A few days afterwards we all proceeded to Padua to remain in that city until the end of autumn.  I was grieved not to find Doctor Gozzi in Padua; he had been appointed to a benefice in the country, and he was living there with Bettina; she had not been able to remain with the scoundrel who had married her only for the sake of her small dowry, and had treated her very ill.

I did not like the quiet life of Padua, and to avoid dying from ennui I fell in love with a celebrated Venetian courtesan.  Her name was Ancilla; sometime after, the well-known dancer, Campioni, married her and took her to London, where she caused the death of a very worthy Englishman.  I shall have to mention her again in four years; now I have only to speak of a certain circumstance which brought my love adventure with her to a close after three or four weeks.

Count Medini, a young, thoughtless fellow like myself, and with inclinations of much the same cast, had introduced me to Ancilla.  The count was a confirmed gambler and a thorough enemy of fortune.  There was a good deal of gambling going on at Ancilla’s, whose favourite lover he was, and the fellow had presented me to his mistress only to give her the opportunity of making a dupe of me at the card-table.

And, to tell the truth, I was a dupe at first; not thinking of any foul play, I accepted ill luck without complaining; but one day I caught them cheating.  I took a pistol out of my pocket, and, aiming at Medini’s breast, I threatened to kill him on the spot unless he refunded at once all the gold they had won from me.  Ancilla fainted away, and the count, after refunding the money, challenged me to follow him out and measure swords.  I placed my pistols on the table, and we went out.  Reaching a convenient spot, we fought by the bright light of the moon, and I was fortunate enough to give him a gash across the shoulder.  He could not move his arm, and he had to cry for mercy.

After that meeting, I went to bed and slept quietly, but in the morning I related the whole affair to my father, and he advised me to leave Padua immediately, which I did.

Count Medini remained my enemy through all his life.  I shall have occasion to speak of him again when I reach Naples.

The remainder of the year 1746 passed off quietly, without any events of importance.  Fortune was now favourable to me and now adverse.

Towards the end of January, 1747, I received a letter from the young countess A——­ S——­, who had married the Marquis of——.  She entreated me not to appear to know her, if by chance I visited the town in which she resided, for she had the happiness of having linked her destiny to that of a man who had won her heart after he had obtained her hand.

I had already heard from her brother that, after their return to C——­, her mother had taken her to the city from which her letter was written, and there, in the house of a relative with whom she was residing, she had made the acquaintance of the man who had taken upon himself the charge of her future welfare and happiness.  I saw her one year afterwards, and if it had not been for her letter, I should certainly have solicited an introduction to her husband.  Yet, peace of mind has greater charms even than love; but, when love is in the way, we do not think so.