Duc and told him
the story, saying that if I did not take vengeance I should be
dishonoured, and that it was only he who could procure the
scoundrel a good thrashing for daring to insult me.
"But you know, Le Duc, the affair must be kept secret."
"I only want twenty-four hours to give you an answer."
I knew what he meant, and I was satisfied.
Next morning Le Duc told me he had spent the previous day in
learning the Jew's abode and habits, without asking anybody any
questions.
"To-day I will not let him go out of my sight. I shall find out
at what hour he returns home, and to-morrow you shall know the
results."
"Be discreet," said I, "and don't let anybody into your plans."
"Not I!"
Next day, he told me that if the Jew came home at the same time
and by the same way as before, he would have a thrashing before he
got to bed.
"Whom have you chosen for this expedition?"
"Myself. These affairs ought to be kept secret, and a secret
oughtn't to be known to more than two people. I am sure that
everything will turn out well, but when you are satisfied that the
ass's hide has been well tanned, will there be anything to be
picked up?"
"Twenty-five sequins."
"That will do nicely. When I have done the trick I shall put on
my great coat again and return by the back door. If necessary
Costa himself will be able to swear that I did not leave the
house, and that therefore I cannot have committed the assault.
However, I shall put my pistols in my pocket in case of accidents,
and if anybody tries to arrest me I shall know how to defend
myself."
Next morning he came coolly into my room while Costa was putting
on my dressing-gown, and when we were alone he said,--
"The thing's done. Instead of the Jew's running away when he
received the first blow he threw himself on to the ground. Then I
tanned his skin for him nicely, but on hearing some people coming
up I ran off. I don't know whether I did for him, but I gave him
two sturdy blows on the head. I should be sorry if he were
killed, as then he could not see about the dance."
This jest did not arouse my mirth; the matter promised to be too
serious.
Therese had asked me to dine with the Abbe Gama and M. Sassi, a
worthy man, if one may prostitute the name of man to describe a
being whom cruelty has separated from the rest of humanity; he was
the first castrato of the opera. Of course the Jew's mishap was
discussed.
"I am sorry for him," said I, "though he is a rascally fellow."
"I am not at all sorry for him myself," said Sassi, "he's a knave.
I daresay that everybody will be putting down his wooden baptism
to my account."
"No," said the abbe, "people say that M. Casanova did the deed for
good reasons of his own."
"It will be difficult to pitch on the right man," I answered, "the
rascal has pushed so many worthy people to extremities that he
must have a great many thrashings owing him."
The conversation then passed to other topics, and we had a very
pleasant dinner.
In a few days the Jew left his bed with a large plaster on his
nose, and although I was generally regarded as the author of his
misfortune the matter was gradually allowed to drop, as there were
only vague suspicions to go upon. But the Corticelli, in an
ecstasy of joy, was stupid enough to talk as if she were sure it
was I who had avenged her, and she got into a rage when I would
not admit the deed; but, as may be guessed, I was not foolish
enough to do so, as her imprudence might have been a hanging
matter for me.
I was well enough amused at Florence, and had no thoughts of
leaving, when one day Vannini gave me a letter which someone had
left for me. I opened it in his presence, and found it contained
a bill of exchange for two hundred Florentine crowns on Sasso
Sassi. Vannini looked at it and told me it was a good one. I
went into my room to read the letter, and I was astonished to find
it signed "Charles Ivanoff." He dated it from Pistoia, and told
me that in his poverty and misfortune he had appealed to an
Englishman who was leaving Florence for Lucca, and had generously
given him a bill of exchange for two hundred crowns, which he had
written in his presence. It was made payable to bearer.
"I daren't cash it in Florence," said he, "as I am afraid of being
arrested for my unfortunate affair at Genoa. I entreat you, then,
to have pity on me, to get the bill cashed, and to bring me the
money here, that I may pay my landlord and go."
It looked like a very simple matter, but I might get into trouble,
for the note might be forged; and even if it were not I should be
declaring myself a friend or a correspondent, at all events, of a
man who had been posted. In this dilemma I took the part of
taking the bill of exchange to him in person. I went to the
posting establishment, hired two horses, and drove to Pistoia.
The landlord himself took me to the rascal's room, and left me
alone with him.
I did not stay more than three minutes, and all I said was that as
Sassi knew me I did not wish him to think that there was any kind
of connection between us.
"I advise you," I said, "to give the bill to your landlord, who
will cash it at M. Sassi's and bring you your change"
"I will follow your advice," he said, and I therewith returned to
Florence.
I thought no more of it, but in two days' time I received a visit
from M. Sassi and the landlord of the inn at Pistoia. The banker
shewed me the bill of exchange, and said that the person who had
given it me had deceived me, as it was not in the writing of the
Englishman whose name it bore, and that even if it were, the
Englishman not having any money with Sassi could not draw a bill
of exchange.
"The inn-keeper here," said he, "discounted the bill, the Russian
has gone off, and when I told him that it was a forgery he said
that he knew Charles Ivanoff had it of you, and that thus he had
made no difficulty in cashing it; but now he wants you to return
him two hundred crowns."
"Then he will be disappointed!"
I told all the circumstances of the affair to Sassi; I shewed him
the rascal's letter; I made Dr. Vannini, who had given it me, come
up, and he said he was ready to swear that he had seen me take the
bill of exchange out of the letter, that he had examined it, and
had thought it good.
On this the banker told the inn-keeper that he had no business to
ask me to pay him the money; but he persisted in his demand, and
dared to say that I was an accomplice of the Russian's.
In my indignation I ran for my cane, but the banker held me by the
arm, and the impertinent fellow made his escape without a
thrashing.
"You had a right to be angry," said M. Sassi, "but you must not
take any notice of what the poor fellow says in his blind rage."
He shook me by the hand and went out.
Next day the chief of police, called the auditor at Florence, sent
me a note begging me to call on him. There was no room for
hesitation, for as a stranger I felt that I might look on this
invitation as an intimation. He received me very politely, but he
said I should have to repay the landlord his two hundred crowns,
as he would not have discounted the bill if he had not seen me
bring it. I replied that as a judge he could not condemn me
unless he thought me the Russian's accomplice, but instead of
answering he repeated that I would have to pay.
"Sir," I replied, "I will not pay."
He rang the bell and bowed, and I left him, walking towards the
banker's, to whom I imparted the conversation I had had from the
auditor. He was extremely astonished, and at my request called on
him to try and make him listen to reason. As we parted I told him
that I was dining with the Abbe Gama.
When I saw the abbe I told him what had happened, and he uttered a
loud exclamation of astonishment.
"I foresee," he said, "that the auditor will not let go his hold,
and if M. Sassi does not succeed with him I advise you to speak to
Marshal Botta."
"I don't think that will be necessary; the auditor can't force me
to pay."
"He can do worse."
"What can he do?".
"He can make you leave Florence."
"Well, I shall be astonished if he uses his power in this case,
but rather than pay I will leave the town. Let us go to the
marshal."
We called on him at four o'clock, and we found the banker there,
who had told him the whole story.
"I am sorry to tell you," said M. Sassi, "that I could do nothing
with the auditor, and if you want to remain in Florence you will
have to pay."
"I will leave as soon as I receive the order," said I; "and as
soon as I reach another state I will print the history of this
shameful perversion of justice."
"It's an incredible, a monstrous sentence" said the marshal, "and
I am sorry I cannot interfere. You are quite right," he added,
"to leave the place rather than pay."
Early the next morning a police official brought me a letter from
the auditor, informing me that as he could not, from the nature of
the case, oblige me to pay, he was forced to warn me to leave
Florence in three days, and Tuscany in seven. This, he added, he
did in virtue of his office; but whenever the Grand Duke, to whom
I might appeal, had quashed his judgment I might return.
I took a piece of paper and wrote upon it, "Your judgment is an
iniquitous one, but it shall be obeyed to the letter."
At that moment I gave orders to pack up and have all in readiness
for my departure. I spent three days of respite in amusing myself
with Therese. I also saw the worthy Sir Mann, and I promised the
Corticelli to fetch her in Lent, and spend some time with her in
Bologna. The Abbe Gama did not leave my side for three days, and
shewed himself my true friend. It was a kind of triumph for me;
on every side I heard regrets at my departure, and curses of the
auditor. The Marquis Botta seemed to approve my conduct by giving
me a dinner, the table being laid for thirty, and the company
being composed of the most distinguished people in Florence. This
was a delicate attention on his part, of which I was very
sensible.
I consecrated the last day to Therese, but I could not find any
opportunity to ask her for a last consoling embrace, which she
would not have refused me under the circumstances, and which I
should still fondly remember. We promised to write often to one
another, and we embraced each other in a way to make her husband's
heart ache. Next day I started on my journey, and got to Rome in
thirty-six hours.
It was midnight when I passed under the Porta del Popolo, for one
may enter the Eternal City at any time. I was then taken to the
custom-house, which is always open, and my mails were examined.
The only thing they are strict about at Rome is books, as if they
feared the light. I had about thirty volumes, all more or less
against the Papacy, religion, or the virtues inculcated thereby.
I had resolved to surrender them without any dispute, as I felt
tired and wanted to go to bed, but the clerk told me politely to
count them and leave them in his charge for the night, and he
would bring them to my hotel in the morning. I did so, and he
kept his word. He was well enough pleased when he touched the two
sequins with which I rewarded him.
I put up at the Ville de Paris, in the Piazza di Spagna. It is
the best inn in the town. All the world, I found, was drowned in
sleep, but when they let me in they asked me to wait on the ground
floor while a fire was lighted in my room. All the seats were
covered with dresses, petticoats, and chemises, and I heard a
small feminine voice begging me to sit on her bed. I approached
and saw a laughing mouth, and two black eyes shining like
carbuncles.
"What splendid eyes!" said I, "let me kiss them."
By way of reply she hid her head under the coverlet, and I slid a
hasty hand under the sheets; but finding her quite naked, I drew
it back and begged pardon. She put out her head again, and I
thought I read gratitude for my moderation in her eyes.
"Who are you, my angel?"
"I am Therese, the inn-keeper's daughter, and this is my sister."
There was another girl beside her, whom I had not seen, as her
head was under the bolster.
"How old are you?"
"Nearly seventeen."
"I hope I shall see you in my room to-morrow morning."
"Have you any ladies with you?"
"No."
"That's a pity, as we never go to the gentlemen's rooms."
"Lower the coverlet a little; I can't hear what you say."
"It's too cold."
"Dear Therese, your eyes make me feel as if I were in flames."
She put back her head at this, and I grew daring, and after sundry
experiments I was more than ever charmed with her. I caressed her
in a somewhat lively manner, and drew back my hand, again
apologizing for my daring, and when she let me see her face I
thought I saw delight rather than anger in her eyes and on her
cheeks, and I felt hopeful with regard to her. I was just going
to begin again, for I felt on fire; when a handsome chambermaid
came to tell me that my room was ready and my fire lighted.
"Farewell till to-morrow," said I to Therese, but she only
answered by turning on her side to go to sleep.
I went to bed after ordering dinner for one o'clock, and I slept
till noon, dreaming of Therese. When I woke up, Costa told me
that he had found out where my brother lived, and had left a note
at the house. This was my brother Jean, then about thirty, and a
pupil of the famous Raphael Mengs. This painter was then deprived
of his pension on account of a war which obliged the King of
Poland to live at Warsaw, as the Prussians occupied the whole
electorate of Saxe. I had not seen my brother for ten years, and
I kept our meeting as a holiday. I was sitting down to table when
he came, and we embraced each other with transport. We spent an
hour in telling, he his small adventures, and I my grand ones, and
he told me that I should not stay at the hotel, which was too
dear, but come and live at the Chevalier Mengs's house, which
contained an empty room, where I could stay at a much cheaper
rate.
"As to your table, there is a restaurant in the house where one
can get a capital meal."
"Your advice is excellent," said I, "but I have not the courage to
follow it, as I am in love with my landlord's daughter;" and I
told him what had happened the night before.
"That's a mere nothing," said he, laughing; "you can cultivate her
acquaintance without staying in the house."
I let myself be persuaded, and I promised to come to him the
following day; and then we proceeded to take a walk about Rome.
I had many interesting memories of my last visit, and I wanted to
renew my acquaintance with those who had interested me at that
happy age when such impressions are so durable because they touch
the heart rather than the mind; but I had to make up my mind to a
good many disappointments, considering the space of time that had
elapsed since I had been in Rome.
I went to the Minerva to find Donna Cecilia; she was no more in
this world. I found out where her daughter Angelica lived, and I
went to see her, but she gave me a poor reception, and said that
she really scarcely remembered me.
"I can say the same," I replied, "for you are not the Angelica I
used to know. Good-bye, madam!"
The lapse of time had not improved her personal appearance. I
found out also where the printer's son, who had married
Barbaruccia, lived, but--I put off the pleasure of seeing him till
another time, and also my visit to the Reverend Father Georgi, who
was a man of great repute in Rome. Gaspar Vivaldi had gone into
the country.
My brother took me to Madame Cherubini. I found her mansion to be
a splendid one, and the lady welcomed me in the Roman manner. I
thought her pleasant and her daughters still more so, but I
thought the crowd of lovers too large and too miscellaneous.
There was too much luxury and ceremony, and the girls, one of whom
was as fair as Love himself, were too polite to everybody. An
interesting question was put to me, to which I answered in such a
manner as to elicit another question, but to no purpose. I saw
that the rank of my brother, who had introduced me, prevented my
being thought a person of any consequence, and on hearing an abbe
say, "He's Casanova's brother," I turned to him and said,--
"That's not correct; you should say Casanova's my brother."
"That comes to the same thing."
"Not at all, my dear abbe."
I said these words in a tone which commanded attention, and
another abbe said,--
"The gentleman is quite right; it does not come to the same
thing."
The first abbe made no reply to this. The one who had taken my
part, and was my friend from that moment, was the famous
Winckelmann, who was unhappily assassinated at Trieste twelve
years afterwards.
While I was talking to him, Cardinal Alexander Albani arrived.
Winckelmann presented me to his eminence, who was nearly blind.
He talked to me a great deal, without saying anything worth
listening to. As soon as he heard that I was the Casanova who had
escaped from The Leads, he said in a somewhat rude tone that he
wondered I had the hardihood to come to Rome, where on the
slightest hint from the State Inquisitors at Venice an 'ordine
sanctissimo' would re-consign me to my prison. I was annoyed by
this unseemly remark, and replied in a dignified voice,--
"It is not my hardihood in coming to Rome that your eminence
should wonder at, but a man of any sense would wonder at the
Inquisitors if they had the hardihood to issue an 'ordine
sanctissimo' against me; for they would be perplexed to allege any
crime in me as a pretext for thus infamously depriving me of my
liberty."
This reply silenced his eminence. He was ashamed at having taken
me for a fool, and to see that I thought him one. Shortly after I
left and never set foot in that house again.
The Abbe Winckelmann went out with my brother and myself, and as
he came with me to my hotel he did me the honour of staying to
supper. Winckelmann was the second volume of the celebrated Abbe
de Voisenon. He called for me next day, and we went to Villa
Albani to see the Chevalier Mengs, who was then living there and
painting a ceiling.
My landlord Roland (who knew my brother) paid me a visit at
supper. Roland came from Avignon and was fond of good living. I
told him I was sorry to be leaving him to stay with my brother,
because I had fallen in love with his daughter Therese, although I
had only spoken to her for a few minutes, and had only seen her
head.
"You saw her in bed, I will bet"
"Exactly, and I should very much like to see the rest of her.
Would you be so kind as to ask her to step up for a few minutes?"
"With all my heart."
She came upstairs, seeming only too glad to obey her father's
summons. She had a lithe, graceful figure, her eyes were of
surpassing brilliancy, her features exquisite, her mouth charming;
but taken altogether I did not like her so well as before. In
return, my poor brother became enamoured of her to such an extent
that he ended by becoming her slave. He married her next year,
and two years afterwards he took her to Dresden. I saw her five
years later with a pretty baby; but after ten years of married
life she died of consumption.
I found Mengs at the Villa Albani; he was an indefatigable worker,
and extremely original in his conceptions. He welcomed me, and
said he was glad to be able to lodge me at his house in Rome, and
that he hoped to return home himself in a few days, with his whole
family.
I was astonished with the Villa Albani. It had been built by
Cardinal Alexander, and had been wholly constructed from antique
materials to satisfy the cardinal's love for classic art; not only
the statues and the vases, but the columns, the pedestals--in
fact, everything was Greek. He was a Greek himself, and had a
perfect knowledge of antique work, and had contrived to spend
comparatively little money compared with the masterpiece he had
produced. If a sovereign monarch had had a villa like the
cardinal's built, it would have cost him fifty million francs, but
the cardinal made a much cheaper bargain.
As he could not get any ancient ceilings, he was obliged to have
them painted, and Mengs was undoubtedly the greatest and the most
laborious painter of his age. It is a great pity that death
carried him off in the midst of his career, as otherwise he would
have enriched the stores of art with numerous masterpieces. My
brother never did anything to justify his title of pupil of this
great artist. When I come to my visit to Spain in 1767, I shall
have some more to say about Mengs.
As soon as I was settled with my brother I hired a carriage, a
coachman, and a footman, whom I put into fancy livery, and I
called on Monsignor Cornaro, auditor of the 'rota', with the
intention of making my way into good society, but fearing lest he
as a Venetian might get compromised, he introduced me to Cardinal
Passionei, who spoke of me to the sovereign pontiff.
Before I pass on to anything else, I will inform my readers of
what took place on the occasion of my second visit to this old
cardinal, a great enemy of the Jesuits, a wit, and man of letters.
End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of MEMOIRES OF JACQUES CASANOVA
ADVENTURES IN THE SOUTH, Vol. 4b, RETURN TO ITALY
by Jacques Casanova de Seingalt
