CHAPTER X

Produced by David Widger

MEMOIRS OF JACQUES CASANOVA de SEINGALT 1725-1798

THE ETERNAL QUEST, Volume 3c--HOLLAND AND GERMANY

THE RARE UNABRIDGED LONDON EDITION OF 1894 TRANSLATED BY ARTHUR MACHEN TO

WHICH HAS BEEN ADDED THE CHAPTERS DISCOVERED BY ARTHUR SYMONS.

THE ETERNAL QUEST

HOLLAND AND GERMANY

CHAPTER X

Portrait of the Pretended Countess Piccolomini--Quarrel and Duel--Esther

and Her Father, M. D'O.--Esther Still Taken with the Cabala--Piccolomini

Forges a Bill of Exchange: Results I Am Fleeced, and in Danger of Being

Assassinated--Debauch with the Two Paduan Girls--I Reveal A Great Secret

To Esther--I Bate the Rascally St. Germain; His Flight--Manon Baletti

Proves Faithless to Me; Her Letter Announcing Her Marriage: My

Despair--Esther Spends a Day With Me--My Portrait and My Letters to Manon

Get Into Esther's Hands--I Pass a Day with Her--We Talk of Marrying Each

Other

The so-called Countess Piccolomini was a fine example of the adventurers.

She was young, tall, well-made, had eyes full of fire, and skin of a

dazzling whiteness; not, however, that natural whiteness which delights

those who know the value of a satin skin and rose petals, but rather that

artificial fairness which is commonly to be seen at Rome on the faces of

courtezans, and which disgusts those who know how it is produced. She had

also splendid teeth, glorious hair as black as jet, and arched eyebrows

like ebony. To these advantages she added attractive manners, and there

was something intelligent about the way she spoke; but through all I saw

the adventuress peeping out, which made me detest her.

As she did not speak anything but Italian the countess had to play the

part of a mute at table, except where an English officer named Walpole

was concerned, who, finding her to his taste, set himself to amuse her. I

felt friendly disposed towards this Englishman, though my feelings were

certainly not the result of sympathy. If I had been blind or deaf Sir

James Walpole would have been totally indifferent to me, as what I felt

for him was the result of my observation.

Although I did not care for the countess, for all that I went up to her

room after dinner with the greater part of the guests. The count arranged

a game of whist, and Walpole played at primero with the countess, who

cheated him in a masterly manner; but though he saw it he laughed and

paid, because it suited his purpose to do so. When he had lost fifty

Louis he called quarter, and the countess asked him to take her to the

theatre. This was what the good-natured Englishman wanted; and he and the

countess went off, leaving the husband playing whist.

I, too, went to the play, and as chance would have it my neighbour in the

pit was Count Tot, brother to the count famous for his stay in

Constantinople.

We had some conversation together, and he told me he had been obliged to

leave France on account of a duel which he had had with a man who had

jested with him for not being present at the battle of Minden, saying

that he had absented himself in view of the battle. The count had proved

his courage with the sword on the other's body--a rough kind of argument

which was fashionable then as now. He told me he had no money, and I

immediately put my purse at his service; but, as the saying goes, a

kindness is never thrown away, and five years later he did the same by me

at St. Petersburg. Between the acts he happened to notice the Countess

Piccolomini, and asked me if I knew her husband. "I know him very

slightly," I answered, "but we happen to be staying at the same hotel."

"He's a regular black sheep," said the count, "and his wife's no better

than he."

It seemed that they had already won a reputation in the town.

After the play I went back to the hotel by myself, and the head-waiter

told me that Piccolomini had set out hot-foot with his servant, his only

luggage being a light portmanteau. He did not know the reason of this

sudden departure, but a minute afterwards the countess came in, and her

maid having whispered something to her she told me that the count had

gone away because he had fought a duel but that often happened. She asked

me to sup with her and Walpole, and her appetite did not seem to suffer

from the absence of her spouse.

Just as we were finishing supper, an Englishman, who had been of the

whist party, came up and told Walpole that the Italian had been caught

cheating and had given the lie to their fellow Englishman, who had

detected him, and that they had gone out together. An hour afterwards the

Englishman returned with two wounds, one on the fore-arm and one on the

shoulder. It was a trifling affair altogether.

Next day, after I had had dinner with the Comte d'Afri, I found a letter

from Piccolomini, with an enclosure addressed to the countess, waiting

for me at the inn. He begged me to give his wife the letter, which would

inform her of his plans, and then to bring her to the Ville de Lyon at

Amsterdam, where he was staying. He wanted to know how the Englishman

whom he had wounded was getting on.

The duty struck me as an amusing one, and I should have laughed with all

my heart if I had felt the least desire to profit by the confidence he

was pleased to place in me. Nevertheless I went up to the countess, whom

I found sitting up in bed playing with Walpole. She read the letter, told

me that she could not start till the day following, and informed me what

time she would go, as if it had been all settled; but I smiled

sardonically, and told her that my business kept me at the Hague, and

that I could not possibly escort her. When Walpole heard me say this he

offered to be my substitute, to which she agreed. They set out the day

following, intending to lie at Leyden.

Two days after their departure, I was sitting down to dinner with the

usual company, increased by two Frenchmen who had just come. After the

soup one of them said, coolly,

"The famous Casanova is now in Holland."

"Is he?" said the other, "I shall be glad to see him, and ask for an

explanation which he will not like."

I looked at the man, and feeling certain that I had never seen him before

I began to get enraged; but I merely asked the fellow if he knew

Casanova.

"I'll ought to know him," said he, in that self-satisfied tone which is

always so unpleasant.

"Nay, sir, you are mistaken; I am Casanova."

Without losing his self-possession, he replied, insolently,

"You are really very much mistaken if you think you are the only Casanova

in the world."

It was a sharp answer, and put me in the wrong. I bit my lips and held my

tongue, but I was grievously offended, and determined to make him find

the Casanova who was in Holland, and from whom he was going to extract an

unpleasant explanation, in myself. In the meanwhile I bore as well as I

could the poor figure he must be cutting before the officers at table,

who, after hearing the insolence of this young blockhead, might take me

for a coward. He, the insolent fellow, had no scruple in abusing the

triumph his answer had given him, and talked away in the random fashion.

At last he forgot himself so far as to ask from what country I came.

"I am a Venetian, sir," I replied.

"Ah! then you are a good friend to France, as your republic is under

French protection."

At these words my ill-temper boiled aver, and, in the tone of voice one

uses to put down a puppy, I replied that the Republic of Venice was

strong enough to do without the protection of France or of any other

power, and that during the thirteen centuries of its existence it had had

many friends and allies but no protectors. "Perhaps," I ended, "you will

reply by begging my pardon for not knowing that these was only one Venice

in the world."

I had no sooner said this than a burst of laughter from the whole table

set me right again. The young blockhead seemed taken aback and in his

turn bit his lips, but his evil genius made him, strike in again at

dessert. As usual the conversation went from one subject to another, and

we began to talk about the Duke of Albermarle. The Englishmen spoke in

his favour, and said that if he had been alive there would have been no

war between England and France; they were probably right, but even if the

duke had lived war might have broken out, as the two nations in question

have never yet succeeded in understanding that it is for both their

interests to live at peace together. Another Englishman praised Lolotte,

his mistress. I said I had seen that charming woman at the Duchess of

Fulvi's, and that no one deserved better to become the Countess of

Eronville. The Count of Eronville, a lieutenant-general and a man of

letters, had just married her.

I had scarcely finished what I had to say when Master Blockhead said,

with a laugh, that he knew Lolotte to be a good sort of girl, as he had

slept with her at Paris. I could restrain myself no longer; my

indignation and rage consumed me. I took up my plate, and made as if I

would throw it at his head, saying at the same time, "You infernal liar!"

He got up, and stood with his back to the fire, but I could see by his

sword-knot that he was a soldier.

Everybody pretended not to hear anything of this, and the conversation

went on for some time on indifferent subjects; and at last they all rose

from their seats and left the room.

My enemy said to his companion that they would see one another again

after the play, and remained by the fire, with his elbow resting on the

chimney-piece. I remained at table till the company had all left the

room, and when we were alone together I got up and looked him straight in

the face, and went out, walking towards Sheveningue, sure that he would

follow me if he were a man of any mettle. When I had got to some distance

from the hotel I looked round, and saw that he was following me at a

distance of fifty paces.

When I got to the wood I stopped at a suitable place, and stood awaiting

my antagonist. He was ten paces off when he drew his sword, and I had

plenty of time to draw mine though he came on fast. The fight did not

last long, for as soon as he was near enough I gave him a thrust which

has never failed me, and sent him back quicker than he came. He was

wounded in the chest above the right breast, but as my sword was flat and

the opening large enough the wound bled easily. I lowered my sword and

ran up to him, but I could do nothing; he said that we should meet again

at Amsterdam, if I was going there, and that he would have his revenge. I

saw him again five or six years afterwards at Warsaw, and then I did him

a kindness. I heard afterwards that his name was Varnier, but I do not

know whether he was identical with the president of the National

Convention under the infamous Robespierre.

I did not return to the hotel till after the play, and I then heard that

the Frenchman, after having the surgeon with him for an hour, had set out

for Rotterdam with his friend. We had a pleasant supper and talked

cheerfully together without a word being said about the duel, with the

exception that an English lady said, I forget in what connection, that a

man of honour should never risk sitting down to dinner at an hotel unless

he felt inclined, if necessary, to fight. The remark was very true at

that time, when one had to draw the sword for an idle word, and to expose

one's self to the consequences of a duel, or else be pointed at, even by

the ladies, with the finger of scorn.

I had nothing more to keep me at the Hague, and I set out next morning

before day-break for Amsterdam. On the way I stopped for dinner and

recognized Sir James Walpole, who told me that he had started from

Amsterdam the evening before, an hour after giving the countess into her

husband's charge. He said that he had got very tired of her, as he had

nothing more to get from a woman who gave more than one asked, if one's

purse-strings were opened wide enough. I got to Amsterdam about midnight

and took up my abode at "The Old Bible." The neighbourhood of Esther had

awakened my love for that charming girl, and I was so impatient to see

her that I could not sleep.

I went out about ten o'clock and called on M. d'O, who welcomed me in the

friendliest manner and reproached me for not having alighted at his

house. When he heard that I had given up business he congratulated me on

not having removed it into Holland, as I should have been ruined. I did

not tell him that I had nearly come to that in France, as I considered

such a piece of information would not assist my designs. He complained

bitterly of the bad faith of the French Government, which had involved

him in considerable losses; and then he asked me to come and see Esther.

I was too impatient to embrace her to stay to be asked twice; I ran to

greet her. As soon as she saw me she gave a cry of surprise and delight,

and threw herself in my arms, where I received her with fondness equal to

her own. I found her grown and improved; she looked lovely. We had

scarcely sat down when she told me that she had become as skilled in the

cabala as myself.

"It makes my life happy," said she, "for it gives me a power over my

father, and assures me that he will never marry me to anyone but the man

of my choice."

"I am delighted that you extract the only good that can proceed from this

idle science, namely, the power to guide persons devoid of strength of

will. But your father must think that I taught you the secret?"

"Yes, he does; and he said, one day, that he would forgive me any

sacrifices I might have made to obtain this precious secret from you."

"He goes a little further than we did, my dearest Esther."

"Yes, and I told him that I had gained it from you without any sacrifice,

and that now I was a true Pythoness without having to endure the torments

of the tripod; and I am sure that the replies you gave were invented by

yourself."

"But if that were so how could I have known where the pocket-book was, or

whether the ship was safe?"

"You saw the portfolio yourself and threw it where it was discovered, and

as for the vessel you spoke at random; but as you are an honest man,

confess that you were afraid of the results. I am never so bold as that,

and when my father asks me questions of that kind, my replies are more

obscure than a sibyl's. I don't wish him to lose confidence in my oracle,

nor do I wish him to be able to reproach me with a loss that would injure

my own interests."

"If your mistake makes you happy I shall leave you in it. You are really

a woman of extraordinary talents--, you are quite unique."

"I don't want your compliments," said she, in a rather vexed manner, "I

want a sincere avowal of the truth."

"I don't think I can go as far as that."

At these words, which I pronounced in a serious way, Esther went into a

reverie, but I was not going to lose the superiority I had over her, and

racked my brains to find some convincing prediction the oracle might make

to her, and while I was doing so dinner was announced.

There were four of us at table, and I concluded that the fourth of the

party must be in love with Esther, as he kept his eyes on her the whole

time. He was her father's favourite clerk, and no doubt her father would

have been glad if she had fallen in love with him, but I soon saw that

she was not likely to do so. Esther was silent all through dinner, and we

did not mention the cabala till the clerk was gone.

"Is it possible," said M. d'O, "for my daughter to obtain the answers of

the oracle without your having taught her?"

"I always thought such a thing impossible till to-day," I answered, "but

Esther has convinced me that I was mistaken. I can teach the secret to no

one without losing it myself, for the oath I swore to the sage who taught

me forbids me to impart it to another under pain of forfeiture. But as

your daughter has taken no such oath, having acquired it herself, she may

be for all I know at perfect liberty to communicate the secret to

anyone."

Esther, who was as keen as a razor, took care to say that the same oath

that I had taken had been imposed on her by the oracle, and that she

could not communicate the cabalistic secret to anyone without the

permission of her genius, under pain of losing it herself.

I read her inmost thoughts, and was rejoiced to see that her mind was

calmed. She had reason to be grateful to me, whether I had lied or not,

for I had given her a power over her father which a father's kindness

could not have assured; but she perceived that what I had said about her

oracular abilities had been dictated merely by politeness, and she waited

till we were alone to make me confess as much.

Her worthy father, who believed entirely in the infallibility of our

oracles, had the curiosity to put the same question to both of us, to see

if we should agree in the answer. Esther was delighted with the idea, as

she suspected that the one answer would flatly contradict the other, and

M. d'O having written his question on two sheets of paper gave them to

us. Esther went up to her own room for the operation, and I questioned

the oracle on the table at which we had had dinner, in the presence of

the father. Esther was quick, as she came down before I had extracted

from the pyramid the letters which were to compose my reply, but as I

knew what to say as soon as I saw her father read the answer she gave him

I was not long in finishing what I had to do.

M. d'O---- asked if he should try to get rid of the French securities he

held in spite of the loss he would incur by selling out.

Esther's oracle replied,

"You must sow plentifully before you reap. Pluck not up the vine before

the season of the vintage, for your vine is planted in a fruitful soil."

Mine ran as follows:--

"If you sell out you will repent, for there will be a new

comptroller-general, who will pay all claims before another year has

elapsed."

Esther's answer was conceived in the sibylline style, and I admired the

readiness of her wit; but mine went right to the point, and the worthy

man embraced us joyfully, and, taking his hat and stick, said that since

our replies agreed he would run the risk of losing three million francs

and make a profit of five or six hundred thousand in the course of the

year. His daughter began to recant, and would have warned him against the

danger, but he, who was as firm as a Mussulman, kissed her again, saying,

"The oracle is not wont to lie, and even if it does deceive me this time

it will only be a fourth part of my fortune that I shall lose."

When Esther and I were alone I began to compliment her, much to her

delight, on the cleverness of her answer, the elegance of her style, and

her boldness, for she could not be as well acquainted with French affairs

as I was.

"I am much obliged to you," said she, "for having confirmed my reply, but

confess that you lied to please me."

"I confess, since that will please you, and I will even tell you that you

have nothing more to learn."

"You are a cruel man! But how could you reply that there would be another

comptroller-general in a year's time, and run the risk of compromising

the oracle? I never dare to say things like that; I love the oracle too

well to expose it to shame and confusion."

"That shews that I do not invent the answers; but since the oracle has

pronounced it I am willing to bet that Silhouette will be dismissed."

"Your obstinacy drives me to despair, for I shall not rest till I know

that I am as much a master of the cabala as you are, and yet you will not

confess that you invent the answers yourself. For charity's sake do

something to convince me of the contrary."

"I will think it over."

I passed the whole day with this delightful girl, whose amiable

disposition and great wealth would have made me a happy man if it were

not for my master-passion, the love of independence, and my aversion to

make up my mind to live for the rest of my days in Holland.

In the course of my life I have often observed that the happiest hours

are often the heralds of misfortune. The very next day my evil genius

took me to the Ville de Lyon. This was the inn where Piccolomini and his

wife were staying, and I found them there in the midst of a horde of

cheats and sharpers, like themselves. As soon as the good people heard my

name they rushed forward, some to greet me, and others to have a closer

look at me, as if I were some strange wild beast. Amongst those present

were a Chevalier de Sabi, who wore the uniform of a Polish major, and

protested he had known me at Dresden; a Baron de Wiedan, claiming Bohemia

as his fatherland, who greeted me by saying that his friend the Comte St.

Germain had arrived at the Etoile d'Orient, and had been enquiring after

me; an attenuated-looking bravo who was introduced to me as the Chevalier

de la Perine, whom I recognized at the first glance as the fellow called

Talvis, who had robbed the Prince-Bishop of Presburg, who had lent me a

hundred Louis the same day, and with whom I had fought a duel at Paris.

Finally, there was an Italian named Neri, who looked like a blacksmith

minus his honesty, and said that he remembered seeing me one evening at

the casino. I recollected having seen him at the place where I met the

wretched Lucie.

In the midst of this band of cut-purses I saw the so-called wife of the

pretended Chevalier de Sabi, a pretty woman from Saxony, who, speaking

Italian indifferently well, was paying her addresses to the Countess

Piccolomini.

I bit my lips with anger to find myself in such honourable company, but

putting a good face on a bad game I greeted everybody politely, and then

drawing a roll of a hundred Louis from my pocket I presented them to

Master Perine Talvis, telling him I was glad to be able to return them to

him with my best thanks.

My politeness did not meet with much of a reception, for the impudent

scoundrel answered me, as he pocketed the money, that he remembered

having lent it me at Presburg, but he also remembered a more important

matter.

"And pray what is that?" said I, in a dry and half-disdainful tone.

"You owe me a revenge at the sword's point, as you know right well. Here

is the mark of the gash you gave me seven years ago."

So saying, the wretched little man opened his shirt and shewed the small

round scar. This scene, which belonged more to farce than comedy, seemed

to have struck all tongues with paralysis.

"Anywhere else than in Holland, where important and delicate business

debars me from fighting, I shall be glad to meet you and mark you again,

if you still desire to cross swords with me; but while I am here I must

beg you not to disturb me. All the same, you may as well know that I

never go out without a couple of friends in my pockets, and that if you

attack me I shall blow your brains out in self-defence."

"My revenge must be with crossed swords," said he. "However, I will let

you finish your business."

"You will do wisely."

Piccolomini, who had been casting a hungry eye upon my hundred louis,

proposed immediately afterwards a bank at faro, and began to deal.

Prudence would have restrained me from playing in such company, but the

dictates of prudence were overcome by my desire to get back the hundred

louis which I had given Talvis, so I cut in. I had a run of bad luck and

lost a hundred ducats, but, as usual, my loss only excited me. I wished

to regain what I had lost, so I stayed to supper, and afterwards, with

better luck, won back my money. I was content to stop at this, and to let

the money I had paid to Talvis go, so I asked Piccolomini to pay me,

which he did with a bill of exchange on an Amsterdam bank drawn by a firm

in Middlesburg. At first I made some difficulty in taking it, on the

pretext that it would be difficult to negotiate, but he promised to let

me have the money next day, and I had to give in.

I made haste to leave this cut-throat place, after refusing to lend

Talvis a hundred Louis, which he wanted to borrow of me on the strength

of the revenge I owed him. He was in a bad humour, both on this account

and because he had lost the hundred Louis I had paid him, and he allowed

himself to use abusive language, which I treated with contempt. I went to

bed, promising myself never to set foot in such a place again.

The next morning, however, I went out with the intention of calling on

Piccolomini to get the bill of exchange cashed, but on my way I happened

to go into a coffee-house and to meet Rigerboos, Therese's friend, whose

acquaintance the reader has already made. After greeting each other, and

talking about Therese, who was now in London and doing well, I skewed him

my bill, telling him the circumstances under which I had it. He looked at

it closely, and said,

"It's a forgery, and the original from which it was copied was honoured

yesterday."

He saw that I could scarcely believe it, and told me to come with him to

be convinced of the truth of what he said.

He took me to a merchant of his acquaintance, who skewed me the genuine

bill, which he had cashed the day before for an individual who was

unknown to him. In my indignation I begged Rigerboos to come with me to

Piccolomini, telling him that he might cash it without remark, and that

otherwise he would witness what happened.

We arrived at the count's and were politely received, the count asking me

to give him the bill and he would send it to the bank to be cashed, but

Rigerboos broke in by saying that it would be dishonoured, as it was a

mere copy of a bill which had been cashed the evening before.

Piccolomini pretended to be greatly astonished, and said that, "though he

could not believe it, he would look into the matter."

"You may look into it when you please," said I, "but in the mean time I

should be obliged by your giving me five hundred florins."

"You know me, sir," said he, raising his voice, "I guarantee to pay you,

and that ought to be enough."

"No doubt it would be enough, if I chose; but I want my money."

At this his wife came in and began to take her part in the dispute, and

on the arrival of the count's man, a very cut-threat, Rigerboos took hold

of me by the arm and drew me forcibly away. "Follow me," said he, when we

were outside, "and let me see to this business myself." He took me to a

fine-looking man, who turned out to be the lieutenant of police, and

after he had heard the case he told me to give him the bill of exchange

and to say where I was going to dine. I told him I should be at M. d'O

's, and saying that would do he went off. I thanked Rigerboos, and went

to Esther, who reproached me tenderly for not having been to see her the

evening before. That flattered me, and I thought her a really charming

girl.

"I must take care," said I, "not to see you every day, for your eyes have

a sway over me that I shall not be able to resist much longer."

"I shall believe as much of that as I choose, but, by-the-by, have you

thought of any way of convincing me?"

"What do you want to be convinced about?"

"If it be true that there is in your cabala an intelligence distinct from

your own you ought to be able to find some way of proving it to me."

"That is a happy thought; I will think it over."

At that moment her father came in from the Exchange, and we sat dawn to

dinner.

We were at dessert when a police official brought me five hundred

florins, for which I gave him a receipt.

When he had gone I told my entertainers what had happened the evening

before and in the morning, and the fair Esther reproached me for

preferring such bad company to her. "By way of punishment," said she, "I

hope you will come with me to the theatre this evening, though they are

going to give a Dutch play, of which you will not understand a word."

"I shall be near you, and that is enough for me:"

In fact, I did not comprehend a word of the actors' gibberish, and was

terribly bored, as Esther preserved a solemn and serious silence the

whole time.

As we were coming from the theatre she told me all about the piece with

charming grace and wonderful memory; she seemed to wish to give me some

pleasure in return for the tedium to which she had condemned me. When we

got home we had supper, and that evening, Heaven be thanked! I heard

nothing more about the cabala. Before we parted, Esther and her father

made me promise to dine with them every day, and to let them know if

anything prevented my coming.

Next morning, about eight o'clock, while I was still dressing, I suddenly

saw Piccolomini standing before me, and as he had not sent in his name I

began to feel suspicious. I rang the bell for my faithful Spaniard, who

came in directly.

"I want to speak to you privately," said he, "tell that fellow to go

out."

"He can stay," I answered, "he does not know a word of Italian." Le Duc,

of course, knew Italian perfectly well.

"Yesterday, about noon," he began, "two men came into my room. They were

accompanied by the innkeeper, who served as interpreter. One of the men

asked me if I felt inclined to cash there and then a forged bill of

exchange, which I had given the night before, and which he held in his

hands. As I gave no reply, he told me that there was no time for

consideration or argument; I must say yes or no there and then, for such

were their instructions from the chief of police. I had no choice in the

matter, so I paid the five hundred florins, but I did not get back the

bill, and the man told me I could not have it unless I told the police

the name of the person from whom I got it, as, in the interests of

commerce, the forger must be prosecuted. My reply was that I could not

possibly tell them what they wanted, as I had got it of a stranger who

had come into my room while I was holding a small bank of faro, to pass

the time.

"I told him that after this person (who I had thought introduced by

someone in the company) had gone, I found to my surprise that nobody knew

him; and I added that if I had been aware of this I would not only have

refused the bill but would not have allowed him to play. Thereupon the

second policeman said that I had better find out who this person was, or

else I should be considered as the forger and prosecuted accordingly;

after this threat they went out.

"In the afternoon my wife called on the chief of police and was politely

received, but after hearing what she had to say he informed her that she

must find out the forger, since M. Casanova's honour might be endangered

by the banker taking proceedings against him, in which case he would have

to prosecute me.

"You see in what a difficult position we are placed, and I think you

ought to try to help us. You have got your money and you are not without

friends. Get their influence exerted in the matter, and we shall hear no

more about it. Your interests as well as mine are concerned."

"Except as a witness of the fact," I answered, "I can have nothing to do

with this affair. You agree that I received the bill from you, since you

cashed it; that is enough for me. I should be glad to be of service to

you, but I really don't see what I can do. The best advice I can give you

is to make a sacrifice of the rascally sharper who gave you the forged

bill, and if you can't do that I would counsel you to disappear, and the

sooner the better, or else you may come to the galleys, or worse."

He got into a rage at this, and turning his back on me went out, saying I

should be sorry for what I had said.

My Spaniard followed him down the stair and came back to tell me that the

signor had gone off threatening vengeance, and that, in his opinion, I

would do well to be on my guard.

"All right," said I, "say no more about it."

All the same I was really very grateful for his advice, and I gave the

matter a good deal of thought.

I dressed myself and went to see Esther, whom I had to convince of the

divinity of my oracle, a different task with one whose own wits had told

her so much concerning my methods. This was the problem she gave me to

solve,

"Your oracle must tell me something which I, and only I, know."

Feeling that it would be impossible to fulfil these conditions, I told

her that the oracle might reveal some secret she might not care to have

disclosed.

"That is impossible," she answered, "as the secret will be known only to

myself."

"But, if the oracle replies I shall know the answer as well as you, and

it may be something you would not like me to know."

"There is no such thing, and, even if there were, if the oracle is not

your own brain you can always find out anything you want to know."

"But there is some limit to the powers of the oracle."

"You are making idle excuses; either prove that I am mistaken in my ideas

or acknowledge that my oracle is as good as yours."

This was pushing me hard, and I was on the point of declaring myself

conquered when a bright idea struck me.

In the midst of the dimple which added such a charm to her chin Esther

had a little dark mole, garnished with three or four extremely fine

hairs. These moles, which we call in Italian 'neo, nei', and which are

usually an improvement to the prettiest face, when they occur on the

face, the neck, the arms, or the hands, are duplicated on the

corresponding parts of the body. I concluded, therefore, that Esther had

a mole like that on her chin in a certain place which a virtuous girl

does not shew; and innocent as she was I suspected that she herself did

not know of this second mole's existence. "I shall astonish her," I said

to myself, "and establish my superiority in a manner which will put the

idea of having equal skill to mine out of her head for good." Then with

the solemn and far-away look of a seer I made my pyramid and extracted

these words from it,

"Fair and discreet Esther, no one knows that at the entrance of the

temple of love you have a mole precisely like that which appears on your

chin."

While I was working at my calculations, Esther was leaning over me and

following every movement. As she really knew as much about the cabala as

I did she did not want it to be explained to her, but translated the

numbers into letters as I wrote them down. As soon as I had extracted all

the combinations of numbers from the pyramid she said, quietly, that as I

did not want to know the answer, she would be much obliged if I would let

her translate the cypher.

"With pleasure," I replied. "And I shall do so all the more willingly as

I shall thereby save your delicacy from sharing with me a secret which

may or may not be agreeable. I promise you not to try to find it out. It

is enough for me to see you convinced."

"I shall be convinced when I have verified the truth of the reply."

"Are you persuaded, dearest Esther, that I have had nothing to do with

framing this answer?"

"I shall be quite sure of it if it has spoken the truth, and if so the

oracle will have conquered, for the matter is so secret a one that even I

do not know of it. You need not know yourself, as it is only a trifle

which would not interest you; but it will be enough to convince me that

the answers of your oracle are dictated by an intelligence which has

nothing in common with yours."

There was so much candour and frankness in what she said that a feeling

of shame replaced the desire of deceiving her, and I shed some tears,

which Esther could only interpret favourably to me. Nevertheless, they

were tears of remorse, and now, as I write after such a lapse of years, I

still regret having deceived one so worthy of my esteem and love. Even

then I reproached myself, but a pitiable feeling of shame would not let

me tell the truth; but I hated myself for thus leading astray one whose

esteem I desired to gain.

In the mean time I was not absolutely sure that I had hit the mark, for

in nature, like everything else, every law has its exceptions, and I

might possibly have dug a pitfall for myself. On the other hand, if I

were right, Esther would no doubt be convinced for the moment, but her

belief would speedily disappear if she chanced to discover that the

correspondence of moles on the human body was a necessary law of nature.

In that case I could only anticipate her scorn. But however I might

tremble I had carried the deception too far, and could not draw back.

I left Esther to call on Rigerboos, whom I thanked for his offices on my

behalf with the chief of the police. He told me that I had nothing to

fear from Piccolomini in Holland, but all the same he advised me not to

go about without pistols. "I am on the eve of embarking for Batavia,"

said he, "in a vessel which I have laden with the ruins of my fortune. In

the state my affairs are in I thought this the best plan. I have not

insured the cargo, so as not diminish my profits, which will be

considerable if I succeed. If the ship is taken or wrecked I shall take

care not to survive its loss; and after all I shall not lose much."

Poor Riberboos said all this as if he were jesting, but despair had no

doubt a good deal to do with his resolve, since it is only in great

misery that we despise both life and fortune. The charming Therese

Trenti, whom Rigerboos always spoke of as Our Lady, had contributed to

his ruin in no small degree. She was then in London, where, by her own

account, she was doing well. She had exchanged the name of Trenti for

that of Cornelis, or Cornely, which, as I found out afterwards, was

Rigerboo's real name. We spent an hour in writing to this curious woman,

as we desired to take advantage of the circumstance that a man whom

Rigerboos desired to commend to her was shortly going to England. When we

had finished we went sleighing on the Amstel, which had been frozen over

for several days. This diversion, of which the Dutch are very fond, is,

to my thinking, the dullest imaginable, for an objectless journey is no

pleasure to me. After we were well frozen we went to eat oysters, with

Sillery, to warm ourselves again, and after that we went from one casino

to another, not intending to commit any debauchery, but for want of

something better to do; but it seemed decreed that whenever I preferred

any amusement of this kind to the charms of Esther's society I should

come to grief.

I do not know how it happened, but as we were going into one of these

casinos Rigerboos called me loudly by my name, and at that instant a

woman, such as one usually finds in these places, came forward and began

to gaze at me. Although the room was ill enough lighted I saw it was the

wretched Lucie, whom I had met a year before without her recognizing me.

I turned away, pretending not to know her, for the sight of her was

disagreeable to me, but in a sad voice she called me by my name,

congratulating me on my prosperity and bewailing her own wretchedness. I

saw that I could neither avoid her nor repulse her without inhumanity, so

I called to Rigerboos to come upstairs and the girl would divert us by

recounting the history of her life.

Strictly speaking, Lucie had not become ugly; one could still see that

she had been a beautiful woman; but for all that her appearance inspired

me with terror and disgust. Since the days when I had known her at

Pasean, nineteen years of misery, profligacy, and shame had made her the

most debased, the vilest creature that can be imagined. She told us her

story at great length; the pith of it might be expressed in six lines.

The footman who had seduced her had taken her to Trieste to lie in, and

the scoundrel lived on the sale of her charms for five or six months, and

then a sea captain, who had taken a fancy to her, took her to Zante with

the footman, who passed for her husband.

At Zante the footman turned soldier, and deserted the army four years

after. She was left alone and continued living on the wages of

prostitution for six years; but the goods she had to offer lowering in

value, and her customers being of the inferior kind, she set out for

England with a young Greek girl, whom an English officer of marines

treated as his wife, and whom he abandoned in the streets of London when

he got tired of her. After living for two or three years in the vilest

haunts in London, Lucie came to Holland, where, not being able to sell

her own person any longer, she became a procuress--a natural ending to

her career. Lucie was only thirty-three, but she was the wreck of a

woman, and women are always as old as they look.

While she told her history she emptied two bottles of Burgundy I had

ordered, and which neither I nor my friend touched. Finally, she told us

she was now supported by two pretty girls whom she kept, and who had to

give her the half of what they got.

Rigerboos asked her, jokingly, if the girls were at the casino.

"No," said she, "they are not here, and shall never come here, for they

are ladies of high birth, and their uncle, who looks after their

interests, is a Venetian gentleman."

At this I could not keep back my laughter, but Lucie, without losing

countenance, told me that she could only repeat the account they had

given of themselves, that if we wanted to be convinced we had only to go

and see them at a house she rented fifty paces off, and that we need not

be afraid of being disturbed if we went, as their uncle lived in a

different part of the town.

"Oh, indeed!" said I, "he does not live with his highborn nieces, then?"

"No, he only comes to dinner to hear how business has been going, and to

take all the money from them."

"Come along," said Rigerboos, "we will go and see them."

As I was desirous of seeing and addressing the noble Venetian ladies of

so honourable a profession, I told Lucie to take us to the house. I knew

very well that the girls were impostors, and their gentleman-uncle a

blackguard; but the die was cast.

We found them to be young and pretty. Lucie introduced me as a Venetian,

and they were beside themselves with joy to have someone to whom they

could talk. I found out directly that they came from Padua, not Venice,

as they spoke the Paduan dialect, which I knew very well. I told them so,

and they confessed it was the truth. I asked the name of their uncle, but

they said they could not tell me.

"We can get on without knowing," said Rigerboos, catching hold of the one

he liked best. Lucie brought in some ham, oysters, a pie, and a good many

bottles of wine, and then left us.

I was not in the humour for wantonness, but Rigerboos was disposed to be

merry; his sweetheart was at first inclined to be prudish on his taking

liberties with her, but as I began to follow his example the ladies

relaxed their severity; we went first to one and then the other, and

before long they were both in the state of Eve before she used the

fig-leaf.

After passing an hour in these lascivious combats we gave each of the

girls four ducats, paid for the provisions we had consumed, and sent six

Louis to Lucie. We then left them, I going to bed cross with myself for

having engaged in such brutal pleasures.

Next morning I awoke late and in a bad humour, partly from the debauch of

the night before (for profligacy depresses as well as degrades the mind)

and partly from the thought that I had neglected Esther, who had

unquestionably been grieved by my absence. I felt that I must hasten to

reassure her, feeling certain that I should find some excuses to make,

and that they would be well received. I rang for Le Duc, put on my

dressing-gown, and sent him for my coffee. He had scarcely left the room

when the door opened and I saw Perine and the fellow named Wiedan, whom I

had seen at Piccolomini's, and who styled himself a friend of St.

Germain. I was sitting on my bed, putting on my stockings. My apartments

consisted of three fine rooms, but they were at the back of the house,

and all the noise I could have made would not have been heard. The bell

was on the other side of the room; Le Duc would be gone fully ten

minutes, and I was in imminent danger of being assassinated without the

possibility of self-defence.

The above thoughts flashed through my head with lightning speed, and all

that I could do was to keep calm and say,

"Well, gentlemen, what can I do for you?" Wiedan took upon himself to

answer me.

"Count Piccolomini has found himself forced to declare that he received

the forged bill from us, in order that he may escape from the difficult

position in which your denunciation placed him. He has warned us that he

is going to do so, and we must escape forthwith if we want to avoid

prosecution. We have not a penny; we are desperate men."

"Well, gentlemen, what have I to do with that?"

"Give us four hundred florins immediately; we do not want more, but we

must have that much, and now. If you refuse we will take to flight with

everything of yours that we can lay our hands on; and our arguments are

these."

With this, each man drew a pistol from his pocket and aimed it at my

head.

"You need not have recourse to violence," said I, "it can only be fatal

to you. Stay, here are a hundred ducats more than you asked. Begone, and

I wish you a pleasant journey, but I would not be here when my servant

comes back if I were you."

Wiedan took the roll of money with a trembling hand and put it in his

pocket without examining it; but Perine came up, and praising my noble

generosity, would have put his arms around my neck and kissed me. I

repulsed him, but without rudeness, and they went their ways, leaving me

very glad to have rid myself of them at so cheap a rate.

As soon as I was out of this snare I rang my bell, not to have them

followed but that I might get dressed as quickly as possible. I did not

say a word to Le Duc about what had happened, I was silent even to my

landlord; and, after I had sent my Spaniard to M. d'O to excuse my dining

there that day, I went to the chief of police, but had to wait two hours

before I could see him. As soon as the worthy man had heard my account of

my misfortune he said he would do his best to catch the two rascals, but

he did not conceal from me his fears that it was already too late.

I took the opportunity of telling him of Piccolomini's visit to me, his

claims and threats. He thanked me for doing so, and promised to see to

it; but he advised me for the future to be on my guard and ready to

defend myself in case I was attacked before he could place my enemies in

a place where they could do me no harm.

I hastened home again, as I felt ill. An acid taste in my mouth skewed me

how all these shocks had upset me; but I knew what to do. I took a strong

glass of lemonade, which made me bring up a good deal of bile, and I then

felt much better.

Towards evening I went to see Esther, and found her looking serious and

rather vexed; but as soon as she saw how pale I was her face lighted up,

and she asked me, in a voice of tenderest interest, if I had been ill. I

told her I had been out of sorts, that I had taken some medicine, and

that I now felt better.

"You will see my appetite at supper," added I, to calm her fears, "I have

had nothing to eat since dinner yesterday."

This was really the truth, as I had only eaten a few oysters with the

Paduan girls.

She could scarcely contain her joy at my recovery, and bade me kiss her,

with which request I complied gladly, all unworthy though I felt of so

great a favour.

"I am going to tell you an important piece of news," said she, "and that

is that I am sure that you do not invent the answers to your oracle, or

at least that you only do so when you choose. The reply you procured me

was wonderful-nay, divine, for it told me of a secret unknown to all,

even to myself. You may imagine my surprise when I convinced myself, with

no little trouble of the truth of the answer.

"You possess a treasure, your oracle is infallible; but surely it can

never lie, and my oracle tells me that you love me. It makes me glad to

know that, for you are the man of my heart. But I want you to give me an

exemplary proof of your love, and if you do love me you will not hesitate

to do so. Stay, read the reply you got me; I am sure you do not know what

it says; then I will tell you how you can make me quite happy."

I pretended to read, and kissed the words which declared I loved her. "I

am delighted," said I, "that the oracle has convinced you so easily, but

I must be excused if I say that I believe you knew as much long ago." She

replied, blushing, that if it were possible to chew me the object in

question I should not wonder at her ignorance. Then, coming to the proof

of my love, she told me that she wanted me to communicate the secret to

her. "You love me," said she, "and you ought to make no difficulty in

assuring the bliss of a girl who will be your wife, and in your power. My

father will agree to our marriage, and when I become your wife I will do

whatever you please. We will even go and live in another country if that

would add to your happiness. But you must teach me how to obtain the

answer to any question without inventing it myself."

I took Esther's hands in mine; she inspired me with the tenderest

feelings, and I kissed her hands with respectful fervour, saying, "You

know, Esther, dear, that my word is passed at Paris. Certainly, Manon is

not to be compared to you; but for all that I gave my promise to her poor

mother, and I must keep it."

A sigh escaped from Esther, and her head fell upon her breast: but what

could I do? I could not teach her any other way of consulting the oracle

than the method she understood as well as I: my superiority over her only

consisting in my greater craft and more extensive experience.

Early one morning, two or three days later, a man was announced as

wanting to see me. He called himself an officer, but his name was

perfectly unknown to me. I sent down to say that I could not see him, and

as soon as my Spaniard went out I locked my door. What had happened

already had made me suspicious, and I did not care to see any more

gentlemen alone. The two scoundrels who had robbed me had eluded all the

snares of the police, and Piccolomini was not to be found; but I knew a

good many of the gang were still in Amsterdam, and I thought it well to

be on my guard.

Some time after, Le Duc came in with a letter written in bad Italian,

saying that it had been given him by an officer who was waiting for an

answer. I opened it, and recognized the name I had heard a short while

ago. The writer said we knew each other, but that he could only give his

true name with his own lips, and that he had important information to

give me.

I told Le Duc to shew him in, and to stay by the door. I saw enter a

well-made man of about forty, dressed in the uniform of an officer of I

do not know what army, and bearing on his countenance all the marks of an

escaped gallows'-bird.

"What can I do for you, sir?" said I, as soon as he entered.

"Sir, we knew each other at Cerigo, sixteen or seventeen years ago, and I

am delighted to have an opportunity of renewing the acquaintance."

I knew that I had spent but a few minutes at Cerigo, on my way to

Constantinople, and concluded that my visitor must be one of the

unfortunate wretches to whom I gave alms.

"Are you the man," I said, "who told me that you were the son of a Count

Peccini, of Padua, although there is no such count in Padua at all?"

"I congratulate you on your excellent memory," said he, coolly, "I am

that very individual."

"Well, what do you want with me now?"

"I can't divulge my business in the presence of your servant."

"My servant does not understand Italian, so you can speak out; however,

if you like, I will send him away."

I ordered Le Duc to stay in the ante-chamber, and when he had left the

room my Paduan count told me that I had been with his nieces, and had

treated them as if they were courtezans, and that he was come to demand

satisfaction.

I was tired of being cheated, and I took hold of my pistols and pointed

them at him, bidding him be gone instantly. Le Duc came in and the third

robber took himself off, muttering that "a time would come."

I was placed in a disagreeable position; if I wanted to prosecute, I

should have to tell the whole story to the police. I thought of my honour

and determined to be silent, and the only person to whom I mentioned the

matter was Rigerboos, who not being in the same position as myself took

his measures, the result of which was that Lucie had to send her

high-born dames about their business. But the wretched woman came to me

to say that this misfortune had plunged her into the deepest distress, so

I made her a present of a few ducats, and she went away somewhat

consoled. I begged her not to call on me again.

Everything I did when I was away from Esther seemed to turn out ill, and

I felt that if I wanted to be happy I should do well to keep near her;

but my destiny, or rather my inconstancy, drew me away.

Three days afterwards, the villainous Major Sabi called on me to warn me

to be on my guard, as, according to his account, a Venetian officer I had

insulted and refused to give satisfaction to had vowed vengeance against

me.

"Then," said I, "I shall have him arrested as an escaped galley slave, in

which character I have given him alms, and for wearing without the right

to do so the uniform of an officer, thereby disgracing the whole army.

And pray what outrage can I have committed against girls who live in a

brothel, and whom I have paid according to their deserts?"

"If what you say is true you are quite right, but this poor devil is in a

desperate situation; he wants to leave the country, and does not possess

a single florin. I advise you to give him an alms once more, and you will

have done with him. Two score florins will not make you any the poorer,

and will rid you of a villainous enemy."

"A most villainous one, I think." At last I agreed to give him the forty

florins, and I handed them to him in a coffee-house where the major told

me I should find him. The reader will see how I met this blackguard four

months later.

Now, when all these troubles have been long over and I can think over

them calmly, reflecting on the annoyances I experienced at Amsterdam,

where I might have been so happy, I am forced to admit that we ourselves

are the authors of almost all our woes and griefs, of which we so

unreasonably complain. If I could live my life over again, should I be

wiser? Perhaps; but then I should not be myself.

M. d'O---- asked me to sup with him at the Burgomasters' Lodge, and this

was a great distinction, for, contrary to the rules of Freemasonry, no

one but the twenty-four members who compose the lodge is admitted, and

these twenty-four masons were the richest men on the Exchange.

"I have told them that you are coming," said M. d'O----, "and to welcome

you more honourably the lodge will be opened in French." In short, these

gentlemen gave me the most distinguished reception, and I had the fortune

to make myself so agreeable to them that I was unanimously chosen an

honorary member during the time I should stay at Amsterdam. As we were

going away, M. d'O---- told me that I had supped with a company which

represented a capital of three hundred millions.

Next day the worthy Dutchman begged me to oblige him by answering a

question to which his daughter's oracle had replied in a very obscure

manner. Esther encouraged me, and I asked what the question was. It ran

as follows:

"I wish to know whether the individual who desires me and my company to

transact a matter of the greatest importance is really a friend of the

King of France?"

It was not difficult for me to divine that the Comte de St. Germain was

meant. M. d'O was not aware that I knew him, and I had not forgotten what

M. d'Afri had told me.

"Here's a fine opportunity," thought I, "for covering my oracle with

glory, and giving my fair Esther something to think about."

I set to work, and after erecting my pyramid and placing above the four

keys the letters O, S, A, D, the better to impose on Esther, I extracted

the reply, beginning with the fourth key, D. The oracle ran as follows:

"The friend disavows. The order is signed. They grant. They refuse. All

vanishes. Delay."

I pretended to think the reply a very obscure one, but Esther gave a cry

of astonishment and declared that it gave a lot of information in an

extraordinary style. M. d'O----, in an ecstasy of delight, exclaimed,

"The reply is clear enough for me. The oracle is divine; the word 'delay'

is addressed to me. You and my daughter are clever enough in making the

oracle speak, but I am more skilled than you in the interpretation

thereof. I shall prevent the thing going any further. The project is no

less a one than to lend a hundred millions, taking in pledge the diamonds

of the French crown. The king wishes the loan to be concluded without the

interference of his ministers and without their even knowing anything

about it. I entreat you not to mention the matter to anyone."

He then went out.

"Now," said Esther, when we were by ourselves, "I am quite sure that that

reply came from another intelligence than yours. In the name of all you

hold sacred, tell me the meaning of those four letters, and why you

usually omit them."

"I omit them, dearest Esther, because experience has taught me that in

ordinary cases they are unnecessary; but while I was making the pyramid

the command came to me to set them down, and I thought it well to obey."

"What do they mean?"

"They are the initial letters of the holy names of the cardinal

intelligences of the four quarters of the world."

"I may not tell you, but whoever deals with the oracle should know them."

"Ah! do not deceive me; I trust in you, and it would be worse than murder

to abuse so simple a faith as mine."

"I am not deceiving you, dearest Esther."

"But if you were to teach me the cabala, you would impart to me these

holy names?"

"Certainly, but I cannot reveal them except to my successor. If I violate

this command I should lose my knowledge; and this condition is well

calculated to insure secrecy, is it not?"

"It is, indeed. Unhappy that I am, your successor will be, of course,

Manon."

"No, Manon is not fitted intellectually for such knowledge as this."

"But you should fix on someone, for you are mortal after all. If you

like, my father would give you the half of his immense fortune without

your marrying me."

"Esther! what is it that you have said? Do you think that to possess you

would be a disagreeable condition in my eyes?"

After a happy day--I think I may call it the happiest of my life--I left

the too charming Esther, and went home towards the evening.

Three or four days after, M. d'O---- came into Esther's room, where he

found us both calculating pyramids. I was teaching her to double, to

triple, and to quadruple the cabalistic combinations. M. d'O---- strode

into the room in a great hurry, striking his breast in a sort of ecstasy.

We were surprised and almost frightened to see him so strangely excited,

and rose to meet him, but he running up to us almost forced us to embrace

him, which we did willingly.

"But what is the matter, papa dear?" said Esther, "you surprise me more

than I can say."

"Sit down beside me, my dear children, and listen to your father and your

best friend. I have just received a letter from one of the secretaries of

their high mightinesses informing me that the French ambassador has

demanded, in the name of the king his master, that the Comte St. Germain

should be delivered over, and that the Dutch authorities have answered

that His Most Christian Majesty's requests shall be carried out as soon

as the person of the count can be secured. In consequence of this the

police, knowing that the Comte St. Germain was staying at the Etoile

d'Orient, sent to arrest him at midnight, but the bird had flown. The

landlord declared that the count had posted off at nightfall, taking the

way to Nimeguen. He has been followed, but there are small hopes of

catching him up.

"It is not known how he can have discovered that a warrant existed

against him, or how he continued to evade arrest."

"It is not known;" went an M. d'O----, laughing, "but everyone guesses

that M. Calcoen, the same that wrote to me, let this friend of the French

king's know that he would be wanted at midnight, and that if he did not

get the key of the fields he would be arrested. He is not so foolish as

to despise a piece of advice like that. The Dutch Government has

expressed its sorrow to M. d'Afri that his excellence did not demand the

arrest of St. Germain sooner, and the ambassador will not be astonished

at this reply, as it is like many others given on similar occasions.

"The wisdom of the oracle has been verified, and I congratulate myself on

having seized its meaning, for we were on the point of giving him a

hundred thousand florins on account, which he said he must have

immediately. He gave us in pledge the finest of the crown diamonds, and

this we still retain. But we will return it to him an demand, unless it

is claimed by the ambassador. I have never seen a finer stone.

"And now, my children, you see what I owe to the oracle. On the Exchange

the whole company can do nothing but express their gratitude to me. I am

regarded as the most prudent and most farseeing man in Holland. To you,

my dear children, I owe this honour, but I wear my peacock's feathers

without scruple.

"My dear Casanova, you will dine with us, I hope. After dinner I shall

beg you to enquire of your inscrutable intelligence whether we ought to

declare ourselves in possession of the splendid diamond, or to observe

secrecy till it is reclaimed."

After this discourse papa embraced us once more and left us.

"Sweetheart," said Esther, throwing her arms round my neck, "you have an

opportunity for giving me a strong proof of your friendship. It will cost

you nothing, but it will cover me with honour and happiness."

"Command me, and it shall be done. You cannot think that I would refuse

you a favour which is to cost me nothing, when I should deem myself happy

to shed my blood for your sake."

"My father wishes you to tell him after dinner whether it will be better

to declare that they have the diamond or to keep silence till it is

claimed. When he asks you a second time, tell him to seek the answer of

me, and offer to consult the oracle also, in case my answer may be too

obscure. Then perform the operation, and I will make my father love me

all the better, when he sees that my knowledge is equal to yours."

"Dearest one, would I not do for thee a task a thousand times more

difficult than this to prove my love and my devotion? Let us set to work.

Do you write the question, set up the pyramids, and inscribe with your

own hand the all-powerful initials. Good. Now begin to extract the answer

by means of the divine key. Never was a cleverer pupil!"

When all this had been done, I suggested the additions and subtractions I

wanted made, and she was quite astonished to read the following reply:

"Silence necessary. Without silence, general derision. Diamond valueless;

mere paste."

I thought she would have gone wild with delight. She laughed and laughed

again.

"What an amazing reply!" said she. "The diamond is false, and it is I who

am about to reveal their folly to them. I shall inform my father of this

important secret. It is too much, it overwhelms me; I can scarcely

contain myself for joy! How much I owe you, you wonderful and delightful

man! They will verify the truth of the oracle immediately, and when it is

found that the famous diamond is but glittering paste the company will

adore my father, for it will feel that but for him it would have been

covered with shame, by avowing itself the dupe of a sharper. Will you

leave the pyramid with me?"

"Certainly; but it will not teach you anything you do not know." The

father came in again and we had dinner, and after the dessert, when the

worthy d 'O---- learnt from his daughter's oracle that the stone was

false, the scene became a truly comical one. He burst into exclamations

of astonishment, declared the thing impossible, incredible, and at last

begged me to ask the same question, as he was quite sure that his

daughter was mistaken, or rather that the oracle was deluding her.

I set to work, and was not long in obtaining my answer. When he saw that

it was to the same effect as Esther's, though differently expressed, he

had no longer any doubts as to his daughter's skill, and hastened to go

and test the pretended diamond, and to advise his associates to say

nothing about the matter after they had received proofs of the

worthlessness of the stone. This advice was, as it happened, useless; for

though the persons concerned said nothing, everybody knew about it, and

people said, with their usual malice, that the dupes had been duped most

thoroughly, and that St. Germain had pocketed the hundred thousand

florins; but this was not the case.

Esther was very proud of her success, but instead of being satisfied with

what she had done, she desired more fervently every day to possess the

science in its entirety, as she supposed I possessed it.

It soon became known that St. Germain had gone by Emden and had embarked

for England, where he had arrived in safety. In due time we shall hear

some further details concerning this celebrated impostor; and in the

meanwhile I must relate a catastrophe of another kind, which was near to

have made me die the death of a fool.

It was Christmas Day. I had got up early in the morning in better spirits

than usual. The old women tell you that always presages misfortune, but I

was as far then as I am now from making my happiness into an omen of

grief. But this time chance made the foolish belief of good effect. I

received a letter and a large packet from Paris; they came from Manon. I

opened the letter and I thought I should have died of grief when I

read,--

"Be wise, and receive the news I give you calmly. The packet contains

your portrait and all the letters you have written to me. Return me my

portrait, and if you have kept my letters be kind enough to burn them. I

rely on your honour. Think of me no more. Duty bids me do all I can to

forget you, for at this hour to-morrow I shall become the wife of M.

Blondel of the Royal Academy, architect to the king. Please do not seem

as if you knew me if we chance to meet on your return to Paris."

This letter struck me dumb with astonishment, and for more than two hours

after I read it I was, as it were, bereft of my senses. I sent word to M.

d'O---- that, not feeling well, I was going to keep my room all day. When

I felt a little better I opened the packet. The first thing to fall out

was my portrait. I looked at it, and such was the perturbation of my

mind, that, though the miniature really represented me as of a cheerful

and animated expression, I thought I beheld a dreadful and a threatening

visage. I went to my desk and wrote and tore up a score of letters in

which I overwhelmed the faithless one with threats and reproaches.

I could bear no more; the forces of nature were exhausted, and I was

obliged to lie down and take a little broth, and court that sleep which

refused to come. A thousand designs came to my disordered imagination. I

rejected them one by one, only to devise new ones. I would slay this

Blondel, who had carried off a woman who was mine and mine only; who was

all but my wife. Her treachery should be punished by her losing the

object for whom she had deserted me. I accused her father, I cursed her

brother for having left me in ignorance of the insult which had so

traitorously been put upon me.

I spent the day and night in these delirious thoughts, and in the

morning, feeling worse than ever, I sent to M. d'O---- to say that I could

not possibly leave my room. Then I began to read and re-read the letters

I had written to Manon, calling upon her name in a sort of frenzy; and

again set myself to write to her without finishing a single letter. The

emptiness of my stomach and the shock I had undergone began to stupefy

me, and for a few moments I forgot my anguish only to re-awaken to acuter

pains soon after.

About three o'clock, the worthy M. d'O---- came to invite me to go with

him to the Hague, where the chief masons of Holland met on the day

following to keep the Feast of St. John, but when he saw my condition he

did not press me to come.

"What is the matter with you, my dear Casanova?" said he.

"I have had a great grief, but let us say no more about it."

He begged me to come and see Esther, and left me looking almost as

downcast as I was. However, the next morning Esther anticipated my visit,

for at nine o'clock she and her governess came into the room. The sight

of her did me good. She was astonished to see me so undone and cast down,

and asked me what was the grief of which I had spoken to her father, and

which had proved too strong for my philosophy.

"Sit down beside me, Esther dear, and allow me to make a mystery of what

has affected me so grievously. Time, the mighty healer, and still more

your company, will effect a cure which I should in vain seek by appealing

to my reason. Whilst we talk of other things I shall not feel the

misfortune which gnaws at my heart."

"Well, get up, dress yourself, and come and spend the day with me, and I

will do my best to make you forget your sorrow."

"I feel very weak; for the last three days I have only taken a little

broth and chocolate."

At these words her face fell, and she began to weep.

After a moment's silence she went to my desk, took a pen, and wrote a few

lines, which she brought to me. They were,--

"Dear, if a large sum of money, beyond what my father owes you, can

remove or even soothe your grief I can be your doctor, and you ought to

know that your accepting my treatment would make me happy."

I took her hands and kissed them affectionately, saying,--

"No, dear Esther, generous Esther, it is not money I want, for if I did I

would ask you and your father as a friend: what I want, and what no one

can give me, is a resolute mind, and determination to act for the best."

"Ask advice of your oracle."

I could not help laughing.

"Why do you laugh?" said she, "if I am not mistaken, the oracle must know

a remedy for your woes."

"I laughed, dearest, because I felt inclined to tell you to consult the

oracle this time. As for me I will have nothing to do with it, lest the

cure be worse than the disease."

"But you need not follow your advice unless you like it."

"No, one is free to act as one thinks fit; but not to follow the advice

of the oracle would be a contempt of the intelligence which directs it."

Esther could say no more, and stood silent for several minutes, and then

said that if I like she would stay with me for the rest of the day. The

joy which illumined my countenance was manifest, and I said that if she

would stay to dinner I would get up, and no doubt her presence would give

me an appetite. "Ah!" said she, "I will make you the dish you are so fond

of." She ordered the sedan-chairs to be sent back, and went to my

landlady to order an appetising repast, and to procure the chafing-dish

and the spirits of wine she required for her own cooking.

Esther was an angel, a treasure, who consented to become mine if I would

communicate to her a science which did not exist. I felt that I was

looking forward to spending a happy day; this shewed me that I could

forget Manon, and I was delighted with the idea. I got out of bed, and

when Esther came back and found me on my feet she gave a skip of

pleasure. "Now," said she, "you must oblige me by dressing, and doing

your hair as if you were going to a ball."

"That," I answered, "is a funny idea, but as it pleases you it pleases

me."

I rang for Le Duc, and told him I wanted to have my hair done, and to be

dressed as if I were going to a ball. "Choose the dress that suits me

best."

"No," said Esther, "I will choose it myself."

Le Duc opened my trunk, and leaving her to rummage in it he came to shave

me, and to do my hair. Esther, delighted with her task, called in the

assistance of her governess. She put on my bed a lace shirt, and the suit

she found most to her taste. Then coming close, as if to see whether Le

Duc was dressing my hair properly, she said,

"A little broth would do you good; send for a dish, it will give you an

appetite for dinner."

I thought her advice dictated by the tenderest care, and I determined to

benefit by it. So great was the influence of this charming girl over me,

that, little by little, instead of loving Manon, I hated her. That gave

me courage, and completed my cure. At the present time I can see that

Manon was very wise in accepting Blondel's offer, and that my love for

self and not my love for her was wounded.

I was in my servant's hands, my face turned away towards the fire, so

that I could not see Esther, but only divert myself with the idea that

she was inspecting my belongings, when all at once she presented herself

with a melancholy air, holding Mamon's fatal letter in her hand.

"Am I to blame," said she, timidly, "for having discovered the cause of

your sorrow?"

I felt rather taken aback, but looking kindly at her, I said,

"No, no, my dear Esther; pity your friend, and say no more about it."

"Then I may read all the letters?"

"Yes, dearest, if it will amuse you."

All the letters of the faithless Manon Baletti to me, with mine to her,

were together on my table. I pointed them out to Esther, who begun to

read them quite eagerly.

When I was dressed, as if for some Court holiday, Le Duc went out and

left us by ourselves, for the worthy governess, who was working at her

lace by the window, looked at her lace, and nothing else. Esther said

that nothing had ever amused her so much as those letters.

"Those cursed epistles, which please you so well, will be the death of

me."

"Death? Oh, no! I will cure you, I hope."

"I hope so, too; but after dinner you must help me to burn them all from

first to last."

"Burn them! No; make me a present of them. I promise to keep them

carefully all my days."

"They are yours, Esther. I will send them to you to-morrow."

These letters were more than two hundred in number, and the shortest were

four pages in length. She was enchanted to find herself the possessor of

the letters, and she said she would make them into a parcel and take them

away herself.

"Shall you send back the portrait to your faithless mistress?" said she.

"I don't know what to do with it."

"Send it back to her; she is not worthy of your honouring her by keeping

it. I am sure that your oracle would give you the same advice. Where is

the portrait? Will you shew it me?"

I had the portrait in the interior of a gold snuff-box, but I had never

shewn it to Esther for fear she should think Manon handsomer than

herself, and conclude that I only shewd it her out of vanity; but as she

now asked to see it I opened the box where it was and gave it her.

Any other woman besides Esther would have pronounced Manon downright

ugly, or have endeavored at the least to find some fault with her, but

Esther pronounced her to be very beautiful, and only said it was a great

pity so fair a body contained so vile a soul.

The sight of Manon's portrait made Esther ask to see all the other

portraits which Madame Manzoni had sent me from Venice. There were naked

figures amongst them, but Esther was too pure a spirit to put on the

hateful affectations of the prude, to whom everything natural is an

abomination. O-Murphy pleased her very much, and her history, which I

related, struck her as very curious. The portrait of the fair nun,

M---- M----, first in the habit of her order and afterwards naked, made

her laugh, but I would not tell Esther her story, in spite of the lively

desire she displayed to hear it.

At dinner-time a delicate repast was brought to us, and we spent two

delightful hours in the pleasures of a conversation and the table. I

seemed to have passed from death to life, and Esther was delighted to

have been my physician. Before we rose from table I had declared my

intention of sending Manon's portrait to her husband on the day

following, but her good nature found a way of dissuading me from doing so

without much difficulty.

Some time after, while we were talking in front of the fire, she took a

piece of paper, set up the pyramids, and inscribed the four keys O, S, A,

D. She asked if I should send the portrait to the husband, or whether it

would not be more generous to return it to the faithless Manon. Whilst

she was calculating she said over and over again, with a smile, "I have

not made up the answer." I pretend to believe her, and we laughed like

two augurs meeting each other alone. At last the reply came that I ought

to return the portrait, but to the giver, since to send it to the husband

would be an act unworthy of a man of honour.

I praised the wisdom of the oracle, and kissed the Pythoness a score of

times, promising that the cabala should be obeyed implicitly, adding that

she had no need of being taught the science since she knew it as well as

the inventor.

I spoke the truth, but Esther laughed, and, fearing lest I should really

think so, took pains to assure me of the contrary.

It is thus that love takes his pleasure, thus his growth increases, and

thus that he so soon becomes a giant in strength.

"Shall I be impertinent," said Esther, "if I ask you where your portrait

is? Manon says in her letter that she is sending it back; but I don't

see it anywhere."

"In my first paroxysm of rage, I threw it down; I don't know in what

direction. What was thus despised by her cannot be of much value to me."

"Let us look for it; I should like to see it."

We soon found it on my table, in the midst of a of books; Esther said it

was a speaking likeness.

"I would give it you if such a present were worthy of you."

"Ah! you could not give me anything I would value more."

"Will you deign to accept it, Esther, though it has been possessed by

another?"

"It will be all the dearer to me."

At last she had to leave me, after a day which might be called delightful

if happiness consists of calm and mutual joys without the tumultuous

raptures of passion. She went away at ten, after I had promised to spend

the whole of the next day with her.

After an unbroken sleep of nine hours' duration I got up refreshed and

feeling once more in perfect health, and I went to see Esther

immediately. I found she was still abed and asleep, but her governess

went and roused her in spite of my request that her repose should be

respected.

She received me with a sweet smile as she sat up in bed, and shewd me my

voluminous correspondence with Manon on her night-table, saying that she

had been reading it till two o'clock in the morning.

Her appearance was ravishing. A pretty cambric night-cap, tied with a

light-blue ribbon and ornamented with lace, set off the beauties of her

face; and a light shawl of Indian muslin, which she had hastily thrown

on, veiled rather than concealed her snowy breast, which would have

shamed the works of Praxiteles. She allowed me to take a hundred kisses

on her rosy lips--ardent kisses which the sight of such charms made yet

more ardent; but her hands forbade my approach to those two spheres I so

longed to touch.

I sat down by her and told her that her charms of body and mind would

make a man forget all the Manons that ever were.

"Is your Marion fair to see all over?" said she.

"I really can't say, for, not being her husband, I never had an

opportunity of investigating the matter."

"Your discretion is worthy of all praise," she said, with a smile, "such

conduct becomes a man of delicate feeling."

"I was told by her nurse that she was perfect in all respects, and that

no mote or blemish relieved the pure whiteness of her skin."

"You must have a different notion of me?"

"Yes, Esther, as the oracle revealed to me the great secret you desired

to know. Nevertheless, I should find you perfect in all your parts."

Hereupon I was guilty of a stupidity which turned to my confusion. I

said,

"If I became your husband, I could easily refrain from touching you

there."

"I suppose you think," said she, blushing, and evidently a little vexed,

"that if you touched it your desires might be lessened?"

This question probed me to the core and covered me with shame. I burst

into tears, and begged her pardon in so truly repentant a voice that

sympathy made her mingle her tears with mine. The incident only increased

our intimacy, for, as I kissed her tears away, the same desires consumed

us, and if the voice of prudence had not intervened, doubtless all would

have been over. As it was, we had but a foretaste and an earnest of that

bliss which it was in our power to procure. Three hours seemed to us as

many minutes. She begged me to go into her sitting-room while she

dressed, and we then went down and dined with the wretched secretary, who

adored her, whom she did not love, and who must have borne small love to

me, seeing how high I stood in her graces.

We passed the rest of the day together in that confidential talk which is

usual when the foundations of the most intimate friendship have been laid

between two persons of opposite sex, who believe themselves created for

each other. Our flames burnt as brightly, but with more restraint, in the

dining-room as in the bedroom. In the very air of the bedroom of a woman

one loves there is something so balmy and voluptuous that the lover,

asked to choose between this garden of delights and Paradise, would not

for one moment hesitate in his choice.

We parted with hearts full of happiness, saying to each other, "Till

to-morrow."

I was truly in love with Esther, for my sentiment for her was composed of

sweeter, calmer, and more lively feelings than mere sensual love, which

is ever stormy and violent. I felt sure I could persuade her to marry me

without my first teaching her what could not be taught. I was sorry I had

not let her think herself as clever as myself in the cabala, and I feared

it would be impossible to undeceive her without exciting her to anger,

which would cast out love. Nevertheless, Esther was the only woman who

would make me forget Manon, whom I began to think unworthy of all I had

proposed doing for her.

M. d'O---- came back and I went to dine with him. He was pleased to hear

that his daughter had effected a complete cure by spending a day with me.

When we were alone he told me that he had heard at the Hague that the

Comte St. Germain had the art of making diamonds which only differed from

the real ones in weight, and which, according to him, would make his

fortune. M. d'O---- would have been amused if I had told him all I knew

about this charlatan.

Next day I took Esther to the concert, and while we were there she told

me that on the day following she would not leave her room, so that we

could talk about getting married without fear of interruption. This was

the last day of the year 1759.