of her courage, she should have enjoyed only an incomplete
pleasure. As soon as we were in our row boat, Bellino, who had recovered
from his fright, told me that I had just made him acquainted with a
phenomenon, the reality of which he could not admit, and which gave him a
very strange idea of my nature; that, as far as the Greek girl was
concerned, he could not make her out, unless I should assure him that
every woman in her country was like her. "How unhappy they must be!" he
added.

"Do you think," I asked, "that coquettes are happier?"

"No, but I think that when a woman yields to love, she should not be
conquered before she has fought with her own desires; she should not give
way to the first impulse of a lustful desire and abandon herself to the
first man who takes her fancy, like an animal--the slave of sense. You
must confess that the Greek woman has given you an evident proof that you
had taken her fancy, but that she has at the same time given you a proof
not less certain of her beastly lust, and of an effrontery which exposed
her to the shame of being repulsed, for she could not possibly know
whether you would feel as well disposed for her as she felt for you. She
is very handsome, and it all turned out well, but the adventure has
thrown me into a whirlpool of agitation which I cannot yet control."

I might easily have put a stop to Bellino's perplexity, and rectified the
mistake he was labouring under; but such a confession would not have
ministered to my self-love, and I held my peace, for, if Bellino happened
to be a girl, as I suspected, I wanted her to be convinced that I
attached, after all, but very little importance to the great affair, and
that it was not worth while employing cunning expedients to obtain it.

We returned to the inn, and, towards evening, hearing Don Sancio's
travelling carriage roll into the yard, I hastened to meet him, and told
him that I hoped he would excuse me if I had felt certain that he would
not refuse me the honour of his company to supper with Bellino. He
thanked me politely for the pleasure I was so delicately offering him,
and accepted my invitation.

The most exquisite dishes, the most delicious wines of Spain, and, more
than everything else, the cheerfulness and the charming voices of Bellino
and of Cecilia, gave the Castilian five delightful hours. He left me at
midnight, saying that he could not declare himself thoroughly pleased
unless I promised to sup with hi