Lou:
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 AT LOS ANGELES 
 
 ROBERT ERNEST COWAN
 
 PRICE 25 CENTS. 
 
 4ti 
 
 A ROMANCE, 
 
 MAIKOIK LoriSK COLLET 
 
 \N>l..\Ti;i> KKuM THK KHKNC11. 
 
 By C. A. ZIMMERMAN, 
 Fonwrly Ciijitnin in tlio Itoyjil Swcilislj .s^r, 
 
 San Jrann'sro -. 
 rrnT,isin:i) n\ THK TRANSLATOR. 
 
 3864.
 
 ROBERT ERNEST COWAN
 
 A ROMANCE, 
 
 BY 
 
 MADAME LOUISE COLLET, 
 
 TRANSLATED FI?OM THE FRENCH, 
 By C. A. ZIMMERMAN, 
 
 Formerly Cuptaiu in the lloyul Swedish Service. 
 
 San jfrancteca: 
 
 PUBLISHED BY THE TRANSLATOR. 
 
 ^864.
 
 TO. 
 
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 vkb 
 
 Emigrants from sweet home, far away in a 
 
 foreign country, not knowing the prevailing 
 
 language, often find themselves in an incon- 
 
 " vcnient position, which limits the chances for 
 
 ^ro every kind of improvement. In earning a 
 
 fa mediocre living, they feel like an amphibious 
 
 - animal, cut off from its proper element. It is 
 
 a poor remedy, also, for strange opinions, if 
 
 ,,, met with, and for a certain opinionative con- 
 
 ' trariety from persons of simplicity rather than 
 
 U| mediocrity, who find a delight in idle stories 
 
 22 and falsehood, priding themselves on their 
 
 >T fancied superiority, or judging as the blind 
 
 jJS about color ; or as quacks, who put on airs of 
 
 3 skill, and blunder at will. Again, it prevents 
 
 a= social intercourse for a civilized mind unfor- 
 
 *C 
 
 & tunate predicament, as for one deaf and dumb. 
 
 Thus to an equal affliction, are hearing 
 
 ears and & tongue which easily speaks several 
 
 languages, but not the prevailing one, exposed. 
 
 Different tongues abound in California 
 
 the rendezvous of all nations as a kind of
 
 comfort, but which retards the acquirement 
 of the English language. 
 
 Translating into and from the language 
 mentioned offers, finally, a fair incentive for 
 improvement, preceded sometimes by frequent 
 occurrences of shabby effusions of naughti- 
 ness meriting little or no attention. 
 
 This translation I undertook for the sake 
 of improvement, and now humbly offer it to 
 your kind acceptance. I, however, trust to 
 derive from the sale of some hundred copies 
 of this book sufficient to remunerate ine for 
 cost of printing, mental labor and loss of time ; 
 and it will prompt me to efforts to do better 
 in the next, as this Essay may prove premature 
 as to completeness and regularity of idioms. 
 
 Of course, should this my translation pay, 
 it will immediately be continued 
 
 With fiction, concern of conviction, 
 Tradition, with more in addition ; 
 Allusion, diffusion, conclusion, 
 Effection, with strict predilection. 
 
 C. A. Z,
 
 il Jhum* 
 
 CHAPTER I. - 
 
 ONE night I went to the reception of the 
 Princess St. Ellias, and reached there just in 
 the midst of a waltz. The Princess's daugh- 
 ter waltzed with a man of about 30 years of 
 age, whose appearance struck one with hor- 
 ror, like the sudden view of an apparition. 
 
 To the mistress of the house, who just ap- 
 proached, I exclaimed : 
 
 " Princess, who is that partner of your 
 daughter ? How strange is his paleness !" 
 
 "So it is, indeed," replied the Princess, 
 smiling. "He looks like a phantom, and has 
 narrowly escaped from death. Did you ever 
 hear of the Garibaldian General Dunn, who 
 was an English volunteer ? He was assasin- 
 ated somewhere in Naples, three months ago. 
 His wound proved nearly fatal. The mur- 
 derer fled, and his crime was considered as a 
 political revenge 1 . The poor General is hard-
 
 ly well, and up again but a few days. I 
 have reproached him for dancing, particularly 
 for waltzing. Look at his face, how livid it 
 is ! He frequently places his hand on his 
 side, as though he felt that the wound would 
 re-open, or to testify the excess of pain. 
 Knowing that you would come to-night, he 
 wished to be introduced to you." 
 
 The waltz ceased, and the General came 
 directly to us. The Princess introduced us 
 to each other. 
 
 " Will Madame be pleased to accept my 
 arm ? Then," continued he, " let us pass 
 into another apartment, that we may be less 
 disturbed in our conversation." 
 
 He conducted me to an oval-shaped room 
 adorned by family portraits, and on partitions 
 of rosewood a rare collection from the old 
 Saxon shepherds and shepherdesses, heroes 
 and heroines, amours and satyrs, replaced in 
 life by these figures. 
 
 " What an assembly for the eighteenth 
 century!" I said. "I really do not know 
 any more where I am, when I do not breathe
 
 the same air with her. In her absence I 
 am lost." 
 
 " Of whom do you speak ?" said I, regard- 
 ing him with some surprise. 
 
 " I speak of her whom I love, for whom I 
 was assassinated." 
 
 " Is she pretty ?" I asked. 
 
 " "Tis always the first question of women. 
 She is beautiful as sprightliness compared 
 with decrepitude ; as composed resignation in 
 spite of tyranny ; as artlessness is preferable 
 to fraud !" 
 
 " Charms by the contrast," said I ; " but 
 for what purpose these extremities ?" 
 
 "An old man," he said; "and she is about 
 twenty-five : he is sixty !" 
 
 *' You remind me of some poetical effusions 
 of my own 
 
 ' One wife with a husband old, 
 
 Don't from lovers young catch cold.' " 
 
 ** I am in the prime of life." He said this 
 with the same ingenuousness with which he 
 named her, and asked if I was acquainted 
 with her.
 
 8 
 
 " I know only her name and her family." 
 "Well, 'tis necessary that you should see 
 each other," continued he. " Used as you 
 are in your books of expressing ardent love, 
 you would easily discover if I am loved." 
 
 " But," replied I, with a smile : "I know 
 nothing about her her views of life, her 
 convictions ; and don't you think she would 
 be about correct in disapproving such kind 
 of confidence ?" 
 
 " Oh, you refuse to hear me to save me," 
 murmured he, .with great emotion. He said 
 this with such an accent of sincerity, that 
 rather inspired pity, notwithstanding his 
 strangeness of manner. 
 
 " You do love her tenderly r" I asked. 
 " I ought," resumed he, " to relate to you 
 hoAV I made her acquaintance, how I fell in 
 love with her, to show you clearly how it is 
 fatal, irrevocable, and traced as by fate. 
 It was one night in St. Carlos, the early 
 part of October, four months ago," continued 
 he, with downcast eyes, as if retrospecting 
 correctly the whole matter. " It was in the
 
 theatre. I was with other Garibaldian of- 
 ficers, conversing gaily. Suddenly I saw her 
 in a box, sitting on the front seat. Her neck 
 somewhat long, balanced flexibly over a white 
 opera cloak. She looked over to us. Her 
 large rritld eyes wore an expression of annoy- 
 ance and weariness. Her smooth, equal, and 
 white teeth, were visible through a beautiful 
 large mouth, which seemed to be smiling 
 sadly. Visibly she appealed to me, and in- 
 stantly my heart responded to her's. In- 
 stantly, also, I looked for some one who 
 knew her, and was immediately introduced 
 to her. With her I found an old man with 
 a hypocritical physiognomy. He was her 
 husband ! In a convent she was educated, 
 and just came therefrom and was married to 
 him. He follows her all over, as a shadow 
 which obscures her, as a calamity that fades 
 her. He tries to render her superstitious and 
 gluttonous, to stupify her. They have one 
 sickly child, which she idolizes, and which 
 resembles its father. This ought to restrain 
 me from her ; but there is something about
 
 10 
 
 her which attracts, fascinates, and enchains 
 me. From the first sight, I lived but for her. 
 I became her second shadow, young, ener- 
 getic, passionate, an opposing, sprightly in- 
 fluence to that morbid, profane old man. I 
 was conducted to her by one of her relatives, 
 who displeased me, but with whom I became 
 intimate of course, my object being to hear 
 of her always and to speak of her. The hus- 
 band, acting as a spy, made it impossible for 
 me to explain what she inspired me with ; 
 only my troubled looks, and that electricity 
 Avhich extricates itself at every emotion when 
 we love, expressed it to her. I felt that she 
 understood me, that she felt the same magical 
 shock which penetrated me. No doubt about 
 it that her husband understood me, also, very 
 well ; and triumphantly and smartly, in my 
 presence, he conducted himself with vulgar 
 familiarity, towards her whom I would have 
 carried above the skies. He acted thus in 
 order to show his superior claims. I felt 
 tempted to crush that silent witness of my 
 love, like a cardhousc.
 
 11 
 
 Every night I went from her I thought it 
 rather prudent not to return again ; of course, 
 thinking that she could not have a spark of 
 soul, allowing that sepulchre to be at the side 
 of her sprightlincss, and I inwardly cursed 
 her on meeting her at the theatre adorned 
 and smiling. When she came in her coach 
 promenading, I despised her. I tried to look 
 on other ladies, and but beheld herself. All 
 others seemed to me without charms, although 
 some were really more beautiful. Her rela- 
 tive rarely left me, making himself my para- 
 site. He breakfasted every day with me, 
 and borrowed money of me, disgusting all 
 my ideas of a gentleman. I would, however, 
 have sacrificed my best friend for him, because 
 he spoke with me about her ; he assured me 
 that she was sad ; that he had surprised her 
 in tears. When I hesitated to visit her, it 
 was he who urged me to return. Her husband 
 received me obsequiously. He expressed to 
 me his hatred in this way. When my looks, 
 and the accents of my voice irritated him, he 
 kissed his wife passionately, with expressions
 
 12 
 
 of trivial intimacy. Then, fully terrified, she 
 turned upon me her submissive eyes, silently 
 demanding pardon for being at the mercy 
 of this man. I then left without ceremony, 
 closing the door in a gust of passion. Follies 
 of that kind, denoting my love, were repeated 
 over and over. When once departing from 
 her residence, I was overtaken or met by an 
 assassin. The scoundrel was dressed in a 
 Garibaldian volunteer uniform, and with a 
 knife he stabbed me in the right side. He 
 fled, crossing the narrow and winding streets. 
 Passers-by assembled themselves around me. 
 My blood flowed in torrents. My wound was 
 considered fatal. It was to her I was carried. 
 When re-opening my eyes, I saw her sitting 
 near my bed, weeping, motionless and pale. 
 Her husband sustained me in his arms, say- 
 ing: 'Courage! the wound is not dangerous. 
 It was undoubtedly a political revenge.' "
 
 13 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 " I DO not know an enemy," murmured I. 
 
 " The criminal is pursued," replied he. 
 " Inevitably he will before long be caught, 
 and the truth will be developed ;" but he 
 said it with a sinister smile, which compelled 
 me to believe that he had hired, or was him- 
 self, the assassin, I thought so from that 
 very moment, and think so still. 
 
 Neither the author nor the executor of the 
 
 deed could be discovered. 
 
 
 
 For her sake I would not investigate the 
 matter. 
 
 She attended me most assiduously, Uut 
 always in presence of her husband and an old 
 female relative, named Nina, Notwithstand- 
 ing, one night, Nina being outside the room, 
 and our jailor conducted one of my friends to 
 another room, she was alone with me. I 
 pulled off the dressing from my wound, and 
 seizing her adored head, kissed it, exclaim-
 
 14 
 
 ing: "Now, let me die!" Her dress -was 
 covered with my blood. She screamed un- 
 warrantably, and her husband rushed in. I 
 was again put to bed, fainting, and she at- 
 tended me with still greater assiduity and 
 forbearance. 
 
 When Nina was present in the room, she- 
 was always kept busy with some kind of toys. 
 One morning was placed on her neck a red 
 sling, embroidered by her mistress, who then 
 
 " Cara Nina, look how it becomes you !" 
 
 She immediately seized my hand, placed 
 on my finger a gold ring, and said, hurriedly : 
 
 " 'Tis blessed ; it brings good luck to 
 you ! " 
 
 1Vina approached my bed. Mad with joy, 
 I kissed her, exclaiming : 
 
 " Mia, mia Cara, how young you look 
 to-day !" 
 
 After this she took a fancy to me. She 
 assisted carefully, also, in my sick fancies, 
 as she called them, when I sometimes would 
 have a book, sometimes a flower, or in the
 
 15 
 
 meantime a drink, but prepared by herself. 
 Notwithstanding the difficulties in my way, 
 I found opportunities of private and undis- 
 turbed conversation with her mistress, where 
 I unfolded to her the feelings of my heart. I 
 spoke then with great animation to her, who, 
 by the dqpree of fate, was opposed to me. 
 
 " You will quit this house to follow me. 
 You will leave that old man, and love me. 
 He has disgraced your sprightly loveliness. 
 I would make it revive and flourish again. 
 You would emerge from the tomb into life. 
 You would divorce yourself from the sepul- 
 chre. I name you iny wife before the eyes 
 of the world. Let us go as for instance, to 
 Scotland, there inhabit a castle belonging to 
 my sister, and and how happy we will 
 fee ! " 
 
 She was deeply grieved at my addressing 
 her in this manner, but turned a deaf ear to 
 my entreaties. I was a Protestant she a 
 strict Roman Catholic ; and she felt that to 
 follow such counsel, would be a great sin. 
 She was filled with sorrow, and presenting
 
 16 
 
 me an image of Madonna, commended me to 
 her protection. 
 
 "I pray ardently for you. Let my soul 
 alone under her safeguard. And my dear 
 child, my dear child, how could I aban- 
 don it ? " 
 
 " We wiH take it with us. It is your off- 
 spring I love it, and will be to it a father."" 
 
 Notwithstanding her opposition to my pro- 
 posal, a gleam of hope, although vainly kin- 
 dled, influenced me. She remained inexo- 
 rable, and, after all, avowed that she would 
 soon be mother to another child. 
 
 Oh ! a child of that man of my assassin ! 
 Do you perceive my horror ? It ought to in- 
 spire me Avitb hatred. Far from it t I loved 
 her still, and her alone, with unabated des%- 
 poration. What mysteries in love ! What fur= 
 H'ihire of pride ! 
 
 Notwithstanding all, what inexpressible 
 happy hours I had in her house, inhabiting it 
 under the same roof with her ! But my con- 
 valescence approached, my chances to sec her 
 grew less, and at last ceased. In despair I
 
 17 
 
 removed to my own residence. Her husband 
 came every day to inform himself about my 
 health. He was more and more unaffected 
 and complaisant. He dreaded almost my sus- 
 picions. His hospitality made me his friend. 
 I felt obliged to him visibly, without mistake. 
 His family assisted him. 
 
 The aged Nina sometimes visited me. One 
 mild sunny afternoon, where I lived, the car- 
 riages filled up the landing-place with echoing 
 noises. The door of my room opened, and 
 Nina entered with her mistress, whose pre- 
 sence seemed to fill my chamber with a blaze 
 of light. The latter seated herself in an arm- 
 chair near my bed. 
 
 " I am out," she said, " taking exercise, 
 and to know something of your health," she 
 added, with particular cheerfulness. 
 
 'I would not troublo her with interrogato- 
 ries, but observed that she had grown more 
 pale and thinner than before. I took it for 
 a satisfactory proof, that she longed after me. 
 Nina called her away in a few moments. 
 
 On the following day I went out in quest
 
 18 
 
 of her, and although I sought her in many 
 places, it was without success. As often as 
 she went to the theatre I was informed of it. 
 I entered then in her box, where her husband 
 received me tolerably well, or without mur- 
 mur. I hardly took notice of him, consider- 
 ing him no more than a statue in a parlor. 
 His dear wife was dear to me also. I placed 
 myself behind her chair. Now and then I 
 pressed her arm secretly but with ardent 
 vigor, almost sufficient to make her scream, 
 and leaning towards her, I murmured In a 
 low tone: 
 
 " You ought to love me." 
 
 The old man' jeered behind us, notwith- 
 standing he had some reason for it. I turned 
 myself in a menacing manner from him, scat- 
 ing myself at his lady's side, ruffling her dress 
 with my knees. I said : 
 
 " My wound pains me to-night more insup- 
 portably than ever before, and I feel tempted 
 to require an inquest for discovering the mal- 
 efactor." 
 
 These words had the effect to hit the nail
 
 19 
 
 on the head, as to force a tyrant to behave. 
 He trembled before me, and became humble 
 and submissive. I proved it the other night 
 at San Carlos Theatre, and I sent him out to 
 purchase me a newspaper ! " 
 
 Terrified, she said : " You are very incon- 
 siderate. Will you provoke him to kill me 
 when we return home ?" 
 
 I gave her eight days to choose between 
 the culprit's dying condition and my sword, 
 which shall defend her. She hesitates : ad- 
 vise her advise me ! I reckon on you. 
 
 In saying this, the General took my hand 
 and squeezed it, in the English manner. 
 
 I had heard his recital without interrup- 
 tion at the allegro of the piano and its tune- 
 ful, merry waltzes, and amidst the clattering 
 clank of spoons, cups and dishes, used by the 
 partakers of coffee and tea and their servants. 
 Speaking thus with me, nothing but his love 
 of her seemed to occupy his thoughts,, forget- 
 ting passers-by, of dancers with surprised 
 looks at seeing me for one full hour sitting at 
 his side, silent, and listening to him with the
 
 20 
 
 most patient attention, as if witnessing a 
 deeply interesting theatrical representation, 
 performed by himself, his own dramatical 
 story, with glistening eyes, and with that 
 abundance of language which passion of love 
 produces. 
 
 After he was through, I still remained 
 silent. Suddenly, with a polite unconcern, 
 he addressed me : 
 
 " Pardon, Madam, for having fatigued you 
 so long." 
 
 " You have, on "the contrary, highly inter- 
 ested me, as every thing which is sincere and 
 artless, gladdens me in this world, where the 
 truth is sliut out : but, what can I do ?" 
 
 " Thus you refuse to see her, to recognise 
 and persuade her ! Then I am deceived ! I 
 thought you better understood what love was.
 
 21 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 " I CONFESS plainly, General, that you ex- 
 pect me to accomplish an impossibility ; be- 
 cause it belongs neither to me nor to any one 
 to tell a wife a mother -to tear in pieces all 
 the ties which her feelings keep holy ; and it 
 were as superfluous, or useless, as if the pas- 
 sion of love was the strongest which would 
 stand trying, notwithstanding, by any shift- 
 ing motive matters could counterbalance its 
 weight. The woman who loves thus will 
 decide for herself, and repulse another wo- 
 man's intervention in the horrid mystery of 
 her heart." 
 
 "What! do you refuse to make her ac- 
 quaintance ?" he asked. 
 
 " On the contrary, I long with curiosity to 
 meet her accidentally, and to speak with her 
 about you. I would easily and unmistakeably 
 discover if you are loved."
 
 He reflected upon this for a moment, and 
 then said : 
 
 " I will have her to come along you will 
 see that." 
 
 " I prefer to meet her by chance, as, 
 for instance, Avith some of her relatives," I 
 replied. 
 
 " It will cause too great delay. Before 
 eight days the unraveling conclusion the 
 irrevocable catastrophe of the play, will be 
 required. Within eight days, if you see her 
 not, I will give a festival as for celebrating 
 my recovery, and you will then see her." 
 
 " But will she come to you publicly, Gen- 
 eral ? I don't believe it." 
 
 " She will, by magnetism her husband, 
 by terror and the rest of her respectable 
 family for the savor of the supper." 
 
 I commenced to laugh. 
 
 " Don't trifle with me," exclaimed he, in 
 an irritated tone. 
 
 " I laugh only over her illustrious rela- 
 tives' accessory puffing matters in the drama, 
 ridiculed by yourself."
 
 23 
 
 " 'Tis true," he said, "if love did not ren- 
 der me less^ cunning, it would be more matter 
 for an epigram in this story." 
 
 " Think on the ridiculous side, and between 
 now and eight days don't commit any more 
 nonsense !" 
 
 " On condition that you allow me to see 
 you in the meantime, and to speak with me 
 about her." 
 
 " As you please." 
 
 "Very well: you are very kind, and some- 
 thing assures me that I will have to thank 
 you for my life and for her love." 
 
 Several young ladies surrounded us. Their 
 faces were flushed with surprise that this 
 beautiful and heroic General had occupied 
 himself so long with a lady who did not 
 dance. I went away. The General offered 
 me his arm, and insisted upon conducting me 
 to my residence. 
 
 " Don't refuse me," said he : " 'tis for 
 speaking about her." 
 
 On the way, he related to me a kind of
 
 24 
 
 programme, as solemn as an oath, which he 
 intended to perform. / 
 
 " In eight days I leave Naples with or 
 without her," he said. " She will not believe 
 in the departure. I am just as dear to her as 
 she is to me. When I am no more present, 
 her youth will pass void and cold, as her old 
 sepulchre. My passion for her is the air she 
 lives on, the spirit which animates her. She 
 desires to immolate me for ever to her will ; 
 but, seeing me resolved to start away, she 
 follows me. 'Tis just what I always tell her 
 when we meet, and in the mornings by letter, 
 usually disposed of for her in the church at 
 the foot of the image of Madonna, wrapped 
 up in a nosegay." 
 
 " This way of corresponding makes me 
 laugh," I answered. 
 
 He said : "In my letter of to-night I will 
 beg her to see you, and you will sec that 
 she comes ; because, between her and me ia 4 * 
 an electrical current." 
 
 "Is it to be sure that she really loves you 
 as much as you are inclined to believe ?" I
 
 25 
 
 interrupted him. " Only just like all the 
 men's presumption, which consists of self- 
 interest. You are not very well initiated in 
 that mysterious feeling of a wife, a mother. 
 As for the former, it would not suit your 
 programme, neither that confidence for urging 
 her, with which you will intrust me. As for 
 the mother, that child she carries struggles 
 against you forcefully. If that child belonged 
 to you, she would be your slave ; but an- 
 other's child is her master, and triumphs over 
 you." 
 
 " 'Tis true," murmured he, dropping his 
 head in his hands, showing the greatest emo- 
 tion. 
 
 Seeing him so much overcome, almost unto 
 tears, in the eyes of predominating bright- 
 ness, the bravest amongst the brave Garibal- 
 dians ; seeing him so utterly disconsolate 
 through love himself, who was so distin- 
 guished for gallantry as to reach the height of 
 a general's degree, caused a melancholy emo- 
 tion as to contradict human greatness. This 
 unexpected epoch of a romance, and such a
 
 . 26 
 
 subject of an epic poem from the Italian new- 
 born, fresh independence, triumphed over the 
 exasperated, despotic power, which the Paris- 
 ian life had traced in my memory. 
 
 As we separated at the door of the hotel, 
 the General said to me : 
 
 "To-morrow, I know it, I will feel badly. 
 Let me see you every day treat me as a 
 sister would do." 
 
 On the following day, about two o'clock, 
 there entered into my room a haughty young 
 man, with black hair, and with features of 
 the purest Greek mould. Dressed in a red 
 shirt, he carried a long sword in his belt. 
 He was the chamber-servant of the General. 
 The domestics of the English aristocracy are 
 usually distinguished for beauty, as horses 
 are by the breed. The General has chosen 
 amongst the prettiest volunteers an intelligent 
 Vcnitian, making him at once servant and 
 confidant. His brown face, expressive and 
 merry, contrasted in a striking manner with 
 that of his master. A sculptor would have 
 preferred him as a perfect type of the south,
 
 27 
 
 the latter's head as a middling imitation 
 of the northern type. The radical Venitian 
 gave me a small letter from the General. 
 
 " The fever kept him in bed," wrote he, 
 " but he would come to see me about five 
 o'clock, nevertheless." 
 
 " La sua Eccellenza sta poco bene," added 
 the domestic, as a kind of commentary. 
 
 " Questo povero Signore a del settentrione e 
 non sa como sefa Vamore nel mezzogiorno." 
 
 This reflection seemed to me very pleasant, 
 and I repeated it, smiling, when the General, 
 pale as a spectre, entered. 
 
 " Giovanni is right," he said. " I don't know 
 what the Italians mean with love. I ought 
 to know it, indeed, because I am very well 
 acquainted with Byron's work. Their devo- 
 tion misleads me, and in the first instance I 
 take it for mysteriousness. The mysteries 
 are ethereal north-flowers. The Spanish and 
 Italian devotion is savory fruit, which thrives 
 best, or only, in full sunshine. I believe if I 
 clothed it in the habit of a monk, and spoke
 
 28 
 
 about love in form of confession, its heart 
 would easily submit." 
 
 " Behold a rapture of irony," replied I, 
 " which comes better to you than something 
 similar with shedding tears, as happened yes- 
 terday ! " 
 
 " Do you believe me to be restored to 
 health again at last r" said he, with some 
 indignation. " I wish it now more than 
 ever. I come from her. I have had a chance 
 to see her, and to speak about you. You 
 will soon see her yourself. Perhaps she will 
 enter before I am off. You will testify that 
 she kills me, if she does not promise me to 
 come alone. Again, I am certain that she 
 has already started on the way to you. I hear 
 footsteps in the corridor. "Tis she !" 
 
 He opened the door, and hit against a tall 
 chambermaid, who brought a lady's dress. 
 
 " Ain't I crazy !" said he, throwing him- 
 self in an armchair. " My letters also to her, 
 all of them, are filled with extravagancies. I 
 write in French, of course, as I understand it 
 better than the Italian. But still, I do not
 
 29 
 
 find the natural and righteous form of that 
 which overflows from my heart. To be sure 
 I express myself in a ridiculous style. Oh, 
 
 if you would be pleased you would, or 
 
 how ? You know how to render the 
 
 cases in a book. Declamation and emphasis 
 would not be profaned. Let me read my 
 letter for you. You will please correct the 
 false expressions. Perhaps I wound her feel- 
 ings with unfitting words, contrary to my in- 
 tention. Behold the pages which I have 
 written, to place in her hand this night at 
 the theatre. Consent to read, and to correct 
 them. 
 
 That idea led unconditionally to laughter, 
 but he expressed it with ardor and ingenuity. 
 It was really impossible to satirize about it. 
 What a matter at once of greatness and pue- 
 rility !
 
 30 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE General was through with his love 
 letter, inconsistent and feverish as it was 
 where prayer and adoration were mingled 
 with menace and anger. 
 
 " But don't change anything in it," I said. 
 " The agonies of the heart have nothing to do 
 with the syntax." 
 
 He left me to go to San Carlos, rejoicing in 
 the hope that his passion, in an unaltered 
 shape, would pass into the soul of her, whom 
 he loved so dearly. Coming to my house 
 the following day, he asked if she had been 
 there. 
 
 " Forget the dream for ever of that meet- 
 ing, and believe me. Leave Naples the very 
 first day you can fix therefor. Go to Gaeta. 
 The bombardment of this place has com- 
 menced. The great play on the scene of 
 war would distress your intervals of child-
 
 31 
 
 ish love, and anyhow be of more glory for 
 a General." 
 
 " Oh, you don't say so ! Thus do you 
 speak. Have you ever loved ? I would pre- 
 fer death on the battle field, if she rejects 
 me, but far away in India or China. I will 
 leave for ever the Italian earth where I first 
 met her. In the meantime I will prepare the 
 festival of farewell, or, perhaps, of my be- 
 trothal. Of course, you will see that she fol- 
 lows me." 
 
 I had to pay a visit to the Princess of Mor- 
 ra. He followed me to her, and engaged her 
 for his soiree. She accepted his invitation 
 for herself and spouse. The Princess Ellias 
 has consented, also, to honor the feast of one 
 of Naples' liberators. Doubtless, the high- 
 est circles and principal dignitaries will meet 
 there. Thither mothers will conduct their 
 daughters, under a wavering hope of inflicting 
 rosy chains, or, perhaps, Hymen's tie on a 
 chief of volunteers. To suit a castle in the 
 air, imagination surpasses reality, to capture
 
 32 
 
 as a dear prisoner the person of this beauti- 
 ful and romantic English hero. His love 
 story was spoken of as an adventure of an 
 ephemeral kind. He was a subject of dignity, 
 attracting tender, or selfish inclination ; also, 
 perhaps, as for one very exception from this 
 rule, excepting itself for a longer show of 
 sympathy, which contradicted holier ties as, 
 for instance, the case of his own dear in- 
 clination. 
 
 "Indeed, you 'know," he said, "that I 
 care only for her. The feast is for her, and 
 for yourself. You will find out if I have any- 
 thing to hope." 
 
 Listening to him, I remembered some 
 comedies of the old Corneille, where was 
 given serenades on inland waters, called 
 " Media Nocha," for his mistresses, with a 
 prodigality without limits, which offered 
 there, also, splendid effects. As that mag- 
 nificent chevalier from an old century, made 
 a show of Neapolitan extravagance, so, now, 
 did the General, and thought of nothing but
 
 33 
 
 his love. My curiosity was kept in suspense 
 a whole week by that little drama, the de- 
 velopment of which approached, 
 
 " The heroine will appear," the General 
 said, " surrounded by her numerous family. 
 She comes as Clarissa Harlowe, encircled by 
 her relatives like a rampart." 
 
 At length the night of the ball arrived. 
 At nine o'clock, in company with the Prin- 
 cess Morra, we went to the English hotel, 
 where the General resided. The most ele- 
 gant saloons on the first floor were brilliantly 
 illuminated, brighter than the sunshine on 
 this beautiful day of the feast. Statues, gar- 
 landed with flowers, decorated the stairs. 
 The beautiful Giovanni, in full dress, in 
 preparation to offer to every lady, bouquets, 
 of which he had a basket full. Some old 
 men were already formed, or forming them- 
 selves, about four for each table, for playing 
 cards, in the first room. I looked about 
 among them to ascertain if the husband was 
 there, and if I could divine who he was.
 
 34 
 
 The Princess St. Ellias, a talented dancer, 
 was already in her element to attract admi- 
 rers in another large saloon, where quad- 
 rilles were forming. The young girls danced 
 with a guiltless animation, with a pleasing 
 attraction, ignoring the wild and passionated 
 atmosphere which surrounded them. They 
 chatted in a lively manner^with their partners, 
 young officers of the regular and Garibal- 
 dian armies. 
 
 The General, standing in front of the chim- 
 ney, with his eyes fixed on the door through 
 which the guests arrived, had a dreamy ap- 
 pearance. His noble face was paler than 
 usual, contrasting with his black coat, which 
 was closely buttoned. He came to me. 
 
 " She comes not at all, or she delays only 
 too long," he said, forgetting all except her. 
 " Be pleased to accept my arm I have 
 another request to make of you." 
 
 Thus speaking, he conducted me to the 
 refreshment saloon. Already four men were 
 sitting at a table eating. I called the Gen-
 
 35 
 
 eraTs attention to them, and said, laugh- 
 ing : 
 
 " Behold those guests, in a great hurry to 
 supi" 
 
 " They are two uncles and two cousins of 
 hers," replied he, " who doubtless have not 
 dined." 
 
 *' 'Tis insupportable for a -lover of good 
 standing to see the woman whom he loves in 
 vulgar mediocrity. He would surround her 
 with poetry and magnificence, isolate her 
 image, and destroy the frame if it were not 
 in harmony with his idolatry." 
 
 " She is a flower amongst nettles," replied 
 he : " when I get her to live in an atmosphere 
 worthy of her, she will be still more beauti- 
 ful. You sec those two empty chairs," added 
 he, advancing from the door of the dancing 
 saloon. " May I request you to be seated on 
 one of them ? please conceal the other, or in 
 some way reserve it for her. I will conduct 
 her to you. You will talk to her." 
 
 " But not about the programme, for GOD'S
 
 36 
 
 sake, General," replied I, " or absolutely I 
 will say nothing." 
 
 I felt his arm trembling within mine own, 
 and his whole frame shaken with a nervous 
 trepidation, and as if he would faint. He 
 withdrew his arm briskly from mine, leaving 
 me alone. He went to meet a lady who had 
 just entered. It was she ! I divined her 
 from her husband, whom I knew by descrip- 
 tion. His affected smile exhibited, on open- 
 ing the lips, a large, cavernous mouth. He 
 threw a rapid look about on the assistance to 
 coxmt on at need, and having recognized 
 several of his friends, he seemed reassured, 
 turned around to a gambling saloon, and sat 
 down at a whist table. The old Nina, in a 
 showy gown embroidered with red and gold, 
 as an attentive duenna, followed her noble 
 mistress, who walked straight towards me, 
 conducted by the General. She was a tall, 
 graceful person, with a noble air. Her well- 
 formed neck was surrounded with a set of 
 pearls of which, the clasp, of diamonds, was
 
 37 
 
 the only radiant lustre coming from her. Her 
 cheeks not very full, her mouth large, with 
 beautiful teeth, but without a smile ; her eyes 
 pretty, mild, rather dimmed by annoyance ; 
 her forehead with a tint of weariness, re- 
 vealed an habitual decay, a helpless torpor. 
 The contact of an old man had imprinted a 
 sickly look on her young face. Animated 
 and happy, this woman would be attractive. 
 Burdened with the weight of a hopeless life, 
 with terror for love, rather than inclined for 
 its charm, she had a grave physiognomy, which 
 chilled me. She seated herself, apparently 
 exhausted, in the chair next my own. The 
 General introduced us to each other, and 
 then, with a suppliant look to me, deter- 
 mined, he offered his arm to Nina, to conduct 
 her to the refreshment saloon, or somewhere 
 from us. 
 
 I did not know how to address that motion- 
 less person, whose troubled destiny did not 
 diminish in any way, neither by compassion, 
 nor by sympathy rather bent under the 
 
 302053
 
 38 
 
 yoke, than convinced by duty. I was still 
 thinking of a proper mode to do it, when the 
 General returned. He leaned himself towards 
 her and, in passing, whispered something to 
 her, I could not hear, and then placed him- 
 self at some distance, in a good position to 
 observe us. Without looking at me, she 
 said, suddenly : 
 
 " Madam writes romances ? " 
 
 She pronounced these sentiments in a sar- 
 castic tone, as ladies of the aristocracy usual- 
 ly do to female writers. 
 
 "Yes, madam," I replied, laughingly, "to 
 write romances distracts, if it does nothing 
 else, and does not inspire more." 
 
 " The real life does not produce all the 
 events which a love-tale represents," she re- 
 plied, hesitatingly. 
 
 "It produces more romantic, more terrible, 
 and more candid effects," replied I. "I assure 
 you that poets and romance writers often are 
 forced in writing them rather to restrain than 
 exaggerate the living dramas.."
 
 39 
 
 " That is what I never thought of." 
 
 "It is, nevertheless, perfectly true. It is 
 the reality which feeds the imagination the 
 every-day life which supplies us with mate- 
 rial for our fictions." 
 
 " I believe, rather, that romance writers 
 bestow success to their heroes just as they 
 please," replied she, harshly. 
 
 " That is to say," replied I, in the same 
 way, "that they divine the full truth beneath 
 the transient show." 
 
 Thus I continued, determined to unmask 
 her dissimulation. It is sufficient for any 
 observer, who has known or analyzed love, 
 to regard the General for comprehending by 
 the exultation of his countenance, that he is 
 a prey to a violent passion. 
 
 " He suffers much from his wound," re- 
 plied she, tranquilly. " The blood which he 
 has lost, has emptied his brain, and filled it 
 with phantoms. A sick man, excited by the 
 fever, fancies there are crimes, where there 
 is nothing but honor. Being a subject for
 
 40 
 
 the pity which his condition inspires, he 
 dreams impossibilities." 
 
 She decided herself for allusion. I did 
 so, too. 
 
 "It is a real misejy that which you treat 
 only as a dream," said I. " The General 
 speaks of dying from excess of suffering." 
 
 "If he thought really of dying, he would 
 die without talking about it," she replied, 
 coolly.
 
 41 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 I DON'T know whether the General had 
 divined these last words, but he lanced on 
 her a look full of anger. He came to us as 
 soon as the music played the introduction of 
 a waltz. 
 
 " It is myself who waltzes with you now," 
 he said. 
 
 She arose as if yielding to an electrical 
 power. He took her in his arms, and whirl- 
 ed her round with a convulsive rapidity. I 
 divined the vehemence of his words. He 
 sought, by violence and tenderness, and by 
 that extraordinary effort of trained applica- 
 tion, under the influence of the intoxicating 
 waltz, to entice a promise from her. Expos- 
 ed to his daring will and desire for a crisis, 
 which depended upon something unforeseen, 
 she was almost at his mercy, when, suddenly 
 mastering herself, she stopped on the spot,
 
 42 
 
 distinctly ^pulsing his efforts with complete 
 self-control. 
 
 " Oh, you are crazy," she said, disengaging 
 herself, and then took a seat by my side. 
 
 " Have you children, madam," she asked 
 me, in a calm tone. 
 
 On my replying that I had a daughter, she 
 exclaimed 
 
 " How much we love them, even when 
 they are small !-: what sweetness, what real- 
 ity, and what truth every moment in their 
 caresses ! I have one child who is beautiful, 
 and will soon have another. They will smile 
 at and play with each other, and speak and 
 quarrel with each other. I will place them 
 on their father's knee, because he is good, 
 and mild and much I love him," added she, 
 with a resolution in her tone, surpassing that 
 sentiment which it only needed for safe-keep- 
 ing in her duty. 
 
 After these words she arose, and went to 
 converse with a young lady of her family. 
 
 The General approached me, hastily.
 
 43 
 
 " Well, he inquired, what is there to hope 
 for?" 
 
 " Nothing, General," replied I. 
 
 It was against my feelings to repeat the 
 words we had exchanged. This woman did 
 not interest me as for herself personally, but 
 she touched me as mothor as victim for 
 many constraints of sufferings, common to 
 women. I identified myself with tortures of 
 her heart more, perhaps, than she felt. In 
 this moment it seemed to me that the two 
 men, who pondered upon her fate were 
 equally hateful : the one for that sadness he 
 had occasioned her, and the other for that 
 mortal trouble which he had heaped upon 
 her. 
 
 Seeing her walking, pale and decaying, I 
 said to myself, " Her maternity may kill 
 her," and I felt for her an affectionate re- 
 spect and sympathetic pity. 
 
 The General insisted, finally : 
 
 " What did she say ? " 
 
 " She refused to speak with me about
 
 44 
 
 you," I said : " she is tranquil, and calm as 
 one of your inland waters in Scotland." 
 
 He approached the orchestra, Avhich pre- 
 luded a quadrille. He gave some orders, re- 
 peating prestissimo. The tune of a rapid 
 waltz resounded immediately, and some deter- 
 mined waltzers of both sexes cried, " Bravo ! " 
 and fell in rank immediately. In his arm he 
 seized her, over whom he magnetically pre- 
 tended to domineer. To my great surprise 
 she opposed no more resistance than the first 
 time. Reanimated, energetic, and resolved 
 for an act of stunning by another enthusiasm, 
 she left herself to the ravishing giddiness of 
 that .waltz . The instrument's furiosa com- 
 municated itself to the palpitating bodies. 
 With a kind of bashful temerity he touched, 
 with a somewhat convulsive pressure of the 
 hand, the naked shoulder,* and that more 
 
 * Madame Collet is rather too exact in approxi- 
 mating the limits of liccntia poetica. I undertook 
 this translation at all hazards before I knew any
 
 45 
 
 clastic part of the snowy neck, of that happy 
 woman, who, blushing and kindled by an in- 
 ward flame, appeared to me, at once, really 
 beautiful. 
 
 The waltz ceased. He conducted her to a 
 seat on a canopy at some distance from me. 
 After this, he came to me, saying : 
 
 *' I knew it well she loves me. We will 
 start together." 
 
 I did not answer him. He seemed certain 
 of his influence. I knew that he deceived 
 himself. He took an ephemeral sensation for 
 a fixed resolution. It was clear he was dear 
 to that woman ; but one resolution, based on 
 conjugal duty as wife and mother, opposed 
 him. A fantastical episode fortified, sudden- 
 ly, her resistance. 
 
 Some rumors were afloat in Naples, some 
 
 thing about this illustrated underbred liberty. It 
 is always unpleasant to have to blush over an in- 
 delicate or rough expression, whether uttered by 
 ourselves or others ; and it is matter of regret that a 
 faithful rendering of the original has, in this case, 
 made it necessary.
 
 46 
 
 time since, about a somnambulist which 
 manifested oracles. It was believed in dif- 
 ferent ways partly as an act of the Saint 
 Januarius, sake of faith, for some as a mys- 
 tification by others, and as a curious and at- 
 tractive performance, for all. The General 
 had the idea to offer us that treat amongst 
 all the other kinds of his hospitality. He al- 
 lowed to come into the middle of the saloon 
 a small woman of dark complexion, of coarse 
 countenance, her hair rough-casted. Some 
 few strokes with some one's hand were suffi- 
 cient to put her to sleep. She was placed, 
 or rather extended, on a canopy, and all 
 formed a circle around her. The General's 
 heroine had retaken that inexpressive indiffer- 
 ence, rather inclined for condemnation in ad- 
 vance. Her husband was behind and leaning 
 towards her. Near at hand was Nina, who, 
 also, rather piqued, repeated over and over, 
 " Questo e stupendo ! " 
 
 The somnambulist shook as a sorceress. 
 Some women seized one of her hands, which
 
 47 
 
 hung motionless, and interrogated her. She 
 replied, correctly, to every question. One 
 Garibaldian officer said to the General : 
 
 " Ask her, who was your assassin ? " 
 
 The General seized with his finger the 
 grasp of the somnambulist, and addressed, 
 mechanically, questions of which the mean- 
 ing was double. 
 
 "Do you know of what I am suffering?" 
 
 " You suffer partly by the heart, and by a 
 wound hardly or badly cured." 
 
 No doubt, fearing a public demonstration 
 of his love, the General insisted upon the ob- 
 ject concerning his wound. 
 
 " Can you see the malefactor who stabbed 
 me ? " asked he. 
 
 *' I see him. He was armed with a knife, 
 and wore a red shirt." 
 
 " The whole of Naples knows that," ex- 
 claimed one of the assistants. 
 
 "Can you see who armed this culprit ?' 
 continued the General. 
 
 " Stop," replied she. " It seems to me
 
 48 
 
 that I can distinguish the instigator of the 
 crime. He approaches : I see him !" 
 
 At these words I heard some one, not far 
 from me, say : 
 
 "It is infamous, endeavoring, publicly, to 
 dishonor us 1" 
 
 It was the heroine herself, trembling, be- 
 wildered, and almost ready to faint. The 
 husband sneered, being livid, but composed. 
 
 The General, fascinated, credulously con- 
 tinued : 
 
 " Well, what motive had this man ?'*
 
 49 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE oracle, doubtless, would reply, either 
 by divination, laughter, or, perhaps, by a 
 pretended discovery, false or true. A result 
 of a mysterious hazard with one blow would 
 throw suspicion upon an honorable family, 
 and strike with terror, or insanity, that poor 
 mother and wife, whose tremulous breathing 
 I heard at my side. All my feelings of jus- 
 tice and humanity rose in rebellion against 
 it. The romantic lover, whose passion had 
 touched me, seemed to me now rather an 
 egotistical maniac's deed, transforming at the 
 same time cordial hospitalities and co-operat- 
 ing in testifying complicity with the horrid 
 crime in question, and changing the wife's 
 seduction into cruel deeds of torture. With- 
 out mercy thus to practice a man's natural 
 advantage which all of us poor women have 
 suffered, more or less seemed to me odious.
 
 50 
 
 This rapid Sensation penetrated my mind like 
 lightning. 
 
 I approached the General, and disengaging 
 his hand from that of the somnambulist, said 
 to him, openly and laughingly : 
 
 "What you do now is atrocious and super- 
 stitious. It is unworthy of a disciple of Bo- 
 lingbroke." I added, slowly : " Look, you 
 kill her, and that destroys for ever her love." 
 
 He started with juvenile mobility, which 
 was one of his charms. 
 
 " I will repair what I have failed in," 
 murmured he, exclaiming : " Madame is 
 right. That pretending clairvoyant derides 
 me as if dealing with a credulous lazzaron. 
 Never mind who stabbed me, I am well 
 again, and celebrate it this very night with 
 all my friends." 
 
 After these words, he went to the old hus- 
 band. 
 
 " Behold my saviour !" said he, and shook 
 his hand,.almost making him cry. After this 
 he approached the young wife, who stood
 
 51 
 
 immovcable and steady, and with downcast 
 eyes, resembling the statue of resignation. 
 
 I observed her, and understood that some- 
 thing dissolved itself within her. It was his 
 love. Some new transitory flashes could daz- 
 zle her ; some puffing whirlwind could attract 
 her attention ; but the rumbling noise of the 
 hurricane petrified her. The General spoke 
 to her, but in vain endeavored to attract her 
 regards. She ignored that he was before her. 
 He emboldened himself to take her hands, 
 but she withdrew them as if a viper had 
 touched her, and commenced to play with a 
 garland of ambergris suspended on Nina's 
 reddish arm. The General came to me exas- 
 perated. The orchestra then commenced a 
 quadrille. The old man, sitting at the side 
 of his wife, rose and offered her his arm. 
 She leaned herself thereon in an indolent 
 way, and made a round about the room, sa- 
 luting several persons, smilingly, and started 
 away. The General rushed away after her. 
 I left also at the same time the feast, which
 
 52 
 
 no longer afforded any interest to me. I 
 descended the stairs the General ascended, 
 his face radiant with joy, his eyes lively and 
 sparkling. 
 
 " What has happened that makes you so 
 happy ?" I asked. 
 
 " Now, to be sure, I am her master. She 
 is under my control, and every obstacle is 
 broken, perforce, by love. I pressed her to 
 my heart when assisting her into the coach, 
 and her heart told me then, ' I will follow.' 
 Now, how happy I am ! I would make a 
 whole world happy, particularly you, Madam. 
 I will make my farewell visit to-morrow. It 
 will be the last day I pass in Naples." 
 
 What could I say to this blunder ? 
 
 It surprised me to see him, on the follow- 
 ing day, still joyous, very amiable, and feeling 
 quite certain of that good luck of which he 
 had dreamt. We passed almost the whole 
 day together. He couducted me, a la prome- 
 nade de la villa, where we met several of his 
 guests of the previous night. One friend said 
 to him :
 
 53 
 
 " The rumor circulates in Naples that it 
 was a betrothing ball you gave us." 
 
 " Certainly," he replied, his eyes sparkling 
 with merriment; "I carry already the ring !" 
 In saying this he turned around his finger the 
 blessed little ring which she had given him. 
 
 He came to me the night I started to make 
 a call at Mancini's, and said : 
 
 '* I will go along with you," and followed. 
 I have read beautiful poetry of love, written 
 by Madame Mancini, and I desire dearly to 
 make her acquaintance." 
 
 " Dearly, is a very significant term for a 
 heart so full of another woman. Do you not 
 start to-morrow ?" 
 
 " Oh, you don't believe it yet," replied he. 
 
 " Has she written to you ?" 
 
 " No ; and her silence is the very conform- 
 ation of her promise." 
 
 I thought I was listening to a fantastically 
 dreaming noctambulo. 
 
 He Continued : " I bring to you my souve- 
 nir of parting to-morrow."
 
 54 
 
 He brought his portrait and a ring of blue 
 enamel. 
 
 " It is an Indian talisman," he said, " be- 
 lieve me. Press on that little flower of pearl 
 when you need an arm to defend you, or a 
 heart to console you, and I will appear. For 
 time to come my soul is fastened to you with 
 an indissoluble bond." 
 
 " But, General," I replied, touched by his 
 good-natured generosity, " I have done no- 
 thing for you." 
 
 "I know better," exclaimed he. "You 
 stopped me when I was wounding her feel- 
 ings by interrogating the somnambulist, when 
 I was going to lose her for ever. It is only 
 through you I could regain her. We will talk 
 together about you during the summers on 
 the shores of our placid lakes, in the win- 
 ter before the crackling fire made of pine 
 branches from our Scotland's woody regions. 
 She shall have a life so mild and beautiful, 
 that she never will tire of loving me. To- 
 morrow, on board the ship, I intend she shall
 
 55 
 
 be treated as a queen. Giovanni has just 
 bought a Turkish carpet, which he will 
 spread on the deck, on which she shall be 
 seated. Candy and toys shall be given to 
 her child, who will enjoy itself laughing, by 
 her side. I have sent some money to her 
 chamber-maid, that she voluntarily follows 
 her without hesitating. They start together 
 to-morrow, at sunrise, as if they were going 
 to the mess. They will go on board, hiding 
 themselves until we get out in the Bay. I 
 have ' here written the last precautions for 
 them to take. Read, and be convinced."
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 I GLANCED over the letter he gave me, 
 where the pledges of his love abounded. He 
 finished with a gloomy tableau, representing 
 what would become of that poor woman if he 
 parted without her. " Oh, the long days after 
 that vision of love had vanished ! Her coarse 
 and narcotic family, and that hideous old 
 man my phantom always reminding her of 
 our extasies, our furtive transports, and the 
 lost happiness of our interviews." He con- 
 tinued in that letter : " The soirees at San 
 Carlos would be old funerals. When the door 
 opened to the box, should your startled look 
 thither never again behold me enter ! Your 
 prayer to the Madonna seems to be cursing ! 
 What is it that interests you instead of our 
 love ? Racked by your solicitude, one thought 
 above all would kill you ' Does he live, and 
 where ? where to be seen again ? But, alas,
 
 57 
 
 it is- too late ! another has taken my place in 
 his heart !' She has all of that love, whigh I 
 have let escape me. Oh, you could not en- 
 dure all this void feeling, all this grievous 
 disaster !" 
 
 When I had finished his letter, he sealed 
 it, and called Giovanni, who waited his orders 
 in the corridor. 
 
 Run with my letter. Leave it to the cham- 
 ber-maid. She loves you a little, I believe ; 
 that is so much the better she will not 
 betray us." 
 
 My laughter over all this was difficult to 
 suppress. 
 
 The General asked the reason. 
 
 "Well," I replied, I think I am in the 
 theatre, and hear the Count Almaviva con- 
 spire with Figaro to kidnap Rosina." 
 
 "It is all the same," he said, and made a 
 comical grimace. " In his turn that jealous 
 old jailer will himself make a superb grimace, 
 just as did Lablache in the part of Bartolo." 
 
 We started for Mancini's. When arrived
 
 58 
 
 there, we found the young mother surrounded 
 by her young offspring, like a brood in a 
 bird's nest. 
 
 The General was highly pleased with a 
 blond beauty, pure and calm, with a sprightly 
 intelligence. 
 
 " You show me," said he, with his fine 
 manner, " the fate of Goethe's Margaretta, 
 who Avas well married and lappy." 
 
 Madame Mancini conversed with him about 
 warriors' laurels gained, and about heroes even 
 in peaceful times, unfortunately being exposed 
 as victims to treacherous accidents, just as it 
 happened with himself. 
 
 " He is a veritable hero for a romance," I 
 said, smiling. " He leaves us to-morrow to 
 run new risks." 
 
 " Really !" replied that amiable lady, in a 
 lively manner ; "and as for me, I offer you 
 all my sympathies." 
 
 "I accept them," replied he. "If I had 
 seen you before, I would have remained in 
 Naples."
 
 This new sensation puzzled me. 
 
 " Behold the unfaithful Almaviva," said I ; 
 and then we started. 
 
 " It is that muse, under the features of the 
 Madonna, with that firm and resolved regard, 
 I ought to love," answered he seriously. 
 
 " Oh, General, it may be occasionally, only 
 your mind is astray. She is no object, in the 
 smallest way, for any romance whatever. It 
 is no place for any shadow in the radiant story 
 of this noble woman, or for any woman even 
 half so good as she is. But, concerning a 
 further degree, I would not be responsible for 
 the smiling tempter's powei*, because a lady 
 who does not care has the worst enemy in her 
 own heart. Imitate her husband's example ! 
 Marry some young lady in your native land : 
 and, blest with many children, may you live 
 there in peace." 
 
 " Me inclose my youth as a quaker within 
 four walls !" exclaimed he, quickly ; " you 
 forget that tumultous emotion makes me live, 
 and that felicity which awaits me to-morrow."
 
 60 
 
 " Arc you fully sure of that happiness r" 
 
 " Are you envious r" 
 
 " Really, my General, I understand very 
 well the abrupt awakening from dreams like 
 yours, and pity you." 
 
 He remained silent and sombre even to the 
 hotel. I regarded, AVithout telling him, the 
 furious sea, and the noisy waves which lashed 
 the shore opposite. 
 
 When the coach stopped at my residence 
 he took my hand, and said : 
 
 " The tempestuous night is full of phan- 
 toms. Be charitable ! Leave me not until 
 the moment of my departure. Let us go to 
 Portici, Pavzalos, to Baya, or wherever you 
 please. It is necessary to fill up the tedious 
 intervals." 
 
 " My nights are for sleep, my General," I 
 replied. 
 
 " Is that to sleep when we too well know 
 that we are kept awake, and feel an unfortu- 
 nate palpitating of the heart ?" 
 
 " My heart palpitates, but it is caused by 
 emotions from others," I remarked.
 
 61 
 
 " I am of more worth than you," replied 
 he, " because I suffer from the fact that we 
 shall never meet again." 
 
 " Farewell, great heroic child !" said I, 
 squeezing his hand. " I will not forget you. 
 Oh, on the contrary, I will one day or other 
 write your history, as I have witnessed it. I* 
 regret that it contains at least better regu- 
 larity of idioms than good luck, and leave to 
 others to continue correcting that want of 
 improvement in the character of some good 
 applications." 
 
 On the folloAving day, passing Reviere de 
 Chiya, with the Princess of Morra, we in- 
 quired whether the General had started. 
 
 " Si, Signora," said to us a waiter. " Oggi 
 el matino sopra il vapore Francaise." 
 
 Thus his romance was closed. The catas- 
 trophe of the play was permanent. 
 
 The tempest grew calmer. The sea rolled 
 blue waves cut with blades of gold. I saw in 
 the meantime the heroine through that lumi- 
 nous atmosphere, sitting on the deck of the
 
 . 
 
 62 
 
 ship on a spread-out Turkish carpet. Her 
 child played with that great buffoon. The 
 General laughed more happy than the child, 
 and.- 1 myself did laugh, sarcastically, more 
 than either : all right, because 
 
 The same night I visited San Carlos. There 
 .was there a small house. An elegant toilette 
 caused a sensation. I saw enter a box, and 
 take a front seat, a lady dressed in red, and 
 crowned with flowers. It was she ! She 
 saluted me gracefully, and affected to be in a 
 good humor during the whole play but the 
 tears in the night, who have seen them? 
 
 Kecapitulation of the Komance, 
 
 AND ITS MORAL VIEWS. 
 
 " (Dixi et Saluavi Jlnimcum, Jrfeam." 
 
 For sake of improvement some weeks I've spent, 
 To unveil a middling French author's talent ; 
 As an echoing noise in the gold-mine's vault. 
 Spoiling better productions would be more fault. 
 In abundance puffing matters and main things, 
 Two Princesses Queen of the ball, but no Kings ; 
 For the rest, the following summary behold 
 A young beaxity with an ugly tmsband old !
 
 63 
 
 Imprudence of mother to her dear husband's child, 
 
 Badly exposes for tenacy wild. 
 
 Once shut up in a convent, in the world still a novice, 
 
 Being released, she submitted at any price 
 
 To nuptial feast, withoxit hev love and choice ; 
 
 And her heart awoke at last by Nature's voice. 
 
 Weary of check by an old man's preclusive claim, 
 
 Guiltless in fact, performs a libertine's game. 
 
 Oh, authoress, Louise Collet ! your great General 
 
 Was only a rogue, but not a criminal ; 
 
 He was qxiite unfit to profit by chance, 
 
 To captivate fair booties of elegance. 
 
 A foreign patriot the Chief of Volunteers 
 
 He did not know nor care for, as it appears. 
 
 The regular's regulation sufficient ; 
 
 With unperformed errand, therefore, so he went. 
 
 The more of smoke, the less of outbreak of flame ; 
 
 But mortal trouble, bad scrape, kind of ill fame, 
 
 May do for coquettes who would rack lover's brain, 
 
 But for a sensible woman, what shabby gain ! 
 
 Again the more tired once of small error's sport, 
 
 Improves, after all, matrimony's comfort ; 
 
 But error's the fault of the whole hiunan race, 
 
 Which we sooner or later commit, then efface. 
 
 A tyrant's fine wife cannot feel satisfied 
 
 With scolding, and abuse, and words impolite. 
 
 A pleasing, charming mind, is a bond for fair play, 
 
 Fully to reap without constraint and delay. 
 
 The wife, being happy, be the husband's pride, 
 
 His careful love his preference will decide ; 
 
 Still, a lady's bad scrape, and her husband's harm, 
 
 Only would contrast with a good wife's wit and charm. 
 
 For sake of holy conjugal happiness, 
 
 Beware of being victims of wild excess ! 
 
 To unfold charms shows but a coquette's spirit, 
 
 Though there is more or less humbug about it. 
 
 The (jim and stars make not any preference, 
 
 Nor display, as they seem to, some extra chance.
 
 64 
 
 To mock and scorn is always a breach of peace, 
 And corruption eclipses the business to please. 
 Always our business mind, our own door sweep 
 The sequels by others' acts buy learning cheap. 
 To look at sequels will hflp one to behave 
 For foul play, trouble, and sadness doth it save. 
 'Tis only on this rule no clause to behold, 
 That is the very reason why it is told. 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 If kindly patronised in the sale of this Book, I 
 would not fail -soon to offer some more select trans- 
 lation. In that particular case, could I sell 100,000 
 copies of it, I would immediately raise, instruct, drill, 
 and offer to the Government, a battalion of Infantry 
 for approbation, and for effective service, which I 
 have learned and since practised in garrison and 
 war, in different parts of the world. Kegular duty 
 never neglected. Extra opportunities may or may 
 not occur. A solaier lives but for the day, and 
 exists always on the bread of the Government. A 
 disinterested soul delights in acts of generosity, and 
 cannot, therefore, save a fortune. Passing through 
 good and bad times, exercises perseverance. The 
 only difference is, that the good time completely 
 effaces the bad, and in every case the good is thought 
 of. Should I sell but 50,000 copies, I would still 
 carry out my honest intention to the Government; 
 but should the sale prove only insignificant, say a 
 few thousands, I will be obliged to seek a more lib- 
 eral field for better chances. C. A. Z.
 
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