Volume III Part 58 (1/2)
”In what respect do you think ave me no answer, but I knew perfectly hat she meant I was tired of my part, and I had determined to play it no more e had acted L'Ecossaise
All the best people at Soleure were present at our first perforhted with the horror inspired by her acting; but she reat deal of it to her appearance M de Chavigni drew forth the tears of the audience, his acting was said to be better than the great Voltaire's As forwhen, in the third scene of the fifth act, Lindane said to me,
”What! You! You dare to love me?”
She pronounced these words with such fiery scorn that all the spectators applauded veheht I detected in her voice an insult to my honour However, I collected ave me, and I replied,---
”Yes; I adore you! How should I not?”
So pathetically and tenderly did I pronounce these words that the hall rang again with the applause, and the encores from four hundred throats made me repeat the words which, indeed, caiven to the audience, we judged ourselves not perfect in our parts, and M de Chavigni advised us to put off our second performance for a couple of days
”We will have a rehearsal to- the favour of all your companies to dinner there”
However, we allMy lame friend told me I had played well, but not so well as in the part of waiter, which really suited h on her side, but I returned it by telling her thatof Lady Alton was pure nature M de Chavigni told Mada to applaud when she expressed her wonder ather, since she had spoken the words disdainfully; and it was impossible that Lindane could have despised Murray The ae, and e reached his country-house we found all the actors assembled there His excellency addressed hiht his business was as good as done, and that they would talk about it after dinner We sat down to table, and afterwards rehearsed the piece without any need of the pro the ambassador told the co at Soleure, and everyone left with the exception of the ambassador,I had an agreeable surprise
”Will you come with me,” said the Ambassador to M----, ”we can talk the matter over at our ease? M Casanova will have the honour of keeping your wife coave the fair lady my hand respectfully, and she took it with an air of indifference, but as I was helping her in she pressed ine how that pressure made my blood circulate like fire in my veins
Thus ere seated side by side, our knees pressed tenderly against each other Half an hour seeht that asted the tiether, and were not set apart till we came within ten paces of the aues distance She was the first to get down, and I was alarmed to see the violent blush which overspread her whole face Such redness looked unnatural; itof happiness would soon be dry The watchful eye of the envious Alton would be fixed upon us, and not in vain; her triuh her humiliation I was at my wits' end
Love and luck, which have so favoured hout the course ofhellebore I opened it as if by instinct, and invited her to take a small pinch She did so, and I followed her exa up the stairs we began to sneeze, and for the next quarter of an hour we continued sneezing People were obliged to attribute her high colour to the sneezing, or at least no one could give voice to any other suppositions When the sneezing fit was over, this woman, as as clever as she was pretty, said her headache was gone, but she would take care another ti a dose I looked out of the corner ofbut seeood luck decidedat Soleure till my love was croith success, and I determined to take a country house I shall not have much opinion of , independent, full of fire, and having only pleasure to seek for--and do not follow my example A perfect beauty was before me hom I was madly in love, and who, I was sure, shared that love I had plenty of ht this a”what people would say” As soon as the ambassador had returned, which he always did at an early hour on account of his advanced age, I left the company and went to see hiive him that confidence which he had so well deserved
As soon as he saw me he said,--
”Well, well, did you profit by the interview I got you?”
I e”
When I was telling him about the hellebore he was lavish in his compliments on my presence of mind, for, as he said, such an unusual colour would have made people think there had been some kind of a combat--a supposition which would not have tended towards my success
After I had told hi in a hurry,” said I, ”as I have to take care that the lady's honour does not suffer, and I trust to time to see the accomplishood carriage, two lackeys, a good cook, and a housekeeper All that I leave to your excellency, as I look upon you as el”
”To-ood hopes of doing you a considerable service and of rendering you well content with the attractions of Soleure”
Next day our rehearsal went off admirably, and the day after the ambassador spoke to me as follows:
”So far as I can see, what you are ai of your desires without doing any harm to the lady's reputation I think I know the nature of your love for her well enough to say that if she told you that your leaving Soleure was necessary to her peace of mind you would leave her at once You see that I have sounded you well enough to be a competent adviser in this delicate and important affair, to which the most famous events in the annals of diplomacy are not to be compared”
”Your excellency does not do sufficient justice to a career which has gained you such distinction”
”That's because I am an old man, my dear fellow, and have shaken off the rust and dust of prejudices, and as as they really are, and appreciate them at their true value But let us return to your love-affair If you wish to keep it in the dark, you reatest care any action which may awaken suspicion in theis indifferent Thebut the merest chance out of the interview I procured you today, and the accident of the sneezing bout, defy the er lover does not begin his suit by sending the beloved one into convulsions nobody can guess that your hellebore was used to conceal the blush that your caresses occasioned, since it does not often happen that an amorous combat leaves such traces; and how can you be expected to have foreseen the lady's blushes, and to have provided yourself with a specific against them? In short, the events of to-day will not disclose your secret M---- who, although he wishes to pass for a man devoid of jealousy, is a little jealous; M---- hi him to return with me, as I had business of importance with hi that I should be likely to help you to intrigue with his wife