their ears; and I, sweat pouring down my face, conducted this atrocity to the end.  But the end was a little minuet which Venture had taught me; I had appended it to my symphony, calling it my own work.  Its magic put the whole room in good humour, and I was feliciated on my taste in melody.  Next day one of my orchestra came to see me, and in my despair and broken spirit I told him my whole story.  By nightfall it was known to all Lausanne.  But at Neufchatel, through the next winter, I gradually learned music by teaching it.

My next occupation was that of interpreter to a Greek prelate and archimandrite of Jerusalem, whom I met when dining in a little restaurant.  He was collecting money throughout Europe for the restoration of the Holy Sepulchre; and accompanying him from city to city, I was of much service to him, even addressing the Senate at Berne on behalf of his project.  Unfortunately for my employer, he addressed himself to the Marquis de Bonac, who had been ambassador to the Porte, and knew all about the Holy Sepulchre.  I don’t know what passed at their interview, but the archimandrite disappeared and I was detained.  In my desolation I told the marquis the history of my life, and by him was sent to Paris, with plenty of money in my pocket, to enter the service of a young friend of his in the army.  My first sight of the city was a disappointment which I have never got over, and the proposed engagement fell through.  Coming to the end of my resources, I set out by way of Lyons, where I suffered the extremity of poverty, to find Mme. de Warens, who was now, as I learned, at Chamberi.  I came to her house and found the intendant-general with her.  Without addressing me, she said, “Here, sir, he is; protect him as long as he deserves it, and his future is assured.”  And to me, “My child, you belong to the king.”  And thus I became a secretary in the ordnance survey.  After five years of follies and sufferings since I had left Geneva, I began to earn an honest living.

Our Little Circle

It was in 1732, and I was nearly twenty-one years old, when I began the life of the office.  I lived with the little mother in a dismal house, which she rented because it belonged to the financial secretary who controlled her pension.  The faithful Claude Anet was still with her, and shortly after my return I learned accidentally that their relation was closer than I had ever dreamed of.  In a fit of temper his mistress had taunted him outrageously.  The poor fellow, in despair, had taken laudanum; and madame, in her terror and distress, told me the whole story.  We brought him round, and things went on as before, but it was hard to me to know that anyone was more intimate with her than myself.

My passion for music increased this year until I could hardly take interest in anything else, and at last the work at the office grew so intolerable to me that I determined to resign my place.  I extorted an unwilling permission from madame, said good-bye to my chief, and threw myself into the teaching of music.