"Theodore had always occupied a seat between the two sisters, and I one between the younger and her mother. It was now necessary to make another arrangement, and out of respect for the Count's rank, we yielded to him the place hitherto occupied by the Baron von Neuhoff. I had often observed that my companion looked with favour on the elder sister, and that when their eyes chanced to meet, the fair one would change colour. She was a noble-looking girl, with black eyes and an uncommonly fair complexion. The count soon fell desperately in love with her, and as the eyes of a lover are much keener than those of anybody else, Theodore soon became conscious that he was doing all he could to ingratiate himself with Mariana—such was the attractive maiden's name—and thereupon he fell into deep and anxious reflection.
"'What is the matter with you, my dear friend?' I asked one evening when we had retired. 'I have found you for some days quite wrapt up in your own thoughts; you have no longer that vivacity which made your conversation so agreeable; you must surely be the victim of some great anxiety.' 'Ah, my dearest friend!' he replied, 'I was born under an unlucky star; I have never known my father, and there is no one but you to lighten the burden of my life, which, without you, would be still more miserable than it is.'
"'But why these melancholy thoughts now more than at any other time?' I rejoined. 'My father will care for your happiness, and you yourself are able to win by your own talents whatever fortune has denied you. Confess it, Theodore, it is something else which so disquiets you, and, unless I am much mistaken, I fear that the beautiful eyes of Mariana have already too deeply imprinted their image on your heart.'
"'I cannot deny it,' was his reply; 'and I have resolved to make a full confession to you of all my weakness. You know how pleasantly we have spent the last two years in the society of these amiable girls. From the first day, I was conscious of Mariana's power over me; and while I imagined that I entertained towards her nothing more than a tender respect—I certainly intended nothing more—I now find that she has inspired me with feelings of the warmest kind. The arrival of the young Count has opened my eyes; I am too painfully aware of the attention which he pays her, and the superiority of his birth over mine makes me fear that he may find preference in the affections of the beautiful Mariana. In the jealousy which I feel, I perceive how deeply I love her; I forget to eat and drink; I spend the night sleeplessly; and this, in addition to the passion which consumes me, is more than I can bear.'
"'But, my dear Theodore,' I said, 'how can you, so prudent in everything else, let yourself be mastered by a feeling which can have no other than melancholy consequences for you? Mariana is not of a rank to admit of your marrying her, and she has too much virtue to be yours in any other way. Let us change our residence; at a distance from the object which inflames you, you will gradually lose the memory of it.' 'What you say may be all very rational,' replied Theodore; 'but have you ever heard that love reasons? And do you not know that in love, as in honour, one takes nothing but his heart to counsel? It is as impossible that I should tear myself from Mariana, as that I should forget myself; the wound is already so deep that it can never be healed.' 'But what will your friends say,' I continued, 'if you form so intimate a connexion with this girl that no way is left to break it? Your fortunes depend on them; they will not fail to withdraw their protection from you, and deprive you of that inheritance which you may one day expect from them.'
"'They may do,' he said, 'what they please with me; I will never cease to love the adorable Mariana!'
"We then wished each other good-night; I slept, but Theodore did not spend the night so calmly. I found him in the morning so altered in appearance by the sufferings of the past night, that I did not venture to resume our conversation of the preceding evening. We turned to our studies and exercises; and in the evening we found ourselves as usual in the midst of our little society. He was bantered a little on account of his wandering thoughts; he pleaded headache, and begged that they would be so good as to excuse his not taking a part in the amusements. During the evening, he watched the eyes of Mariana and the Count; he imagined that he discovered a certain love-understanding between them, and this drove him to utter despair. We retired; and as we entered our room, he said, 'Well, do you still doubt the love which Mariana and the Count cherish for each other? They have interchanged a hundred loving looks; he whispered in her ear, too, as we came away; my misery is too certain.' 'I have not observed all this,' I replied; 'jealousy has perhaps exaggerated and distorted the most trivial occurrences.'
"Two or three days passed, during which our conversation frequently turned to the same subject. Our professor gave us and some others a party in his garden on the anniversary of Mariana's christening-day. The Count, having been informed of the occasion of the party, had presented Mariana in the morning with a bouquet and a costly diamond pin. It needed nothing more to put Theodore beside himself; he fell into a melancholy silence, and ate hardly anything; the headache had again to come to his help; we rose from the table, and, after some promenading, the ball began. The Count opened it with Mariana, who of course was the queen of the ball. Theodore would not dance, but walked about the garden the whole night. The ball lasted till morning, when we returned home.
"I went straight to my room; my comrade had remained in the court below, and when he met his rival had compelled him to draw. I heard the clash of swords, and ran down with all speed, but came too late; he had already given his adversary a mortal wound, and escaped through the back-door. You may conceive the grief and confusion which this deed occasioned in the whole house. The poor Count was carried to his bed, where he expired two hours after. Neither I nor any of his friends could learn whither Theodore had gone; and we should never have discovered it but for the letter which he wrote us from Corsica a few months ago."
What has come to our ears regarding the life of Theodore previously to his arrival in Corsica, which, as we might expect from the nature of the man, is uncertain and contradictory, shows him to have been one of the most prominent and fortunate of the succession of adventurers who figured in the eighteenth century. The appearance of such men as Cagliostro, Saint Germain, Law, Theodore, Casanova, Königsmark is a counterpoise to these genuinely great contemporaries, Washington, Franklin, Paoli, Pitt, Frederick the Great, highly characteristic of the epoch. While these are busy laying the foundations of a new order of government and society, those, like fluttering storm-birds, give indications of the mighty elemental commotions which were secretly agitating the minds of that period.