Volume IV Part 39 (2/2)
”What did he say?”
”That I must ask you, and that he would offer no opposition”
”Then we should leave Naples together”
”Directly, dearest, and thenceforth death alone would part us”
”We will talk of it to-morrow, dear Don Giacomo, and if I can make you happy I am sure you will do the sahtful words the duke ca,” said she
”Marriage, ht to be well considered beforehand”
”Yes, when one has time; but my dear Giacomo cannot wait, and we shall have plenty of ti to marry,” said the duke, ”you can put off your departure, or return after the wedding”
”I can neither put it off nor return, my dear duke We have made up our minds, and if we repent we have plenty of tihed and said ould talk it over next day I gave my future bride a kiss which she returned with ardour, and the duke and I went to the club, where we found the Duke de Monte Leone dealing
”My lord,” said I, ”I a on my word of honour, so I hope you will allow me to stake , but don't trouble yourself I have made a bank of four thousand ducats that you may be able to recoup yourself for your losses”
”Thanks, I promise to break it or to lose as ave two thousand ducats to the Duke de Matalone, and began to punt at a hundred ducats After a short time the duke left the table, and I finally succeeded in breaking the bank I went back to the place by myself, and when I told the duke of my victory the next day, he embraced me with tears of joy, and advised me to stakea great supper, there was no play that evening This was so of ourthe wonders of nature around Naples In the evening I was introduced by a friend at the princess's supper, and saw all the highest nobility of the place
Nextthe duke told o and see Leonilda, and that he would call for me later on I went to Leonilda, but as the duke did not put in an appearance we could not settle anything about our ed to obey her commands, and could only shewI repeated that it only rested with her to unite our lives by indissoluble ties, and to leave Naples almost immediately
When I saw the duke he said,--
”Well, Don Giaco with my mistress; do you still wish to marry her?”
”More than ever; what do you ; and as you have passed this trial to which I purposely subjected you, ill discuss your union to woree with you”
When ent to Monte Leone's in the evening,a banker with a good deal of gold before him The duke toldether in his left hand that I could not see them This did not inspire me with confidence, so I only punted a ducat at a time I was persistently unlucky, but I only lost a score of ducats After five or six deals the banker, asked ainst him
”Because I can't see half the pack,” I replied, ”and I ahed at ht I broke the bank held by the Prince the Cassaro, a pleasant and rich noblee, and invited me to supper at his pretty house at Posilipo, where he lived with a virtuosa of whom he had become amorous at Palermo He also invited the Duke de Matalone and three or four other gentlemen This was the only occasion on which I held the bank while I was at Naples, and I staked six thousand ducats after warning the prince that as it was the eve of my departure I should only play for ready money
He lost ten thousand ducats, and only rose from the table because he had no more money Everybody left the room, and I should have done the same if the prince's mistress had not owed me a hundred ducats I continued to deal in the hope that she would get herthat she still lost I put down the cards, and told her that she reeable woman, but she did not inspire me with any passions, no doubt because my mind was occupied with another, otherwise I should have drawn a bill on sight, and paidwith her purse It o o'clock in the ot to bed
Both Leonilda andNaples, and the duke sent us there in a carriage drawn by six overness accompanied us