To these adventures in his hasty passage through Spain Byron briefly alludes in the early part of his
Memoranda.
"For some time," he said, "I went on prosperously both as a linguist and a lover, till at length the lady took a fancy to a ring which I wore, and set her heart on my giving it to her, as a pledge of my sincerity. This, however, could not be:— any thing but the ring, I declared, was at her service, and much more than its value, — but the ring itself I had made a vow never to give away." The young Spaniard grew angry as the contention went on, and it was not long before the lover became angry also; till, at length, the affair ended by their separating. "Soon after this," said he, "I sailed for Malta, and there parted with both my heart and ring."
(
Life
, p.93). He also alludes to the incident in
Don Juan
, Canto II, stanza clxiv.-
"'Tis pleasing to be school'd in a strange tongue
By female lips and eyes — that is, I mean,
When both the teacher and the taught are young,
As was the case, at least, where I have been,"
etc.