We made good cheer at this small town, which is the frontier of the States of the Church.  We should not reach Piperno till far on in the night, and the lady renewed and redoubled her efforts to keep me till daybreak; but though young and pretty she did not take my fancy; she was too fair and too fat.  But her maid, who was a pretty brunette, with a delicious rounded form and a sparkling eye, excited all my feelings of desire.  A vague hope of possessing the maid won me over, and I ended by promising the signora to sup with her, and not to continue my journey without giving notice to the landlord.

When we got to Piperno, I succeeded in telling the pretty maid that if she would let me have her quietly I would not go any further.  She promised to wait for me, and allowed me to take such liberties as are usually the signs of perfect complaisance.

We had our supper, and I wished the ladies good night and escorted them to their room, where I took note of the relative positions of their beds so that there should be no mistake.  I left them and came back in a quarter of an hour.  Finding the door open I felt sure of success, and I got into bed; but as I found out, it was the signora and not the maid who received me.  Evidently the little hussy had told her mistress the story, and the mistress had thought fit to take the maid’s place.  There was no possibility of my being mistaken, for though I could not see I could feel.

For a moment I was undecided, should I remain in bed and make the best of what I had got, or go on my way to Rome immediately?  The latter counsel prevailed.  I called Le Duc, gave my orders, and started, enjoying the thought of the confusion of the two women, who must have been in a great rage at the failure of their plans.  I saw Signora Diana three or four times at Rome, and we bowed without speaking; if I had thought it likely that she would pay me the four hundred louis she owed me I might have taken the trouble to call on her, but I know that your stage queens are the worst debtors in the world.

My brother, the Chevalier Mengs, and the Abbe Winckelmann were all in good health and spirits.  Costa was delighted to see me again.  I sent him off directly to His Holiness’s ‘scopatore maggiore’ to warn him that I was coming to take polenta with him, and all he need do was to get a good supper for twelve.  I was sure of finding Mariuccia there, for I knew that Momolo had noticed her presence pleased me.

The carnival began the day after my arrival, and I hired a superb landau for the whole week.  The Roman landaus seat four people and have a hood which may be lowered at pleasure.  In these landaus one drives along the Corso with or without masks from nine to twelve o’clock during the carnival time.