the memories of casanova 125

the memories of casanova 125

Towards the end of our long conversation, she asked me what she should

say to her friend on her return to the convent.

 

"My dear M---- M---- expects to see me full of joy and gratitude for the

generous present she thought she was making me by giving me this night,

but what shall I tell her?"

 

"The whole truth. Do not keep from her a single word of our

conversation, as far as your memory will serve you, and tell her

especially that she has made me miserable for a long time."

 

"No, for I should cause her too great a sorrow; she loves you dearly,

and cherishes the locket which contains your likeness. I mean, on the

contrary, to do all I can to bring peace between you two, and I must

succeed before long, because my friend is not guilty of any wrong, and

you only feel some spite, although with no cause. I will send you my

letter by Laura, unless you promise me to go and fetch it yourself at

her house."

 

"Your letters will always be dear to me, but, mark my words, M---- M----

will not enter into any explanation. She will believe you in everything,

except in one."

 

"I suppose you mean our passing a whole night together as innocently as

if we were brother and sister. If she knows you as well as I do, she

will indeed think it most wonderful."

 

"In that case, you may tell her the contrary, if you like."

 

"Nothing of the sort. I hate falsehoods, and I will certainly never

utter one in such a case as this; it would be very wrong. I do not love

you less on that account, my darling, although, during this long night,

you have not condescended to give me the slightest proof of your love."

 

"Believe me, dearest, I am sick from unhappiness. I love you with my

whole soul, but I am in such a situation that...."

 

"What! you are weeping, my love! Oh! I entreat you, spare my heart! I am

so sorry to have told you such a thing, but I can assure you I never

meant to make you unhappy. I am sure that in a quarter of an hour M----

M---- will be crying likewise."

 

The alarum struck, and, having no longer any hope of seeing M---- M----

come to justify herself, I kissed C---- C----. I gave her the key of the

casino, requesting her to return it for me to M---- M----, and my young

friend having gone back to the convent, I put on my mask and left the

casino.

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER XX

 

 

I Am in Danger of Perishing in the Lagunes--Illness--Letters from C. C.

and M. M.--The Quarrel is Made Up--Meeting at the Casino of Muran I

Learn the Name of M. M.'s Friend, and Consent to Give Him A Supper at My

Casino in the Company of Our Common Mistress

 

The weather was fearful. The wind was blowing fiercely, and it was

bitterly cold. When I reached the shore, I looked for a gondola, I

called the gondoliers, but, in contravention to the police regulations,

there was neither gondola nor gondolier. What was I to do? Dressed in

light linen, I was hardly in a fit state to walk along the wharf for an

hour in such weather. I should most likely have gone back to the casino

if I had had the key, but I was paying the penalty of the foolish spite

which had made me give it up. The wind almost carried me off my feet,

and there was no house that I could enter to get a shelter.

 

I had in my pockets three hundred philippes that I had won in the

evening, and a purse full of gold. I had therefore every reason to fear

the thieves of Muran--a very dangerous class of cutthroats, determined

murderers who enjoyed and abused a certain impunity, because they had

some privileges granted to them by the Government on account of the

services they rendered in the manufactories of looking-glasses and in

the glassworks which are numerous on the island. In order to prevent

their emigration, the Government had granted them the freedom of Venice.

I dreaded meeting a pair of them, who would have stripped me of

everything, at least. I had not, by chance, with me the knife which all

honest men must carry to defend their lives in my dear country. I was

truly in an unpleasant predicament.

 

I was thus painfully situated when I thought I could see a light through

the crevices of a small house. I knocked modestly against the shutter. A

voice called out:

 

"Who is knocking?"

 

And at the same moment the shutter was pushed open.

 

"What do you want?" asked a man, rather astonished at my costume.

 

I explained my predicament in a few words, and giving him one sequin I

begged his permission to shelter myself under his roof. Convinced by my

sequin rather than my words, he opened the door, I went in, and

promising him another sequin for his trouble I requested him to get me a

gondola to take me to Venice. He dressed himself hurriedly, thanking God

for that piece of good fortune, and went out assuring me that he would

soon get me a gondola. I remained alone in a miserable room in which all

his family, sleeping together in a large, ill-looking bed, were staring

at me in consequence of my extraordinary costume. In half an hour the

good man returned to announce that the gondoliers were at the wharf, but

that they wanted to be paid in advance. I raised no objection, gave a

sequin to the man for his trouble, and went to the wharf.

 

The sight of two strong gondoliers made me get into the gondola without

anxiety, and we left the shore without being much disturbed by the wind,

but when we had gone beyond the island, the storm attacked us with such

fury that I thought myself lost, for, although a good swimmer, I was not

sure I had strength enough to resist the violence of the waves and swim

to the shore. I ordered the men to go back to the island, but they

answered that I had not to deal with a couple of cowards, and that I had

no occasion to be afraid. I knew the disposition of our gondoliers, and

I made up my mind to say no more.

 

But the wind increased in violence, the foaming waves rushed into the

gondola, and my two rowers, in spite of their vigour and of their

courage, could no longer guide it. We were only within one hundred yards

of the mouth of the Jesuits' Canal, when a terrible gust of wind threw

one of the 'barcarols' into the sea; most fortunately he contrived to

hold by the gondola and to get in again, but he had lost his oar, and

while he was securing another the gondola had tacked, and had already

gone a considerable distance abreast. The position called for immediate

decision, and I had no wish to take my supper with Neptune. I threw a

handful of philippes into the gondola, and ordered the gondoliers to

throw overboard the 'felce' which covered the boat. The ringing of

money, as much as the imminent danger, ensured instant obedience, and

then, the wind having less hold upon us, my brave boatmen shewed AEolus

that their efforts could conquer him, for in less than five minutes we

shot into the Beggars' Canal, and I reached the Bragadin Palace. I went

to bed at once, covering myself heavily in order to regain my natural

heat, but sleep, which alone could have restored me to health, would not

visit me.

 

Five or six hours afterwards, M. de Bragadin and his two inseparable

friends paid me a visit, and found me raving with fever. That did not

prevent my respectable protector from laughing at the sight of the

costume of Pierrot lying on the sofa. After congratulating me upon

having escaped with my life out of such a bad predicament, they left me

alone. In the evening I perspired so profusely that my bed had to be

changed. The next day my fever and delirium increased, and two days

after, the fever having abated, I found myself almost crippled and

suffering fearfully with lumbago. I felt that nothing could relieve me

but a strict regimen, and I bore the evil patiently.

 

Early on the Wednesday morning, Laura, the faithful messenger, called on

me; I was still in my bed: I told her that I could neither read nor

write, and I asked her to come again the next day. She placed on the

table, near my bed, the parcel she had for me, and she left me, knowing

what had occurred to me sufficiently to enable her to inform C---- C----

of the state in which I was.

 

Feeling a little better towards the evening, I ordered my servant to

lock me in my room, and I opened C---- C----'s letter. The first thing I

found in the parcel, and which caused me great pleasure, was the key of

the casino which she returned to me. I had already repented having given

it up, and I was beginning to feel that I had been in the wrong. It

acted like a refreshing balm upon me. The second thing, not less dear

after the return of the precious key, was a letter from M---- M----, the

seal of which I was not long in breaking, and I read the following

lines:

 

"The particulars which you have read, or which you are going to read, in

the letter of my friend, will cause you, I hope, to forget the fault

which I have committed so innocently, for I trusted, on the contrary,

that you would be very happy. I saw all and heard all, and you would not

have gone away without the key if I had not, most unfortunately, fallen

asleep an hour before your departure. Take back the key and come to the

casino to-morrow night, since Heaven has saved you from the storm. Your

love may, perhaps, give you the right to complain, but not to ill-treat

a woman who certainly has not given you any mark of contempt."

 

I afterwards read the letter of my dear C---- C----, and I will give a

copy of it here, because I think it will prove interesting:

 

"I entreat you, dear husband, not to send back this key, unless you have

become the most cruel of men, unless you find pleasure in tormenting two

women who, love you ardently, and who love you for yourself only.

Knowing your excellent heart, I trust you will go to the casino to-

morrow evening and make it up with M---- M----, who cannot go there to-

night. You will see that you are in the wrong, dearest, and that, far

from despising you, my dear friend loves you only. In the mean time, let

me tell you what you are not acquainted with, and what you must be anxious to know.