“Why so?”

“Because lovers, who feel sure that no one in the pit can see them, may commit improprieties.”

I only answered with a shrug of the shoulders.

In a large box opposite to the stage sat ‘los padres’ of the Holy Inquisition to watch over the morals of actors and audience.  I was gazing on them when of a sudden the sentinel at the door of the pit called out “Dios!” and at this cry all the actors and all the audience, men and women, fell down on their knees, and remained kneeling till the sound of a bell in the street ceased to be heard.  This bell betokened that a priest was passing by carrying the viaticum to some sick man.  I felt very much inclined to laugh, but I had seen enough of Spanish manners to refrain.  All the religion of the Spaniard is in outward show and ceremony.  A profligate woman before yielding to the desires of her lover covers the picture of Christ, or the Virgin, with a veil.  If the lover laughed at this absurdity he would run a risk of being denounced as an Atheist, and most probably by the wretched woman who had sold him her charms.

In Madrid, and possibly all over Spain, a gentleman who takes a lady to a private room in an inn must expect to have a servant in the room the whole of the time, that he may be able to swear that the couple took no indecent liberties with each other.  In spite of all, profligacy is rampant at Madrid, and also the most dreadful hypocrisy, which is more offensive to true piety than open sin.  Men and women seemed to have come to an agreement to set the whole system of surveillance utterly at nought.  However, commerce with women is not without its dangers; whether it be endemic or a result of dirty habits, one has often good reason to repent the favours one has obtained.

The masked ball quite captivated me.  The first time I went to see what it was like and it only cost me a doubloon (about eleven francs), but ever after it cost me four doubloons, for the following reason: 

An elderly gentleman, who sat next me at supper, guessed I was a foreigner by my difficulty in making myself understood by the waiter, and asked me where, I had left my lady friend.

“I have not got one; I came by myself to enjoy this delightful and excellently-managed entertainment.”

“Yes, but you ought to come with a companion; then you could dance.  At present you cannot do so, as every lady has her partner, who will not allow her to dance with anyone else.”

“Then I must be content not to dance, for, being a stranger, I do not know any lady whom I can ask to come with me.”

“As a stranger you would have much less difficulty in securing a partner than a citizen of Madrid.  Under the new fashion, introduced by the Count of Aranda, the masked ball has become the rage of all the women in the capital.  You see there are about two hundred of them on the floor to-night; well, I think there are at least four thousand girls in Madrid who are sighing for someone to take them to the ball, for, as you may know, no woman is allowed to come by herself.  You would only have to go to any respectable people, give your name and address, and ask to have the pleasure of taking their daughter to the ball.  You would have to send her a domino, mask, and gloves; and you would take her and bring her back in your carriage.”