The memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt

rget Angela - A Ball at My House - Juliette's Humiliation -

waited patiently for the rising of the star of my happiness. An hour passed amidst the sweetest dreams of my imagination; at last I hear the noise of the street door opening and closing, and, a few minutes after, the two sisters come in with my Angela. I draw her towards me, and caring for nobody else, I keep up for two full hours my conversation with her. The clock strikes midnight; I am pitied for having gone so late supperless, but I am shocked at such an idea; I answer that, with such happiness as I am enjoying, I can suffer from no human want. I am told that I am a prisoner, that the key of the house door is under the aunt's pillow, and that it is opened only by herself as she goes in the morning to the first mass. I wonder at my young friends imagining that such news can be anything b

we do in

can

ing at me a proverb, somewhat in the fashion of the Romans throwing the catapult. Every time that my poor hands came to the assistance of love, she drew herself back or repulsed me. Yet, in spite of all, I went on talking and using my hands without losing courage, but I gave myself up to despair when I found that my rather artful arguing astounded her without bringing conviction to her heart, which was only disquieted, never softene

ughing at the rapidity with which Angela had availed herself of the opportunity of escaping me. For one full hour I poured out all the tender, cheerf

ct leads me to suppose that you are making fun of me. Come and take your seat near me, and if I must speak to you without seeing you let my hands assu

say, but you must feel that it would not be decent

o stand where I a

the bed, and

ble of doing so in the state I am in. Well,

them go! Love and prejudice blinded me, I could not see how ridiculous I was with my respectful reserve. I had not yet read the anecdotes of Louis XIII, king of France, but I had read Boccacio. I kept on seeking in vain

the history of Roger, when Angelica disappears through the power of

do, intorno

o n'andava

te abbraccio

donzella abb

a, and blamed the simplicity of Roger, who, if he had been wise, would never have trusted the ring to a

t unless he has been placed in a similar position. I exhausted the most convincing arguments; then I had recourse to prayers, and even to tears; but, seeing all was useless, I gave way to that feeling of noble indignation which lends dignity to anger. Had I not been in the dark, I might, I truly believe, have struck the proud monster, the cruel girl, who had thus

how can I ever portray the consternation in which I was thrown when, casting a sly glance upon the young friends, I found the three bathed in tears! In my shame and despair I thought of committing suicide, and sitting down again, I recollected my brutal speeches, and upbraided myself for having wantonly caused them to weep. I could not say one word;

gh at my sorrow, but by his sensible advice he managed to console me and to give me courage. He was in the same predicament with the beautiful Therese. Yet he could not help giving way

being of whom we had only an abstract idea, could only exist abstractedly, and I was right; but it was a very easy task to give to my thesi

e evening. The two graceful sisters were so kind, so pleasant, that they scattered to the winds the shame I felt at seeing them after the fearful night I had passed in their room two months befo

r containing a note from Angela, t

o complain of me, for I love you, and I wish to hear from your own lips whether yo

Nanette, who alone h

he night you spent with us was a cruel one, but I do not think that you did rightly in giving up your visits to Madame Orio. If you still feel any love for Angela,

my great surprise my cruel mistress was not there. Nanette told me that she had met her at church in the morning, and that she would not be able to come before supper-time. Trusting to that promise I declined Madam Orio's invitation, and before the family sat down to supper I left the room as

he street door was locked, and a moment l

Angela?" I

o come, or to send a message

ling with me, and very likely she is now revelling in her triumph. She has made use of you to allure me in the

ow me to have my

he pleasant night we are going to s

pt us as a makeshift; but you can sleep here, and my

great unkindness on your part. At all

lone with us? Why, I am certain that in a short time you

are provisions. You will not be so cruel as

e you we must have

ette, if I were as much attached to you as I was to Ang

orthy of a conceited man. All I can answe

n we went to work. The wine, to which they were not accustomed, went to their heads, and their gaiety wa

approved of Angela's conduct towards me. They both answered that it had made them shed many tears. "Then let me," I said, "have for you the tender feelings of a brother, a

burning kisses I had given and received should have sent through me the fire of passion, and that I should suddenly have fallen madly in love with the two amiable sisters. Both were handsomer than Angela, and they were superior to her - Nanette by her charming wit, Marton by her sweet and simple nature; I could not understand how I had been so long in rendering them the justice they deserved, but they were the innocent daughters of a noble family, and the lucky chance which had thrown them in my way ought not to prove a calamity for them. I was not vain enough to

d satisfaction, and I quickly put on the same appearance, with a full

ss Marton; "I know she does, but if you do not mean to marry her, you will do well to give up all intercourse with her, for she is quite determined not to grant you even a

, but how do you kno

r, I can tell you why I have that conviction. When Angela is in b

placed her hand on her sister's lips, but the innocent confessio

ossibly be ignorant of what takes plac

es, and I do not think, dear Nanette, that you ought to reproa

such things ought not to be

ndship which I never can forget. But it is all over; I hate Angela, and I

e wrong to think of hav

duct would be very different if she loved me. In the mean time, thanks to her imagination, she finds th

erity. I said that very likely, and to reciprocate her kindness, Angela must likewise have been her husband

did Nanette, in her rapt

dy kn

ve anyone,

my secret

nd that Nanette was the rival of Angela. Such a delightful conversation caused m

d be very hard to pass the night without giving way to the temptation of bestowing upon you proofs o

te being the first to notice it, said, "Go to bed without any

but I am anxious about you. Go to bed yourselves, my charming friends, and I will go into the next room. If you ar

gement," said Nanette, "but let

eep with my

elf; we will n

I find the heart to sleep, while on m

"we can lie down, too

will offend me. Tell me, Nanette,

cert

lay a finger upon you. Besides, you are two against one, what can you fear? Will you not be free to get out of the bed in case I should not ke

compliments to the one who was lying on my right, not knowing whether she was Nanette or Marton. I find her bent in two, and wrapped up in the only garment she had kept on. Taking my time, and sparing her modesty, I compel her by degrees to acknowledge her defeat, and convince her that it is better to feign sleep and to let me proceed. Her natural instincts soon working in concert with mine, I reach the goal; and my efforts, crowned with the most complete success, leave me not the shadow of a doubt that I have gathered those first-fruits to which our prejudice makes us attach so great an importance. Enraptured at having enjoyed my manhood completely and for the first time, I quietly leave my beauty in order to do homage to the o

be Nanette, I

eclare myself happy, as well as my sister,

thing we have done is the work of love, do

anette in my arms, beaming with love, and Marton near the bed, holding a candle, with her eyes reproaching us with ingratitude because w

," said I, "and swear to ea

d trifling words which love alone can understand, and we again retired to our bed, where we spent a most delightful night giving each other mutual and oft-repeated proofs of our passionate ardour. Nanette was the recipient of my last bounties, for Madame Orio

g Nanette contrived to give me a letter and a small parcel. The parcel contained a small lump of wax with the stamp of a key, and the letter told me to have a key made, and to use it to enter the house whenever I wished to spend the night with them. She informed me at the same time that Angela had slept with them the

s, having been engaged to paint frescoes in some houses in that city. Thanks to her absence, I found myself undisturbed possessor of the two charmi

ay to me, and accompanied him to her house. She received me very politely, and remarking that she had heard of a large hall I had in my house, she said she would like to give a ball there, if I woul

diture. I met him at Versailles ten years afterwards. He wore the insignia of the king's order of knighthood, and was grand equerry to

exception of Madame Orio, her nieces, and the procurator Rosa, who sat together in the room adjo

d Juliette took me apart, and said, "Take me to

my surprise. "I wish you," she said, "to dress me up in your ecclesiastical clothes, and I will disguise

and I let her afterwards dress mine. She applies rouge and a few beauty spots to my face; I humour her in everything, and to p

Juliette, but I give you d

rs wander in unnecessary places; she gets fidgety, leaves me, tears the breeches, and manages in her own way. Then I help her to put her shoes on, and I pass the shirt over her head, but as I am disposing the ruffle and the neck-band, she complains of my hands being too curious; and in truth, her bosom was rather scanty. She calls me a knave and rascal, but I take no notice of her. I was not going to be duped, and I thought that a woman who had been paid one hundred thousand ducats was well worth some study. At last, her toilet being completed, my turn comes. In spite of her objections I quickly get rid of my breeches, and

moment she saw them shared by her companion; but women like Juliette are often guided by a spirit of contradiction which causes them to act against their own interests. Besides, she felt disappointed when she found out that I was not timid, and my

rtune which I had not enjoyed, but I was not ill-pleased with the rumour, and went on dancing with the false abbe, who was only too charming. Juliette treated me so well during the night

the abbe, and I became myself rather free with the young girls, who would have been af

eches, and as I answered that I had been compelled to lend them to Juliette,

aving been consummated, with the exception of Nanette and Marton, who could not imagine the possibility of my being unfa

was disposed to give her every satisfaction, but she quickly slapped my face in so violent a manner that, in my indignation, I was very near returning the compliment. I undressed myself rapidly without loo

ld have me murdered if this night's adventure ever became publicly known. I took care not to give her any cause for the execution of either of her threats, but I could not prevent the fact of our having exchanged shirts being rather notorious. As I w

rent to the set I had met the previous autumn. Count Daniel, the eldest of the family, had married a Countess Gozzi, and a young and wealthy government official, who had married a god-daughter of the old countess, was there with his wife and his sister-in-law. I thought the supper very long. The same room had been given to me, and I was burning to see Lucie, whom I did n

e me, I think to myself, I will be even with them all, for somehow or other I will contrive the means of speaking to her, and out of spite I will do with her that which honour prevented love from accomplishi

is sh

o God sh

has sh

niel's courier, and we have bee

rief, the poor woman faints away. The keeper, seeing how sincerely I felt for his m

I say; "he is a scoundrel.

gh that our consent wo

Lucie acting

away made us suspect the truth,

known he

e. He must have thrown a spell over her, for our Lucie was as pure

knows wher

nows what this villa

ner, loving Lucie would have confided in me, and I would have prevented that self-murder. If I had acted with her as with Nanette and Marton, she would not have been left by me in that state of ardent excitement which must have proved the principal cause of her fault, and she would not hav

ve gone forth on the instant to seek for her, but no

own reserve, and I promised myself that for the future I would on that score act more wisely. I felt truly miserable when my imagination painted the probability of the unfortunate girl being left to p

dens, and received such a welcome that I was soon again

a new life crept into my being as I examined the face and the disposition of the newly-married lady.

ble opposite her sister, she laid herself open to much ridicule. Her husband was a giddy young fellow, who perhaps felt very deep affection for his wife, but who imagined that, through good breeding, he ought to appear very indifferent, and whose vanity found pleasure in giving her constant causes for jealousy. She, in her turn, had a great dread of passing for an idiot if she did not shew her appreciation of, and h

reat show of intrepidity, he answered with a joke every time he was told that I was a formidable rival. On my side I assumed a modest, and even sometimes a careless ap

that the best way to punish him would be to take no apparent notice of her, husband's preference for her sister, and to feign to be herself in love with me. In order to entice her more easily to follow my advice, I added that I was well aware of my plan being a very difficult one to carry out, and t

amented over the shortcomings of her education; I said that the tone, the manners I adopted towards her, were those of good society, and proved the great esteem I entertained for her intelligence, but in the middle of all my fine speeches, towards the eleventh or twelfth day of my courtship, she suddenly put me out of all conceit by telling me that, being a priest, I ought to know that every amorous connection was a deadly sin, that God could see every action of His c

his opinion that such quiet demeanour on my part announced the complete success of my campaign. Considering such a remark to be favourable to me, I took care to spew my cruel devote

aying that such a mark of distrust was indeed too pointed, and everybody remonstrated with her, saying that she ought not to insult me so cruelly. She was compelled to come with me, and having told the postillion that I wanted to go by the nearest road, he left the other carriages, and took the way through the forest

med my companion, "we

ise is covered, the rain will spoil

dress; but the thun

your

he lig

t us go somewhe

league, and before we come to it

herself upon me, and folds me in her arms. The cloak had gone down, I stoop to place it around us, and improving my opportunity I take up her clothes. She tries to pull them down, but another clap of thunder deprives her of every particle of strength. Covering her with the cloak, I draw her towards me, and the motion of the chaise coming to my assistance, she falls over me in the most favourable position. I lose no time, and under prete

ew in our faces, and, compelled to stay where she was, she said I

nd even if he should turn his head, the cloak shelters us from him

asks how I can thus se

one, is my best

whether I have done. I smile and answer in the negative, stating that I cannot let her g

isfied, now that you have insured my

not

re do yo

er of k

I am! Well! h

and confess that you have

did. Yes, I

pleasant caresses, I ask her to have the same kindness fo

love me," I

ou are an atheist, a

nything, and that I was sure I had cured her of her dread of thunder, but that she was not likely to reveal the secret of my re

h, I had somewhat depended upon it, when we entered the chaise together, for I did not know any other way of obtaining the happiness

the future I will trav

would not have been clever enough to c

us things in your company; but we s

haise, and my fair mistress ran off to her chamber, while I was l

you laug

you k

d keep a quiet tongue in