Five or six hours afterwards, M. de Bragadin and his two inseparable friends paid me a visit, and found me raving with fever.  That did not prevent my respectable protector from laughing at the sight of the costume of Pierrot lying on the sofa.  After congratulating me upon having escaped with my life out of such a bad predicament, they left me alone.  In the evening I perspired so profusely that my bed had to be changed.  The next day my fever and delirium increased, and two days after, the fever having abated, I found myself almost crippled and suffering fearfully with lumbago.  I felt that nothing could relieve me but a strict regimen, and I bore the evil patiently.

Early on the Wednesday morning, Laura, the faithful messenger, called on me; I was still in my bed:  I told her that I could neither read nor write, and I asked her to come again the next day.  She placed on the table, near my bed, the parcel she had for me, and she left me, knowing what had occurred to me sufficiently to enable her to inform C——­ C——­ of the state in which I was.

Feeling a little better towards the evening, I ordered my servant to lock me in my room, and I opened C——­ C——­’s letter.  The first thing I found in the parcel, and which caused me great pleasure, was the key of the casino which she returned to me.  I had already repented having given it up, and I was beginning to feel that I had been in the wrong.  It acted like a refreshing balm upon me.  The second thing, not less dear after the return of the precious key, was a letter from M——­ M——­, the seal of which I was not long in breaking, and I read the following lines: 

“The particulars which you have read, or which you are going to read, in the letter of my friend, will cause you, I hope, to forget the fault which I have committed so innocently, for I trusted, on the contrary, that you would be very happy.  I saw all and heard all, and you would not have gone away without the key if I had not, most unfortunately, fallen asleep an hour before your departure.  Take back the key and come to the casino to-morrow night, since Heaven has saved you from the storm.  Your love may, perhaps, give you the right to complain, but not to ill-treat a woman who certainly has not given you any mark of contempt.”

I afterwards read the letter of my dear C——­ C——­, and I will give a copy of it here, because I think it will prove interesting: 

“I entreat you, dear husband, not to send back this key, unless you have become the most cruel of men, unless you find pleasure in tormenting two women who, love you ardently, and who love you for yourself only.  Knowing your excellent heart, I trust you will go to the casino to-morrow evening and make it up with M——­ M——­, who cannot go there to-night.  You will see that you are in the wrong, dearest, and that, far from despising you, my dear friend loves you only.  In the mean time, let me tell you what you are not acquainted with, and what you must be anxious to know.