The Complete Memoires of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt
by
Jacques Casanova de Seingalt

Part 53 out of 70



very rich, and my conduct was certainly calculated to favour that
idea.

The day and even the night passed sadly. The next day Pauline
addressed me as follows:

"We must part, dear friend, and try to forget one another, for my
honour obliges me to become the wife of the count as soon as I arrive
in Lisbon. The first fancy of my heart, which you have almost
effaced, will regain all its old force when I see you no longer, and
I am sure I shall love my husband, for he is a goodhearted, honest,
and pleasant young man; that much I know from the few days we lived
together.

"Now I have a favour to ask of you, which I am sure you will grant.
Promise me never to come to Lisbon without my permission. I hope you
will not seek to know my reasons; you would not, I am sure, come to
trouble my peace, for if I sinned I should be unhappy, and you would
not desire that for me. I have dreamed we have lived together as man
and wife, and now we are parted I shall fancy myself a widow about to
undertake another marriage."

I burst into tears, and pressing her to my breast promised I would do
as she wished.

Pauline wrote to her aunt and Oeiras that she would be in Lisbon in
October, and that they should have further news of her when she
reached Spain. She had plenty of money, and bought a carriage and
engaged a maid, and these arrangements took up her time during the
last week she spent with me. I made her promise me to let Clairmont
accompany her as far as Madrid. She was to send me back my faithful
servant when she reached the Spanish capital, but fate had decreed
that I should see his face no more.

The last few days were spent partly in sorrow and partly in delight.
We looked at each other without speaking, and spoke without knowing
what we said. We forgot to eat, and went to bed hoping that love and
anguish would keep us awake, but our exhausted bodies fell into a
heavy sleep, and when we awoke we could only sigh and kiss again.

Pauline allowed me to escort her as far as Calais, and we started on
the 10th of August, only stopping at Dover to embark the carriage on
the packet, and four hours afterwards we disembarked at Calais, and
Pauline, considering her widowhood had begun, begged me to sleep in
another room. She started on the 12th of August, preceded by my poor
Clairmont, and resolved only to travel by daytime.

The analogy between my parting with Pauline and my parting with
Henriette fifteen years before, was exceedingly striking; the two
women were of very similar character, and both were equally
beautiful, though their beauty was of a different kind. Thus I fell
as madly in love with the second as with the first, both being
equally intelligent. The fact that one had more talent and less
prejudices than the other must have been an effect of their different
educations. Pauline had the fine pride of her nation, her mind was a
serious cast, and her religion was more an affair of the heart than
the understanding. She was also a far more ardent mistress than
Henriette. I was successful with both of them because I was rich; if
I had been a poor man I should never have known either of them. I
have half forgotten them, as everything is forgotten in time, but
when I recall them to my memory I find that Henriette made the
profounder impression on me, no doubt because I was twenty-five when
I knew her, while I was thirty-seven in London.

The older I get the more I feel the destructive effects of old age;
and I regret bitterly that I could not discover the secret of
remaining young and happy for ever. Vain regrets! we must finish as
we began, helpless and devoid of sense.

I went back to England the same day, and had a troublesome passage.
Nevertheless, I did not rest at Dover; and as soon as I got to London
I shut myself up with a truly English attack of the spleen, while I
thought of Pauline and strove to forget her. Jarbe put me to bed,
and in the morning, when he came into my room, he made me shudder
with a speech at which I laughed afterwards.

"Sir," said he, "the old woman wants to know whether she is to put up
the notice again."

"The old hag! Does she want me to choke her?"

"Good heavens-no, sir! She is very fond of you, seeing you seemed so
sad, she thought . . . ."

"Go and tell her never to think such things again, and as for you . .
. . ."

"I will do as you wish, sir."

"Then leave me."




by Jacques Casanova de Seingalt






THE MEMOIRS OF JACQUES CASANOVA DE SEINGALT

THE RARE UNABRIDGED LONDON EDITION OF 1894 TRANSLATED BY ARTHUR
MACHEN TO WHICH HAS BEEN ADDED THE CHAPTERS DISCOVERED
BY ARTHUR SYMONS.


MEMOIRS OF JACQUES CASANOVA de SEINGALT 1725-1798
IN LONDON AND MOSCOW, Volume 5c--THE ENGLISH




THE ENGLISH




CHAPTER X

Eccentricity of the English--Castelbajac Count Schwerin--Sophie at
School--My Reception at the Betting Club--The Charpillon


I passed a night which seemed like a never-ending nightmare, and I
got up sad and savage, feeling as if I could kill a man on the
smallest provocation. It seemed as if the house, which I had
hitherto thought so beautiful, was like a millstone about my neck.
I went out in my travelling clothes, and walked into a coffee-house,
where I saw a score of people reading the papers.

I sat down, and, not understanding English, passed my time in gazing
at the goers and comers. I had been there some time when my
attention was attracted by the voice of a man speaking as follows in
French:

"Tommy has committed suicide, and he was wise, for he was in such a
state that he could only expect unhappiness for the rest of his
life."

"You are quite mistaken," said the other, with the greatest
composure. "I was one of his creditors myself, and on making an
inventory of his effects I feel satisfied that he has done a very
foolish and a very childish thing; he might have lived on
comfortably, and not killed himself for fully six months."

At any other time this calculation would have made me laugh, and, as
it was, I felt as if the incident had done me good.

I left the coffee-house without having said a word or spent a penny,
and I went towards the Exchange to get some money. Bosanquet gave me
what I wanted directly, and as I walked out with him I noticed a
curious-looking individual, whose name I asked.

"He's worth a hundred thousand," said the banker.

"And who is that other man over there?"

"He's not worth a ten-pound note."

"But I don't want to hear what they are worth; it's their names I
want."

"I really don't know."

"How can you tell how much they are worth, not knowing their names?"

"Names don't go for anything here. What we want to know about a man
is how much he has got? Besides; what's in a name? Ask me for a
thousand pounds and give me a proper receipt, and you can do it under
the name of Socrates or Attila, for all I care. You will pay me back
my money as Socrates or Attila, and not as Seingalt; that is all."

"But how about signing bills of exchange?"

"That's another thing; I must use the name which the drawer gives
me."

"I don't understand that."

"Well, you see, you are not English, nor are you a business man."

On leaving him I walked towards the park, but wishing to change a
twenty-pound note before going in I went to a fat merchant, an
epicure whose acquaintance I had made at the tavern, and put down the
note on his counter, begging him to cash it for me.

"Come again in an hour," said he, "I have no money by me just now."

"Very good; I will call again when I come from the park."

"Take back your note; you shall give it to me when I hand you the
money."

"Never mind; keep it. I don't doubt your honesty."

"Don't be so foolish. If you left me the note I should certainly
decline to hand over the money, if only for the sake of giving you a
lesson."

"I don't believe you are capable of such dishonesty."

"Nor am I, but when it comes to such a simple thing as putting a bank
note in your pocket, the most honest man in the world would never
dream of having such a thing in his possession without having paid
the money for it, and the least slip of memory might lead to a
dispute in which you would infallibly come off second best."

"I feel the force of your arguments, especially in a town where so
much business is carried on."

When I got into the park I met Martinelli and thanked him for sending
me a copy of the Decameron, while he congratulated me on my re-
appearance in society, and on the young lady of whom I had been the
happy possessor and no doubt the slave.

"My Lord Pembroke has seen her," said he, "and thought her charming."

"What? Where could he have seen her?"

"In a carriage with you driving fast along the Rochester road. It is
three or four days ago."

"Then I may tell you that I was taking her to Calais; I shall never
see her face again."

"Will you let the room again in the same way?"

"No, never again, though the god of love has been propitious to me.
I shall be glad to see you at my house whenever you like to come."

"Shall I send you a note to warn you?"

"Not at all."

We walked on talking about literature, manners, and so forth, in an
aimless way. All at once, as we approached Buckingham House, I saw
five or six persons, relieving nature amidst the bushes, with their
hinder parts facing the passers-by. I thought this a disgusting
piece of indecency, and said as much to Martinelli, adding that the
impudent rascals might at least turn their faces towards the path.

"Not at all," he exclaimed, "for then they might be recognized;
whereas in exposing their posteriors they run no such risk; besides
the sight makes squeamish persons turn away."

"You are right, but you will confess that the whole thing strikes a
stranger as very revolting."

"Yes, there is nothing so ineradicable as national prejudice. You
may have noticed that when an Englishman wants to ease his sluices in
the street, he doesn't run up an alley or turn to the wall like we
do."

"Yes, I have noticed them turning towards the middle of the street,
but if they thus escape the notice of the people in the shops and on
the pavement they are seen by everybody who is driving in a carriage,
and that is as bad."

"The people in the carriages need not look."

"That is true"

We walked on to the Green Park, and met Lord Pembroke on horseback.
He stopped and burst into exclamations on seeing me. As I guessed
the cause of his surprise, I hastened to tell him that I was a free
man once more, to my sorrow, and felt lonely amidst my splendour.

"I feel rather curious about it, and perhaps I may come and keep you
company to-day."

We parted, and reckoning on seeing him at dinner I, went back to tell
my cook that dinner was to be served in the large room. Martinelli
had an engagement and could not come to dinner, but he led me out of
the park by a door with which I was not acquainted, and sent me on my
way.

As we were going along we saw a crowd of people who seemed to be
staring at something. Martinelli went up to the crowd, and then
returned to me, saying,--

"That's a curious sight for you; you can enter it amidst your remarks
on English manners."

"What is it?"

"A man at the point of death from a blow he has received in boxing
with another sturdy fellow."

"Cannot anything be done?"

"There is a surgeon there who would bleed him, if he were allowed."

"Who could prevent him?"

"That's the curious part of it. Two men have betted on his death or
recovery. One says, 'I'll bet twenty guineas he dies,' and the other
says, 'Done.' Number one will not allow the surgeon to bleed him,
for if the man recovered his twenty guineas would be gone."

"Poor man! what pitiless betters!"

"The English are very strange in their betting proclivities; they bet
about everything. There is a Betting Club to which I will introduce
you, if you like."

"Do they speak French there?"

"Most certainly, for it is composed of men of wit and mark."

"What do they do?"

"They talk and argue, and if one man brings forward a proposition
which another denies, and one backs his opinion, the other has to bet
too, on pain of a fine which goes to the common fund."

"Introduce me to this delightful club, by all means; it will make my
fortune, for I shall always take care to be on the right side."

"You had better be careful; they are wary birds."

"But to return to the dying man; what will be done to his
antagonist?"

"His hand will be examined, and if it is found to be just the same as
yours or mine it will be marked, and he will be let go."

"I don't understand that, so kindly explain. How do they recognize a
dangerous hand?"

"If it is found to be marked already, it is a proof that he has
killed his man before and has been marked for it, with the warning,
'Take care not to kill anyone else, for if you do you will be
hanged.'"

"But supposing such a man is attacked?"

"He ought to shew his hand, and then his adversary would let him
alone."

"But if not?"

"Then he is defending himself; and if he kills his man he is
acquitted, provided he can bring witnesses to swear that he was
obliged to fight."

"Since fighting with the fist may cause death, I wonder it is
allowed."

"It is only allowed for a wager. If the combatants do not put one or
more pieces of money on the ground before the fight, and there is a
death, the man is hanged."

"What laws! What manners!"

In such ways I learnt much concerning the manner and customs of this
proud nation, at once so great and so little.

The noble lord came to dinner, and I treated him in a manner to make
him wish to come again. Although there were only the two of us, the
meal lasted a long time, as I was anxious for additional information
on what I had heard in the morning, especially on the Betting Club.
The worthy Pembroke advised me not to have anything to do with it,
unless I made up my mind to keep perfect silence for four or five
weeks.

"But supposing they ask me a question?"

"Evade it."

"Certainly, if I am not in a position to give my opinion; but if I
have an opinion, the powers of Satan could not shut my mouth."

"All the worse for you."

"Are the members knaves?"

"Certainly not. They are noblemen, philosophers, and epicures; but
they are pitiless where a bet is concerned."

"Is the club treasury rich?"

"Far from it; they are all ashamed to pay a fine, and prefer to bet.
Who will introduce you?"

"Martinelli."

"Quite so; through Lord Spencer, who is a member. I would not become
one."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't like argument."

"My taste runs the other way, so I shall try to get in."

"By the way, M. de Seingalt, do you know that you are a very
extraordinary man?"

"For what reason, my lord?"

"You shut yourself up for a whole month with a woman who spent
fourteen months in London without anybody making her acquaintance or
even discovering her nationality. All the amateurs have taken a
lively interest in the affair."

"How did you find out that she spent fourteen months in London?"

"Because several persons saw her in the house of a worthy widow where
she spent the first month. She would never have anything to say to
any advances, but the bill in your window worked wonders."

"Yes, and all the worse for me, for I feel as if I could never love
another woman."

"Oh, that's childish indeed! You will love another woman in a week-
nay, perhaps to-morrow, if you will come and dine with me at my
country house. A perfect French beauty has asked me to dine with
her. I have told some of my friends who are fond of gaming."

"Does the charming Frenchwoman like gaming?"

"No, but her husband does."

"What's his name?"

"He calls himself Count de Castelbajac."

"Ah! Castelbajac?"

"Yes."

"He is a Gascon?"

"Yes."

"Tall, thin, and dark, and marked with the smallpox?

"Exactly! I am delighted to find you know him. You will agree with
me that his wife is very pretty?"

"I really can't say. I knew Castelbajac, as he calls himself, six
years ago, and I never heard he was married. I shall be delighted to
join you, however. I must warn you not to say anything if he seems
not to know me; he may possibly have good reasons for acting in that
manner. Before long I will tell you a story which does not represent
him in a very advantageous manner. I did not know he played. I
shall take care to be on my guard at the Betting Club, and I advise
you, my lord, to be on your guard in the society of Castelbajac."

"I will not forget the warning."

When Pembroke had left me I went to see Madame Cornelis, who had
written a week before to tell me my daughter was ill, and explained
that she had been turned from my doors on two occasions though she
felt certain I was in. To this I replied that I was in love, and so
happy within my own house that I had excluded all strangers, and with
that she had to be contented, but the state in which I found little
Sophie frightened me. She was lying in bed with high fever, she had
grown much thinner, and her eyes seemed to say that she was dying of
grief. Her mother was in despair, for she was passionately fond of
the child, and I thought she would have torn my eyes out when I told
her that if Sophie died she would only have herself to reproach.
Sophie, who was very good-hearted, cried out, "No, no! papa dear;"
and quieted her mother by her caresses.

Nevertheless, I took the mother aside, and told her that the disease
was solely caused by Sophie's dread of her severity.

"In spite of your affection," said I, "you treat her with
insufferable tyranny. Send her to a boardingschool for a couple of
years, and let her associate with girls of good family. Tell her
this evening that she is to go to school, and see if she does not get
better."

"Yes," said she, "but a good boarding-school costs a hundred guineas
a year, including masters."

"If I approve of the school you select I will pay a year in advance."

On my making this offer the woman, who seemed to be living so
luxuriously, but was in reality poverty-stricken, embraced me with
the utmost gratitude.

"Come and tell the news to your daughter now," said she, "I should
like to watch her face when she hears it."

"Certainly."

"My dear Sophie," I said, "your mother agrees with me that if you had
a change of air you would get better, and if you would like to spend
a year or two in a good school I will pay the first year in advance."

"Of course, I will obey my dear mother," said Sophie.

"There is no question of obedience. Would you like to go to school?
Tell me truly."

"But would my mother like me to go?"

"Yes, my child, if it would please you."

"Then, mamma, I should like to go very much."

Her face flushed as she spoke, and I knew that my diagnosis had been
correct. I left her saying I should hope to hear from her soon.

At ten o'clock the next day Jarbe came to ask if I had forgotten my
engagement.

"No," said I, "but it is only ten o'clock."

"Yes, but we have twenty miles to go."

"Twenty miles?"

"Certainly, the house is at St. Albans."

"It's very strange Pembroke never told me; how did you find out the
address?"

"He left it when he went away:"

"Just like an Englishman."

I took a post-chaise, and in three hours I had reached my
destination. The English roads are excellent, and the country offers
a smiling prospect on every side. The vine is lacking, for though
the English soil is fertile it will not bear grapes.

Lord Pembroke's house was not a particularly large one, but twenty
masters and their servants could easily be accommodated in it.

The lady had not yet arrived, so my lord shewed me his gardens, his
fountains, and his magnificent hot-houses; also a cock chained by the
leg, and of a truly ferocious aspect.

"What have we here, my lord?"

"A cock."

"I see it is, but why do you chain it?"

"Because it is savage. It is very amorous, and if it were loose it
would go after the hens, and kill all the cocks on the country-side."

"But why do you condemn him to celibacy?"

"To make him fiercer. Here, this is the list of his conquests."

He gave me a list of his cock's victories, in which he had killed the
other bird; this had happened more than thirty times. He then shewed
me the steel spurs, at the sight of which the cock began to ruffle
and crow. I could not help laughing to see such a martial spirit in
so small an animal. He seemed possessed by the demon of strife, and
lifted now one foot and now the other, as if to beg that his arms
might be put on.

Pembroke then exhibited the helmet, also of steel.

"But with such arms," said I, "he is sure of conquest."

"No; for when he is armed cap-a-pie he will not fight with a
defenceless cock."

"I can't believe it, my lord."

"It's a well-known fact. Here, read this."

He then gave me a piece of paper with this remarkable biped's
pedigree. He could prove his thirty-two quarters more easily than a
good many noblemen, on the father's side, be it understood, for if he
could have proved pure blood on the mother's side as well, Lord
Pembroke would have decorated him with the Order of the Golden Fleece
at least.

"The bird cost me a hundred guineas," said he, "but I would not sell
him for a thousand."

"Has he any offspring?"

"He tries his best, but there are difficulties."

I do not remember whether Lord Pembroke explained what these
difficulties were. Certainly the English offer more peculiarities to
the attentive observer than any other nation.

At last a carriage containing a lady and two gentlemen drove up to
the door. One of the gentlemen was the rascally Castelbajac and the
other was introduced as Count Schwerin, nephew of the famous marshal
of that name who fell on what is commonly called the field of glory.
General Bekw---- an Englishman who was in the service of the King of
Prussia, and was one of Pembroke's guests, received Schwerin
politely, saying that he had seen his uncle die; at this the modest
nephew drew the Order of the Black Eagle from his breast, and shewed
it to us all covered with blood.

"My uncle wore it on the day of his death, and the King of Prussia
allowed me to keep it as a noble memorial of my kinsman."

"Yes," said an Englishman who was present, "but the coat-pocket is
not the place for a thing like that."

Schwerin made as if he did not understand, and this enabled me to
take his measure.

Lord Pembroke took possession of the lady, whom I did not think
worthy of being compared to Pauline. She was paler and shorter, and
utterly deficient in Pauline's noble air; besides, when she smiled it
spoiled her face, and this is a defect in a woman, to whom laughter
should always be becoming.

Lord Pembroke introduced us all to each other, and when he came to me
Castelbajac said he was delighted to see me again, although he might
easily have pretended not to know me under my name of Seingalt.

We had a good English dinner, and afterwards the lady proposed a game
of faro. My lord never played, so the general consented to amuse the
company by holding the bank, and placed a hundred guineas and several
bank notes on the table. There might be a thousand guineas in all.
He then gave twenty counters to each punter, saying that every
counter was worth ten shillings. As I only staked gold against gold
I would not accept them. By the third deal Schwerin had lost his
twenty counters and asked for twenty more; but the banker told him he
must pay for them, and the self-styled field-marshal's nephew lapsed
into silence and played no more.

At the following deal Castelbajac was in the same position as his
friend, and being on my side he begged to be allowed to take ten
pieces.

"You will bring me ill-luck," I said, coldly, warding off his hand;
and he went out to the garden, no doubt to swallow the affront he had
received. The lady said her husband had forgotten his pocketbook.
An hour afterwards the game came to an end, and I took my leave,
after inviting Lord Pembroke and the rest of the company to dine with
me the next day.

I got home at eleven o'clock without meeting any highwaymen as I had
expected, indeed I had put up six guineas in a small purse for their
special use and benefit. I woke up my cook to tell him that the next
day I should have twelve people to dinner, and that I hoped he would
do me honour. I found a letter from Madame Cornelis on my table
telling me that she and her daughter would drive with me on the
following Sunday, and that we could go and see the boarding-school
she had selected.

Next day Lord Pembroke and the fair Frenchwoman were the first to
arrive. They drove in a carriage with two rather uncomfortable
seats, but this discomfort is favourable to love. The Gascon and the
Prussian were the last to come.

We sat down to table at two and left it at four, ail of us well
pleased with the cook, and still more so with the wine merchant; for
though we had emptied forty bottles of wine, not one of us was at all
intoxicated.

After coffee had been served the general invited us all to sup with
him, and Madame Castelbajac begged me to hold a bank. I did not wait
to be pressed but placed a thousand guineas on the table, and as I
had no counters of any kind I warned the company that I would only
play gold against gold, and that I should stop playing whenever I
thought fit.

Before the game began the two counts paid their losses of the day
before to the general in bank notes, which he begged me to change. I
also changed two other notes presented to me by the same gentleman,
and put them all under my snuff-box. Play began. I had no croupier,
so I was obliged to deal slowly and keep an eye on the two counts,
whose method of play was very questionable. At last both of them
were dried up, and Castelbajac gave me a bill of exchange for two
hundred guineas, begging me to discount it for him.

"I know nothing about business," I replied.

An Englishman took the bill, and after a careful examination said he
neither knew the drawer, the accepter, nor the backer.

"I am the backer," said Castelbajac, "and that ought to be enough, I
think."

Everybody laughed, besides myself, and I gave it him back
courteously, saying politely that he could get it discounted on
'Change the next day. He got up in a bad temper, and left the room,
murmuring some insolent expressions. Schwering followed him.

After these two worthy gentlemen had left us, I went on dealing till
the night was far advanced, and then left off, though I was at a
loss. However, the general had a run of luck, and I thought it best
to stop. Before leaving he took me and Lord Pembroke aside, and
begged me to contrive that the two knaves should not come to his
house the followifig day. "For," said he, "if that Gascon were to be
half as insolent to me as he was to you, I should shew him out by the
window."

Pembroke said he would tell the lady of the general's wishes.

"Do you think," said I, "that those four notes of theirs can be
forgeries?"

"It's very possible."

"What would you advise my doing to clear the matter up?"

"I would send them to the bank."

"And if they should be forgeries?"

"I would have patience, or I would arrest the rascals."

The next day I went to the bank myself, and the person to whom I gave
the notes gave me them back, saying, coldly,--

"These notes are bad, sir."

"Be kind enough to examine them closely."

"It's no good, they are evident forgeries. Return them to the person
from whom you got them, and he will be only too glad to cash them."

I was perfectly aware that I could put the two knaves under lock and
key, but I did not want to do so. I went to Lord Pembroke to find
out their address, but he was still in bed, and one of his servants
took me to them. They were surprised to see me. I told them coolly
enough that the four notes were forged, and that I should feel much
obliged if they would give me forty guineas and take their notes
back.

"I haven't got any money," said Castelbajac, "and what you say
astonishes me very much. I can only return them to the persons who
gave them to me, if the are really the same notes that we gave you
yesterday."

At this suggestion the blood rushed to my face, and with a withering
glance and an indignant apostrophe I left them. Lord Pembroke's
servant took me to a magistrate who, having heard my statement on
oath, gave me a paper authorizing me to arrest two counts. I gave
the document to an alderman, who said he would see it was carried
out, and I went home ill pleased with the whole business.

Martinelli was waiting for me; he had come to ask me to give him a
dinner. I told him my story, without adding that the knaves were to
be arrested, and his advice delivered with philosophic calm was to
make an autoda-fe of the four notes. It was very good advice, but I
did not take it.

The worthy Martinelli, thinking to oblige me, told me that he had
arranged with Lord Spencer the day on which I was to be introduced to
the club, but I answered that my fancy for going there was over. I
ought to have treated this learned and distinguished man with more
politeness, but who can sound human weakness to its depths? One
often goes to a wise man for advice which one has not the courage to
follow.

In the evening I went to the general's, and found the self-styled
Countess Castelbajac seated on Lord Pembroke's knees. The supper was
a good one, and passed off pleasantly; the two rascals were not
there, and their absence was not remarked. When we left the table we
went into another room, and played till day-break. I left the board
with a loss of two or three hundred guineas.

I did not wake till late the next morning, and when I did my man told
me that a person wanted to speak to me. I had him shewn in, and as
he only spoke English the negro had to be our interpreter. He was
the chief of the police, and told me that if I would pay for the
journey he would arrest Castelbajac at Dover, for which town he had
started at noon. As to the other he was sure of having him in the
course of the night. I gave him a guinea, and told him it would be
enough to catch the one, and that the other could go where he liked.

The next day was Sunday, the only day on which Madame Cornelis could
go abroad without fear of the bailiff. She came to dine with me, and
brought her daughter, whom the prospect of leaving her mother had
quite cured. The school which Madame Cornelis had chosen was at
Harwich, and we went there after dinner.

The head-mistress was a Catholic, and though she must have been
sixty, she looked keen, witty, and as if she knew the ways of the
world. She had received an introduction from Lady Harrington, and so
welcomed the young lady in the most cordial manner. She had about
fifteen young boarders of thirteen or fourteen years of age. When
she presented Sophie to them as a new companion, they crowded round
her and covered her with caresses. Five or six were perfect angels
of beauty, and two or three were hideously ugly; and such extremes
are more common in England than anywhere else. My daughter was the
smallest of them all, but as far as beauty went she had nothing to
fear by comparison, and her talents placed her on a par with the
eldest, while she responded to their caresses with that ease which
later in life is only acquired with great difficulty.

We went over the house, and all the girls followed us, and those who
could speak French or Italian spoke to me, saying how much they would
love my daughter, while those who could not speak sufficiently well
held off as if ashamed of their ignorance. We saw the bedrooms, the
dining-room, the drawing-room, the harps and the pianos--in fact,
everything, and I decided that Sophie could not be better placid. We
went into the head-mistress's private room, and Madame Cornelis paid
her a hundred guineas in advance, and obtained a receipt. We then
agreed that Sophie should be received as a boarder as soon as she
liked to come, that she was to bring her bed with her, and all the
necessary linen. Madame Cornelis made the final arrangements on the
ensuing Sunday.

Next day the alderman told me that Count Schwerin was a prisoner, and
wanted to speak to me. I declined at first, but as the alderman's
messenger told me, through Jarbe, that the poor devil had not a
farthing in his pocket, I was moved with compassion. As he was
charged with uttering forged notes he had been taken to Newgate, and
was in danger of being hanged.

I followed the magistrate's messenger, and cannot say how the woeful
aspect, the tears and supplications for mercy of the poor wretch,
moved my heart. He swore that Castelbajac had given him the notes,
but he added that he knew where they came from originally, and would
tell me if I would release him.

A little bitterness still remained in my breast, so I told him that
if he knew who forged the notes he could certainly escape the
gallows, but that I should keep him prisoner till I got my money
back. At this threat his tears and supplications began over again
and with renewed force, and telling me that he was in utter poverty
he emptied his pockets one after the other to shew me that he had no
money, and at last offered me the bloodstained badge of his uncle. I
was delighted to be able to relieve him without any appearance of
weakness, and accepted the bauble as a pledge, telling him that he
should have it back on payment of forty pounds.

I wrote out a formal release, and in his presence and in that of the
alderman I burnt the four notes and set him free.

Two days afterwards the so-called countess came to my house, saying
that now Castelbajac and Schewirin were gone, she knew not where to
lay her head. She complained bitterly of Lord Pembroke, who deserted
her after making her give him the clearest proofs of her affection.
By way of consolation I told her that it would be very foolish of him
to have abandoned her before instead of after.

To get rid of her I was obliged to give her the money to pay her
journey to Calais. She told me she did not want to rejoin the
Gascon, who was not really her husband. We shall hear more of these
persons in the course of three years.

Two or three days later an Italian called on me, and gave me a letter
from my friend Baletti, which recommended the bearer, Constantini, a
native of Vicenza, to my good offices. He had come to London on a
matter of importance in which I could help him.

I assured M. Constantini that I was only too happy to do anything to
justify the confidence placed in my by one of my best friends, and he
said that the long journey had almost exhausted his purse; but he
added,--

"I know that my wife lives here, and that she is rich. I shall
easily find out where she lives, and you know that as I am her
husband all that is hers is mine."

"I was not aware of that."

"Then you don't know the laws of this country?"

"Not at all."

"I am sorry to hear it, but such is the case. I am going to her
house, and I shall turn her out of doors with nothing else than the
dress on her back, for the furniture, clothes, jewels, linen-in fact,
all her possessions, belong to me. May I ask you to be with me when
I perform this exploit?"

I was astonished. I asked him if he had told Baletti what he
intended to do.

"You are the first person to whom I have disclosed my intentions."

I could not treat him as a madman, for he did not look like one, and,
concluding that there really might be the law he had alleged, I
replied that I did not feel inclined to join him in his enterprise,
of which I disapproved very strongly, unless his wife had actually
robbed him of what she possessed.

"She has only robbed me of my honour, sir, and she left me, taking
her talents with her. She must have made a great fortune here, and
have I not a right to take it from her, were it only for vengeance
sake?"

"That may be, but I ask you what you would think of me if I agreed to
join you in an undertaking which seems a cruel one to me, however
good your reasons may be. Besides I may know your wife, she may even
be a friend of mine."

"I will tell you her name."

"No, I beg of you not to do so, although I do not know any Madame
Constantini."

"She has changed her name to Calori, and she sings at the
'Haymarket.'"

"I know who she is now. I am sorry you have told me."

"I have no doubt you will keep my secret, and I am now going to find
out where she lives; for that is the principal thing."

He left me weeping, and I pitied him, but at the same time I was
sorry that he had made me the depositary of his secret. A few hours
after I called on Madame Binetti, and she told me the histories of
all the artistes in London. When she came to the Calori she told me
that she had had several lovers out of whom she had made a great
deal, but at present she had no lover, unless it were the violinist
Giardini, with whom she was in love in earnest.

"Where does she come from?"

"From Vicenza."

"Is she married?"

"I don't think so."

I thought no more of this wretched business, but three or four days
later I had a letter from King's Bench Prison. It was from
Constantini. The poor wretch said I was the only friend he had in
London, and that he hoped I would come and see him, were it only to
give him some advice.

I thought it my duty to accede to his request, and I went to the
prison, where I found the poor man in a wretched state, with an old
English attorney, who spoke a little bad Italian, and was known to
me.

Constantini had been arrested the day before on account of several
bills drawn by his wife which had not been taken up. By these bills
she appeared in debt to the amount of a thousand guineas. The
attorney had got the five bills, and he was trying to make some
arrangements with the husband.

I saw at once that the whole thing was a scandalous swindle, for
Madame Binetti had told me that the Calori was very rich. I begged
the attorney to leave me alone with the prisoner, as I wanted to have
some private conversation with him.

"They have arrested me for my wife's debts," said he, "and they tell
me I must pay them because I am her husband."

"It's a trick your wife has played on you; she must have found out
you were in London."

"She saw me through the window."

"Why did you delay putting your project into execution?"

"I meant to carry it out this morning, but how was I to know that she
had debts?"

"Nor has she any debts; these bills are shams. They must have been
ante-dated, for they were really executed yesterday. It's a bad
business, and she may have to pay dearly for it."

"But in the meanwhile I am in prison."

"Never mind, trust to me, I will see you again tomorrow."

This scurvy trick had made me angry, and I made up my mind to take up
the poor man's cause. I went to Bosanquet, who told me that the
device was a very common one in London, but that people had found out
the way to defeat it. Finally, he said that if the prisoner
interested me he would put the case into the hands of a barrister who
would extricate him from his difficulty, and make the wife and the
lover, who had probably helped her, repent of their day's work. I
begged him to act as if my interests were at stake, and promised to
guarantee all expenses.

"That's enough," said he; "don't trouble yourself any more about it."

Same days after Mr. Bosanquet came to tell me that Constantini had
left the prison and England as well, according to what the barrister
who had charge of the case told him.

"Impossible!"

"Not at all. The lover of his wife, foreseeing the storm that was
about to burst over their heads, got round the fellow, and made him
leave the country by means of a sum more or less large."

The affair was over, but it was soon in all the newspapers, garnished
with all the wit imaginable, and Giardini was warmly praised for the
action he had taken.

As for me I was glad enough to have the matter over, but I felt vexed
with Constantini for having fled without giving the lovers a lesson.
I wrote an account of the circumstances to Baletti, and I heard from
Madame Binetti that the Calori had given her husband a hundred
guineas to leave the country. Some years later I saw the Calori at
Prague.

A Flemish officer, the man whom I had helped at Aix-la-Chapelle, had
called on me several times, and had even dined three or four times
with me. I reproached myself for not having been polite enough to
return his call, and when we met in the street, and he reproached me
for not having been to see him, I was obliged to blush. He had his
wife and daughter with him, and some feeling of shame and a good deal
of curiosity made me call on him.

When he saw me he threw his arms about my neck, calling me his
preserver. I was obliged to receive all the compliments which knaves
make to honest men when they hope to take them in. A few moments
after, an old woman and a girl came in, and I was introduced as the
Chevalier de Seingalt, of whom he had spoken so often. The girl,
affecting surprise, said she had known a M. Casanova, who was very
like me. I answered that Casanova was my name as well as Seingalt,
but that I had not the happiness of recollecting her.

"My name was Anspergher when I saw you," she replied, "but now it is
Charpillon; and considering that we only met once, and that I was
only thirteen at the time, I do not wonder at your not recollecting
me. I have been in London with my mother and aunts for the last four
years."

"But where had I the pleasure of speaking to you?"

"At Paris."

"In what part of Paris?"

"In the Bazaar. You were with a charming lady, and you gave me these
buckles" (she shewed me them on her shoes), "and you also did me the
honour to kiss me."

I recollected the circumstance, and the reader will remember that I
was with Madame Baret, the fair stocking-seller.

"Now I remember you," said I; "but I do not recognize your aunt."

"This is the sister of the one you saw, but if you will take tea with
us you will see her."

"Where do you live?"

"In Denmark Street, Soho."




CHAPTER XI

The Charpillon--Dreadful Consequences of My Acquaintance With Her


The name Charpillon reminded me that I was the bearer of a letter for
her, and drawing it from my pocket-book I gave it her, saying that
the document ought to cement our acquaintance.

"What!" she exclaimed, "a letter from the dear ambassador Morosini.
How delighted I am to have it! And you have actually been all these
months in London without giving it me?"

"I confess I am to blame, but, as you see, the note has no address on
it. I am grateful for the chance which has enabled me to discharge
my commission to-day."

"Come and dine with us to-morrow."

"I cannot do so, as I am expecting Lord Pembroke to dinner."

"Will you be alone?"

"I expect so."

"I am glad to hear it; you will see my aunt and myself appearing on
the scene."

"Here is my address; and I shall be delighted if you will come and
see me."

She took the address, and I was surprised to see her smile as she
read it.

"Then you are the Italian," she said, "who put up that notice that
amused all the town?"

"I am."

"They say the joke cost you dear."

"Quite the reverse; it resulted in the greatest happiness."

"But now that the beloved object has left you, I suppose you are
unhappy?"

"I am; but there are sorrows so sweet that they are almost joys."

"Nobody knows who she was, but I suppose you do?"

"Yes."

"Do you make a mystery of it?"

"Surely, and I would rather die than reveal it."

"Ask my aunt if I may take some rooms in your house; but I am afraid
my mother would not let me."

"Why do you want to lodge cheaply?"

"I don't want to lodge cheaply, but I should like to punish the
audacious author of that notice."

"How would you punish me?"

"By making you fall in love with me, and then tormenting you. It
would have amused me immensely."

"Then you think that you can inspire me with love, and at the same
time form the dreadful plan of tyrannising over the victim of your
charms. Such a project is monstrous, and unhappily for us poor men,
you do not look a monster. Nevertheless, I am obliged to you for
your frankness, and I shall be on my guard."

"Then you must take care never to see me, or else all your efforts
will be in vain."

As the Charpillon had laughed merrily through the whole of this
dialogue, I took it all as a jest, but I could not help admiring her
manner, which seemed made for the subjugation of men. But though I
knew it not, the day I made that woman's acquaintance was a luckless
one for me, as my readers will see.

It was towards the end of the month of September, 1763, when I met
the Charpillon, and from that day I began to die. If the lines of
ascent and declination are equal, now, on the first day of November,
1797, I have about four more years of life to reckon on, which will
pass by swiftly, according to the axiom 'Motus in fine velocior'.

The Charpillon, who was well known in London, and I believe is still
alive, was one of those beauties in whom it is difficult to find any
positive fault. Her hair was chestnut coloured, and astonishingly
long and thick, her blue eyes were at once languorous and brilliant,
her skin, faintly tinged with a rosy hue, was of a dazzling
whiteness; she was tall for her age, and seemed likely to become as
tall as Pauline. Her breast was perhaps a little small, but
perfectly shaped, her hands were white and plump, her feet small, and
her gait had something noble and gracious. Her features were of that
exquisite sensibility which gives so much charm to the fair sex, but
nature had given her a beautiful body and a deformed soul. This
siren had formed a design to wreck my happiness even before she knew
me, and as if to add to her triumph she told me as much.

I left Malingan's house not like a man who, fond of the fair sex, is
glad to have made the acquaintance of a beautiful woman, but in a
state of stupefaction that the image of Pauline, which was always
before me, was not strong enough to overcome the influence of a
creature like the Charpillon, whom in my heart I could not help
despising.

I calmed myself by saying that this strong impression was due to
novelty, and by hoping that I should soon be disenchanted.

"She will have no charm," said I, "when I have once possessed her,
and that will not be long in coming." Perhaps the reader will think
that I was too presumptuous, but why should I suppose that there
would be any difficulty? She had asked me to dinner herself, she had
surrendered herself entirely to Morosini, who was not the man to sigh
for long at any woman's feet, and must have paid her, for he was not
young enough nor handsome enough to inspire her with a fancy for him.
Without counting my physical attractions, I had plenty of money, and
I was not afraid of spending it; and so I thought I could count on an
easy victory.

Pembroke had become an intimate friend of mine since my proceedings
with regard to Schwerin. He admired my conduct in not making any
claim on the general for half my loss. He had said we would make a
pleasant day of it together, and when he saw that my table was laid
for four he asked who the other guests were to be. He was extremely
surprised when he heard that they were the Charpillon and her aunt,
and that the girl had invited herself when she heard he was to dine
with me.

"I once took a violent fancy for the little hussy," said he. "It was
one evening when I was at Vauxhall, and I offered her twenty guineas
if she would come and take a little walk with me in a dark alley.
She said she would come if I gave her the money in advance, which I
was fool enough to do. She went with me, but as soon as we were
alone she ran away, and I could not catch her again, though I looked
for her all the evening."

"You ought to have boxed her ears before everybody."

"I should have got into trouble, and people would have laughed at me
besides. I preferred to despise her and the money too. Are you in
love with her?"

"No; but I am curious, as you were."

"Take care! she will do all in her power to entrap you."

She came in and went up to my lord with the most perfect coolness,
and began to chatter away to him without taking any notice of me.
She laughed, joked, and reproached him for not having pursued her at
Vauxhall. Her stratagem, she said, was only meant to excite him the
more.

"Another time," she added, "I shall not escape you."

"Perhaps not, my dear, for another time I shall take care not to pay
in advance."

"Oh, fie! you degrade yourself by talking about paying."

"I suppose I honour you."

"We never talk of such things."

Lord Pembroke laughed at her impertinences, while she made a vigorous
assault on him, for his coolness and indifference piqued her.

She left us soon after dinner, making me promise to dine with her the
day after next.

I passed the next day with the amiable nobleman who initiated me into
the mysteries of the English bagnio, an entertainment which I shall
not describe, for it is well known to all who care to spend six
guineas.

On the day appointed, my evil destiny made me go to the Charpillon's;
the girl introduced me to her mother, whom I at once recollected,
although she had aged and altered since I had seen her.

In the year 1759 a Genevan named Bolome had persuaded me to sell her
jewels to the extent of six thousand francs, and she had paid me in
bills drawn by her and her two sisters on this Bolome, but they were
then known as Anspergher. The Genevan became bankrupt before the
bills were due, and the three sisters disappeared. As may be
imagined, I was surprised to find them in England, and especially to
be introduced to them by the Charpillon, who, knowing nothing of the
affair of the jewels, had not told them that Seingalt was the same as
Casanova, whom they had cheated of six thousand francs.

"I am delighted to see you again," were the first words I addressed
to her.

"I recollect you, sir; that rascal Bolome . . . ."

"We will discuss that subject another time. I see you are ill."

"I have been at death's door, but I am better now. My daughter did
not tell me your proper name."

"Yes, she did. My name is Seingalt as well as Casanova. I was known
by the latter name at Paris when I made your daughter's acquaintance,
though I did not know then that she was your daughter."

Just then the grandmother, whose name was also Anspergher, came in
with the two aunts, and a quarter of an hour later three men arrived,
one of whom was the Chevalier Goudar, whom I had met at Paris. I did
not know the others who were introduced to me under the names of
Rostaing and Caumon. They were three friends of the household, whose
business it was to bring in dupes.

Such was the infamous company in which I found myself, and though I
took its measure directly, yet I did not make my escape, nor did I
resolve never to go to the house again. I was fascinated; I thought
I would be on my guard and be safe, and as I only wanted the daughter
I looked on all else as of little moment.

At table I led the conversation, and thought that my prey would soon
be within my grasp. The only thing which annoyed me was that the
Charpillon, after apologizing for having made me sit down to such a
poor dinner, invited herself and all the company to sup with me on
any day I liked to mention. I could make no opposition, so I begged
her to name the day herself, and she did so, after a consultation
with her worthy friends.

After coffee had been served we played four rubbers of whist, at
which I lost, and at midnight I went away ill pleased with myself,
but with no purpose of amendment, for this sorceress had got me in
her toils.

All the same I had the strength of mind to refrain from seeing her
for two days, and on the third, which was the day appointed for the
cursed supper, she and her aunt paid me a call at nine o'clock in the
morning.

"I have come to breakfast with you, and to discuss a certain
question," said she, in the most engaging manner.

"Will you tell me your business now, or after breakfast?"

"After breakfast; for we must be alone."

We had our breakfast, and then the aunt went into another room, and
the Charpillon, after describing the monetary situation of the
family, told me that it would be much relieved if her aunt could
obtain a hundred guineas.

"What would she do with the money?"

"She would make the Balm of Life, of which she possesses the secret,
and no doubt she would make her fortune, too."

She then began to dilate on the marvellous properties of the balm, on
its probable success in a town like London, and on the benefits which
would accrue to myself, for of course I should share in the profits.
She added that her mother and aunt would give me a written promise to
repay the money in the course of six years.

"I will give you a decided answer after supper."

I then began to caress her, and to make assaults in the style of an
amorous man, but it was all in vain, though I succeeded in stretching
her on a large sofa. She made her escape, however, and ran to her
aunt, while I followed her, feeling obliged to laugh as she did. She
gave me her hand, and said,--

"Farewell, till this evening."

When they were gone, I reflected over what had passed and thought
this first scene of no bad augury. I saw that I should get nothing
out of her without spending a hundred guineas, and I determined not
to attempt to bargain, but I would let her understand that she must
make up her mind not to play prude. The game was in my hands, and
all I had to do was to take care not to be duped.

In the evening the company arrived, and the girl asked me to hold a
bank till supper was ready; but I declined, with a burst of laughter
that seemed to puzzle her.

"At least, let us have a game of whist," said she.

"It seems to me," I answered, "that you don't feel very anxious to
hear my reply."

"You have made up your mind, I suppose?"

"I have, follow me."

She followed me into an adjoining room, and after she had seated
herself on a sofa, I told her that the hundred guineas were at her
disposal.

"Then please to give the money to my aunt, otherwise these gentlemen
might think I got it from you by some improper means."

"I will do so."

I tried to get possession of her, but in vain; and I ceased my
endeavours when she said,--

"You will get nothing from me either by money or violence; but you
can hope for all when I find you really nice and quiet."

I re-entered the drawing-room, and feeling my blood boiling I began
to play to quiet myself. She was as gay as ever, but her gaiety
tired me. At supper I had her on my right hand, but the hundred
impertinences which, under other circumstances, would have amused me,
only wearied me, after the two rebuffs I had received from her.

After supper, just as they were going, she took me aside, and told me
that if I wanted to hand over the hundred guineas she would tell her
aunt to go with me into the next room.

"As documents have to be executed," I replied, "it will take some
time; we will talk of it again.

"Won't you fix the time?"

I drew out my purse full of gold, and shewed it her, saying,--

"The time depends entirely on you."

When my hateful guests were gone, I began to reflect, and came to the
conclusion that this young adventuress had determined to plunder me
without giving me anything in return. I determined to have nothing
more to do with her, but I could not get her beauty out of my mind.

I felt I wanted some distraction, something that would give me new
aims and make me forget her. With this idea I went to see my
daughter, taking with me an immense bag of sweets.

As soon as I was in the midst of the little flock, the delight became
general, Sophie distributing the sweetmeats to her friends, who
received them gratefully.

I spent a happy day, and for a week or two I paid several visits to
Harwich. The mistress treated me with the utmost politeness and my
daughter with boundless affection, always calling me "dear papa."

In less than three weeks I congratulated myself on having forgotten
the Charpillon, and on having replaced her by innocent amours, though
one of my daughter's schoolmates pleased me rather too much for my
peace of mind.

Such was my condition when one morning the favourite aunt of the
Charpillon paid me a call, and said that they were all mystified at
not having seen me since the supper I had given them, especially
herself, as her niece had given her to understand that I would
furnish her with the means of making the Balm of Life.

"Certainly; I would have given you the hundred guineas if your niece
had treated me as a friend, but she refused me favours a vestal might
have granted, and you must be aware that she is by no means a
vestal."

"Don't mind my laughing. My niece is an innocent, giddy girl; she
loves you, but she is afraid you have only a passing whim for her.
She is in bed now with a bad cold, and if you will come and see her I
am sure you will be satisfied."

These artful remarks, which had no doubt been prepared in advance,
ought to have aroused all my scorn, but instead of that they awakened
the most violent desires. I laughed in chorus with the old woman,
and asked what would be the best time to call.

"Come now, and give one knock."

"Very good, then you may expect me shortly."

I congratulated myself on being on the verge of success, for after
the explanation I had had with the aunt, and having, as I thought, a
friend in her, I did not doubt that I should succeed.

I put on my great coat, and in less than a quarter of an hour I
knocked at their door. The aunt opened to me, and said,--

"Come back in a quarter of an hour; she has been ordered a bath, and
is just going to take it."

"This is another imposture. You're as bad a liar as she is."

"You are cruel and unjust, and if you will promise to be discreet, I
will take you up to the third floor where she is bathing."

"Very good; take me." She went upstairs, I following on tiptoe, and
pushed me into a room, and shut the door upon me. The Charpillon was
in a huge bath, with her head towards the door, and the infernal
coquette, pretending to think it was her aunt, did not move, and
said,--

"Give me the towels, aunt."

She was in the most seductive posture, and I had the pleasure of
gazing on her exquisite proportions, hardly veiled by the water.

When she caught sight of me, or rather pretended to do so, she gave a
shriek, huddled her limbs together, and said, with affected anger,--

"Begone!"

"You needn't exert your voice, for I am not going to be duped."

"Begone!"

"Not so, give me a little time to collect myself."

"I tell you, go!"

"Calm yourself, and don't be afraid of my skewing you any violence;
that would suit your game too well."

"My aunt shall pay dearly for this."

"She will find me her friend. I won't touch you, so shew me a little
more of your charms."

"More of my charms?"

"Yes; put yourself as you were when I came in."

"Certainly not. Leave the room."

"I have told you I am not going, and that you need not fear for your
. . . well, for your virginity, we will say."

She then shewed me a picture more seductive than the first, and
pretending kindliness, said,--

"Please, leave me; I will not fail to shew my gratitude."

Seeing that she got nothing, that I refrained from touching her, and
that the fire she had kindled was in a fair way to be put out, she
turned her back to me to give me to understand that it was no
pleasure to her to look at me. However, my passions were running
high, and I had to have recourse to self-abuse to calm my senses, and
was glad to find myself relieved, as this proved to me that the
desire went no deeper than the senses.

The aunt came in just as I had finished, and I went out without a
word, well pleased to find myself despising a character wherein
profit and loss usurped the place of feeling.

The aunt came to me as I was going out of the house, and after
enquiring if I were satisfied begged me to come into the parlour.

"Yes," said I, "I am perfectly satisfied to know you and your niece.
Here is the reward."

With these words I drew a bank-note for a hundred pounds from my
pocket-book, and was foolish enough to give it her, telling her that
she could make her balm, and need not trouble to give me any document
as I knew if would be of no value. I had not the strength to go away
without giving her anything, and the procuress was sharp enough to
know it.

When I got home I reflected on what had happened, and pronounced
myself the conqueror with great triumph. I felt well at ease, and
felt sure that I should never set foot in that house again. There
were seven of them altogether, including servants, and the need of
subsisting made them do anything for a living; and when they found
themselves obliged to make use of men, they summoned the three
rascals I have named, who were equally dependent on them.

Five or six days afterwards, I met the little hussy at Vauxhall in
company with Goudar. I avoided her at first, but she came up to me
reproaching me for my rudeness. I replied coolly enough, but
affecting not to notice my manner, she asked me to come into an
arbour with her and take a cup of tea.

"No, thank you," I replied, "I prefer supper."

"Then I will take some too, and you will give it me, won't you, just
to shew that you bear no malice?"

I ordered supper for four and we sat down together as if we had been
intimate friends.

Her charming conversation combined with her beauty gradually drew me
under her charm, and as the drink began to exercise its influence
over me, I proposed a turn in one of the dark walks, expressing a
hope that I should fare better than Lord Pembroke. She said gently,
and with an appearance of sincerity that deceived me, that she wanted
to be mine, but by day and on the condition that I would come and see
her every day.

"I will do so, but first give me one little proof of your love."

"Most certainly not."

I got up to pay the bill, and then I left without a word, refusing to
take her home. I went home by myself and went to bed.

The first thought when I awoke was that I was glad she had not taken
me at my word; I felt very strongly that it was to my interest to
break off all connection between that creature and myself. I felt
the strength of her influence over me, and that my only way was to
keep away from her, or to renounce all pretension to the possession
of her charms.

The latter plan seemed to me impossible, so I determined to adhere to
the first; but the wretched woman had resolved to defeat all my
plans. The manner in which she succeeded must have been the result
of a council of the whole society.

A few days after the Vauxhall supper Goudar called on me, and began
by congratulating me on my resolution not to visit the Ansperghers
any more, "for," said he, "the girl would have made you more and more
in love with her, and in the end she would have seduced you to
beggary."

"You must think me a great fool. If I had found her kind I should
have been grateful, but without squandering all my money; and if she
had been cruel, instead of ridiculous, I might have given her what I
have already given her every day, without reducing myself to
beggary."

"I congratulate you; it shews that you are well off. But have you
made up your mind not to see her again?"

"Certainly."

"Then you are not in love with her?"

"I have been in love, but I am so no longer; and in a few days she
will have passed completely out of my memory. I had almost forgotten
her when I met her with you at Vauxhall."

"You are not cured. The way to be cured of an amour does not lie in
flight, when the two parties live in the same town. Meetings will
happen, and all the trouble has to be taken over again."

"Then do you know a better way?"

"Certainly; you should satiate yourself. It is quite possible that
the creature is not in love with you, but you are rich and she has
nothing. You might have had her for so much, and you could have left
her when you found her to be unworthy of your constancy. You must
know what kind of a woman she is."

"I should have tried this method gladly, but I found her out."

"You could have got the best of her, though, if you had gone to work
in the proper way. You should never have paid in advance. I know
everything."

"What do you mean?"

"I know she has cost you a hundred guineas, and that you have not won
so much as a kiss from her. Why, my dear sir, you might have had her
comfortably in your own bed for as much! She boasts that she took
you in, though you pride yourself on your craft."

"It was an act of charity towards her aunt."

"Yes, to make her Balm of Life; but you know if it had not been for
the niece the aunt would never have had the money."

"Perhaps not, but how come you who are of their party to be talking
to me in this fashion?"

"I swear to you I only speak out of friendship for you, and I will
tell you how I came to make the acquaintance of the girl, her mother,
her grandmother and her two aunts, and then you will no longer
consider me as of their party.

"Sixteen months ago I saw M. Morosini walking about Vauxhall by
himself. He had just come to England to congratulate the king on his
accession to the throne, on behalf of the Republic of Venice. I saw
how enchanted he was with the London beauties, and I went up to him
and told him that all these beauties were at his service. This made
him laugh, and on my repeating that it was not a jest he pointed out
one of the girls, and asked if she would be at his service. I did
not know her, so I asked him to wait awhile, and I would bring him
the information he required. There was no time to be lost, and I
could see that the girl was not a vestal virgin, so I went up to her
and told her that the Venetian ambassador was amorous of her, and
that I would take her to him if she would receive his visits. The
aunt said that a nobleman of such an exalted rank could only bring
honour to her niece. I took their address, and on my way back to the
ambassador I met a friend of mine who is learned in such commodities,
and after I had shewed him the address he told me it was the
Charpillon."

"And it was she?"

"It was. My friend told me she was a young Swiss girl who was not
yet in the general market, but who would soon be there, as she was
not rich, and had a numerous train to support.

"I rejoined the Venetian, and told him that his business was done,
and asked him at what time I should introduce him the next day,
warning him that as she had a mother and aunts she would not be
alone.

"'I am glad to hear it,' said he, 'and also that she is not a common
woman.' He gave me an appointment for the next day, and we parted.

"I told the ladies at what hour I should have the pleasure of
introducing the great man to them, and after warning them that they
must appear not to know him I went home.

"The following day I called on M. de Morosini, and took him to
Denmark Street incognito. We spent an hour in conversation, and then
went away without anything being settled. On the way back the
ambassador told me that he should like to have the girl on conditions
which he would give me in writing at his residence.

"These conditions were that she should live in a furnished house free
of rent, without any companion, and without receiving any visitors.
His excellency would give her fifty guineas a month, and pay for
supper whenever he came and spent the night with her. He told me to
get the house if his conditions were received. The mother was to
sign the agreement.

"The ambassador was in a hurry, and in three days the agreement was
signed; but I obtained a document from the mother promising to let me
have the girl for one night as soon as the Venetian had gone; it was
known he was only stopping in London for a year."

Goudar extracted the document in question from his pocket, and gave
it to me. I read it and re-read it with as much surprise as
pleasure, and he then proceeded with his story.

"When the ambassador had gone, the Charpillon, finding herself at
liberty once more, had Lord Baltimore, Lord Grosvenor, and M. de Saa,
the Portuguese ambassador, in turn, but no titular lover. I insisted
on having my night with her according to agreement, but both mother
and daughter laughed at me when I spoke of it. I cannot arrest her,
because she is a minor, but I will have the mother imprisoned on the
first opportunity, and you will see how the town will laugh. Now you
know why I go to their house; and I assure you you are wrong if you
think I have any part in their councils. Nevertheless, I know they
are discussing how they may catch you, and they will do so if you do
not take care."

"Tell the mother that I have another hundred guineas at her service
if she will let me have her daughter for a single night."

"Do you mean that?"

"Assuredly, but I am not going to pay in advance."

"That's the only way not to be duped. I shall be glad to execute
your commission."

I kept the rogue to dinner, thinking he might be useful to me. He
knew everything and everybody, and told me a number of amusing
ancedotes. Although a good-for-nothing fellow, he had his merits.
He had written several works, which, though badly constructed, shewed
he was a man of some wit. He was then writing his "Chinese Spy," and
every day he wrote five or six news-letters from the various coffee-
houses he frequented. I wrote one or two letters for him, with which
he was much pleased. The reader will see how I met him again at
Naples some years later.

The next morning, what was my surprise to see the Charpillon, who
said with an air that I should have taken for modesty in any other
woman,--

"I don't want you to give me any breakfast, I want an explanation,
and to introduce Miss Lorenzi to you."

I bowed to her and to her companion, and then said,--

"What explanation do you require?"

At this, Miss Lorenzi, whom I had never seen before, thought proper
to leave us, and I told my man that I was not at home to anybody. I
ordered breakfast to be served to the companion of the nymph, that
she might not find the waiting tedious.

"Sir," said the Charpillon, "is it a fact that you charged the
Chevalier Goudar to tell my mother that you would give a hundred
guineas to spend the night with me?"

"No, not to spend a night with you, but after I had passed it. Isn't
the price enough?"

"No jesting, sir, if you please. There is no question of bargaining;
all I want to know is whether you think you have a right to insult
me, and that I am going to bear it?"

"If you think yourself insulted, I may, perhaps, confess I was wrong;
but I confess I did not think I should have to listen to any
reproaches from you. Gondar is one of your intimate friends, and
this is not the first proposal he has taken to you. I could not
address you directly, as I know your arts only too well."

"I shall not pay any attention to your abuse of my self; I will only
remind you of what I said 'that neither money nor violence were of
any use,' and that your only way was to make me in love with you by
gentle means. Shew me where I have broken my word! It is you that
have foresworn yourself in coming into my bath-room, and in sending
such a brutal message to my mother. No one but a rascal like Goudar
would have dared to take such a message."

"Goudar a rascal, is he? Well, he is your best friend. You know he
is in love with you, and that he only got you for the ambassador in
the hope of enjoying you himself. The document in his possession
proves that you have behaved badly towards him. You are in his debt,
discharge it, and then call him a rascal if you have the conscience
to do so. You need not trouble to weep, for I knew the source of
those tears; it is defiled."

"You know nothing of it. I love you, and it is hard to have you
treat me so."

"You love me? You have not taken the best way to prove it!"

"As good a way as yours. You have behaved to me as if I were the
vilest of prostitutes, and yesterday you seemed to think I was a
brute beast, the slave of my mother. You should have written to me
in person, and without the intervention of so vile an agent; I should
have replied in the same way, and you need not have been afraid that
you would be deceived."

"Supposing I had written, what would your answer have been?"

"I should have put all money matters out of question. I should have
promised to content you on the condition that you would come and
court me for a fortnight without demanding the slightest favour. We
should have lived a pleasant life; we should have gone to the theatre
and to the parks. I should have become madly in love with you. Then
I should have given myself up to you for love, and nothing but love.
I am ashamed to say that hitherto I have only given myself out of
mere complaisance. Unhappy woman that I am! but I think nature meant
me to love, and I thought when I saw you that my happy star had sent
you to England that I might know the bliss of true affection.
Instead of this you have only made me unhappy. You are the first man
that has seen me weep; you have troubled my peace at home, for my
mother shall never have the sum you promised her were it for nothing
but a kiss."

"I am sorry to have injured you, though I did not intend to do so;
but I really don't know what I can do."

"Come and see us, and keep your money, which I despise. If you love
me, come and conquer me like a reasonable and not a brutal lover; and
I will help you, for now you cannot doubt that I love you."

All this seemed so natural to me that I never dreamed it contained a
trap. I was caught, and I promised to do what she wished, but only
for a fortnight. She confirmed her promise, and her countenance
became once more serene and calm. The Charpillon was a born actress.

She got up to go, and on my begging a kiss as a pledge of our
reconciliation she replied, with a smile, the charm of which she well
knew, that it would not do to begin by breaking the term of our
agreement, and she left me more in love than ever, and full of
repentance for my conduct.




CHAPTER XII

Goudar's Chair

If she had written all this to me instead of coming and delivering it
viva voce, it would probably have produced no effect; there would
have been no tears, no ravishing features. She probably calculated
all this, for women have a wonderful instinct in these matters.

That very evening I began my visits, and judged from my welcome that
my triumph was nigh at hand. But love fills our minds with idle
visions, and draws a veil over the truth.

The fortnight went by without my even kissing her hand, and every
time I came I brought some expensive gift, which seemed cheap to me
when I obtained such smiles of gratitude in exchange. Besides these
presents, not a day passed without some excursion to the country or
party at the theatre; that fortnight must have cost me four hundred
guineas at the least.

At last it came to an end, and I asked her in the presence of her
mother where she would spend the night with me, there or at my house.
The mother said that we would settle it after supper, and I made no
objection, not liking to tell her that in my house the supper would
be more succulent, and a better prelude for the kind of exercise I
expected to enjoy.

When we had supped the mother took me aside, and asked me to leave
with the company and then to come back. I obeyed, laughing to myself
at this foolish mystery, and when I came back I found the mother and
the daughter in the parlour, in which a bed had been laid on the
floor.

Though I did not much care for this arrangement, I was too amorous to
raise any objection at a moment when I thought my triumph was at
hand; but I was astonished when the mother asked me if I would like
to pay the hundred guineas in advance.

"Oh, fie!" exclaimed the girl; and her mother left the room, and we
locked the door.

My amorous feelings, so long pent up within my breast, would soon
find relief. I approached her with open arms; but she avoided my
caress, and gently begged me to get into bed while she prepared to
follow me. I watched her undress with delight, but when she had
finished she put out the candles. I complained of this act of hers,
but she said she could not sleep with the light shining on her. I
began to suspect that I might have some difficulties thrown in my way
to sharpen the pleasure, but I determined to be resigned and to
overcome them all.

When I felt her in the bed I tried to clasp her in my arms, but found
that she had wrapped herself up in her long night-gown; her arms were
crossed, and her head buried in her chest. I entreated, scolded,
cursed, but all in vain; she let me go on, and answered not a word.

At first I thought it was a joke, but I soon found out my mistake;
the veil fell from my eyes and I saw myself in my true colours, the
degraded dupe of a vile prostitute.

Love easily becomes fury. I began to handle her roughly, but she
resisted and did not speak. I tore her night-gown to rags, but I
could not tear it entirely off her. My rage grew terrible, my hands
became talons, and I treated her with the utmost cruelty; but all for
nothing. At last, with my hand on her throat, I felt tempted to
strangle her; and then I knew it was time for me to go.

It was a dreadful night. I spoke to this monster of a woman in every
manner and tone-with gentleness, with argument, rage, remonstrance,
prayers, tears, and abuse, but she resisted me for three hours
without abandoning her painful position, in spite of the torments I
made her endure.

At three o'clock in the morning, feeling my mind and body in a state
of exhaustion, I got up and dressed myself by my sense of touch. I
opened the parlour door, and finding the street door locked I shook
it till a servant came and let me out. I went home and got into bed,
but excited nature refused me the sleep I needed so. I took a cup of
chocolate, but it would not stay on my stomach, and soon after a
shivering fit warned me that I was feverish. I continued to be ill
till the next day, and then the fever left me in a state of complete
exhaustion.

As I was obliged to keep to my bed for a few days, I knew that I
should soon get my health again; but my chief consolation was that at
last I was cured. My shame had made me hate myself.

When I felt the fever coming on I told my man not to let anybody come
to see me, and to place all my letters in my desk; for I wanted to be
perfectly well before I troubled myself with anything.

On the fourth day I was better, and I told Jarbe to give me my
letters. I found one from Pauline, dated from Madrid, in which she
informed me that Clairmont had saved her life while they were fording
a river, and she had determined to keep him till she got to Lisbon,
and would then send him back by sea. I congratulated myself at the
time on her resolve; but it was a fatal one for Clairmont, and
indirectly for me also. Four months after, I heard that the ship in
which he had sailed had been wrecked, and as I never heard from him
again I could only conclude that my faithful servant had perished
amidst the waves.

Amongst my London letters I found two from the infamous mother of the
infamous Charpillon, and one from the girl herself. The first of the
mother's letters, written before I was ill, told me that her daughter
was ill in bed, covered with bruises from the blows I had given her,
so that she would be obliged to institute legal proceedings against
me. In the second letter she said she had heard I too was ill, and
that she was sorry to hear it, her daughter having informed her that
I had some reason for my anger; however, she would not fail to
justify herself on the first opportunity. The Charpillon said in her
letter that she knew she had done wrong, and that she wondered I had
not killed her when I took her by the throat. She added that no
doubt I had made up my mind to visit her no more, but she hoped I
would allow her one interview as she had an important communication
to make to me. There was also a note from Goudar, saying that he
wanted to speak to me, and that he would come at noon. I gave orders
that he should be admitted.

This curious individual began by astonishing me; he told me the whole
story of what had taken place, the mother having been his informant.

"The Charpillon," he added, "has not got a fever, but is covered with
bruises. What grieves the old woman most is that she has not got the
hundred guineas."

"She would have had them the next morning," I said, "if her daughter
had been tractable."

"Her mother had made her swear that she would not be tractable, and
you need not hope to possess her without the mother's consent."

"Why won't she consent?"

"Because she thinks that you will abandon the girl as soon as you
have enjoyed her."

"Possibly, but she would have received many valuable presents, and
now she is abandoned and has nothing."

"Have you made up your mind not to have anything more to do with
her?"

"Quite."

"That's your wisest plan, and I advise you to keep to it,
nevertheless I want to shew you something which will surprise you. I
will be back in a moment."

He returned, followed by a porter, who carried up an arm-chair
covered with a cloth. As soon as we were alone, Goudar took off the
covering and asked me if I would buy it.

"What should I do with it? It is not a very attractive piece of
furniture."

"Nevertheless, the price of it is a hundred guineas."

"I would not give three."

"This arm-chair has five springs, which come into play all at once as
soon as anyone sits down in it. Two springs catch the two arms and
hold them tightly, two others separate the legs, and the fifth lifts
up the seat."

After this description Goudar sat down quite naturally in the chair
and the springs came into play and forced him into the position of a
woman in labour.

"Get the fair Charpillon to sit in this chair," said he, "and your
business is done."

I could not help laughing at the contrivance, which struck me as at
once ingenious and diabolical, but I could not make up my mind to
avail myself of it.

"I won't buy it," said I, "but I shall be obliged if you will leave
it here till to-morrow."

"I can't leave it here an hour unless you will buy it; the owner is
waiting close by to hear your answer."

"Then take it away and come back to dinner."

He shewed me how I was to release him from his ridiculous position,
and then after covering it up again he called the porter and went
away.

There could be no doubt as to the action of the machinery, and it was
no feeling of avarice which hindered me from buying the chair. As I
have said, it seemed rather a diabolical idea, and besides it might
easily have sent me to the gallows. Furthermore, I should never have
had the strength of mind to enjoy the Charpillon forcibly, especially
by means of the wonderful chair, the mechanism of which would have
frightened her out of her wits.

At dinner I told Goudar that the Charpillon had demanded an


 


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