Volume II Part 1 (1/2)
The Mealt
Vol II
”To Paris and Prison”
by Jacques Casanova de Seingalt
TO PARIS AND PRISON
EPISODE 6 -- PARIS
CHAPTER I
Leave Bologna a Happy Man--The Captain Parts froht with Henriette--Our Arrival in Parma--Henriette Resumes the Costume of a Woman; Our Mutual Felicity--I Meet Some Relatives of Mine, but Do not Discover Myself
The reader can easily guess that there was a change as sudden as a transforic sentence, ”Come to Parma,” proved a very fortunate catastrophe, thanks to which I rapidly changed, passing froentle mood, from the serious to the tender tone Sooth to say, I fell at her feet, and lovingly pressing her knees I kissed theratitude No more 'furore', no more bitter words; they do not suit the sweetest of all hu for any favour, not even to kiss her hand, until I have shewn myself worthy of her precious love! The heavenly creature, delighted to see me pass so rapidly from despair to the most lively tenderness, tells et up from my knees
”I am sure that you love me,” says she, ”and be quite certain that I shall leave nothing undone to secure the constancy of your feelings”
Even if she had said that she loved me as much as I adored her, she would not have been more eloquent, for her words expressed all that can be felt My lips were pressed to her beautiful hands as the captain entered the rooood faith, and I told hi to order the carriage I left theether, and in a short time ere on our road, cheerful, pleased, and io the honest captain told me that in his opinion it would be better for him to proceed to Parht cause some remarks, and people would talk about us ht hiht, and we iio, while the captain would take a post-chaise and go alone to Parement his trunk was transferred to the vehicle which he hired in Reggio, he bade us farewell and went away, after having pro day in Pararian was, doubtless, as agreeable to my lovely friend as to reat reserve in his presence And truly, under the new circuio?
Henriette could not, of course, share the bed of the captain anyas he ith us, without being guilty of great ihed at that compulsory reserve which ould have felt to be ridiculous, but we should, for all that, have submitted to it Love is the little ih he ives way to it he feels disgraced; he loses three-fourths of his dignity and the greatest portion of his charms
Evidently there could be no happiness for Henriette or for me unless we parted with the person and even with the remembrance of the excellent captain
We supped alone I was intoxicated with a felicity which seemed too immense, and yet I felt melancholy, but Henriette, who looked sad likewise, had no reproach to address tobut shyness; we loved each other, but we had had no tied only a feords, there was nothing witty, nothing interesting in our conversation, which struck us both as insipid, and we found hts which filled our ether, but we could not have spoken of it openly What a night! what a delightful creature was that Henriette whom I have loved so deeply, who has made me so supremely happy!
It was only three or four days later that I ventured on asking her what she would have done, without a groat in her possession, having not one acquaintance in Parone to Naples She answered that she would doubtless have found herself in very great difficulties, but that she had all along felt certain of my love, and that she had foreseen what had happened She added that, being iht of her, she had asked me to translate to the captain what she had expressed respecting her resolution, knowing that he could neither oppose that resolution nor continue to live with her, and that, as she had taken care not to include h ht it impossible that I should fail to ask whether I could be of so to take a decision until she could have ascertained the nature ofme that if she had fallen it was the fault of her husband and of her father-in-law, both of whom she characterized as ave the police the name of Farusi, the same that I had assumed in Cesena; it was the family name of my mother; while Henriette wrote down, ”Anne D'Arci, fro the questions of the officer, a young French, offered -inn, but to take lodgings at D'Andreood apart that Henriette was pleased with the proposal, I told the young ed
I engaged the Frenche of ain for a few minutes, I told Henriette that I would return in ti the servant to remain in the ante-roo under a new government I had every reason to suppose that there were spies everywhere and under every form
I therefore did not want to have at ht have injured rather than served h I was in my father's native city, I had no acquaintances there, but I knew that I should soon find my way
When I found myself in the streets, I scarcely could believe that I was in Italy, for everything had a tra but French and Spanish, and those who did not speak one of those languages see about at rando to enquire where I could find one; at last I sahat I wanted