Vilio of
Desenzano, master of the horse to the General, who had stayed behind at
Zara (a man sufficiently dissolute in his amours, but a good and sincere
friend), came up to me and spoke as follows: "Gozzi, I know that you are
on the best of terms with such and such a girl. I should be acting
wrongly if I did not inform you of what has happened in your absence,
the truth of which I hold on sure foundations. You have a rival, one
with whom it would ill become you to compete. I am certain that he has
employed his time to good purpose. You have received my warning; rule
yourself accordingly." These words were scorpions to my heart.
Nevertheless, I chose to assume indifference, and put a bold face on the
matter. So I forced myself to laugh, and answered, stammering perhaps a
trifle, that it was quite true I knew the girl, but that my intercourse
with her had always been blameless, and that I had no cause to fear. I
had invariably found her so modest and reserved that I suspected he must
have been taken in by a bragging impostor, to the infinite injury of the
poor girl's character. "I am not mistaken, by gad," cried Vilio in his
Brescian way. "You are of years to know the world. I have done my duty
as a friend, and that is enough for me."

He left me with my head stunned, my spirit in confusion, staggering upon
my feet. From my earliest boyhood, I have always made a point of
exercising self-control. Accordingly, I now stifled the imperious
impulse which urged me to embrace my mistress. I did not merely postpone
my visit, but I kept my windows shut, avoiding every opportunity of
setting eyes on her. The Genoese laundress brought me diplomatic
messages; to these I returned laconic and meaningless answers, without
betraying the reason of my sudden coldness. Some notes were refused with
heroic, or shall I call it asinine endurance. At the same time, I
nourished in my breast a lively desire that my mistress might be
innocent, and that the accusation of so base a fault might be proved a
vile mendacious calumny. I hoped to arrive at the truth somehow, by
adhering to severe and barbarous measures.

In course of time I obtained only too positive confirmation of my fears.
Walking one day upon the ramparts, the elderly dame, of whom I have
already spoken, called me from her window, and begged me to come up. She
had a word or two to say to me. I assented, and entered the house.
Divining that she wished to speak about my mistress, I arm