o her sight a
spectacle entirely new to her, and from which she could not withdraw her
eyes. Sitting down on a stool I contemplated her elegant person with
rapture. A coat of rosy velvet, embroidered with gold spangles, a vest to
match, embroidered likewise in the richest fashion, breeches of black
satin, diamond buckles, a solitaire of great value on her little finger,
and on the other hand a ring: such was her toilet. Her black lace mask
was remarkable for its fineness and the beauty of the design. To enable
me to see her better she stood before me. I looked in her pockets, in
which I found a gold snuff-box, a sweetmeat-box adorned with pearls, a
gold case, a splendid opera-glass, handkerchiefs of the finest cambric,
soaked rather than perfumed with the most precious essences. I examined
attentively the richness and the workmanship of her two watches, of her
chains, of her trinkets, brilliant with diamonds. The last article I
found was a pistol; it was an English weapon of fine steel, and of the
most beautiful finish.

"All I see, my divine angel, is not worthy of you; yet I cannot refrain
from expressing my admiration for the wonderful, I might almost say
adorable, being who wants to convince you that you are truly his
mistress."

"That is what he said when I asked him to bring me to Venice, and to
leave me. 'Amuse yourself,' he said, 'and I hope that the man whom you
are going to make happy will convince you that he is worthy of it.'"

"He is indeed an extraordinary man, and I do not think there is another
like him. Such a lover is a unique being; and I feel that I could not be
like him, as deeply as I fear to be unworthy of a happiness which dazzles
me."

"Allow me to leave you, and to take off these clothes alone."

"Do anything you please."

A quarter of an hour afterwards my mistress came back to me. Her hair was
dressed like a man's; the front locks came down her cheeks, and the black
hair, fastened with a knot of blue ribbon, reached the bend of her legs;
her form was that of Antinous; her clothes alone, being cut in the French
style, prevented the illusion from being complete. I was in a state of
ecstatic delight, and I could not realize my happiness.

"No, adorable woman," I exclaimed, "you are not made for a mortal, and I
do not believe that you will ever be mine. At the very moment of
possessing you some miracle will wrest you from my arms. Your divine
spouse, perhaps, jealous of a simple mortal, w