d for having dared to trouble
me, and she asked me to tell a woman who was in the room to leave it, as
she did not speak Italian.

"She has been tiring me for more than an hour. I cannot understand what
she says, but I can make out that she wants to do me a service. However,
I do not feel inclined to accept her assistance."

"Who told you to come and see this young lady?" said I, to the woman.

"One of the servants of the inn told me that a young lady from foreign
parts had been left alone here, and that she was much to be pitied. My
feelings of humanity made me come and see if I could be useful to her;
but I see she is in good hands, and I am very glad of it for her sake,
poor dear!"

I saw that the woman was a procuress, and I only replied with a smile of
contempt.

The poor girl then told me briefly what I had already heard, and added
that Croce, who called himself De St. Croix, had gone to the gaming-table
as soon as he had got my twenty sequins, and that he had then taken her
back to the inn, where he had spent the next day in a state of despair,
as he did not dare to shew himself abroad in the daytime. In the evening
he put on his mask and went out, not returning till the next morning.

"Soon after he put on his great coat and got ready to go out, telling me
that if he did not return he would communicate with me by you, at the
same time giving me your address, of which I have made use as you know.
He has not come back, and if you have not seen him I am sure he has gone
off on foot without a penny in his pocket. The landlord wants to be paid,
and by selling all I have I could satisfy his claims; but, good God! what
is to become of me, then?"

"Dare you return to your father?"

"Yes, sir, I dare return to him. He will forgive me when on my knees and
with tears in my eyes I tell him that I am ready to bury myself in a
nunnery."

"Very good! then I will take you to Marseilles myself, and in the
meanwhile I will find you a lodging with some honest people. Till then,
shut yourself up in your room, do not admit anyone to see you, and be
sure I will have a care for you."

I summoned the landlord and paid the bill, which was a very small one,
and I told him to take care of the lady till my return. The poor girl was
dumb with surprise and gratitude. I said good-bye kindly and left her
without even taking her hand. It was not altogether a case of the devil
turning monk; I always had a respect for distress.

I h