re. "Should it be the case," I added, "I should
have no difficulty in passing over a deformity which, in reality, is only
laughable. Bellino, the impression you produce upon me, this sort of
magnetism, your bosom worthy of Venus herself, which you have once
abandoned to my eager hand, the sound of your voice, every movement of
yours, assure me that you do not belong to my sex. Let me see for myself,
and, if my conjectures are right, depend upon my faithful love; if, on
the contrary, I find that I have been mistaken, you can rely upon my
friendship. If you refuse me, I shall be compelled to believe that you
are cruelly enjoying my misery, and that you have learned in the most
accursed school that the best way of preventing a young man from curing
himself of an amorous passion is to excite it constantly; but you must
agree with me that, to put such tyranny in practice, it is necessary to
hate the person it is practised upon, and, if that be so, I ought to call
upon my reason to give me the strength necessary to hate you likewise."

I went on speaking for a long time; Bellino did not answer, but he seemed
deeply moved. At last I told him that, in the fearful state to which I
was reduced by his resistance, I should be compelled to treat him without
any regard for his feelings, and find out the truth by force. He answered
with much warmth and dignity: "Recollect that you are not my master, that
I am in your hands, because I had faith in your promise, and that, if you
use violence, you will be guilty of murder. Order the postillion to stop,
I will get out of the carriage, and you may rely upon my not complaining
of your treatment."

Those few words were followed by a torrent of tears, a sight which I
never could resist. I felt myself moved in the inmost recesses of my
soul, and I almost thought that I had been wrong. I say almost, because,
had I been convinced of it, I would have thrown myself at his feet
entreating pardon; but, not feeling myself competent to stand in judgment
in my own cause, I satisfied myself by remaining dull and silent, and I
never uttered one word until we were only half a mile from Sinigaglia,
where I intended to take supper and to remain for the night. Having
fought long enough with my own feelings, I said to him;

"We might have spent a little time in Rimini like good friends, if you
had felt any friendship for me, for, with a little kind compliance, you
could have easily cured me of my passion."