and if the Genoese had not thrown herself between us murder might have been committed.  When the poor wretch saw his cheek in the glass, he became so furious that nothing short of the return of all his money would appease him.  They gave it him back, in spite of my advice, for in doing so they admitted, tacitly at all events, that it had been won by cheating.  This caused a sharp dispute between the Lambertini and myself after he had gone.  She said we should have kept the forty louis, and nothing would have happened except for my interference, that it was her and not me whom the young man had insulted.  The Genoese added that if we had kept cool we should have had the plucking of him, but that God alone knew what he would do now with the mark of the burn on his face.  Tired of the talk of these infamous women, I was about to leave them, but my landlady began to ride the high horse, and went so far as to call me a beggar.

“If M. le Noir had not come in just then, she would have had a bad time of it, as my stick was already in my hand.  As soon as they saw him they told me to hold my tongue, but my blood was up; and turning towards the worthy man I told him that his mistress had called me a beggar, that she was a common prostitute, that I was not her cousin, nor in any way related to her, and that I should leave her that very day.  As soon as I had come to the end of this short and swift discourse, I went out and shut myself up in my room.  In the course of the next two hours I shall go and fetch my linen, and I hope to breakfast with you to-morrow.”

Tiretta did well.  His heart was in the right place, and he was wise not to allow the foolish impulses of youth to plunge him in the sink of corruption.  As long as a man has not committed a dishonourable action, as long as his heart is sound, though his head may go astray, the path of duty is still open to him.  I should say the same of women if prejudice were not so strong in their case, and if they were not much more under the influence of the heart than the head.

After a good dinner washed down by some delicious Sillery we parted, and I spent the evening in writing.  Next morning I did some business, and at noon went to see the distressed devotee, whom I found at home with her charming niece.  We talked a few minutes about the weather, and she then told my sweetheart to leave us as she wanted to speak to me.  I was prepared for what was coming and I waited for her to break the silence which all women of her position observe.  “You will be surprised, sir, at what I am going to tell you, for I have determined to bring before you a complaint of an unheard-of character.  The case is really of the most delicate nature, and I am impelled to make a confidant of you by the impression you made on me when I first saw you.  I consider you to be a man of discretion, of honour, and above all a moral man; in short, I believe you have experienced religion, and if I am making a mistake it will be a pity, for though I have been insulted I don’t lack means of avenging myself, and as you are his friend you will be sorry for him.”