Volume I Part 14 (2/2)
”Well, that is their business”
I spent the night with Nanette and Marton, and on the followingbeen taken off, I took possession of ador', and M Rosa summoned hiainst him a writ of 'capias' in case he should not obey the second su me to call upon him I went immediately As soon as I was in his presence he enquired abruptly what my intentions were
”I intend to shi+eld s under the protection of the law, and to defend ht never to have had any connection, and who has coht in a disreputable place”
”In a disreputable place?”
”Of course Why was I, against all right and justice, prevented fro?”
”You have possession of it now But you s against Razetta, who has done nothing but under my instructions I suspected that your intention was to sell the rest of the furniture; I have prevented it There is a room at your disposal at St Chrysostom's, in a house of mine, the first floor of which is occupied by La Tintoretta, our first opera dancer Send all your things there, and come and dine with me every day Your sister and your brothers have been provided with a coed for the best”
I called at once upon M Rosa, to who to give way to M Griement offered the best satisfaction I could obtain, as to be a guest at his dinner table was an honour forunder the sa to a certain Prince of Waldeck as extravagantly generous with her
The bishop was expected in the course of the summer; I had, therefore, only sixthe road which would leadin the future assuination revelled ast the most radiant beams of sunshi+ne; my castles in the air were indeed most beautiful
I dined the same day with M Grimani, and I found hbour, but I took no notice of him When the meal was over, I paid a last visit to my beautiful house in Saint-Saondola to nora Tintoretta, but I ell acquainted with her reputation, character and manners She was but a poor dancer, neither handsome nor plain, but a woreat deal for her, and yet he did not prevent her fro the titulary protection of a noble Venetian of the Lin fae, as her visitor at every hour of the day This noble, with the cohted to have me in her house, and would be pleased to receive me in her inti been the first to pay nora, I told M Lin that I did not know she was hbour, that M
Grimani had not mentioned the circumstance, otherwise I would have paidAfter this apology I followed the ambassador, he presented me to his mistress, and the acquaintance was love before giving me her hand to kiss, ers ere present, and whose naave me, and invited me to take a seat near her As she was a native of Venice, I thought it was absurd for her to speak French to e, and would feel grateful if she would converse in Italian She was surprised at ure in her drawing-rooe there, because she received a great ners I pro the evening; I was introduced to hiave me a very friendly welco the carnival he chewed old snuffbox as a reward for a very poor sonnet which I had written for his dear Grizellini This was her family name; she was called Tintoretta because her father had been a dyer
The Tintoretta had greater claims than Juliette to the admiration of sensible men She loved poetry, and if it had not been that I was expecting the bishop, I would have fallen in love with her She was herself shelini, who died in the priret I shall have to mention him in another part of my Memoirs
Towards the end of the carnival, reat shame if the bishop found me under the roof of an opera dancer, and he e me in a respectable and decent place He took the Abbe Tosello into consultation, and the two gentle they could do for ed everything unknown to me, and the abbe undertook to inforracious consent But when I heard him speak with beautiful flowers of rhetoric for the purpose of gilding the bitter pill, I could not help bursting into a joyous laughter, and I astounded his reverence when I expressed ht to send entlee of seventeen, and with a nature like ht never to have been entertained, but ever a faithful disciple of Socrates, feeling no unconquerable reluctance, and the plan, on the contrary, appearing to ave a ready consent, but I even longed to enter the seminary I told M
Gri, provided Razetta had nothing to do with it He gave me his promise, but he did not keep it when I left the seminary I have never been able to decide whether this Grimani was kind because he was a fool, or whether his stupidity was the result of his kindness, but all his brothers were the same The worst trick that Da man is to place him under the dependence of a fool A few days afterwards, having been dressed as a pupil of a clerical seminary by the care of the abbe, I was taken to Saint-Cyprian de Muran and introduced to the rector
The patriarchal church of Saint-Cyprian is served by an order of the monks, founded by the blessed Jerome Miani, a nobleman of Venice The rector received reat kindness But in his address (which was full of unction) I thought I could perceive a suspicion on his part thatsent to the seminary was a punishular life, and, feeling hurt in nity, I told him at once, ”Reverend father, I do not think that any one has the right of punishi+ng me”
”No, no, my son,” he answered, ”I only meant that you would be very happy with us”
We were then shewn three halls, in which we found at least one hundred and fifty seminarists, ten or twelve schoolrooardens for play hours, and every pain was taken to ine life in such a place the happiest that could fall to the lot of a young ret the arrival of the bishop Yet they all tried to cheerthat I would only rereatly
I entered the se of March, and prepared ht betweenfriends, Nanette and Marton, who bathed their pilloith tears; they could not understand, and this was likewise the feeling of their aunt and of the good M Rosa, how a young man liketo the seminary, I had taken care to entrust all e parcel, and I left it in her hands for fifteen years The worthy old lady is still alive, and with her ninety years she enjoys good health and a cheerful temper She received me with a smile, and told me that I would not re your pardon, o there, and intend to remain until the arrival of the bishop”
”You do not know your own nature, and you do not know your bishop, ho either”
The abbe accoondola, but at Saint-Michel he had to stop in consequence of a violent attack of vo which seized me suddenly; the apothecary cured me with some mint-water
I was indebted for this attack to the too frequent sacrifices which I had been offering on the altar of love Any lover who knohat his feelings hen he found himself with the woman he adored and with the fear that it was for the last ti the last hours that I expected ever to spend withbe the last, and I went on offering until there was no more incense left