engagements to fulfil, he would leave his sister with me, and meet
us at the theatre in the evening. When he had gone, I told C---- C---- that
we would sail in a gondola until the opening of the theatre.

"No," she answered, "let us rather go to the Zuecca Garden."

"With all my heart."

I hired a gondola and we went to St. Blaze, where I knew a very pretty
garden which, for one sequin, was placed at my disposal for the remainder
of the day, with the express condition that no one else would be allowed
admittance. We had not had any dinner, and after I had ordered a good
meal we went up to a room where we took off our disguises and masks,
after which we went to the garden.

My lovely C---- C---- had nothing on but a bodice made of light silk and a
skirt of the same description, but she was charming in that simple
costume! My amorous looks went through those light veils, and in my
imagination I saw her entirely naked! I sighed with burning desires, with
a mixture of discreet reserve and voluptuous love.

The moment we had reached the long avenue, my young companion, as lively
as a fawn, finding herself at liberty on the green sward, and enjoying
that happy freedom for the first time in her life, began to run about and
to give way to the spirit of cheerfulness which was natural to her. When
she was compelled to stop for want of breath, she burst out laughing at
seeing me gazing at her in a sort of ecstatic silence. She then
challenged me to run a race; the game was very agreeable to me. I
accepted, but I proposed to make it interesting by a wager.

"Whoever loses the race," I said, "shall have to do whatever the winner
asks."

"Agreed!"

We marked the winning-post, and made a fair start. I was certain to win,
but I lost on purpose, so as to see what she would ask me to do. At first
she ran with all her might while I reserved my strength, and she was the
first to reach the goal. As she was trying to recover her breath, she
thought of sentencing me to a good penance: she hid herself behind a tree
and told me, a minute afterwards, that I had to find her ring. She had
concealed it about her, and that was putting me in possession of all her
person. I thought it was a delightful forfeit, for I could easily see
that she had chosen it with intentional mischief; but I felt that I ought
not to take too much advantage of her, because her artless confidence
required to be encouraged. We sat on the grass, I visited her pockets,