“‘Perhaps it is you yourself,’ I said, ‘who are so good as to offer me this friendly assistance?’
“‘No,’ he replied, ‘I am simply the agent, nothing more.’
“‘Very well: say to those who employed you that I thank them, but decline to accept anything, either from friends who disclose themselves or who hide themselves. Are you authorized by my family to give me any information?’
“‘No, none,’ he said, ‘but I may probably do so hereafter. Where do you intend to stop at Rome?’
“‘I have no idea.’
“‘Very good; I shall learn, however, for I am under obligations not to lose sight of you. Farewell, and remember that if you fall into trouble this money is yours, and that you have only to give me notice, and I will account to you for it!’
“He seemed to say this with sincerity, but it was possible that he was one of those bold speculators who furnish means to the necessitous with the intention of amply reimbursing themselves afterwards. So I thanked him rather coldly, and departed with my pockets almost empty.
“I felt but very little anxiety about the future. It would be impossible for me now to think of travelling, and instead, I should have to find employment and work for my support. Although, for a considerable time, I had been unable to pursue my studies, my memory was so good that I had not forgotten what I already knew. My attainments were sufficiently varied, and their elements still clear enough in my mind, to render me quite competent to become the private tutor of some young lad, and I was especially desirous of finding such a position, so that I might continue my own pursuits, by encroaching on my sleep.
“My father’s position in the province where we lived had been exceedingly honorable; but, strangely enough, my conduct in regard to Madame Goffredi was considered romantic, and quite unworthy a person of trustworthy character. I had allowed myself to be ruined,—so much the worse for me. As I was generally reputed to be a witless spendthrift, and a sort of lunatic, it would have been useless for me to seek employment. So I could not think of settling in Perugia. At Rome, one of my father’s friends found me a position as tutor in the family of a Neapolitan prince, who had two idle and stupid sons, besides a daughter, hump-backed, and of a coquettish and amorous disposition. At the end of two months I had to ask my dismission, so as to escape from the demonstrations of this heroine, of whom I did not choose to become the hero.
“At Naples, I met another of my father’s friends, a learned abbé, who obtained a place for me in a family less rich, but a great deal more disagreeable than that of the prince, and where my pupils were even less intelligent. Their mother, who was neither young nor handsome, quickly became unfriendly to me, because I was unwilling to deceive myself as to her charms. I made no pretensions to a savage degree of virtue, and did not think of claiming that I could fall in love only with a goddess,—I could have been quite contented with an ordinary mortal. But, even although this lady had been passably attractive, nothing would have induced me to be the lover of a woman who had authority over me, and who paid me my salary. So I went back to my learned abbé, and told him my troubles. He laughed, and said: