s with those falling from her beautiful eyes, and deeply
moved, I promised not to abandon her and to make her the sharer of my
fate. Interested in the history, as singular as extraordinary, that she
had just narrated, and having seen nothing in it that did not bear the
stamp of truth, I felt really disposed to make her happy but I could not
believe that I had inspired her with a very deep passion during my short
stay in Ancona, many circumstances of which might, on the contrary, have
had an opposite effect upon her heart.

"If you loved me truly," I said, "how could you let me sleep with your
sisters, out of spite at your resistance?"

"Alas, dearest! think of our great poverty, and how difficult it was for
me to discover myself. I loved you; but was it not natural that I should
suppose your inclination for me only a passing caprice? When I saw you go
so easily from Cecilia to Marinetta, I thought that you would treat me in
the same manner as soon as your desires were satisfied, I was likewise
confirmed in my opinion of your want of constancy and of the little
importance you attached to the delicacy of the sentiment of love, when I
witnessed what you did on board the Turkish vessel without being hindered
by my presence; had you loved me, I thought my being present would have
made you uncomfortable. I feared to be soon despised, and God knows how
much I suffered! You have insulted me, darling, in many different ways,
but my heart pleaded in your favour, because I knew you were excited,
angry, and thirsting for revenge. Did you not threaten me this very day
in your carriage? I confess you greatly frightened me, but do not fancy
that I gave myself to you out of fear. No, I had made up my mind to be
yours from the moment you sent me word by Cecilia that you would take me
to Rimini, and your control over your own feelings during a part of our
journey confirmed me in my resolution, for I thought I could trust myself
to your honour, to your delicacy."

"Throw up," I said, "the engagement you have in Rimini; let us proceed on
our journey, and, after remaining a couple of days in Bologna, you will
go with me to Venice; dressed as a woman, and with another name, I would
challenge the manager here to find you out."

"I accept. Your will shall always be my law. I am my own mistress, and I
give myself to you without any reserve or restriction; my heart belongs
to you, and I trust to keep yours."

Man has in himself a moral force