Volume II Part 37 (1/2)
Necessity, that i made me almost the partner of a cheat, there was still the difficulty of finding the three hundred sequins required; but I postponed the task of finding them until after I should have made the acquaintance of the dupes of the Goddess to whom they addressed their worshi+p Croce took me to the Prato delta Valle, where we found ners She was pretty; and as a secretary of the i, had attached himself to her, not one of the Venetian nobles dared court her Those who interestedaround that star were the Swede Gilenspetz, a Halishman Mendez, who has already been mentioned, and three or four others to whore Croce called ether, and after dinner there was a general call for a faro bank; but Croce did not accept His refusal surpriseda very skilful player, he had enough to try his fortune He did not, however, allow , for he took ht, which were equal to three hundred sequins When I saw that the professional gambler had not chosena dupe of me, I told him that I would certainly procure the amount, and upon that pro day We agreed that ould divide the spoils before parting in the evening, and that no one should be allowed to play on trust
I had to procure the amount, but to whoadin The excellent enerally empty; but he found a usurer--a species of ani ave me a thousand ducats, at five per cent for onededucted by anticipation from the capital It was exactly the amount I required I went to the supper; Croce held the bank until daylight, and we divided sixteen hundred sequins between us The ga, and Gilenspetz alone lost two thousand sequins; the Jew Mendez lost about one thousand Sunday was sanctified by rest, but on Monday the bank won four thousand sequins On the Tuesday we all dined together, and the play was resuun when an officer of the podesta made his appearance and informed Croce that he wanted a little private conversation with hiether, and after a short absence Croce came back rather crestfallen; he announced that by superior orders he was forbidden to hold a bank at his house Madame fainted away, the punters hurried out, and I followed their exaold which was on the table I was glad enough it was not worse As I left, Croce told ain in Venice, for he had been ordered to quit Padua within twenty-four hours I expected it would be so, because he was to well known; but his greatest crime, in the opinion of the podesta, was that he attracted the players to his own house, whilst the authorities wanted all the lovers of play to lose their money at the opera, where the bankers were mostly noblemen fro and in very bad weather, but nothing could have keptI expected a letter from my dear prisoner I had only travelled sixcaught under it
My boots were soft ones, and I feared I had hurtthe noise ed me; I was not hurt, but my horse was lame I immediately took the horse of the postillion, to which I was entitled, but the insolent fellow getting hold of the bit refused to let ; but, far fro reat hurry to continue my journey I fired one of htened out of his wits, the alloped off When I reached the Dolo, I went straight to the stables, and I ave a crown, pointed out toastonished atremained behind, and we started at full speed It was then one o'clock in the ht was so dark that I could not see anything within a yard ahead ofe arrived in Fusina
The boat at defiance I took a four-oared boat, and reachedwith cold and wet to the skin I had scarcely been in er fro me that she would call for the answer in two hours That letter was a journal of seven pages, the faithful translation of which ht weary my readers, but here is the substance of it:
After the intervieith M de Bragadin, the father of C---- C---- had gone hohter to his room, and enquired kindly from the last where she had made my acquaintance She answered that she had seen me five or six times in her brother's room, that I had asked her whether she would consent to be my wife, and that she had told me that she was dependent upon her father andto think of e, and besides, I had not yet conquered a position in society After that decision he repaired to his son's room, and locked the s with the apartment of the mother, as instructed by hione to the country, in case I should call on her
Two days afterwards he came to C---- C----, as beside her sick mother, and told her that her aunt would take her to a convent, where she was to remain until a husband had been provided for her by her parents She answered that, being perfectly disposed to subladly obey hio and see her, and to let his mother visit her likewise, as soon as her health was better Immediately after that conversation the aunt had called for her, and a gondola had taken them to the convent, where she had been ever since Her bed and her clothes had been brought to her; she ell pleased with her room and with the nun to whom she had been entrusted, and under whose supervision she was It was by her that she had been forbidden to receive either letters or visits, or to write to anybody, under penalty of exco damnation, and of other similar trifles; yet the same nun had supplied her with paper, ink and books, and it was at night that ressed the laws of the convent in order to write all these particulars tothe discretion and the faithfulness of the ht that she would re poor, our sequins were a little fortune for her
She related tomanner that the handsomest of all the nuns in the convent loved her to distraction, gave her a French lesson twice a-day, and had amicably forbidden her to become acquainted with the other boarders That nun was only twenty-two years of age; she was beautiful, rich and generous; all the other nuns shewed her great respect ”When we are alone,” wrote my friend, ”she kisses me so tenderly that you would be jealous if she were not a wo away, she did not think it would be very difficult to carry it into execution, but that it would be better to wait until she knew the locality better She told me to remain faithful and constant, and askedknown only to us She added that I ht send it to her by her mother, who had recovered her usual health, and was in the habit of attending early mass at her parish church every day by herself She assured hted to see ht ask her ”At all events,” she concluded, ”I hope to find myself in a few months in a position which will scandalize the convent if they are obstinately bent upon keepinger, returned for it After I had paid the sequin I had pro-wax, paper, pens, and a tinder-box, which she pro had told her that I was her cousin, and Laura feigned to believe it
Not knohat to do in Venice, and believing that I ought for the sake of ht suppose that I had received the same order as Croce, I hurried -office for Ro of ht not have i them what is called in Italy a 'bolletta', I knew that they could not refuse to supply me with horses whenever they had any in their stables As far as the pistol-shot was concerned I had no fear, for I had purposely missed the insolent postillion; and even if I had killed him on the spot it would not have been of much importance
In Fusina I took a theeled chaise, for I was so tired that I could not have performed the journey on horseback, and I reached the Dolo, where I was recognized and horses were refused ood deal of noise, and the post- out, threatened to have me arrested if I did not pay him for his dead horse I answered that if the horse were dead I would account for it to the postmaster in Padua, but what I wanted was fresh horses without delay
And I shewed hiht of which made him lower his tone; but he told me that, even if he supplied me with horses, I had treated the postillion so badly that not one of his men would drive me
”If that is the case,” I answered, ”you shall accohed in my face, turned his back upon me, and went away
I took titnesses, and I called with them at the office of a public notary, who drew up a properly-worded docuave notice to the post-master that I should expect an indemnity of ten sequins for each hour of delay until I had horses supplied to me
As soon as he had been ave orders to bring out two restive horses I saw at once that his intention was to havethe road, and perhaps thrown into the river; but I calmly told the postillion that at the very moment my chaise was upset I would blow his brains out with a pistol-shot; this threat frightened the man; he took his horses back to the stables, and declared to his master that he would not drive me At that very e horses and two saddle ones
I warned the post-master that no one should leave the place before uinary contest; in order to prove that I was in earnest I took outthat he was in the wrong, he disappeared
Fivein a beautiful berlin drawn by six horses, but Croce with his wife, a lady's hted, we e an air of sadness, that he could not leave before ht, scolded loudly, as if he had been a great lord, and made everybody tremble The postmaster had disappeared; his wife ca that ti back to Padua, where the public ru left the city in consequence of an order from the police
He informed me that the podesta had likewise expelled M de Gondoin, a colonel in the service of the Duke of Modena, because he held a faro bank at his house I pro week Croce, who had dropped froreat distress, had won ten thousand sequins in four evenings: I had received five thousand forall the articles which I had been coht ot rid of the ill luck which had seemed to fasten on me
I reached Padua in safety, and the postillion, who very likely out of fear had driven ood style, ell pleased withpeace with the tribe My arrival caused great joy to my three friends, whom my sudden departure had alaradin, in whose hands I had placed iven credence to the general report, stating that the podesta had ordered ot that I was a citizen of Venice, and that the podesta could not pass such a sentence upon s I was tired, but instead of going to bed I dressed o to the opera without a mask I told my friends that it was necessary for ive the lie to all that had been reported about ues De la Haye said to hted if all those reports are false; but you have no one to blaave sufficient cause for all sorts of surmises”
”And for slander”