“Speak to her, and if she consents I will not oppose it. She herself will tell you what property she has.”
I then went to dress for dinner. I found the duchess in the midst of a large circle, and she told me kindly that she was very sorry to hear of my losses.
“Fortune is the most fickle of beings, but I don’t complain of my loss—nay, when you speak thus I love it, and I even think that you will make me win this evening.”
“I hope so, but I am afraid not; you will have to contend against Monte Leone, who is usually very lucky.”
In considering the matter after dinner, I determined for the future to play with ready money and not on my word of honour, lest I should at any time be carried away by the excitement of play and induced to stake more than I possessed. I thought, too, that the banker might have his doubts after the two heavy losses I had sustained, and I confess that I was also actuated by the gambler’s superstition that by making a change of any kind one changes the luck.
I spent four hours at the theatre in Leonilda’s box, where I found her more gay and charming than I had seen her before.
“Dear Leonilda,” I said, “the love I feel for you will suffer no delay and no rivals, not even the slightest inconstancy. I have told the duke that I am ready to marry you, and that I will give you a dower of five thousand ducats.”
“What did he say?”
“That I must ask you, and that he would offer no opposition.”
“Then we should leave Naples together.”