Volume V Part 96 (2/2)
The consequence of all this was that I not only gave ed the count to thank his majesty for his kindness, and the interest he had been pleased to take in enerous Moszczinski eedcarriage as a token of his friendshi+p He inforone off with his wife'swith him her dia her to the tender ether to make up to her for what her husband had stolen I also heard that the king's sister had arrived at Warsaw from Bialistock, and it was hoped that her husband would follow her This husband was the real Count Branicki, and the Branicki, or rather Branecki, or Bragnecki, who had fought withday I paid my debts, which amounted to about two hundred ducats, and Ifor Breslau, the day after, with Count Clary, each of us having his own carriage Clary was one of thosehas become a sort of second nature; whenever such an one opens his oing to lie” If they could feel their own degradation, they would be much to be pitied, for by their own fault at last no one will believe them even when by chance they speak the truth This Count Clary, as not one of the Clarys of Teplitz, could neither go to his own country nor to Vienna, because he had deserted the army on the eve of a battle He was lame, but he walked so adroitly that his defect did not appear If this had been the only truth he concealed, it would have been well, for it was a piece of deception that hurt no one He died miserably in Venice
We reached Breslau in perfect safety, and without experiencing any adventures Ca, returned, but rejoined me at Vienna in the course of seven ht I would make the acquaintance of the Abbe Bastiani, a celebrated Venetian, whose fortune had beenof Prussia He was canon of the cathedral, and received me cordially; in fact, each mutually desired the other's acquaintance He was a fine well-h He was also witty, learned, eloquent, and gifted with a persuasive voice; his cook was an artist, his library full of choice volued on the ground floor, and on the first floor he accommodated a lady, of whose children he was very fond, possibly because he was their father Although a great admirer of the fair sex, his tastes were by no means exclusive, and he did not despise love of the Greek or philosophic kind I could see that he entertained a passion for a young priest who abbe was Count di Cavalcano and Bastiani see; but the innocent young man did not seem to understand, and I suppose Bastiani did not like to lower his dignity by declaring his love The canon shewedof Prussia before he had been made canon
He was the son of a tailor at Venice, and becaot hih to be able to ue, and there met Tron, the Venetian ambassador, who lent him a hundred ducats hich heSuch are the ways by which men arrive at fortune! 'Sequere deum'!
On the event of my departure from Breslau I went to pay a call on a baroness for whom I had a letter of introduction from her son, as an officer of the Polish Court I sent up my name and was asked to wait a fewI sat down beside a pretty girl, as neatly dressed in afor the baroness like myself
”Yes, sir,” she replied, ”I have cohters”
”What! Governess at your age?”
”Alas! sir, age has nothing to do with necessity I have neither father nor mother My brother is a poor lieutenant who cannot help ood education to account”
”What will your salary be?”
”Fifty wretched crowns, enough to buy my dresses”
”It's very little”
”It is asnow?”
”With a poor aunt, where I can scarce earn enough bread to keep ht”
”If you liked to becooverness, I would give you fifty crowns, not per year, but per overness? Governess to your family, you mean, I suppose?”
”I have no fa I leave at five o'clock to- for Dresden, and if you like to coe I a at such an inn Coether”
”You are joking; besides, I don't know you”
”I aet to know each other perfectly well in twenty-four hours; that is airl that I was not laughing at her; but she was still very much astonished, while I was very one so far when I had only intended to joke In trying to win over the girl I had won over hted to see that she was giving it her serious attention by the side-glances she kept casting in an to think that fate had brought us together that I ht become the architect of her fortune I had no doubt whatever as to her goodness or her feelings forstroke on the affair I drew out two ducats and gave thees She took the on her
By this time the baroness was ready, and she welcomed me very kindly; but I said I could not accept her invitation to dine with her the following day, as I was leaving at day-break I replied to all the questions that a fondher son, and then took leave of the worthy lady As I went out I noticed that the would-be governess had disappeared The rest of the day I spent with the canon,about girls or literature The next day ed, and I went off without thinking of the girl I had one two hundred paces when the postillion stopped, a bundle of linen whirled through theinto the carriage, and the governess got in I gave her a hearty welco her, and made her sit down beside me, and so we drove off