Military Career, Casanova, v3
by
Jacques Casanova de Seingalt
Part 2 out of 3
I followed her with my eyes as long as I could, and Yusuf, coming
back to me, said with a laugh that his wife had offered to dine with
us.
"I thought," I said to him, "that I had Zelmi before me."
"That would have been too much against our established rules. What I
have done is not much, but I do not know an honest man who would be
bold enough to bring his daughter into the presence of a stranger."
"I think your wife must be handsome; is she more beautiful than
Zelmi?"
"My daughter's beauty is cheerful, sweet, and gentle; that of Sophia
is proud and haughty. She will be happy after my death. The man who
will marry her will find her a virgin."
I gave an account of my adventure to M. de Bonneval, somewhat
exaggerating the danger I had run in trying to raise the veil of the
handsome daughter of Scio.
"She was laughing at you," said the count, "and you ran no danger.
She felt very sorry, believe me, to have to deal with a novice like
you. You have been playing the comedy in the French fashion, when
you ought to have gone straight to the point. What on earth did you
want to see her nose for? She knew very well that she would have
gained nothing by allowing you to see her. You ought to have secured
the essential point. If I were young I would perhaps manage to give
her a revenge, and to punish my friend Yusuf. You have given that
lovely woman a poor opinion of Italian valour. The most reserved of
Turkish women has no modesty except on her face, and, with her veil
over it, she knows to a certainty that she will not blush at
anything. I am certain that your beauty keeps her face covered
whenever our friend Yusuf wishes to joke with her."
"She is yet a virgin."
"Rather a difficult thing to admit, my good friend; but I know the
daughters of Scio; they have a talent for counterfeiting virginity."
Yusuf never paid me a similar compliment again, and he was quite
right.
A few days after, I happened to be in the shop of an Armenian
merchant, looking at some beautiful goods, when Yusuf entered the
shop and praised my taste; but, although I had admired a great many
things, I did not buy, because I thought they were too dear. I said
so to Yusuf, but he remarked that they were, on the contrary, very
cheap, and he purchased them all. We parted company at the door, and
the next morning I received all the beautiful things he had bought;
it was a delicate attention of my friend, and to prevent my refusal
of such a splendid present, he had enclosed a note stating that, on
my arrival in Corfu, he would let me know to whom the goods were to
be delivered. He had thus sent me gold and silver filigrees from
Damascus, portfolios, scarfs, belts, handkerchiefs and pipes, the
whole worth four or five hundred piasters. When I called to thank
him, I compelled him to confess that it was a present offered by his
friendship.
The day before my departure from Constantinople, the excellent man
burst into tears as I bade him adieu, and my grief was as great as
his own. He told me that, by not accepting the offer of his
daughter's hand, I had so strongly captivated his esteem that his
feelings for me could not have been warmer if I had become his son.
When I went on board ship with the Bailo Jean Dona, I found another
case given to me by him, containing two quintals of the best Mocha
coffee, one hundred pounds of tobacco leaves, two large flagons
filled, one with Zabandi tobacco, the other with camussa, and a
magnificent pipe tube of jessamine wood, covered with gold filigrane,
which I sold in Corfu for one hundred sequins. I had not it in my
power to give my generous Turk any mark of my gratitude until I
reached Corfu, but there I did not fail to do so. I sold all his
beautiful presents, which made me the possessor of a small fortune.
Ismail gave me a letter for the Chevalier de Lezze, but I could not
forward it to him because I unfortunately lost it; he presented me
with a barrel of hydromel, which I turned likewise into money.
M. de Bonneval gave me a letter for Cardinal Acquaviva, which I sent
to Rome with an account of my journey, but his eminence did not think
fit to acknowledge the receipt of either. Bonneval made me a present
of twelve bottles of malmsey from Ragusa, and of twelve bottles of
genuine scopolo--a great rarity, with which I made a present in Corfu
which proved very useful to me, as the reader will discover.
The only foreign minister I saw much in Constantinople was the lord
marshal of Scotland, the celebrated Keith, who represented the King
of Prussia, and who, six years later was of great service to me in
Paris.
We sailed from Constantinople in the beginning of September in the
same man-of-war which had brought us, and we reached Corfu in
fourteen days. The Bailo Dona did not land. He had with him eight
splendid Turkish horses; I saw two of them still alive in Gorizia in
the year 1773.
As soon as I had landed with my luggage, and had engaged a rather
mean lodging, I presented myself to M. Andre Dolfin, the
proveditore-generale, who promised me again that I should soon be
promoted to a lieutenancy. After my visit to him, I called upon M.
Camporese, my captain, and was well received by him. My third visit
was to the commander of galleases, M. D----R-----, to whom M. Antonio
Dolfin, with whom I had travelled from Venice to Corfu, had kindly
recommended me. After a short conversation, he asked me if I would
remain with him with the title of adjutant. I did not hesitate one
instant, but accepted, saying how deeply honoured I felt by his
offer, and assuring him that he would always find me ready to carry
out his orders. He immediately had me taken to my room, and, the
next day, I found myself established in his house. I obtained from
my captain a French soldier to serve me, and I was well pleased when
I found that the man was a hairdresser by trade, and a great talker
by nature, for he could take care of my beautiful head of hair, and I
wanted to practise French conversation. He was a good-for-nothing
fellow, a drunkard and a debauchee, a peasant from Picardy, and he
could hardly read or write, but I did not mind all that; all I wanted
from him was to serve me, and to talk to me, and his French was
pretty good. He was an amusing rogue, knowing by heart a quantity of
erotic songs and of smutty stories which he could tell in the most
laughable manner.
When I had sold my stock of goods from Constantinople (except the
wines), I found myself the owner of nearly five hundred sequins.
I redeemed all the articles which I had pledged in the hands of Jews,
and turned into money everything of which I had no need. I was
determined not to play any longer as a dupe, but to secure in
gambling all the advantages which a prudent young man could obtain
without sullying his honour.
I must now make my readers acquainted with the sort of life we were
at that time leading in Corfu. As to the city itself, I will not
describe it, because there are already many descriptions better than
the one I could offer in these pages.
We had then in Corfu the 'proveditore-generale' who had sovereign
authority, and lived in a style of great magnificence. That post was
then filled by M. Andre Dolfin, a man sixty years of age, strict,
headstrong, and ignorant. He no longer cared for women, but liked to
be courted by them. He received every evening, and the supper-table
was always laid for twenty-four persons.
We had three field-officers of the marines who did duty on the
galleys, and three field-officers for the troops of the line on board
the men-of-war. Each galeass had a captain called 'sopracomito', and
we had ten of those captains; we had likewise ten commanders, one for
each man-of-war, including three 'capi di mare', or admirals. They
all belonged to the nobility of Venice. Ten young Venetian noblemen,
from twenty to twenty-two years of age, were at Corfu as midshipmen
in the navy. We had, besides, about a dozen civil clerks in the
police of the island, or in the administration of justice, entitled
'grandi offciali di terra'. Those who were blessed with handsome
wives had the pleasure of seeing their houses very much frequented by
admirers who aspired to win the favours of the ladies, but there was
not much heroic love-making, perhaps for the reason that there were
then in Corfu many Aspasias whose favours could be had for money.
Gambling was allowed everywhere, and that all absorbing passion was
very prejudicial to the emotions of the heart.
The lady who was then most eminent for beauty and gallantry was
Madame F----. Her husband, captain of a galley, had come to Corfu
with her the year before, and madam had greatly astonished all the
naval officers. Thinking that she had the privilege of the choice,
she had given the preference to M. D---- R-----, and had dismissed
all the suitors who presented themselves. M. F---- had married her
on the very day she had left the convent; she was only seventeen
years of age then, and he had brought her on board his galley
immediately after the marriage ceremony.
I saw her for the first time at the dinner-table on the very day of
my installation at M. D---- R-----'s, and she made a great impression
upon me. I thought I was gazing at a supernatural being, so
infinitely above all the women I had ever seen, that it seemed
impossible to fall in love with her She appeared to me of a nature
different and so greatly superior to mine that I did not see the
possibility of rising up to her. I even went so far as to persuade
myself that nothing but a Platonic friendship could exist between her
and M. D----R-----, and that M. F---- was quite right now not to shew
any jealousy. Yet, that M. F---- was a perfect fool, and certainly
not worthy of such a woman. The impression made upon me by Madame
F----was too ridiculous to last long, and the nature of it soon
changed, but in a novel manner, at least as far as I was concerned.
My position as adjutant procured me the honour of dining at M. D----
R-----'s table, but nothing more. The other adjutant, like me, an
ensign in the army, but the greatest fool I had ever seen, shared
that honour with me. We were not, however, considered as guests, for
nobody ever spoke to us, and, what is more, no one ever honoured us
with a look. It used to put me in a rage. I knew very well that
people acted in that manner through no real contempt for us, but it
went very hard with me. I could very well understand that my
colleague, Sanzonio, should not complain of such treatment, because
he was a blockhead, but I did not feel disposed to allow myself to be
put on a par with him. At the end of eight or ten days, Madame
F----, not having con descended to cast one glance upon my person,
began to appear disagreeable to me. I felt piqued, vexed, provoked,
and the more so because I could not suppose that the lady acted in
that manner wilfully and purposely; I would have been highly pleased
if there had been premeditation on her part. I felt satisfied that
I was a nobody in her estimation, and as I was conscious of being
somebody, I wanted her to know it. At last a circumstance offered
itself in which, thinking that she could address me, she was
compelled to look at me.
M. D---- R----- having observed that a very, very fine turkey had
been placed before me, told me to carve it, and I immediately went to
work. I was not a skilful carver, and Madame F----, laughing at my
want of dexterity, told me that, if I had not been certain of
performing my task with credit to myself, I ought not to have
undertaken it. Full of confusion, and unable to answer her as my
anger prompted, I sat down, with my heart overflowing with spite and
hatred against her. To crown my rage, having one day to address me,
she asked me what was my name. She had seen me every day for a
fortnight, ever since I had been the adjutant of M. D---- R-----;
therefore she ought to have known my name. Besides, I had been very
lucky at the gaming-table, and I had become rather famous in Corfu.
My anger against Madame F was at its height.
I had placed my money in the hands of a certain Maroli, a major in
the army and a gamester by profession, who held the faro bank at the
coffee-house. We were partners; I helped him when he dealt, and he
rendered me the same office when I held the cards, which was often
the case, because he was not generally liked. He used to hold the
cards in a way which frightened the punters; my manners were very
different, and I was very lucky. Besides I was easy and smiling when
my bank was losing, and I won without shewing any avidity, and that
is a manner which always pleases the punters.
This Maroli was the man who had won all my money during my first stay
in Corfu, and finding, when I returned, that I was resolved not to be
duped any more, he judged me worthy of sharing the wise maxims
without which gambling must necessarily ruin all those who meddle
with it. But as Maroli had won my confidence only to a very slight
extent, I was very careful. We made up our accounts every night, as
soon as playing was over; the cashier kept the capital of the bank,
the winnings were divided, and each took his share away.
Lucky at play, enjoying good health and the friendship of my
comrades, who, whenever the opportunity offered, always found me
generous and ready to serve them, I would have been well pleased with
my position if I had been a little more considered at the table of
M. D---- R-----, and treated with less haughtiness by his lady who,
without any reason, seemed disposed to humiliate me. My self-love
was deeply hurt, I hated her, and, with such a disposition of mind,
the more I admired the perfection of her charms, the more I found her
deficient in wit and intelligence. She might have made the conquest
of my heart without bestowing hers upon me, for all I wanted was not
to be compelled to hate her, and I could not understand what pleasure
it could be for her to be detested, while with only a little kindness
she could have been adored. I could not ascribe her manner to a
spirit of coquetry, for I had never given her the slightest proof of
the opinion I entertained of her beauty, and I could not therefore
attribute her behaviour to a passion which might have rendered me
disagreeable in her eyes; M. D---- R----- seemed to interest her only
in a very slight manner, and as to her husband, she cared nothing for
him. In short, that charming woman made me very unhappy, and I was
angry with myself because I felt that, if it had not been for the
manner in which she treated me, I would not have thought of her, and
my vexation was increased by the feeling of hatred entertained by my
heart against her, a feeling which until then I had never known to
exist in me, and the discovery of which overwhelmed me with
confusion.
One day a gentleman handed me, as we were leaving the dinner-table, a
roll of gold that he had lost upon trust; Madame F---- saw it, and
she said to me very abruptly,--
"What do you do with your money?"
"I keep it, madam, as a provision against possible losses."
"But as you do not indulge in any expense it would be better for you
not to play; it is time wasted."
"Time given to pleasure is never time lost, madam; the only time
which a young man wastes is that which is consumed in weariness,
because when he is a prey to ennui he is likely to fall a prey to
love, and to be despised by the object of his affection."
"Very likely; but you amuse yourself with hoarding up your money, and
shew yourself to be a miser, and a miser is not less contemptible
than a man in love. Why do you not buy yourself a pair of gloves?"
You may be sure that at these words the laughter was all on her side,
and my vexation was all the greater because I could not deny that she
was quite right. It was the adjutant's business to give the ladies
an arm to their carriages, and it was not proper to fulfil that duty
without gloves. I felt mortified, and the reproach of avarice hurt
me deeply. I would a thousand times rather that she had laid my
error to a want of education; and yet, so full of contradictions is
the human heart, instead of making amends by adopting an appearance
of elegance which the state of my finances enabled me to keep up, I
did not purchase any gloves, and I resolved to avoid her and to
abandon her to the insipid and dull gallantry of Sanzonio, who
sported gloves, but whose teeth were rotten, whose breath was putrid,
who wore a wig, and whose face seemed to be covered with shrivelled
yellow parchment.
I spent my days in a continual state of rage and spite, and the most
absurd part of it all was that I felt unhappy because I could not
control my hatred for that woman whom, in good conscience, I could
not find guilty of anything. She had for me neither love nor
dislike, which was quite natural; but being young and disposed to
enjoy myself I had become, without any wilful malice on her part, an
eye-sore to her and the butt of her bantering jokes, which my
sensitiveness exaggerated greatly. For all that I had an ardent wish
to punish her and to make her repent. I thought of nothing else. At
one time I would think of devoting all my intelligence and all my
money to kindling an amorous passion in her heart, and then to
revenge myself by treating her with contempt. But I soon realized
the impracticability of such a plan, for even supposing that I should
succeed in finding my way to her heart, was I the man to resist my
own success with such a woman? I certainly could not flatter myself
that I was so strong-minded. But I was the pet child of fortune, and
my position was suddenly altered.
M. D---- R---- having sent me with dispatches to M. de Condulmer,
captain of a 'galeazza', I had to wait until midnight to deliver
them, and when I returned I found that M. D---- R---- had retired to
his apartment for the night. As soon as he was visible in the
morning I went to him to render an account of my mission. I had been
with him only a few minutes when his valet brought a letter saying
that Madame F----'s adjutant was waiting for an answer. M. D----
R----- read the note, tore it to pieces, and in his excitement
stamped with his foot upon the fragments. He walked up and down the
room for a little time, then wrote an answer and rang for the
adjutant, to whom he delivered it. He then recovered his usual
composure, concluded the perusal of the dispatch sent by M. de
Condulmer, and told me to write a letter. He was looking it over
when the valet came in, telling me that Madame F---- desired to see
me. M. D---- R---- told me that he did not require my services any
more for the present, and that I might go. I left the room, but I
had not gone ten yards when he called me back to remind me that my
duty was to know nothing; I begged to assure him that I was well
aware of that. I ran to Madame F-----'s house, very eager to know
what she wanted with me. I was introduced immediately, and I was
greatly surprised to find her sitting up in bed, her countenance
flushed and excited, and her eyes red from the tears she had
evidently just been shedding. My heart was beating quickly, yet I
did not know why.
"Pray be seated," she said, "I wish to speak with you."
"Madam," I answered, "I am not worthy of so great a favour, and I
have not yet done anything to deserve it; allow me to remain
standing."
She very likely recollected that she had never been so polite before,
and dared not press me any further. She collected her thoughts for
an instant or two, and said to me:
"Last evening my husband lost two hundred sequins upon trust at your
faro bank; he believed that amount to be in my hands, and I must
therefore give it to him immediately, as he is bound in honour to pay
his losses to-day. Unfortunately I have disposed of the money, and I
am in great trouble. I thought you might tell Maroli that I have
paid you the amount lost by my husband. Here is a ring of some
value; keep it until the 1st of January, when I will return the two
hundred sequins for which I am ready to give you my note of hand."
"I accept the note of hand, madam, but I cannot consent to deprive
you of your ring. I must also tell you that M. F---- must go himself
to the bank, or send some one there, to redeem his debt. Within ten
minutes you shall have the amount you require."
I left her without waiting for an answer, and I returned within a few
minutes with the two hundred ducats, which I handed to her, and
putting in my pocket her note of hand which she had just written, I
bowed to take my leave, but she addressed to me these precious words:
"I believe, sir, that if I had known that you were so well disposed
to oblige me, I could not have made up my mind to beg that service
from you."
"Well, madam, for the future be quite certain that there is not a man
in the world capable of refusing you such an insignificant service
whenever you will condescend to ask for it in person."
"What you say is very complimentary, but I trust never to find myself
again under the necessity of making such a cruel experiment."
I left Madame F-----, thinking of the shrewdness of her answer. She
had not told me that I was mistaken, as I had expected she would, for
that would have caused her some humiliation: she knew that I was with
M. D---- R----- when the adjutant had brought her letter, and she
could not doubt that I was aware of the refusal she had met with.
The fact of her not mentioning it proved to me that she was jealous
of her own dignity; it afforded me great gratification, and I thought
her worthy of adoration. I saw clearly that she could have no love
for M. D---- R-----, and that she was not loved by him, and the
discovery made me leap for joy. From that moment I felt I was in
love with her, and I conceived the hope that she might return my
ardent affection.
The first thing I did, when I returned to my room, was to cross out
with ink every word of her note of hand, except her name, in such a
manner that it was impossible to guess at the contents, and putting
it in an envelope carefully sealed, I deposited it in the hands of a
public notary who stated, in the receipt he gave me of the envelope,
that he would deliver it only to Madame F-----, whenever she should
request its delivery.
The same evening M. F----- came to the bank, paid me, played with
cash in hand, and won some fifty ducats. What caused me the greatest
surprise was that M. D---- R----- continued to be very gracious to
Madame F----, and that she remained exactly the same towards him as
she used to be before. He did not even enquire what she wanted when
she had sent for me. But if she did not seem to change her manner
towards my master, it was a very different case with me, for whenever
she was opposite to me at dinner, she often addressed herself to me,
and she thus gave me many opportunities of shewing my education and
my wit in amusing stories or in remarks, in which I took care to
blend instruction with witty jests. At that time F---- had the great
talent of making others laugh while I kept a serious countenance
myself. I had learnt that accomplishment from M. de Malipiero, my
first master in the art of good breeding, who used to say to me,--
"If you wish your audience to cry, you must shed tears yourself, but
if you wish to make them laugh you must contrive to look as serious
as a judge."
In everything I did, in every word I uttered, in the presence of
Madame F----, the only aim I had was to please her, but I did not
wish her to suppose so, and I never looked at her unless she spoke to
me. I wanted to force her curiosity, to compel her to suspect nay,
to guess my secret, but without giving her any advantage over me: it
was necessary for me to proceed by slow degrees. In the mean time,
and until I should have a greater happiness, I was glad to see that
my money, that magic talisman, and my good conduct, obtained me a
consideration much greater than I could have hoped to obtain either
through my position, or from my age, or in consequence of any talent
I might have shewn in the profession I had adopted.
Towards the middle of November, the soldier who acted as my servant
was attacked with inflammation of the chest; I gave notice of it to
the captain of his company, and he was carried to the hospital. On
the fourth day I was told that he would not recover, and that he had
received the last sacraments; in the evening I happened to be at his
captain's when the priest who had attended him came to announce his
death, and to deliver a small parcel which the dying man had
entrusted to him to be given up to his captain only after his death.
The parcel contained a brass seal engraved with ducal arms, a
certificate of baptism, and a sheet of paper covered with writing in
French. Captain Camporese, who only spoke Italian, begged me to
translate the paper, the contents of which were as follows:
"My will is that this paper, which I have written and signed with my
own hand, shall be delivered to my captain only after I have breathed
my last: until then, my confessor shall not make any use of it, for I
entrust it to his hands only under the seal of confession. I entreat
my captain to have me buried in a vault from which my body can be
exhumed in case the duke, my father, should request its exhumation.
I entreat him likewise to forward my certificate of baptism, the seal
with the armorial bearings of my family, and a legal certificate of
my birth to the French ambassador in Venice, who will send the whole
to the duke, my father, my rights of primogeniture belonging, after
my demise, to the prince, my brother. In faith of which I have
signed and sealed these presents: Francois VI. Charles Philippe
Louis Foucaud, Prince de la Rochefoucault."
The certificate of baptism, delivered at St. Sulpice gave the same
names, and the title of the father was Francois V. The name of the
mother was Gabrielle du Plessis.
As I was concluding my translation I could not help bursting into
loud laughter; but the foolish captain, who thought my mirth out of
place, hurried out to render an account of the affair to the
proveditore-generale, and I went to the coffee-house, not doubting
for one moment that his excellency would laugh at the captain, and
that the post-mortem buffoonery would greatly amuse the whole of
Corfu.
I had known in Rome, at Cardinal Acquaviva's, the Abbe de Liancourt,
great-grandson of Charles, whose sister, Gabrielle du Plessis, had
been the wife of Francois V., but that dated from the beginning of
the last century. I had made a copy from the records of the cardinal
of the account of certain circumstances which the Abbe de Liancourt
wanted to communicate to the court of Spain, and in which there were
a great many particulars respecting the house of Du Plessis. I
thought at the same time that the singular imposture of La Valeur
(such was the name by which my soldier generally went) was absurd and
without a motive, since it was to be known only after his death, and
could not therefore prove of any advantage to him.
Half an hour afterwards, as I was opening a fresh pack of cards, the
Adjutant Sanzonio came in, and told the important news in the most
serious manner. He had just come from the office of the proveditore,
where Captain Camporese had run in the utmost hurry to deposit
in the hands of his excellency the seal and the papers of the
deceased prince. His excellency had immediately issued his orders
for the burial of the prince in a vault with all the honours due to
his exalted rank. Another half hour passed, and M. Minolto,
adjutant of the proveditore-generale, came to inform me that his
excellency wanted to see me. I passed the cards to Major Maroli, and
went to his excellency's house. I found him at supper with several
ladies, three or four naval commanders, Madame F----, and M. D----
R-----.
"So, your servant was a prince!" said the old general to me.
"Your excellency, I never would have suspected it, and even now that
he is dead I do not believe it."
"Why? He is dead, but he was not insane. You have seen his armorial
bearings, his certificate of baptism, as well as what he wrote with
his own hand. When a man is so near death, he does not fancy
practical jokes."
"If your excellency is satisfied of the truth of the story, my duty
is to remain silent."
"The story cannot be anything but true, and your doubts surprise me."
"I doubt, monsignor, because I happen to have positive information
respecting the families of La Rochefoucault and Du Plessis. Besides,
I have seen too much of the man. He was not a madman, but he
certainly was an extravagant jester. I have never seen him write,
and he has told me himself a score of times that he had never
learned."
"The paper he has written proves the contrary. His arms have the
ducal bearings; but perhaps you are not aware that M. de la
Rochefoucault is a duke and peer of the French realm?"
"I beg your eminence's pardon; I know all about it; I know even more,
for I know that Francois VI. married a daughter of the house of
Vivonne."
"You know nothing."
When I heard this remark, as foolish as it was rude, I resolved on
remaining silent, and it was with some pleasure that I observed the
joy felt by all the male guests at what they thought an insult and a
blow to my vanity. An officer remarked that the deceased was a fine
man, a witty man, and had shewn wonderful cleverness in keeping up
his assumed character so well that no one ever had the faintest
suspicion of what he really was. A lady said that, if she had known
him, she would have been certain to find him out. Another flatterer,
belonging to that mean, contemptible race always to be found near the
great and wealthy of the earth, assured us that the late prince had
always shewn himself cheerful, amiable, obliging, devoid of
haughtiness towards his comrades, and that he used to sing
beautifully. "He was only twenty-five years of age," said Madame
Sagredo, looking me full in the face, "and if he was endowed with all
those qualities, you must have discovered them."
"I can only give you, madam, a true likeness of the man, such as I
have seen him. Always gay, often even to folly, for he could throw a
somersault beautifully; singing songs of a very erotic kind, full of
stories and of popular tales of magic, miracles, and ghosts, and a
thousand marvellous feats which common-sense refused to believe, and
which, for that very reason, provoked the mirth of his hearers. His
faults were that he was drunken, dirty, quarrelsome, dissolute, and
somewhat of a cheat. I put up with all his deficiences, because he
dressed my hair to my taste, and his constant chattering offered me
the opportunity of practising the colloquial French which cannot be
acquired from books. He has always assured me that he was born in
Picardy, the son of a common peasant, and that he had deserted from
the French army. He may have deceived me when he said that he could
not write."
Just then Camporese rushed into the room, and announced that La
Veleur was yet breathing. The general, looking at me significantly,
said that he would be delighted if the man could be saved.
"And I likewise, monsignor, but his confessor will certainly kill him
to-night."
"Why should the father confessor kill him?"
"To escape the galleys to which your excellency would not fail to
send him for having violated the secrecy of the confessional."
Everybody burst out laughing, but the foolish old general knitted his
brows. The guests retired soon afterwards, and Madame F-----, whom
I had preceded to the carriage, M. D---- R----- having offered her
his arm, invited me to get in with her, saying that it was raining.
It was the first time that she had bestowed such an honour upon me.
"I am of your opinion about that prince," she said, "but you have
incurred the displeasure of the proveditore."
"I am very sorry, madam, but it could not have been avoided, for I
cannot help speaking the truth openly."
"You might have spared him," remarked M. D---- R-----, "the cutting
jest of the confessor killing the false prince."
"You are right, sir, but I thought it would make him laugh as well as
it made madam and your excellency. In conversation people generally
do not object to a witty jest causing merriment and laughter."
"True; only those who have not wit enough to laugh do not like the
jest."
"I bet a hundred sequins that the madman will recover, and that,
having the general on his side, he will reap all the advantages of
his imposture. I long to see him treated as a prince, and making
love to Madame Sagredo"
Hearing the last words, Madame F-----, who did not like Madame
Sagredo, laughed heartily, and, as we were getting out of the
carriage, M. D---- R----- invited me to accompany them upstairs. He
was in the habit of spending half an hour alone with her at her own
house when they had taken supper together with the general, for her
husband never shewed himself. It was the first time that the happy
couple admitted a third person to their tete-a-tete. I felt very
proud of the compliment thus paid to me, and I thought it might have
important results for me. My satisfaction, which I concealed as well
as I could, did not prevent me from being very gay and from giving a
comic turn to every subject brought forward by the lady or by her
lord.
We kept up our pleasant trio for four hours; and returned to the
mansion of M. D---- R----- only at two o'clock in the morning. It
was during that night that Madame F---- and M. D---- R----- really
made my acquaintance. Madame F---- told him that she had never
laughed so much, and that she had never imagined that a conversation,
in appearance so simple, could afford so much pleasure and merriment.
On my side, I discovered in her so much wit and cheerfulness, that I
became deeply enamoured, and went to bed fully satisfied that, in the
future, I could not keep up the show of indifference which I had so
far assumed towards her.
When I woke up the next morning, I heard from the new soldier who
served me that La Valeur was better, and had been pronounced out of
danger by the physician. At dinner the conversation fell upon him,
but I did not open my lips. Two days afterwards, the general gave
orders to have him removed to a comfortable apartment, sent him a
servant, clothed him, and the over-credulous proveditore having paid
him a visit, all the naval commanders and officers thought it their
duty to imitate him, and to follow his example: the general curiosity
was excited, there was a rush to see the new prince. M. D---- R-----
followed his leaders, and Madame Sagredo, having set the ladies in
motion, they all called upon him, with the exception of Madame F----,
who told me laughingly that she would not pay him a visit unless I
would consent to introduce her. I begged to be excused. The knave
was called your highness, and the wonderful prince styled Madame
Sagredo his princess. M. D---- R----- tried to persuade me to call
upon the rogue, but I told him that I had said too much, and that I
was neither courageous nor mean enough to retract my words. The
whole imposture would soon have been discovered if anyone had
possessed a peerage, but it just happened that there was not a copy
in Corfu, and the French consul, a fat blockhead, like many other
consuls, knew nothing of family trees. The madcap La Valeur began to
walk out a week after his metamorphosis into a prince. He dined and
had supper every day with the general, and every evening he was
present at the reception, during which, owing to his intemperance, he
always went fast asleep. Yet, there were two reasons which kept up
the belief of his being a prince: the first was that he did not seem
afraid of the news expected from Venice, where the proveditore had
written immediately after the discovery; the second was that he
solicited from the bishop the punishment of the priest who had
betrayed his secret by violating the seal of confession. The poor
priest had already been sent to prison, and the proveditore had not
the courage to defend him. The new prince had been invited to dinner
by all the naval officers, but M. D---- R----- had not made up his
mind to imitate them so far, because Madame F---- had clearly warned
him that she would dine at her own house on the day he was invited.
I had likewise respectfully intimated that, on the same occasion, I
would take the liberty of dining somewhere else.
I met the prince one day as I was coming out of the old fortress
leading to the esplanade. He stopped, and reproached me for not
having called upon him. I laughed, and advised him to think of his
safety before the arrival of the news which would expose all the
imposture, in which case the proveditore was certain to treat him
very severely. I offered to help him in his flight from Corfu, and
to get a Neapolitan captain, whose ship was ready to sail, to conceal
him on board; but the fool, instead of accepting my offer, loaded me
with insults.
He was courting Madame Sagredo, who treated him very well, feeling
proud that a French prince should have given her the preference over
all the other ladies. One day that she was dining in great ceremony
at M. D---- R-----'s house, she asked me why I had advised the prince
to run away.
"I have it from his own lips," she added, "and he cannot make out
your obstinacy in believing him an impostor."
"I have given him that advice, madam, because my heart is good, and
my judgment sane."
"Then we are all of us as many fools, the proveditore included?"
"That deduction would not be right, madam. An opinion contrary to
that of another does not necessarily make a fool of the person who
entertains it. It might possibly turn out, in ten or twelve days,
that I have been entirely mistaken myself, but I should not consider
myself a fool in consequence. In the mean time, a lady of your
intelligence must have discovered whether that man is a peasant or a
prince by his education and manners. For instance, does he dance
well?"
"He does not know one step, but he is the first to laugh about it; he
says he never would learn dancing."
"Does he behave well at table?"
"Well, he doesn't stand on ceremony. He does not want his plate to
be changed, he helps himself with his spoon out of the dishes; he
does not know how to check an eructation or a yawn, and if he feels
tired he leaves the table. It is evident that he has been very badly
brought up."
"And yet he is very pleasant, I suppose. Is he clean and neat?"
"No, but then he is not yet well provided with linen."
"I am told that he is very sober."
"You are joking. He leaves the table intoxicated twice a day, but he
ought to be pitied, for he cannot drink wine and keep his head clear.
Then he swears like a trooper, and we all laugh, but he never takes
offence."
"Is he witty?"
"He has a wonderful memory, for he tells us new stories every day."
"Does he speak of his family?"
"Very often of his mother, whom he loved tenderly. She was a Du
Plessis."
"If his mother is still alive she must be a hundred and fifty years
old."
"What nonsense!"
"Not at all; she was married in the days of Marie de Medicis."
"But the certificate of baptism names the prince's mother, and his
seal--"
"Does he know what armorial bearings he has on that seal?"
"Do you doubt it?"
"Very strongly, or rather I am certain that he knows nothing about
it."
We left the table, and the prince was announced. He came in, and
Madame Sagredo lost no time in saying to him, "Prince, here is M.
Casanova; he pretends that you do not know your own armorial
bearings." Hearing these words, he came up to me, sneering, called me
a coward, and gave me a smack on the face which almost stunned me. I
left the room very slowly, not forgetting my hat and my cane, and
went downstairs, while M. D---- R----- was loudly ordering the
servants to throw the madman out of the window.
I left the palace and went to the esplanade in order to wait for him.
The moment I saw him, I ran to meet him, and I beat him so violently
with my cane that one blow alone ought to have killed him. He drew
back, and found himself brought to a stand between two walls, where,
to avoid being beaten to death, his only resource was to draw his
sword, but the cowardly scoundrel did not even think of his weapon,
and I left him, on the ground, covered with blood. The crowd formed
a line for me to pass, and I went to the coffee-house, where I drank
a glass of lemonade, without sugar to precipitate the bitter saliva
which rage had brought up from my stomach. In a few minutes, I found
myself surrounded by all the young officers of the garrison, who
joined in the general opinion that I ought to have killed him, and
they at last annoyed me, for it was not my fault if I had not done
so, and I would certainly have taken his life if he had drawn his
sword.
I had been in the coffee-house for half an hour when the general's
adjutant came to tell me that his excellency ordered me to put myself
under arrest on board the bastarda, a galley on which the prisoners
had their legs in irons like galley slaves. The dose was rather too
strong to be swallowed, and I did not feel disposed to submit to it.
"Very good, adjutant," I replied, "it shall be done." He went away,
and I left the coffee-house a moment after him, but when I reached
the end of the street, instead of going towards the esplanade, I
proceeded quickly towards the sea. I walked along the beach for a
quarter of an hour, and finding a boat empty, but with a pair of
oars, I got in her, and unfastening her, I rowed as hard as I could
towards a large caicco, sailing against the wind with six oars. As
soon as I had come up to her, I went on board and asked the
carabouchiri to sail before the wind and to take me to a large wherry
which could be seen at some distance, going towards Vido Rock. I
abandoned the row-boat, and, after paying the master of the caicco
generously, I got into the wherry, made a bargain with the skipper
who unfurled three sails, and in less than two hours we were fifteen
miles away from Corfu. The wind having died away, I made the men row
against the current, but towards midnight they told me that they
could not row any longer, they were worn out with fatigue. They
advised me to sleep until day-break, but I refused to do so, and for
a trifle I got them to put me on shore, without asking where I was,
in order not to raise their suspicions. It was enough for me to know
that I was at a distance of twenty miles from Corfu, and in a place
where nobody could imagine me to be. The moon was shining, and I saw
a church with a house adjoining, a long barn opened on both sides, a
plain of about one hundred yards confined by hills, and nothing more.
I found some straw in the barn, and laying myself down, I slept until
day-break in spite of the cold. It was the 1st of December, and
although the climate is very mild in Corfu I felt benumbed when I
awoke, as I had no cloak over my thin uniform.
The bells begin to toll, and I proceed towards the church. The long-
bearded papa, surprised at my sudden apparition, enquires whether I
am Romeo (a Greek); I tell him that I am Fragico (Italian), but he
turns his back upon me and goes into his house, the door of which he
shuts without condescending to listen to me.
I then turned towards the sea, and saw a boat leaving a tartan lying
at anchor within one hundred yards of the island; the boat had four
oars and landed her passengers. I come up to them and meet a good-
looking Greek, a woman and a young boy ten or twelve years old.
Addressing myself to the Greek, I ask him whether he has had a
pleasant passage, and where he comes from. He answers in Italian
that he has sailed from Cephalonia with his wife and his son, and
that he is bound for Venice; he had landed to hear mass at the Church
of Our Lady of Casopo, in order to ascertain whether his father-in-
law was still alive, and whether he would pay the amount he had
promised him for the dowry of his wife.
"But how can you find it out?"
"The Papa Deldimopulo will tell me; he will communicate faithfully
the oracle of the Holy Virgin." I say nothing and follow him into the
church; he speaks to the priest, and gives him some money. The papa
says the mass, enters the sanctum sanctorum, comes out again in a
quarter of an hour, ascends the steps of the altar, turns towards his
audience, and, after meditating for a minute and stroking his long
beard, he delivers his oracle in a dozen words. The Greek of
Cephalonia, who certainly could not boast of being as wise as
Ulysses, appears very well pleased, and gives more money to the
impostor. We leave the church, and I ask him whether he feels
satisfied with the oracle.
"Oh! quite satisfied. I know now that my father-in-law is alive,
and that he will pay me the dowry, if I consent to leave my child
with him. I am aware that it is his fancy and I will give him the
boy."
"Does the papa know you?"
"No; he is not even acquainted with my name."
"Have you any fine goods on board your tartan?"
"Yes; come and breakfast with me; you can see all I have."
"Very willingly."
Delighted at hearing that oracles were not yet defunct, and satisfied
that they will endure as long as there are in this world simple-
minded men and deceitful, cunning priests, I follow the good man, who
took me to his tartan and treated me to an excellent breakfast. His
cargo consisted of cotton, linen, currants, oil, and excellent wines.
He had also a stock of night-caps, stockings, cloaks in the Eastern
fashion, umbrellas, and sea biscuits, of which I was very fond; in
those days I had thirty teeth, and it would have been difficult to
find a finer set. Alas! I have but two left now, the other twenty-
eight are gone with other tools quite as precious; but 'dum vita
super est, bene est.' I bought a small stock of everything he had
except cotton, for which I had no use, and without discussing his
price I paid him the thirty-five or forty sequins he demanded, and
seeing my generosity he made me a present of six beautiful botargoes.
I happened during our conversation to praise the wine of Xante, which
he called generoydes, and he told me that if I would accompany him to
Venice he would give me a bottle of that wine every day including the
quarantine. Always superstitious, I was on the point of accepting,
and that for the most foolish reason-namely, that there would be no
premeditation in that strange resolution, and it might be the impulse
of fate. Such was my nature in those days; alas; it is very
different now. They say that it is because wisdom comes with old
age, but I cannot reconcile myself to cherish the effect of a most
unpleasant cause.
Just as I was going to accept his offer he proposes to sell me a very
fine gun for ten sequins, saying that in Corfu anyone would be glad
of it for twelve. The word Corfu upsets all my ideas on the spot! I
fancy I hear the voice of my genius telling me to go back to that
city. I purchase the gun for the ten sequins, and my honest
Cephalonian, admiring my fair dealing, gives me, over and above our
bargain, a beautiful Turkish pouch well filled with powder and shot.
Carrying my gun, with a good warm cloak over my uniform and with a
large bag containing all my purchases, I take leave of the worthy
Greek, and am landed on the shore, determined on obtaining a lodging
from the cheating papa, by fair means or foul. The good wine of my
friend the Cephalonian had excited me just enough to make me carry my
determination into immediate execution. I had in my pockets four or
five hundred copper gazzette, which were very heavy, but which I had
procured from the Greek, foreseeing that I might want them during my
stay on the island.
I store my bag away in the barn and I proceed, gun in hand, towards
the house of the priest; the church was closed.
I must give my readers some idea of the state I was in at that
moment. I was quietly hopeless. The three or four hundred sequins I
had with me did not prevent me from thinking that I was not in very
great security on the island; I could not remain long, I would soon
be found out, and, being guilty of desertion, I should be treated
accordingly. I did not know what to do, and that is always an
unpleasant predicament. It would be absurd for me to return to Corfu
of my own accord; my flight would then be useless, and I should be
thought a fool, for my return would be a proof of cowardice or
stupidity; yet I did not feel the courage to desert altogether. The
chief cause of my decision was not that I had a thousand sequins in
the hands of the faro banker, or my well-stocked wardrobe, or the
fear of not getting a living somewhere else, but the unpleasant
recollection that I should leave behind me a woman whom I loved to
adoration, and from whom I had not yet obtained any favour, not even
that of kissing her hand. In such distress of mind I could not do
anything else but abandon myself to chance, whatever the result might
be, and the most essential thing for the present was to secure a
lodging and my daily food.
I knock at the door of the priest's dwelling. He looks out of a
window and shuts it without listening to me, I knock again, I swear,
I call out loudly, all in vain, Giving way to my rage, I take aim at
a poor sheep grazing with several others at a short distance, and
kill it. The herdsman begins to scream, the papa shows himself at
the window, calling out, "Thieves! Murder!" and orders the alarm-
bell to be rung. Three bells are immediately set in motion, I
foresee a general gathering: what is going to happen? I do not know,
but happen what will, I load my gun and await coming events.
In less than eight or ten minutes, I see a crowd of peasants coming
down the hills, armed with guns, pitchforks, or cudgels: I withdraw
inside of the barn, but without the slightest fear, for I cannot
suppose that, seeing me alone, these men will murder me without
listening to me.
The first ten or twelve peasants come forward, gun in hand and ready
to fire: I stop them by throwing down my gazzette, which they lose no
time in picking up from the ground, and I keep on throwing money down
as the men come forward, until I had no more left. The clowns were
looking at each other in great astonishment, not knowing what to make
out of a well-dressed young man, looking very peaceful, and throwing
his money to them with such generosity. I could not speak to them
until the deafening noise of the bells should cease. I quietly sit
down on my large bag, and keep still, but as soon as I can be heard I
begin to address the men. The priest, however, assisted by his
beadle and by the herdsman, interrupts me, and all the more easily
that I was speaking Italian. My three enemies, who talked all at
once, were trying to excite the crowd against me.
One of the peasants, an elderly and reasonable-looking man, comes up
to me and asks me in Italian why I have killed the sheep.
"To eat it, my good fellow, but not before I have paid for it."
"But his holiness, the papa, might choose to charge one sequin for
it."
"Here is one sequin."
The priest takes the money and goes away: war is over. The peasant
tells me that he has served in the campaign of 1716, and that he was
at the defence of Corfu. I compliment him, and ask him to find me a
lodging and a man able to prepare my meals. He answers that he will
procure me a whole house, that he will be my cook himself, but I must
go up the hill. No matter! He calls two stout fellows, one takes my
bag, the other shoulders my sheep, and forward! As we are walking
along, I tell him,--
"My good man, I would like to have in my service twenty-four fellows
like these under military discipline. I would give each man twenty
gazzette a day, and you would have forty as my lieutenant."
"I will," says the old soldier, "raise for you this very day a body-
guard of which you will be proud."
We reach a very convenient house, containing on the ground floor
three rooms and a stable, which I immediately turned into a guard-
room.
My lieutenant went to get what I wanted, and particularly a
needlewoman to make me some shirts. In the course of the day I had
furniture, bedding, kitchen utensils, a good dinner, twenty-four
well-equipped soldiers, a super-annuated sempstress and several young
girls to make my shirts. After supper, I found my position highly
pleasant, being surrounded with some thirty persons who looked upon
me as their sovereign, although they could not make out what had
brought me to their island. The only thing which struck me as
disagreeable was that the young girls could not speak Italian, and I
did not know Greek enough to enable me to make love to them.
The next morning my lieutenant had the guard relieved, and I could
not help bursting into a merry laugh. They were like a flock of
sheep: all fine men, well-made and strong; but without uniform and
without discipline the finest band is but a herd. However, they
quickly learned how to present arms and to obey the orders of their
officer. I caused three sentinels to be placed, one before the
guardroom, one at my door, and the third where he could have a good
view of the sea. This sentinel was to give me warning of the
approach of any armed boat or vessel. For the first two or three
days I considered all this as mere amusement, but, thinking that I
might really want the men to repel force by force, I had some idea of
making my army take an oath of allegiance. I did not do so, however,
although my lieutenant assured me that I had only to express my
wishes, for my generosity had captivated the love of all the
islanders.
My sempstress, who had procured some young needlewomen to sew my
shirts, had expected that I would fall in love with one and not with
all, but my amorous zeal overstepped her hopes, and all the pretty
ones had their turn; they were all well satisfied with me, and the
sempstress was rewarded for her good offices. I was leading a
delightful life, for my table was supplied with excellent dishes,
juicy mutton, and snipe so delicious that I have never tasted their
like except in St. Petersburg. I drank scopolo wine or the best
muscatel of the Archipelago. My lieutenant was my only table
companion. I never took a walk without him and two of my body-guard,
in order to defend myself against the attacks of a few young men who
had a spite against me because they fancied, not without some reason,
that my needlewomen, their mistresses, had left them on my account.
I often thought while I was rambling about the island, that without
money I should have been unhappy, and that I was indebted to my gold
for all the happiness I was enjoying; but it was right to suppose at
the same time that, if I had not felt my purse pretty heavy, I would
not have been likely to leave Corfu.
I had thus been playing the petty king with success for a week or ten
days, when, towards ten o'clock at night I heard the sentinel's
challenge. My lieutenant went out, and returned announcing that an
honest-looking man, who spoke Italian, wished to see me on important
business. I had him brought in, and, in the presence of my
lieutenant, he told me in Italian:
"Next Sunday, the Papa Deldimopulo will fulminate against you the
'cataramonachia'. If you do not prevent him, a slow fever will send
you into the next world in six weeks."
"I have never heard of such a drug."
"It is not a drug. It is a curse pronounced by a priest with the
Host in his hands, and it is sure to be fulfilled."
"What reason can that priest have to murder me?"
"You disturb the peace and discipline of his parish. You have
seduced several young girls, and now their lovers refuse to marry
them."
I made him drink, and thanking him heartily, wished him good night.
His warning struck me as deserving my attention, for, if I had no
fear of the 'cataramonachia', in which I had not the slightest faith,
I feared certain poisons which might be by far more efficient. I
passed a very quiet night, but at day-break I got up, and without
saying anything to my lieutenant, I went straight to the church where
I found the priest, and addressed him in the following words, uttered
in a tone likely to enforce conviction:
"On the first symptom of fever, I will shoot you like a dog. Throw
over me a curse which will kill me instantly, or make your will.
Farewell!"
Having thus warned him, I returned to my royal palace. Early on the
following Monday, the papa called on me. I had a slight headache; he
enquired after my health, and when I told him that my head felt
rather heavy, he made me laugh by the air of anxiety with which he
assured me that it could be caused by nothing else than the heavy
atmosphere of the island of Casopo.
Three days after his visit, the advanced sentinel gave the war-cry.
The lieutenant went out to reconnoitre, and after a short absence he
gave me notice that the long boat of an armed vessel had just landed
an officer. Danger was at hand.
I go out myself, I call my men to arms, and, advancing a few steps, I
see an officer, accompanied by a guide, who was walking towards my
dwelling. As he was alone, I had nothing to fear. I return to my
room, giving orders to my lieutenant to receive him with all military
honours and to introduce him. Then, girding my sword, I wait for my
visitor.
In a few minutes, Adjutant Minolto, the same who had brought me the
order to put myself under arrest, makes his appearance.
"You are alone," I say to him, "and therefore you come as a friend.
Let us embrace."
"I must come as a friend, for, as an enemy, I should not have enough
men. But what I see seems a dream."
"Take a seat, and dine with me. I will treat you splendidly."
"Most willingly, and after dinner we will leave the island together."
"You may go alone, if you like; but I will not leave this place until
I have the certainty, not only that I shall not be sent to the
'bastarda', but also that I shall have every satisfaction from the
knave whom the general ought to send to the galleys."
"Be reasonable, and come with me of your own accord. My orders are
to take you by force, but as I have not enough men to do so, I shall
make my report, and the general will, of course, send a force
sufficient to arrest you."
"Never; I will not be taken alive."
"You must be mad; believe me, you are in the wrong. You have
disobeyed the order I brought you to go to the 'bastarda; in that you
have acted wrongly, and in that alone, for in every other respect you
were perfectly right, the general himself says so."
"Then I ought to have put myself under arrest?"
"Certainly; obedience is necessary in our profession."
"Would you have obeyed, if you had been in my place ?"
"I cannot and will not tell you what I would have done, but I know
that if I had disobeyed orders I should have been guilty of a crime:"
"But if I surrendered now I should be treated like a criminal, and
much more severely than if I had obeyed that unjust order."
"I think not. Come with me, and you will know everything."
"What! Go without knowing what fate may be in store for me? Do not
expect it. Let us have dinner. If I am guilty of such a dreadful
crime that violence must be used against me, I will surrender only to
irresistible force. I cannot be worse off, but there may be blood
spilled."
"You are mistaken, such conduct would only make you more guilty. But
I say like you, let us have dinner. A good meal will very likely
render you more disposed to listen to reason."
Our dinner was nearly over, when we heard some noise outside. The
lieutenant came in, and informed me that the peasants were gathering
in the neighbourhood of my house to defend me, because a rumour had
spread through the island that the felucca had been sent with orders
to arrest me and take me to Corfu. I told him to undeceive the good
fellows, and to send them away, but to give them first a barrel of
wine.
The peasants went away satisfied, but, to shew their devotion to me,
they all fired their guns.
"It is all very amusing," said the adjutant, "but it will turn out
very serious if you let me go away alone, for my duty compels me to
give an exact account of all I have witnessed."
"I will follow you, if you will give me your word of honour to land
me free in Corfu."
"I have orders to deliver your person to M. Foscari, on board the
bastarda."
"Well, you shall not execute your orders this time."
"If you do not obey the commands of the general, his honour will
compel him to use violence against you, and of course he can do it.
But tell me, what would you do if the general should leave you in
this island for the sake of the joke? There is no fear of that,
however, and, after the report which I must give, the general will
certainly make up his mind to stop the affair without shedding
blood."
"Without a fight it will be difficult to arrest me, for with five
hundred peasants in such a place as this I would not be afraid of
three thousand men."
"One man will prove enough; you will be treated as a leader of
rebels. All these peasants may be devoted to you, but they cannot
protect you against one man who will shoot you for the sake of
earning a few pieces of gold. I can tell you more than that: amongst
all those men who surround you there is not one who would not murder
you for twenty sequins. Believe me, go with me. Come to enjoy the
triumph which is awaiting you in Corfu. You will be courted and
applauded. You will narrate yourself all your mad frolics, people
will laugh, and at the same time will admire you for having listened
to reason the moment I came here. Everybody feels esteem for you,
and M. D---- R----- thinks a great deal of you. He praises very
highly the command you have shewn over your passion in refraining
from thrusting your sword through that insolent fool, in order not to
forget the respect you owed to his house. The general himself must
esteem you, for he cannot forget what you told him of that knave."
"What has become of him?"
"Four days ago Major Sardina's frigate arrived with dispatches, in
which the general must have found all the proof of the imposture, for
he has caused the false duke or prince to disappear very suddenly.
Nobody knows where he has been sent to, and nobody ventures to
mention the fellow before the general, for he made the most egregious
blunder respecting him."
"But was the man received in society after the thrashing I gave him?"
"God forbid! Do you not recollect that he wore a sword? From that
moment no one would receive him. His arm was broken and his jaw
shattered to pieces.
But in spite of the state he was in, in spite of what he must have
suffered, his excellency had him removed a week after you had treated
him so severely. But your flight is what everyone has been wondering
over. It was thought for three days that M. D---- R----- had
concealed you in his house, and he was openly blamed for doing so.
He had to declare loudly at the general's table that he was in the
most complete ignorance of your whereabouts. His excellency even
expressed his anxiety about your escape, and it was only yesterday
that your place of refuge was made known by a letter addressed by the
priest of this island to the Proto-Papa Bulgari, in which he
complained that an Italian officer had invaded the island of Casopo a
week before, and had committed unheard-of violence. He accused you
of seducing all the girls, and of threatening to shoot him if he
dared to pronounce 'cataramonachia' against you. This letter, which
was read publicly at the evening reception, made the general laugh,
but he ordered me to arrest you all the same."
"Madame Sagredo is the cause of it all."
"True, but she is well punished for it. You ought to call upon her
with me to-morrow."
"To-morrow? Are you then certain that I shall not be placed under
arrest?"
"Yes, for I know that the general is a man of honour."
"I am of the same opinion. Well, let us go on board your felucca.
We will embark together after midnight."
"Why not now?"
"Because I will not run the risk of spending the night on board M.
Foscari's bastarda. I want to reach Corfu by daylight, so as to make
your victory more brilliant."
"But what shall we do for the next eight hours?"
"We will pay a visit to some beauties of a species unknown in Corfu,
and have a good supper."
I ordered my lieutenant to send plenty to eat and to drink to the men
on board the felucca, to prepare a splendid supper, and to spare
nothing, as I should leave the island at midnight. I made him a
present of all my provisions, except such as I wanted to take with
me; these I sent on board. My janissaries, to whom I gave a week's
pay, insisted upon escorting me, fully equipped, as far as the boat,
which made the adjutant laugh all the way.
We reached Corfu by eight o'clock in the morning, and we went
alongside the 'bastarda. The adjutant consigned me to M. Foscari,
assuring me that he would immediately give notice of my arrival to
M. D---- R-----, send my luggage to his house, and report the success
of his expedition to the general.
M. Foscari, the commander of the bastarda, treated me very badly. If
he had been blessed with any delicacy of feeling, he would not have
been in such a hurry to have me put in irons. He might have talked
to me, and have thus delayed for a quarter of an hour that operation
which greatly vexed me. But, without uttering a single word, he sent
me to the 'capo di scalo' who made me sit down, and told me to put my
foot forward to receive the irons, which, however, do not dishonour
anyone in that country, not even the galley slaves, for they are
better treated than soldiers.
My right leg was already in irons, and the left one was in the hands
of the man for the completion of that unpleasant ceremony, when the
adjutant of his excellency came to tell the executioner to set me at
liberty and to return me my sword. I wanted to present my
compliments to the noble M. Foscari, but the adjutant, rather
ashamed, assured me that his excellency did not expect me to do so.
The first thing I did was to pay my respects to the general, without
saying one word to him, but he told me with a serious countenance to
be more prudent for the future, and to learn that a soldier's first
duty was to obey, and above all to be modest and discreet. I
understood perfectly the meaning of the two last words, and acted
accordingly.
When I made my appearance at M. D---- R-----'s, I could see pleasure
on everybody's face. Those moments have always been so dear to me
that I have never forgotten them, they have afforded me consolation
in the time of adversity. If you would relish pleasure you must
endure pain, and delights are in proportion to the privations we have
suffered. M. D---- R----- was so glad to see me that he came up to
me and warmly embraced me. He presented me with a beautiful ring
which he took from his own finger, and told me that I had acted quite
rightly in not letting anyone, and particularly himself, know where I
had taken refuge.
"You can't think," he added, frankly, "how interested Madame F----
was in your fate. She would be really delighted if you called on her
immediately."
How delightful to receive such advice from his own lips! But the
word "immediately" annoyed me, because, having passed the night on
board the felucca, I was afraid that the disorder of my toilet might
injure me in her eyes. Yet I could neither refuse M. D---- R-----,
nor tell him the reason of my refusal, and I bethought myself that I
could make a merit of it in the eyes of Madame F----
I therefore went at once to her house; the goddess was not yet
visible, but her attendant told me to come in, assuring me that her
mistress's bell would soon be heard, and that she would be very sorry
if I did not wait to see her. I spent half an hour with that young
and indiscreet person, who was a very charming girl, and learned from
her many things which caused me great pleasure, and particularly all
that had been said respecting my escape. I found that throughout the
affair my conduct had met with general approbation.
As soon as Madame F---- had seen her maid, she desired me to be shewn
in. The curtains were drawn aside, and I thought I saw Aurora
surrounded with the roses and the pearls of morning. I told her
that, if it had not been for the order I received from M. D---- R----
I would not have presumed to present myself before her in my
travelling costume; and in the most friendly tone she answered that
M. D---- R-----, knowing all the interest she felt in me, had been
quite right to tell me to come, and she assured me that M. D----
R----- had the greatest esteem for me.
"I do not know, madam, how I have deserved such great happiness, for
all I dared aim at was toleration."
"We all admired the control you kept over your feelings when you
refrained from killing that insolent madman on the spot; he would
have been thrown out of the window if he had not beat a hurried
retreat."
"I should certainly have killed him, madam, if you had not been
present."
"A very pretty compliment, but I can hardly believe that you thought
of me in such a moment."
I did not answer, but cast my eyes down, and gave a deep sigh. She
observed my new ring, and in order to change the subject of
conversation she praised M. D---- R----- very highly, as soon as I
had told her how he had offered it to me. She desired me to give her
an account of my life on the island, and I did so, but allowed my
pretty needlewomen to remain under a veil, for I had already learnt
that in this world the truth must often remain untold.
All my adventures amused her much, and she greatly admired my
conduct.
"Would you have the courage," she said, "to repeat all you have just
told me, and exactly in the same terms, before the proveditore-
generale?"
"Most certainly, madam, provided he asked me himself."
"Well, then, prepare to redeem your promise. I want our excellent
general to love you and to become your warmest protector, so as to
shield you against every injustice and to promote your advancement.
Leave it all to me."
Her reception fairly overwhelmed me with happiness, and on leaving
her house I went to Major Maroli to find out the state of my
finances. I was glad to hear that after my escape he had no longer
considered me a partner in the faro bank. I took four hundred
sequins from the cashier, reserving the right to become again a
partner, should circumstances prove at any time favourable.
In the evening I made a careful toilet, and called for the Adjutant
Minolto in order to pay with him a visit to Madame Sagredo, the
general's favourite. With the exception of Madame F---- she was the
greatest beauty of Corfu. My visit surprised her, because, as she
had been the cause of all that had happened, she was very far from
expecting it. She imagined that I had a spite against her. I
undeceived her, speaking to her very candidly, and she treated me
most kindly, inviting me to come now and then to spend the evening at
her house.
But I neither accepted nor refused her amiable invitation, knowing
that Madame F---- disliked her; and how could I be a frequent guest
at her house with such a knowledge! Besides, Madame Sagredo was very
fond of gambling, and, to please her, it was necessary either to lose
or make her win, but to accept such conditions one must be in love
with the lady or wish to make her conquest, and I had not the
slightest idea of either. The Adjutant Minolto never played, but he
had captivated the lady's good graces by his services in the
character of Mercury.
When I returned to the palace I found Madame F---- alone, M. D----
R----- being engaged with his correspondence. She asked me to sit
near her, and to tell her all my adventures in Constantinople. I did
so, and I had no occasion to repent it. My meeting with Yusuf's wife
pleased her extremely, but the bathing scene by moonlight made her
blush with excitement. I veiled as much as I could the too brilliant
colours of my picture, but, if she did not find me clear, she would
oblige me to be more explicit, and if I made myself better understood
by giving to my recital a touch of voluptuousness which I borrowed
from her looks more than from my recollection, she would scold me and
tell me that I might have disguised a little more. I felt that the
way she was talking would give her a liking for me, and I was
satisfied that the man who can give birth to amorous desires is
easily called upon to gratify them it was the reward I was ardently
longing for, and I dared to hope it would be mine, although I could
see it only looming in the distance.
It happened that, on that day, M. D---- R----- had invited a large
company to supper. I had, as a matter of course, to engross all
conversation, and to give the fullest particulars of all that had
taken place from the moment I received the order to place myself
under arrest up to the time of my release from the 'bastarda'.
M. Foscari was seated next to me, and the last part of my narrative
was not, I suppose, particularly agreeable to him.
The account I gave of my adventures pleased everybody, and it was
decided that the proveditore-generale must have the pleasure of
hearing my tale from my own lips. I mentioned that hay was very
plentiful in Casopo, and as that article was very scarce in Corfu,
M. D---- R----- told me that I ought to seize the opportunity of
making myself agreeable to the general by informing him of that
circumstance without delay. I followed his advice the very next day,
and was very well received, for his excellency immediately ordered a
squad of men to go to the island and bring large quantities of hay to
Corfu.
A few days later the Adjutant Minolto came to me in the coffee-house,
and told me that the general wished to see me: this time I promptly
obeyed his commands.
CHAPTER XV
Progress of My Amour--My Journey to Otranto--I Enter the Service of
Madame F.--A Fortunate Excoriation
The room I entered was full of people. His excellency, seeing me,
smiled and drew upon me the attention of all his guests by saying
aloud, "Here comes the young man who is a good judge of princes."
"My lord, I have become a judge of nobility by frequenting the
society of men like you."
"The ladies are curious to know all you have done from the time of
your escape from Corfu up to your return."
"Then you sentence me, monsignor, to make a public confession?"
"Exactly; but, as it is to be a confession, be careful not to omit
the most insignificant circumstance, and suppose that I am not in the
room."
"On the contrary, I wish to receive absolution only from your
excellency. But my history will be a long one."
"If such is the case, your confessor gives you permission to be
seated."
I gave all the particulars of my adventures, with the exception of my
dalliance with the nymphs of the island.
"Your story is a very instructive one," observed the general.
"Yes, my lord, for the adventures shew that a young man is never so
near his utter ruin than when, excited by some great passion, he
finds himself able to minister to it, thanks to the gold in his
purse."
I was preparing to take my leave, when the majordomo came to inform
me that his excellency desired me to remain to supper. I had
therefore the honour of a seat at his table, but not the pleasure of
eating, for I was obliged to answer the questions addressed to me
from all quarters, and I could not contrive to swallow a single
mouthful. I was seated next to the Proto-Papa Bulgari, and I
entreated his pardon for having ridiculed Deldimopulo's oracle. "It
is nothing else but regular cheating," he said, "but it is very
difficult to put a stop to it; it is an old custom."
A short time afterwards, Madame F---- whispered a few words to the
general, who turned to me and said that he would be glad to hear me
relate what had occurred to me in Constantinople with the wife of the
Turk Yusuf, and at another friend's house, where I had seen bathing
by moonlight. I was rather surprised at such an invitation, and told
him that such frolics were not worth listening to, and the general
not pressing me no more was said about it. But I was astonished at
Madame F----'s indiscretion; she had no business to make my
confidences public. I wanted her to be jealous of her own dignity,
which I loved even more than her person.
Two or three days later, she said to me,
"Why did you refuse to tell your adventures in Constantinople before
the general?"
"Because I do not wish everybody to know that you allow me to tell
you such things. What I may dare, madam, to say to you when we are
alone, I would certainly not say to you in public."
"And why not? It seems to me, on the contrary, that if you are
silent in public out of respect for me, you ought to be all the more
silent when we are alone."
"I wanted to amuse you, and have exposed myself to the danger of
displeasing you, but I can assure you, madam, that I will not run
such a risk again."
"I have no wish to pry into your intentions, but it strikes me that
if your wish was to please me, you ought not to have run the risk of
obtaining the opposite result. We take supper with the general this
evening, and M. D---- R----- has been asked to bring you. I feel
certain that the general will ask you again for your adventures in
Constantinople, and this time you cannot refuse him."
M. D---- R----- came in and we went to the general's. I thought as
we were driving along that, although Madame F---- seemed to have
intended to humiliate me, I ought to accept it all as a favour of
fortune, because, by compelling me to explain my refusal to the
general; Madame F---- had, at the same time, compelled me to a
declaration of my feelings, which was not without importance.
The 'proveditore-generale' gave me a friendly welcome, and kindly
handed me a letter which had come with the official dispatches from
Constantinople. I bowed my thanks, and put the letter in my pocket:
but he told me that he was himself a great lover of news, and that I
could read my letter. I opened it; it was from Yusuf, who announced
the death of Count de Bonneval. Hearing the name of the worthy
Yusuf, the general asked me to tell him my adventure with his wife.
I could not now refuse, and I began a story which amused and
interested the general and his friends for an hour or so, but which
was from beginning to end the work of my imagination.
Thus I continued to respect the privacy of Yusuf, to avoid
implicating the good fame of Madame F----, and to shew myself in a
light which was tolerably advantageous to me. My story, which was
full of sentiment, did me a great deal of honour, and I felt very
happy when I saw from the expression of Madame F----'s face that she
was pleased with me, although somewhat surprised.
When we found ourselves again in her house she told me, in the
presence of M. D---- R-----, that the story I had related to the
general was certainly very pretty, although purely imaginary, that
she was not angry with me, because I had amused her, but that she
could not help remarking my obstinacy in refusing compliance with her
wishes. Then, turning to M. D---- R-----, she said,
"M. Casanova pretends that if he had given an account of his meeting
with Yusuf's wife without changing anything everybody would think
that I allowed him to entertain me with indecent stories. I want you
to give your opinion about it. Will you," she added, speaking to me,
"be so good as to relate immediately the adventure in the same words
which you have used when you told me of it?"
"Yes, madam, if you wish me to do so."
Stung to the quick by an indiscretion which, as I did not yet know
women thoroughly, seemed to me without example, I cast all fears of
displeasing to the winds, related the adventure with all the warmth
of an impassioned poet, and without disguising or attenuating in the
least the desires which the charms of the Greek beauty had inspired
me with.
"Do you think," said M. D---- R----- to Madame F-----, "that he ought
to have related that adventure before all our friends as he has just
related it to us?"
"If it be wrong for him to tell it in public, it is also wrong to
tell it to me in private."
"You are the only judge of that: yes, if he has displeased you; no,
if he has amused you. As for my own opinion, here it is: He has just
now amused me very much, but he would have greatly displeased me if
he had related the same adventure in public."
"Then," exclaimed Madame F----, "I must request you never to tell me
in private anything that you cannot repeat in public."
"I promise, madam, to act always according to your wishes."
"It being understood," added M. D---- R-----, smiling, "that madam
reserves all rights of repealing that order whenever she may think
fit."
I was vexed, but I contrived not to show it. A few minutes more, and
we took leave of Madame F----
I was beginning to understand that charming woman, and to dread the
ordeal to which she would subject me. But love was stronger than
fear, and, fortified with hope, I had the courage to endure the
thorns, so as to gather the rose at the end of my sufferings. I was
particularly pleased to find that M. D---- R----- was not jealous of
me, even when she seemed to dare him to it. This was a point of the
greatest importance.
A few days afterwards, as I was entertaining her on various subjects,
she remarked how unfortunate it had been for me to enter the
lazzaretto at Ancona without any money.
"In spite of my distress," I said, "I fell in love with a young and
beautiful Greek slave, who very nearly contrived to make me break
through all the sanitary laws."
"How so?"
"You are alone, madam, and I have not forgotten your orders."
"Is it a very improper story?"
"No: yet I would not relate it to you in public."
"Well," she said, laughing, "I repeal my order, as M. D---- R-----
said I would. Tell me all about it."
I told my story, and, seeing that she was pensive, I exaggerated the
misery I had felt at not being able to complete my conquest.
"What do you mean by your misery? I think that the poor girl was
more to be pitied than you. You have never seen her since?"
"I beg your pardon, madam; I met her again, but I dare not tell you
when or how."
"Now you must go on; it is all nonsense for you to stop. Tell me
all; I expect you have been guilty of some black deed."
"Very far from it, madam, for it was a very sweet, although
incomplete, enjoyment."
"Go on! But do not call things exactly by their names. It is not
necessary to go into details."
Emboldened by the renewal of her order, I told her, without looking
her in the face, of my meeting with the Greek slave in the presence
of Bellino, and of the act which was cut short by the appearance of
her master. When I had finished my story, Madame F---- remained
silent, and I turned the conversation into a different channel, for
though I felt myself on an excellent footing with her, I knew
likewise that I had to proceed with great prudence. She was too
young to have lowered herself before, and she would certainly look
upon a connection with me as a lowering of her dignity.
Fortune which had always smiled upon me in the most hopeless cases,
did not intend to ill-treat me on this occasion, and procured me, on
that very same day, a favour of a very peculiar nature. My charming
ladylove having pricked her finger rather severely, screamed loudly,
and stretched her hand towards me, entreating me to suck the blood
flowing from the wound. You may judge, dear reader, whether I was
long in seizing that beautiful hand, and if you are, or if you have
ever been in love, you will easily guess the manner in which I
performed my delightful work. What is a kiss? Is it not an ardent
desire to inhale a portion of the being we love? Was not the blood I
was sucking from that charming wound a portion of the woman I
worshipped? When I had completed my work, she thanked me
affectionately, and told me to spit out the blood I had sucked.
"It is here," I said, placing my hand on my heart, "and God alone
knows what happiness it has given me."
"You have drunk my blood with happiness! Are you then a cannibal?"
"I believe not, madam; but it would have been sacrilege in my eyes if
I had suffered one single drop of your blood to be lost."
One evening, there was an unusually large attendance at M. D----
R-----'s assembly, and we were talking of the carnival which was near
at hand. Everybody was regretting the lack of actors, and the
impossibility of enjoying the pleasures of the theatre. I
immediately offered to procure a good company at my expense, if the
boxes were at once subscribed for, and the monopoly of the faro bank
granted to me. No time was to be lost, for the carnival was
approaching, and I had to go to Otranto to engage a troop. My
proposal was accepted with great joy, and the proveditore-generale
placed a felucca at my disposal. The boxes were all taken in three
days, and a Jew took the pit, two nights a week excepted, which I
reserved for my own profit.
The carnival being very long that year, I had every chance of
success. It is said generally that the profession of theatrical
manager is difficult, but, if that is the case, I have not found it
so by experience, and am bound to affirm the contrary.
I left Corfu in the evening, and having a good breeze in my favour, I
reached Otranto by day-break the following morning, without the
oarsmen having had to row a stroke. The distance from Corfu to
Otranto is only about fifteen leagues.
I had no idea of landing, owing to the quarantine which is always
enforced for any ship or boat coming to Italy from the east. I only
went to the parlour of the lazaretto, where, placed behind a grating,
you can speak to any person who calls, and who must stand behind
another grating placed opposite, at a distance of six feet.
As soon as I announced that I had come for the purpose of engaging a
troupe of actors to perform in Corfu, the managers of the two
companies then in Otranto came to the parlour to speak to me. I told
them at once that I wished to see all the performers, one company at
a time.
The two rival managers gave me then a very comic scene, each manager
wanting the other to bring his troupe first. The harbour-master told
me that the only way to settle the matter was to say myself which of
the two companies I would see first: one was from Naples, the other
from Sicily. Not knowing either I gave the preference to the first.
Don Fastidio, the manager, was very vexed, while Battipaglia, the
director of the second, was delighted because he hoped that, after
seeing the Neapolitan troupe, I would engage his own.
An hour afterwards, Fastidio returned with all his performers, and my
surprise may be imagined when amongst them I recognized Petronio and
his sister Marina, who, the moment she saw me, screamed for joy,
jumped over the grating, and threw herself in my arms. A terrible
hubbub followed, and high words passed between Fastidio and the
harbour-master. Marina being in the service of Fastidio, the captain
compelled him to confine her to the lazaretto, where she would have
to perform quarantine at his expense. The poor girl cried bitterly,
but I could not remedy her imprudence.
I put a stop to the quarrel by telling Fastidio to shew me all his
people, one after the other. Petronio belonged to his company, and
performed the lovers. He told me that he had a letter for me from
Therese. I was also glad to see a Venetian of my acquaintance who
played the pantaloon in the pantomime, three tolerably pretty
actresses, a pulcinella, and a scaramouch. Altogether, the troupe
was a decent one.
I told Fastidio to name the lowest salary he wanted for all his
company, assuring him that I would give the preference to his rival,
if he should ask me too much.
"Sir," he answered, "we are twenty, and shall require six rooms with
ten beds, one sitting-room for all of us, and thirty Neapolitan
ducats a day, all travelling expenses paid. Here is my stock of
plays, and we will perform those that you may choose."
Thinking of poor Marina who would have to remain in the lazaretto
before she could reappear on the stage at Otranto, I told Fastidio to
get the contract ready, as I wanted to go away immediately.
I had scarcely pronounced these words than war broke out again
between the manager-elect and his unfortunate competitor.
Battipaglia, in his rage, called Marina a harlot, and said that she
had arranged beforehand with Fastidio to violate the rules of the
lazaretto in order to compel me to choose their troupe. Petronio,
taking his sister's part, joined Fastidio, and the unlucky
Battipaglia was dragged outside and treated to a generous dose of
blows and fisticuffs, which was not exactly the thing to console him
for a lost engagement.
Soon afterwards, Petronio brought me Therese's letter. She was
ruining the duke, getting rich accordingly, and waiting for me in
Naples.
Everything being ready towards evening, I left Otranto with twenty
actors, and six large trunks containing their complete wardrobes. A
light breeze which was blowing from the south might have carried us
to Corfu in ten hours, but when we had sailed about one hour my
cayabouchiri informed me that he could see by the moonlight a ship
which might prove to be a corsair, and get hold of us. I was
unwilling to risk anything, so I ordered them to lower the sails and
return to Otranto. At day-break we sailed again with a good westerly
wind, which would also have taken us to Corfu; but after we had gone
two or three hours, the captain pointed out to me a brigantine,
evidently a pirate, for she was shaping her course so as to get to
windward of us. I told him to change the course, and to go by
starboard, to see if the brigantine would follow us, but she
immediately imitated our manoeuvre. I could not go back to Otranto,
and I had no wish to go to Africa, so I ordered the men to shape our
course, so as to land on the coast of Calabria, by hard rowing and at
the nearest point. The sailors, who were frightened to death,
communicated their fears to my comedians, and soon I heard nothing
but weeping and sobbing. Every one of them was calling earnestly
upon some saint, but not one single prayer to God did I hear. The
bewailings of scaramouch, the dull and spiritless despair of
Fastidio, offered a picture which would have made me laugh heartily
if the danger had been imaginary and not real. Marina alone was
cheerful and happy, because she did not realize the danger we were
running, and she laughed at the terror of the crew and of her
companions.
A strong breeze sprang up towards evening, so I ordered them to clap
on all sail and scud before the wind, even if it should get stronger.
In order to escape the pirate, I had made up my mind to cross the
gulf. We took the wind through the night, and in the morning we were
eighty miles from Corfu, which I determined to reach by rowing. We
were in the middle of the gulf, and the sailors were worn out with
fatigue, but I had no longer any fear. A gale began to blow from the
north, and in less than an hour it was blowing so hard that we were
compelled to sail close to the wind in a fearful manner. The felucca
looked every moment as if it must capsize. Every one looked
terrified but kept complete silence, for I had enjoined it on penalty
of death. In spite of our dangerous position, I could not help
laughing when I heard the sobs of the cowardly scaramouch. The
helmsman was a man of great nerve, and the gale being steady I felt
we would reach Corfu without mishap. At day-break we sighted the
town, and at nine in the morning we landed at Mandrachia. Everybody
was surprised to see us arrive that way.
As soon as my company was landed, the young officers naturally came
to inspect the actresses, but they did not find them very desirable,
with the exception of Marina, who received uncomplainingly the news
that I could not renew my acquaintance with her. I felt certain that
she would not lack admirers. But my actresses, who had appeared ugly
at the landing, produced a very different effect on the stage, and
particularly the pantaloon's wife. M. Duodo, commander of a man-of-
war, called upon her, and, finding master pantaloon intolerant on the
subject of his better-half, gave him a few blows with his cane.
Fastidio informed me the next day that the pantaloon and his wife
refused to perform any more, but I made them alter their mind by
giving them a benefit night.
The pantaloon's wife was much applauded, but she felt insulted
because, in the midst of the applause, the pit called out, "Bravo,
Duodo!" She presented herself to the general in his own box, in
which I was generally, and complained of the manner in which she was
treated. The general promised her, in my name, another benefit night
for the close of the carnival, and I was of course compelled to
ratify his promise. The fact is, that, to satisfy the greedy actors,
I abandoned to my comedians, one by one, the seventeen nights I had
reserved for myself. The benefit I gave to Marina was at the special
request of Madame F----, who had taken her into great favour since
she had had the honour of breakfasting alone with M. D---- R---- in a
villa outside of the city.
My generosity cost me four hundred sequins, but the faro bank brought
me a thousand and more, although I never held the cards, my
management of the theatre taking up all my time. My manner with the
actresses gained me great kindness; it was clearly seen that I
carried on no intrigue with any of them, although I had every
facility for doing so. Madame F---- complimented me, saying that she
had not entertained such a good opinion of my discretion. I was too
busy through the carnival to think of love, even of the passion which
filled my heart. It was only at the beginning of Lent, and after the
departure of the comedians, that I could give rein to my feelings.
One morning Madame F---- sent, a messenger who, summoned me to her
presence. It was eleven o'clock; I immediately went to her, and
enquired what I could do for her service.
"I wanted to see you," she said, "to return the two hundred sequins
which you lent me so nobly. Here they are; be good enough to give me
back my note of hand."
"Your note of hand, madam, is no longer in my possession. I have
deposited it in a sealed envelope with the notary who, according to
this receipt of his, can return it only to you."
"Why did you not keep it yourself?"
"Because I was afraid of losing it, or of having it stolen. And in
the event of my death I did not want such a document to fall into any
other hands but yours."
"A great proof of your extreme delicacy, certainly, but I think you
ought to have reserved the right of taking it out of the notary's
custody yourself."
"I did not forsee the possibility of calling for it myself."
"Yet it was a very likely thing. Then I can send word to the notary
to transmit it to me?"
"Certainly, madam; you alone can claim it."
She sent to the notary, who brought the himself.
She tore the envelope open, and found only a piece of paper besmeared
with ink, quite illegible, except her own name, which had not been
touched.
"You have acted," she said, "most nobly; but you must agree with me
that I cannot be certain that this piece of paper is really my note
of hand, although I see my name on it."
"True, madam; and if you are not certain of it, I confess myself in
the wrong."
"I must be certain of it, and I am so; but you must grant that I
could not swear to it."
"Granted, madam."
During the following days it struck me that her manner towards me was
singularly altered. She never received me in her dishabille, and I
had to wait with great patience until her maid had entirely dressed
her before being admitted into her presence.
If I related any story, any adventure, she pretened not to
understand, and affected not to see the point of an anecdote or a
jest; very often she would purposely not look at me, and then I was
sure to relate badly. If M. D---- R----- laughed at something I had
just said, she would ask what he was laughing for, and when he had
told her, she would say it was insipid or dull. If one of her
bracelets became unfastened, I offered to fasten it again, but either
she would not give me so much trouble, or I did not understand the
fastening, and the maid was called to do it. I could not help
shewing my vexation, but she did not seem to take the slightest
notice of it. If M. D---- R----- excited me to say something amusing
or witty, and I did not speak immediately, she would say that my
budget was empty, laughing, and adding that the wit of poor
M. Casanova was worn out. Full of rage, I would plead guilty by my
silence to her taunting accusation, but I was thoroughly miserable,
for I did not see any cause for that extraordinary change in her
feelings, being conscious that I had not given her any motive for it.
I wanted to shew her openly my indifference and contempt, but
whenever an opportunity offered, my courage would forsake me, and I
would let it escape.
One evening M. D---- R----- asking me whether I had often been in
love, I answered,
"Three times, my lord."
"And always happily, of course."
"Always unhappily. The first time, perhaps, because, being an
ecclesiastic, I durst not speak openly of my love. The second,
because a cruel, unexpected event compelled me to leave the woman I
loved at the very moment in which my happiness would have been
complete. The third time, because the feeling of pity, with which I
inspired the beloved object, induced her to cure me of my passion,
instead of crowning my felicity."
"But what specific remedies did she use to effect your cure?"
"She has ceased to be kind."
"I understand she has treated you cruelly, and you call that pity, do
you? You are mistaken."
"Certainly," said Madame F----, "a woman may pity the man she loves,
but she would not think of ill-treating him to cure him of his
passion. That woman has never felt any love for you."
"I cannot, I will not believe it, madam."
"But are you cured?"
"Oh! thoroughly; for when I happen to think of her, I feel nothing
but indifference and coldness. But my recovery was long."
"Your convalescence lasted, I suppose, until you fell in love with
another."
"With another, madam? I thought I had just told you that the third
time I loved was the last."
A few days after that conversation, M. D---- R----- told me that
Madame F---- was not well, that he could not keep her company, and
that I ought to go to her, as he was sure she would be glad to see
me. I obeyed, and told Madame F---- what M. D---- R----- had said.
She was lying on a sofa. Without looking at me, she told me she was
feverish, and would not ask me to remain with her, because I would
feel weary.
"I could not experience any weariness in your society, madam; at all
events, I can leave you only by your express command, and, in that
case, I must spend the next four hours in your ante-room, for M. D---
R----- has told me to wait for him here."
"If so, you may take a seat."
Her cold and distant manner repelled me, but I loved her, and I had
never seen her so beautiful, a slight fever animating her complexion
which was then truly dazzling in its beauty. I kept where I was,
dumb and as motionless as a statue, for a quarter of an hour. Then
she rang for her maid, and asked me to leave her alone for a moment.
I was called back soon after, and she said to me,
"What has become of your cheerfulness?"
"If it has disappeared, madam, it can only be by your will. Call it
back, and you will see it return in full force."
"What must I do to obtain that result?"
"Only be towards me as you were when I returned from Casopo. I have
been disagreeable to you for the last four months, and as I do not
know why, I feel deeply grieved."
"I am always the same: in what do you find me changed?"
"Good heavens! In everything, except in beauty. But I have taken my
decision."
"And what is it?"
"To suffer in silence, without allowing any circumstance to alter the
feelings with which you have inspired me; to wish ardently to
convince you of my perfect obedience to your commands; to be ever
ready to give you fresh proofs of my devotion."
"I thank you, but I cannot imagine what you can have to suffer in
silence on my account. I take an interest in you, and I always
listen with pleasure to your adventures. As a proof of it, I am
extremely curious to hear the history of your three loves."
I invented on the spot three purely imaginary stories, making a great
display of tender sentiments and of ardent love, but without alluding
to amorous enjoyment, particularly when she seemed to expect me to do
so. Sometimes delicacy, sometimes respect or duty, interfered to
prevent the crowning pleasure, and I took care to observe, at such
moments of disappointment, that a true lover does not require that
all important item to feel perfectly happy. I could easily see that
her imagination was travelling farther than my narrative, and that my
reserve was agreeable to her. I believed I knew her nature well
enough to be certain that I was taking the best road to induce her to
follow me where I wished to lead her. She expressed a sentiment
which moved me deeply, but I was careful not to shew it. We were
talking of my third love, of the woman who, out of pity, had
undertaken to cure me, and she remarked,
"If she truly loved you, she may have wished not to cure you, but to
cure herself."
On the day following this partial reconciliation, M. F----, her
husband, begged my commanding officer, D---- R-----, to let me go
with him to Butintro for an excursion of three days, his own adjutant
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