. For one instant we
forgot all the world besides. After that delightful ecstacy I assisted
her to undress, and a simple gown of Indian muslin soon metamorphosed my
lovely nun into a beautiful nymph.

After an excellent supper, we agreed not to meet again till the first day
of the octave. She gave me the key of the gate on the shore, and told me
that a blue ribbon attached to the window over the door would point it
out by day, so as to prevent my making a mistake at night. I made her
very happy by telling her that I would come and reside in her casino
until the return of her friend. During the ten days that I remained
there, I saw her four times, and I convinced her that I lived only for
her.

During my stay in the casino I amused myself in reading, in writing to
C---- C----, but my love for her had become a calm affection. The lines
which interested me most in her letters were those in which she mentioned
her friend. She often blamed me for not having cultivated the
acquaintance of M---- M----, and my answer was that I had not done so for
fear of being known. I always insisted upon the necessity of discretion.

I do not believe in the possibility of equal love being bestowed upon two
persons at the same time, nor do I believe it possible to keep love to a
high degree of intensity if you give it either too much food or none at
all. That which maintained my passion for M---- M ---- in a state of great
vigour was that I could never possess her without running the risk of
losing her.

"It is impossible," I said to her once, "that some time or other one of
the nuns should not want to speak to you when you are absent?"

"No," she answered, "that cannot happen, because there is nothing more
religiously respected in a convent than the right of a nun to deny
herself, even to the abbess. A fire is the only circumstance I have to
fear, because in that case there would be general uproar and confusion,
and it would not appear natural that a nun should remain quietly locked
up in her cell in the midst of such danger; my escape would then be
discovered. I have contrived to gain over the lay-sister and the
gardener, as well as another nun, and that miracle was performed by my
cunning assisted by my lover's gold.

"He answers for the fidelity of the cook and his wife who take care of
the casino. He has likewise every confidence in the two gondoliers,
although one of them is sure to be a spy of the State Inquisitors."

On Christ