Produced by David Widger
MEMOIRS OF JACQUES CASANOVA de SEINGALT 1725-1798
THE ETERNAL QUEST, Volume 3c—HOLLAND AND GERMANY
THE RARE UNABRIDGED LONDON EDITION OF 1894 TRANSLATED BY ARTHUR MACHEN TO WHICH HAS BEEN ADDED THE CHAPTERS DISCOVERED BY ARTHUR SYMONS.
THE ETERNAL QUEST
HOLLAND AND GERMANY
CHAPTER X
Portrait of the Pretended Countess Piccolomini—Quarrel and Duel—Esther
and Her Father, M. D'O.—Esther Still Taken with the Cabala—Piccolomini
Forges a Bill of Exchange: Results I Am Fleeced, and in Danger of Being
Assassinated—Debauch with the Two Paduan Girls—I Reveal A Great Secret
To Esther—I Bate the Rascally St. Germain; His Flight—Manon Baletti
Proves Faithless to Me; Her Letter Announcing Her Marriage: My
Despair—Esther Spends a Day With Me—My Portrait and My Letters to Manon
Get Into Esther's Hands—I Pass a Day with Her—We Talk of Marrying Each
Other
The so-called Countess Piccolomini was a fine example of the adventurers. She was young, tall, well-made, had eyes full of fire, and skin of a dazzling whiteness; not, however, that natural whiteness which delights those who know the value of a satin skin and rose petals, but rather that artificial fairness which is commonly to be seen at Rome on the faces of courtezans, and which disgusts those who know how it is produced. She had also splendid teeth, glorious hair as black as jet, and arched eyebrows like ebony. To these advantages she added attractive manners, and there was something intelligent about the way she spoke; but through all I saw the adventuress peeping out, which made me detest her.
As she did not speak anything but Italian the countess had to play the part of a mute at table, except where an English officer named Walpole was concerned, who, finding her to his taste, set himself to amuse her. I felt friendly disposed towards this Englishman, though my feelings were certainly not the result of sympathy. If I had been blind or deaf Sir James Walpole would have been totally indifferent to me, as what I felt for him was the result of my observation.