Volume II Part 38 (2/2)
”I intend,” she said, ”to go and kiss my dear child next Sunday, and I shall of course speak of you with her, for I knoell enough that she will be delighted to have news of you; but to ret I am not at liberty to tell you where she is”
”I do not wish you to tellby you It is the picture of her patroness, and I wish you to entreat her to wear it always on her finger; tell her to look at the i her daily prayers, for without that protection she can never become my wife Tell her that, on my side, I address every day a credo to St Jas and with the prospect of recoood woman promised to fulfil my commission I left her, but not before I had placed in her hand ten sequins which I begged her to force upon her daughter's acceptance to supply herself with the trifles she ht require She accepted, but at the same time she assured me that her father had taken care to provide her with all necessaries The letter which I received fro Wednesday, was the expression of the ratitude She said that thecould be more rapid than the point of the pin which er eyes the beloved features of the being as the whole world to her ”I a you,” she added, ”even when so at me, for whenever they co fall back andAll the nuns are highly pleased with my devotion and with the confidence I have in the protection of my blessed patroness, who but a beautiful face created by the fancy of the painter, but my dear little as so lovely that beauty was sure to be like her
She said, likewise, that the nun who taught her French had offered her fifty sequins for the ring on account of the likeness between her and the portrait of the saint, but not out of veneration for her patroness, whom she turned into ridicule as she read her life She thanked me for the ten sequins I had sent her, because, her iven them to her in the presence of several of the sisters, she was thus enabled to spend a littlethe suspicions of those curious and inquisitive nuns She liked to offer trifling presents to the other boarders, and the ratify that innocent taste
”My hly; she is delighted with your feelings of devotion Never , the name of my unworthy brother”
For five or six weeks her letters were full of the blessed St
Catherine, who caused her to tremble with fear every ti to the mystic curiosity of the elderly nuns, who, in order to see the likeness better through their spectacles, brought it close to their eyes, and rubbed the enamel ”I a the invisible blue spot by chance What would beco up, discovered to their eyes a face--very divine, it is true, but which is not at all like that of a saint? Tell me, what could I do in such a case?”
One month after the second arrest of P---- C----, the jeweller, who had taken , called on e hiht over the debtor, he exonerated me
From his prison the impudent P---- C---- harassed me with his cowardly entreaties for alrossed a great share of the general attention He kept a fine house, an excellent table, and a faro bank hich he e ould happen sooner or later, I had abstained fro him at his house, but ere friendly whenever webeen delivered of a boy, Croce asked ht I could grant; but after the ceremony and the supper which was the consequence of it, I never entered the house of htly I wish I had always been as prudent in my conduct
CHAPTER XV
Croce Is Expelled From Venice--sobo--His Infamy and Death--Misfortune Which Befalls My Dear C C--I Receive An Anonyue
My former partner was, as I have said before, a skilful and experienced hand at securing the favours of Fortune; he was driving a good trade in Venice, and as he was aht have held that excellent footing for a long ti; for the State Inquisitors would have too much to attend to if they wished to compel fools to spare their fortunes, dupes to be prudent, and cheats not to dupe the fools; but, whether through the folly of youth or through a vicious disposition, the cause of his exile was of an extraordinary and disgusting nature
A Venetian noblenoble in his propensities, called sobo, and belonging to the Gritti family, fell deeply in love with him, and Croce, either for fun or from taste, shewed himself very compliant Unfortunately the reserve couest at their amorous feats, and the scandal became so notorious that the Government was compelled to notify to Croce the order to quit the city, and to seek his fortune in some other place
Some time afterwards the infamous sobo seduced his oo sons, ere both very young, and, unfortunately for hiest in such a state as to render necessary an application to a surgeon The infamous deed became publicly known, and the poor child confessed that he had not had the courage to refuse obedience to his father Such obedience was, as aa part of the duties which a son owes to his father, and the State Inquisitors sent the disgusting wretch to the citadel of Cataro, where he died after one year of confinement
It is well known that the air of Cataro is deadly, and that the Tribunal sentences to inhale it only such cri too deeply the general horror by the publication of the trial
It was to Cataro that the Council of Ten sent, fifteen years ago, the celebrated advocate Cantarini, a Venetian noblereat Council, and was on the point of changing the constitution of the State He died there at the end of the year As for his accoh to punish the four or five leaders, and to pretend not to know the others, who through fear of punishiance
That sobo, of who ho is still alive, I believe Her name was Cornelia Gitti; she was as celebrated by her wit as by her beauty, which she kept in spite of her years Having recovered her liberty through the death of her husband, she knew better than to make herself a second time the prisoner of the Hymenean God; she loved her independence too e of the lovers who pleased her taste
One Monday, towards the end of July, my servant woke me at day-break to tell me that Laura wished to speak to me I foresaw some misfortune, and ordered the servant to shew her in immediately These are the contents of the letter which she handed to me:
”My dearest, a , and it makes me very miserable because I must keep it a secret fro from a very severe loss of blood, and I do not knohat to do, having but very little linen Laura tells reat deal of it if the flow of blood continues I can take no one into my confidence but you, and I entreat you to send me as much linen as you can You see that I have been compelled to make a confidante of Laura, who is the only person allowed to enter my room at all times If I should die, my dear husband, everybody in the convent would, of course, know the cause of my death; but I think of you, and I shudder What will you do in your grief? Ah, darling love! what a pity!”
I dressedLaura with questions all the tie, and that it was necessary to act with great discretion in order to save the reputation ofbut plenty of linen, and that it would be nothing Commonplace words of consolation, which did not allay the fearful anxiety under which I was labouring I went out with Laura, called on a Jew froht a quantity of sheets and two hundred napkins, and, putting it all in a large bag, I repaired with her to Muran On our way there I wrote in pencil toher to have entire confidence in Laura, and assuring her that I would not leave Muran until all danger had passed Before we landed, Laura told me that, in order not to be remarked, I had better conceal myself in her house At any other ti up the wolf in the sheep-fold She left round floor, and concealing about herself as much linen as she could she hurried to her patient, who I was in hopes that she would find her out of danger, and I longed to see her coood news
She was absent about one hour, and when she returned her looks were sad She told reat deal of blood during the night, was in bed in a very weak state, and that all we could do was to pray to God for her, because, if the flooding of the blood did not stop soon, she could not possibly live twenty-four hours