Volume I Part 17 (2/2)
”I am not curious to see your Adam, but I will look at your Eve with pleasure, and keep your secret”
This answer ain her mother turned round I put on the look of a sie I could derive from her opinion of me, I had formed my plan at the very moment she tried to teach me how to offer my arm to a lady
She was so convinced of my simplicity that she ventured to say that she considered her Ada of thevisible, while there was none conspicuous in Eve ”It is,” she added, ”a figure with nothing in it”
”Yet it is the one which I shall like best”
”No; believe reatly excitedvery warm I was afraid of the major and the countess, ere a few yards in front of us, turning round
I was on thorns Tolady stu ht I knelt on the ground, and, very likely without thinking, she lifted up her skirt she had very wide hoops and no petticoat what I saas enough to strike me dead on the spot
When I rose, she asked if anything was theout of one of the caseed that I would re to bend her head down, the state in which I was could no longer rereater confusion to both of us, she enquired who had made my watch ribbon; I told her it was a present from my sister, and she desired to examine it, but when I answered her that it was fastened to the fob-pocket, and found that she disbelieved me, I added that she could see for herself She put her hand to it, and a natural but involuntary excitement caused me to be very indiscreet She must have felt vexed, for she saw that she had made a mistake in her estimate of h anyher, in a sentry-box, the body of Marshal de Schulenburg which had been deposited there until the mausoleum erected for hiht myself the first man who had alar to atone for the insult
Such wasin those days I used to credit people with exalted sentiination I must confess that time has entirely destroyed that delicacy; yet I do not believe e and inexperience
We returned to the count's apartlooaveinvitation to call upon theht I had insulted, haddays seeain only that I iveness, and convince her ofday the count was visited by his son; he was plain-featured, but a thorough gentleman, and modest withal Twenty-five years afterwards I uard
He had served as a private twenty years before obtaining this poor proood time; I will only mention here that when I met him in Spain, he stood me out that I had never known him; his self-love prohth day the count left the fortress, and I tookmade an appointment at a coffee-house in St Mark's Square with the major as to accompany me to M
Grimani's house I took leave of his wife, whose memory will always be dear toyour alibi, but you have also to thankunderstood you so well
My husband never heard anything about it until it was all over”
As soon as I reached Venice, I went to pay a visit to Madame Orio, where I wassweethearts ere praying for the death of the bishop, gave ht
At noon the next day Ito our appointment, and we called upon the Abbe Gri for mercy, and I was astounded at his stupidity when he entreated ive Razetta and his companion He told me that the bishop was expected very soon, and that he had ordered a room to be ready for me, and that I could take my meals with him Then he introduced me to M Valavero, a man of talent, who had just left thelasted the usual six months
I paid my duty to him, and we kept up a kind of desultory conversation until the departure of the major When he had left us M Valavero entreated uilty party in the attack upon Razetta I candidly told hiave him all the particulars, which amused him immensely He reht, the fools had made a mistake in their accusation; but that, after all, thethe alibi, because my sprained ankle, which everybody had supposed a real accident, would of itself have been sufficient
But I trust that ht upon et rid I had to see the Goddess of my fancy, to obtain my pardon, or die at her feet
I found the house without difficulty; the count was not at home The countess received reat a surprise that I did not knohat to say to her I had fancied that I was going to visit an angel, that I would find her in a lovely paradise, and I found -room furnished with four rickety chairs and a dirty old table There was hardly any light in the rooht have been a precaution against the heat, but I judged that it was lass of which was all broken But this visible darkness did not preventthat the countess rapped up in an old tattered gown, and that her che that I was ill at ease, she left the roohter, who, a few minutes afterwards, came in with an easy and noble appearance, and told reat impatience, but that I had surprised her at a ti any visits
I did not knohat to answer, for she did not seem to me to be the saly, and I wondered at the impression she had produced upon uessed hts, for she put on a look, not of vexation, but of sorrohich called forth all htly despised me as a man whose sympathy was enlisted only by her fine dress, her nobility, or her apparent wealth; but she endeavoured to bring me round by her sincerity
She felt that if she could call a little sentiment into play, it would certainly plead in her favour
”I see that you are astonished, reverend sir, and I know the reason of your surprise You expected to see great splendour here, and you find only overnment allows my father but a small salary, and there are nine of us As we must attend church on Sundays and holidays in a style proper to our condition, we are often coe the clothes which urgent need too often obliges us to part with, and which we pledge anew on the following day If we did not attend mass, the curate would strike our names off the list of those who share the alms of the Confraternity of the Poor, and those aluessed rightly I was touched, but rather with shame than true eer in love, I only heaved a deep sigh, and remained as cold as ice Nevertheless, her position was painful, and I answered politely, speaking with kindness and assuring her of my sympathy ”Were I wealthy,” I said, ”I would soon shew you that your tale of woe has not fallen on unfeeling ears; but I a at the eve of my departure from Venice, even my friendshi+p would be useless to you”
Then, after some desultory talk, I expressed a hope that her beauty would yet win happiness for her She seemed to consider for a few minutes, and said, ”That may happen some day, provided that the man who feels the power of my charms understands that they can be bestowed only withto renderfor a lawful er believe in the first, and I kno to live without the second; for I have been accustomed to poverty, and even to abject need; but you cannot realize that Coood, s, and I could no longer feel interested in her Eve, but I followed her