, I could take you home with perfect propriety."

"Hush! As you have not your carriage, it is my part to take you home. It
is a splendid idea, that we must so contrive it that it may not seem to
be a concerted plan. You must give me your arm to my carriage, and I
shall then ask you where your carriage is; you will answer that you have
not got one. I shall ask you to come into mine, and I will drop you at
your hotel. It will only give us a couple of minutes, but that is
something till we are more fortunate."

I replied to her only by a look which expressed the intoxication of my
spirits at the prospect of so great bliss.

Although the play was quite a short one, it seemed to me to last for
ever. At last the curtain fell, and we went downstairs. When we got to
the portico she asked me the questions we had agreed upon, and when I
told her I had not got a carriage, she said, "I am going to the general's
to ask after his health; if it will not take you too much out of your
way, I can leave you at your lodging as we come back."

It was a grand idea. We should pass the entire length of the ill-paved
town twice, and thus we secured a little more time. Unfortunately, the
carriage was a chariot, and as we were going the moon shone directly on
us. On that occasion the planet was certainly not entitled to the
appellation of the lovers' friend. We did all we could, but that was
almost nothing, and I found the attempt a desperate one, though my lovely
partner endeavoured to help me as much as possible. To add to our
discomforts, the inquisitive and impudent coachman kept turning his head
round, which forced us to moderate the energy of our movements. The
sentry at the general's door told our coachman that his excellency could
see no one, and we joyfully turned towards my hotel, and now that the
moon was behind us and the man's curiosity less inconvenient, we got on a
little better, or rather not so badly as before, but the horses seemed to
me to fly rather than gallop; however, feeling that it would be well to
have the coachman on my side in case of another opportunity, I gave him a
ducat as I got down.

I entered the hotel feeling vexed and unhappy, though more in love than
ever, for my fair one had convinced me that she was no passive mistress,
but could experience pleasure as well as give it. That being the case I
resolved not to leave Cologne before we had drained the cup of pleasure
together, and that, it seemed to me, could