Volume II Part 33 (1/2)
”And I feel certain that you would not have had recourse to that stratageuessed how deeply it would pain me”
”Do you then feelin the world to convince you of it I like ly; I will never have another pair, and I promise you that my brother shall not steal them from me”
”Can you suppose him capable of such an action?”
”Oh! certainly, especially if the fastenings are in gold”
”Yes, they are in gold; but let hiilt brass”
”Will you teach arters?”
”Of course I will”
We went upstairs, and after our dinner which we both enjoyed with a good appetite, she became more lively and I more excited by love, but at the same time more to be pitied in consequence of the restraint to which I had condeed ood faith, without irl, who, in spite of her fifteen years, has not loved yet, who has not frequented the society of other girls, does not know the violence of amorous desires or what is likely to excite theer of a tete-a-tete When a natural instinct makes her love for the first time, she believes the object of her love worthy of her confidence, and she thinks that to be loved herself shethat her stockings were too short to fasten the garter above the knee, she told er ones, and I iratitude she sat on my knees, and in the effusion of her satisfaction she bestowed upon iven to her father if he had made her such a present I returned her kisses, forcibly keeping down the violence of s I only told her that one of her kisses orth a kingdos, and put on one of the pairs I had given her, which went halfway up her thigh The more innocent I found her to be, the less I couldprey
We returned to the garden, and after walking about until the evening ent to the opera, taking care to keep on our ht easily have been recognized, and my lovely friend was certain that her father would not allow her to coone to the opera
We were rather surprised not to see her brother On our left we had the Marquis of Montalegre, the Spanish aed ht a man and a woman who had not taken off their masks Those two persons kept their eyes constantly fixed upon us, butfriend did not re the ballet, C---- C---- having left the libretto of the opera on the ledge of the box, the man with the mask stretched forth his hand and took it That proved to me that ere known to hinized her brother The lady ith him could be no other than Madame C---- As P---- C---- knew the number of our box, he had taken the next one; he could not have done so without some intention, and I foresaw that he meant to make his sister have supper with that woman I wasoff with hiether, and I was in love
After the second ballet, he cae of compliments the acquaintance was made, and we had to accept supper at his casino As soon as the two ladies had thrown off their masks, they embraced one another, and thefriend with compliments and attentions At table she affected to treat her with extre any experience of the world behaved towards her with the greatest respect I could, however, see that C----, in spite of all her art, could hardly hide the vexation she felt at the sight of the superior beauty which I had preferred to her own charaiety, launched forth in stupid jokes at which his edhis jests, took no notice of theenial spirits, and was rather a dull affair
As the dessert was placed on the table, P---- C----, somewhat excited by the wine he had drunk, kissed his lady-love, and challenged me to follow his example with his sister I told him that I loved Mdlle C---- C---- truly, and that I would not take such liberties with her until I should have acquired a legal right to her favours P---- C---- began to scoff at what I had said, but C---- stopped him Grateful for that mark of propriety, I took out of ht in the ed her acceptance of half a dozen pairs I gave the other six tofriend P---- C---- rose fro with him his mistress, who had likewise drunk rather freely, and he threw hi a lewd turn, I placed myself in such afriend, whom I led into the recess of aBut I had not been able to prevent C---- C---- frolass the position of the two impudent wretches, and her face was suffused with blushes; I, however, spoke to her quietly of indifferent things, and recovering her coloves, which she was folding on the pier-table After his brutal exploit, P---- C---- came impudently tohis exa she was certain that she had seen nothing C---- C---- answered modestly that she did not knohat she could have seen, but the look she cast towards me made e of the hus were
Hoas it possible to endure such a scene going on in the presence of an innocent girl whoht harddesires so as not to abuse her innocence! I was on a bed of thorns! Anger and indignation, restrained by the reserve I was co the object of my ardent love, made me tremble all over The inventors of hell would not have failed to place that suffering a its torments, if they had known it The lustful P---- C---- had thought of givingaction he had been guilty of, and he had reckoned as nothing the dishonour of his mistress, and the delicacy of his sister whom he had thus exposed to prostitution I do not kno I contrived not to strangle him The next day, when he called on me, I overwhelmed him with the most bitter reproaches, and he tried to excuse hi that he never would have acted in that manner if he had not felt satisfied that I had already treated his sister in the tete-a-tete in the same way that he treated his mistress before us
My love for C---- C---- became every instant more intense, and I hadnecessary to save her froht throw her by selling her for his own profit to soent What a disgusting state of things! What an unheard-of species of seduction! What a strange way to gain my friendshi+p! And I foundwith the man whom I despised most in the world! I had been told that he was deeply in debt, that he had been a bankrupt in Vienna, where he had a wife and a family of children, that in Venice he had coed to turn him out of his house, and who, out of pity, pretended not to know that he had kept his room in it He had seduced his wife, or rather his mistress, who had been driven away by her husband, and after he had squandered everything she possessed, and he found himself at the end of his wits, he had tried to turn her prostitution to advantage His poorshe had, even her own clothes, and I expected hiain for so I could not bear the idea of C---- C---- being the innocent cause of usting life
Moved by an irresistible feeling, by what is called perfect love, I called upon P---- C---- on the following day, and, after I had told him that I adored his sister with the most honourable intentions, I tried toall respect, and that ht never to insult if he has any pretension to be worthy of respectable society
”Even if I had to give up,” I added, ”the pleasure of seeing your angelic sister, I have taken the fir company with you; but I candidly warn you that I will do everything inout with you, and froain in your hands”
He excused hi that he had drunk too much, and that he did not believe that ratification of ed my pardon, he eiven way to my own emotion, when his mother and sister entered the room They offered iven to the young lady I told the hter, and that my fondest hope was to obtain her forthat happiness, et a friend to speak to your husband as soon as I shall have secured a position giving me sufficient means to keep her co I kissed her hand, and I felt so deeply moved that the tears ran down my cheeks Those tears were sy like hter and her son, who looked as if he had been changed into a statue
There are a great many mothers of that kind in the world, and very often they are women who have led a virtuous life; they do not suppose that deceit can exist, because their own nature understands only what is upright and true; but they are alood faith, and of their trust in those who seem to them to be patterns of honesty What I had told the reater when she heard of what I had said to her brother After one moment of consideration, she told him that, with any other man but me, she would have been ruined; and that, if she had been in the place of Madaiven hi for her as for hi, but the traitor could command tears whenever he pleased
It was Whit Sunday, and as the theatres were closed he told me that, if I would be at the same place of Appointment as before, the next day, he would leave his sister with o by himself with Madame C----, whoive youback ether wherever you like”