in order to pay with him a visit to Madame Sagredo, the general's
favourite. With the exception of Madame F---- she was the greatest beauty
of Corfu. My visit surprised her, because, as she had been the cause of
all that had happened, she was very far from expecting it. She imagined
that I had a spite against her. I undeceived her, speaking to her very
candidly, and she treated me most kindly, inviting me to come now and
then to spend the evening at her house.

But I neither accepted nor refused her amiable invitation, knowing that
Madame F---- disliked her; and how could I be a frequent guest at her
house with such a knowledge! Besides, Madame Sagredo was very fond of
gambling, and, to please her, it was necessary either to lose or make her
win, but to accept such conditions one must be in love with the lady or
wish to make her conquest, and I had not the slightest idea of either.
The Adjutant Minolto never played, but he had captivated the lady's good
graces by his services in the character of Mercury.

When I returned to the palace I found Madame F---- alone, M.
D---- R---- being engaged with his correspondence. She asked me to sit
near her, and to tell her all my adventures in Constantinople. I did so,
and I had no occasion to repent it. My meeting with Yusuf's wife pleased
her extremely, but the bathing scene by moonlight made her blush with
excitement. I veiled as much as I could the too brilliant colours of my
picture, but, if she did not find me clear, she would oblige me to be
more explicit, and if I made myself better understood by giving to my
recital a touch of voluptuousness which I borrowed from her looks more
than from my recollection, she would scold me and tell me that I might
have disguised a little more. I felt that the way she was talking would
give her a liking for me, and I was satisfied that the man who can give
birth to amorous desires is easily called upon to gratify them it was the
reward I was ardently longing for, and I dared to hope it would be mine,
although I could see it only looming in the distance.

It happened that, on that day, M. D---- R---- had invited a large company
to supper. I had, as a matter of course, to engross all conversation, and
to give the fullest particulars of all that had taken place from the
moment I received the order to place myself under arrest up to the time
of my release from the 'bastarda'. M. Foscari was seated next to me, and
the last part of my narrative