It is still like a dream to me. A mist passed before my eyes; I lost the sense of sight for a second, I believe. Juliette rushed forward, impulsively and with energy. Suddenly I saw her transported as if by magic to the other boat, into Leoni's arms; their lips met in a delirious kiss. The blood rushed to my brain, roared in my ears, covered my eyes with a thicker veil. I do not know what happened. I came to myself as I was entering the hotel. I was alone; Juliette had gone with Leoni.
I flew into a frenzy of passion, and for three hours I raved like an epileptic. Toward night I received a letter from Juliette, thus conceived:
"Forgive me, forgive me, Bustamente; I love you, I respect you and I bless you on my knees for your love and your benefactions. Do not hate me; you know that I do not belong to myself, that an invisible hand controls my actions and throws me against my will into that man's arms. O my friend, forgive me and do not seek revenge. I love him, I cannot live without him. I cannot know that he exists without longing for him, I cannot see him pass without following him. I am his wife, you see, and he is my master; it is impossible for me to escape from his passion and his authority. You saw whether I was able to resist his summons. There was something like an electric current, a magnet, which lifted me up and drew me to his heart, and yet I was by your side, I had my hand in yours. Why did you not hold me back? you had not the power; your hand opened, your lips were powerless to call me back; you see that it is beyond our control. There is a hidden will, a magic power, which ordains and accomplishes these strange things. I cannot break the chain that binds me to Leoni, it is the fetter that couples galley-slaves, but it was God's hand that welded it.
"O my dear Aleo, do not curse me! I am at your feet. I implore you to let me be happy. If you knew how dearly he loves me still, with what joy he received me! what caresses, what words, what tears! I am as one drunk, I seem to be dreaming. I must forget his crime against me: he was mad. After deserting me, he reached Naples in such a state of mental alienation that he was confined in an insane asylum. I do not know by what miracle he was cured and discharged, nor to what lucky chance he owes it that he is now once more at the very pinnacle of wealth. But he is handsomer, more brilliant, more passionate than ever. Let me, oh! let me love him, though I am destined to be happy but a single day and to die to-morrow. Should not you forgive me for loving him so madly, you who have an equally blind and misplaced passion for me?
"Forgive me; I am mad; I know not what I am saying nor what it is that I ask you. It is not to take me back and forgive me when he has abandoned me again; oh, no! I have too much pride, never fear. I feel that I no longer deserve you, that when I rushed into that boat I cut myself adrift from you forever, that I can never again look you in the face or touch your hand. Adieu then, Aleo! Yes, I am writing to bid you adieu, for I cannot part from you without telling you that my heart is already bleeding, and that it will break some day with regret and repentance. I tell you, you will be avenged! Calm yourself now, forgive, pity me, pray for me; be sure that I am no insensible ingrate who does not appreciate your character and her duty to you. I am only an unhappy creature whom fatality drives hither and thither, and who has not the power to stop. I turn my face to you and send you a thousand farewells, a thousand kisses, a thousand blessings. But the tempest envelopes me and carries me off. As I perish on the reefs on which it is certain to hurl me, I will repeat your name and invoke your intercession as an angel of forgiveness between God and me.
"JULIETTE."
This letter caused a fresh attack of frenzy; then I fell into despair; I sobbed like a child for several hours; and, succumbing to fatigue, I fell asleep in my chair, in that vast room where Juliette had told me her story the night before. I awoke more calm; I lighted the fire and paced the floor back and forth several times with slow and measured step.
As the day was breaking I fell asleep again: my mind was made up; I was calm. At nine o'clock I went and made inquiries throughout the city, trying to get information as to certain details which I needed to know about. Nobody knew by what means Leoni had made his fortune; it was known simply that he was rich, extravagant and dissipated; all the men of fashion frequented his house, copied his dress and were his companions in debauchery. The Marquis de —— accompanied him everywhere and shared his opulence; both were in love with a famous courtesan, and, by virtue of a most extraordinary caprice, that woman refused their offers. Her resistance had so stimulated Leoni's desire that he had made her the most extravagant promises, and there was no folly into which she could not lead him.
I called at her house and had much trouble in obtaining an audience. I was admitted at last, and she received me with a haughty air, asking me what I wanted, in the tone of a person who is in a hurry to dismiss an importunate caller.
"I have come to ask a favor at your hands," I said. "You hate Leoni?"
"Yes, I hate him mortally."
"May I ask you why?"
"He seduced a young sister of mine at Friuli, a virtuous, saint-like child; she died in the hospital. I would like to eat Leoni's heart."