Volume III Part 50 (1/2)
CHAPTER XII
Gardella Portrait of The Duke of Wurte--My Dinner with Gardella, And its Consequences--Unfortunate Meeting I Play and Lose Four Thousand Louis--Lawsuit--Lucky Flight-- My Arrival at Zurich--Church Consecrated By Jesus Christ Himself
At that period the Court of the Duke of Wurte was the most brilliant in Europe The heavy subsidies paid by France for quartering ten thousandin luxury and debauchery The ar the war it was distinguished only by its blunders
The duke was sumptuous in his tastes, which were for splendid palaces, hunting establishe scale, enorinable; but his chief expense was the large salaries he paid his theatre, and, above all, his rand and comic, and twenty Italian dancers, all of whom had been principal dancers in Italian theatres His director of ballets was Novers, and sometimes five hundred dancers appeared at once
A clever machinist and the best scene painters did their best to irls were pretty, and all of the been enjoyed at least once by ondolier naht up by the senator Malipiero, whoood offices towards ave her a dancing-ht froata The duke took a fancy to her, and asked her husband, as only too happy to agree, to yield her; but he was satisfied with her charms in a year, and put her on the retired list with the title of irls jealous, and they all thought themselves as fit as she to be taken to the duke's titular mistress, especially as she only enjoyed the honour without the pleasure They all intrigued to procure her disround against all cabals
Far froible infidelity, she encouraged hilad to be left to herself, as she cared nothing for hiirls who aspired to the honours of the handkerchief coood offices She always received theave them her advice, and bade them do their best to please the prince In his turn the duke thought hiave her in public all the honours which could be given to a princess
I was not long in finding out that the duke's chief desire was to be talked about He would have liked people to say that there was not a prince in Europe to coenius, in the invention of pleasures, and statesarded as a Hercules in the pleasures of Bacchus and Venus, and none the less an Aristides in governing his people He dismissed without pity an attendant who failed to wake him after he had been forced to yield to sleep for three or four hours, but he did not care how roughly he akened
It has happened that after having given his highness a large cup of coffee, the servant has been obliged to throw him into a bath of cold water, where the duke had to choose between awaking or drowning
As soon as he was dressed the duke would assemble his council and dispatch whatever business was on hand, and then he would give audience to whoever cared to co could be ave to his poorer subjects Often there came to him dull peasants and worke to make them hear reason, in which he was soo away terrified, desperate, and furious As to the pretty country maidens, he exah he seldo for them they went away consoled
The subsidies which the French Croas foolish enough to pay him for a perfectly useless service did not suffice for his extravagant expenses
He loaded his subjects with taxes till the patient people could bear it no longer, and some years after had recourse to the Diet of Wetzlar, which obliged hih to wish to i of Prussia, while that monarch made fun of the duke, and called hirave of Bayreuth, the prettiest and most accomplished princess in all Gerer there; she had taken refuge with her father, on account of a disgraceful affront which had been offered her by her unworthy husband It is incorrect to say that this princess fled from her husband because of his infidelities
After I had dined by ratis by the duke in the fine theatre he had built The prince was in the front of the orchestra, surrounded by his brilliant Court I sat in a box on the first tier, delighted to be able to hear so well the music of the fanorance of the etiquette of small German Courts I happened to applaud a solo, which had been exquisitely sung by a castrato whose naotten, and directly afterwards an individual came into my box and addressed me in a rude manner However, I knew no German, and could only answer by 'nich verstand'--”I don't understand”
He went out, and soon after an official can was present all applause was forbidden
”Very good, sir Then I will go away and con is not here, as when an air pleases me I always applaud”
After this reply I called forinto it the same official came and told ly followed him to the presence
”You are M Casanova, are you?” said the duke
”Yes, ne”
”Is this the first tiart?”
”Yes, ?”