Volume IV Part 35 (1/2)
”Ira,” said he, ”that won't do; you ain, and you must make up the quarrel”
They held a short consultation, and then, asking Costa to go with them, they went to fetch her
In half an hour they returned in triumph, and Costa was quite proud of the part he had taken in the reconciliation I then distributed the sweets, taking care to give the two best packets to the fair Mary
A noble polenta was placed upon the board, flanked by two large dishes of pork chops But Momolo, who knew hters, added to the feast some delicate dishes and soance and beauty and the modesty of her demeanour completely seducedeach other's hands; and she did this so feelingly that I could not doubt her love As ere going out I took care to go downstairs beside her and asked if I could notan appointht o'clock at the Trinity of Monti
Mariuccia was tall and shapely, a perfect picture, as fair as a white rose, and calculated to inspire voluptuous desires She had beautiful light brown hair, dark blue eyes, and exquisitely arched eyelids Her mouth, the vermilion of her lips, and her ivory teeth were all perfect
Her well-shaped forehead gave her an air approaching the aiety sparkled in her eyes; while her pluer-tips, her pink nails, her breast, which the corset seemed scarcely able to restrain, her dainty feet, and her prominent hips, made her worthy of the chisel of Praxiteles She was just on her eighteenth year, and so far had escaped the connoisseurs By a lucky chance I came across her in a poor and wretched street, and I was fortunate enough to insure her happiness
It may easily be believed that I did not fail to keep the appointment, and when she was sure I had seen her she went out of the church I followed her at a considerable distance: she entered a ruined building, and I after her She cliht of steps which seemed to be built in air, and when she had reached the top she turned
”No one will coether”
I sat beside her on a stone, and I then declared my passionate love for her
”Tell me,” I added, ”what I can do to make you happy; for I wish to possess you, but first to shew my deserts”
”Make me happy, and I will yield to your desires, for I love you”
”Tell me what I can do”
”You can draw me out of the poverty and ood woman, but devout to the point of superstition; she will damn my soul in her efforts to save it She finds fault withmyself clean, because I have to touch ive rise to evil desires
”If you had given me the money you made me win in the lottery as a siht have had intentions She allows o by ht do so; but I dare not stay away a minute beyond the time, except on feast days, when I am allowed to pray in the church for two or three hours We can only meet here, but if you wish to softenman, who is a hairdresser, and bears an excellent character, saw o, and ave me a letter He declared hi him a dowry of four hundred crowns, he could open a shop, furnish it, and marry me
”'I am poor,' I answered, 'and I have only a hundred crowns in charity tickets, which my confessor keeps for me' Now I have two hundred crowns, for if I ive ain You can thereforeme tickets to the amount of two hundred crowns oodtofor charity tickets, el I will take two hundred piastres to your confessor to-e the rest yourself Tell me his name, and to-morroill tell you what I have done, but not here, as the wind and the cold would be the death of me You can leave me to find out a rooer of people suspecting that we have spent an hour together I will meet you at the church to-morrow at the same hour and when you see me follow me”
Mariuccia told me her confessor's name, and allowed me all the caresses possible in our uncoave me in return for mine left no doubt in my mind, as to her love forwith cold, but burning with desire; ht possessthe ruined palace, instead of returning to the Piazza di Spagna I turned to the left and passed along a narrow and dirty street only inhabited by people of the lowest sort As I sloalked along, a woman ca for anybody
”I a for a room to let”
”There are none here, sir, but, you will find a hundred in the square”
”I know it, but I want the room to be here, not for the sake of the expense, but that Iwith a person in who”
”I understand what you mean, and you should have a roohbour of round floor, and if you ait a e me very much”
”Kindly step in here”