C---- made a list of them with the
prices; but he wanted more, and the merchants promised to send them the
next day, although it was Sunday. Towards the evening several counts
arrived, for in Vicenza every nobleman is a count. P---- C---- had left his
letters of recommendation at their houses. We had a Count Velo, a Count
Sesso, a Count Trento--all very amiable companions. They invited us to
accompany them to the casino, where Madame C---- shone by her charms and
her coquettish manners. After we had spent two hours in that place,
P---- C---- invited all his new friends to supper, and it was a scene of
gaiety and profusion. The whole affair annoyed me greatly, and therefore
I was not amiable; the consequence was that no one spoke to me. I rose
from my seat and went to bed, leaving the joyous company still round the
festive board. In the morning I came downstairs, had my breakfast, and
looked about me. The room was so full of goods that I did not see how
P---- C---- could possibly pay for all with his six thousand florins. He
told me, however, that his business would be completed on the morrow, and
that we were invited to a ball where all the nobility would be present.
The merchants with whom he had dealt came to dine with us, and the dinner
was remarkable for its extreme profusion.

We went to the ball; but I soon got very weary of it, for every body was
speaking to Madame C---- and to P---- C----, who never uttered a word with
any meaning, but whenever I opened my lips people would pretend not to
hear me. I invited a lady to dance a minuet; she accepted, but she looked
constantly to the right or to the left, and seemed to consider me as a
mere dancing machine. A quadrille was formed, but the thing was contrived
in such a manner as to leave me out of it, and the very lady who had
refused me as a partner danced with another gentleman. Had I been in good
spirits I should certainly have resented such conduct, but I preferred to
leave the ball-room. I went to bed, unable to understand why the nobility
of Vicenza treated me in such a way. Perhaps they neglected me because I
was not named in the letters of introduction given to P---- C----, but I
thought that they might have known the laws of common politeness. I bore
the evil patiently, however, as we were to leave the city the next day.

On Monday, the worthy pair being tired, they slept until noon, and after
dinner P---- C---- went out to pay for the goods.

We were to go