In her last letter, my nun, pretending not to be anxious to know who I was, approved of my choice, and feigned indifference for nocturnal meetings; but she seemed certain that after seeing her I would visit her.  I knew very well what to think of it all, for the intrigue was sure to have an amorous issue.  Nevertheless, her assurance, or rather confidence, increased my curiosity, and I felt that she had every reason to hope, if she were young and handsome.  I might very well have delayed the affair for a few days, and have learned from C——­ C——­ who that nun could be; but, besides the baseness of such a proceeding, I was afraid of spoiling the game and repenting it afterwards.  I was told to call on the countess at my convenience, but it was because the dignity of my nun would not allow her to shew herself too impatient; and she certainly thought that I would myself hasten the adventure.  She seemed to me too deeply learned in gallantry to admit the possibility of her being an inexperienced novice, and I was afraid of wasting my time; but I made up my mind to laugh at my own expense if I happened to meet a superannuated female.  It is very certain that if I had not been actuated by curiosity I should not have gone one step further, but I wanted to see the countenance of a nun who had offered to come to Venice to sup with me.  Besides, I was much surprised at the liberty enjoyed by those sainted virgins, and at the facility with which they could escape out of their walls.

At three o’clock I presented myself before the countess and delivered the note, and she expressed a wish to see me the next day at the same hour.  We dropped a beautiful reverence to one another, and parted.  She was a superior woman, already going down the hill, but still very handsome.

The next morning, being Sunday, I need not say that I took care to attend mass at the convent, elegantly dressed, and already unfaithful—­at least in idea—­to my dear C——­ C——­, for I was thinking of being seen by the nun, young or old, rather than of shewing myself to my charming wife.

In the afternoon I masked myself again, and at the appointed time I repaired to the house of the countess who was waiting for me.  We went in a two-oared gondola, and reached the convent without having spoken of anything but the weather.  When we arrived at the gate, the countess asked for M——­ M——.  I was surprised by that name, for the woman to whom it belonged was celebrated.  We were shewn into a small parlour, and a few minutes afterwards a nun came in, went straight to the grating, touched a spring, and made four squares of the grating revolve, which left an opening sufficiently large to enable the two friends to embrace the ingenious window was afterwards carefully closed.  The opening was at least eighteen inches wide, and a man of my size could easily have got through it.  The countess sat opposite the nun, and I took my seat a little on one side so as to be able to observe quietly and