The affection and familiarity that subsisted between us would not allow me to refuse him any thing.  I very readily took the oath required of me:  upon which he said to me, “Stay here till I return, I will be with you in a moment; and accordingly he came with a lady in his hand, of singular beauty, and magnificently apparelled:  he did not intimate who she was, neither did I think it would be polite to enquire.  We sat down again with this lady at table, where we continued some time, conversing upon indifferent subjects; and now and then filling a glass to each other’s health.  After which the prince said, “Cousin, we must lose no time; therefore pray oblige me by taking this lady along with you, and conducting her to such a place, where you will see a tomb newly built in form of a dome:  you will easily know it; the gate is open; enter it together, and tarry till I come, which will be very speedily.”

Being true to my oath, I made no farther enquiry, but took the lady by the hand, and by the directions which the prince my cousin had given me, I brought her to the place.  We were scarcely got thither, when we saw the prince following us, carrying a pitcher of water, a hatchet, and a little bag of mortar.

The hatchet served him to break down the empty sepulchre in the middle of the tomb; he took away the stones one after another, and laid them in a corner; he then dug up the ground, where I saw a trap-door under the sepulchre, which he lifted up, and underneath perceived the head of a staircase leading into a vault.  Then my cousin, speaking to the lady, said, “Madam, it is by this way that we are to go to the place I told you of:”  upon which the lady advanced, and went down, and the prince began to follow; but first turning to me, said, “My dear cousin, I am infinitely obliged to you for the trouble you have taken; I thank you.  Adieu.”  “Dear cousin,” I cried, “what is the meaning of this?” “Be content,” replied he; “you may return the way you came.”

I could get nothing farther from him, but was obliged to take my leave.  As I returned to my uncle’s palace, the vapours of the wine got up into my head; however, I reached my apartment, and went to bed.  Next morning, when I awoke, I began to reflect upon what had happened, and after recollecting all the circumstances of such a singular adventure, I fancied it was nothing but a dream.  Full of these thoughts, I sent to enquire if the prince my cousin was ready to receive a visit from me; but when they brought word back that he did not lie in his own lodgings that night, that they knew not what was become of him, and were in much trouble in consequence, I conceived that the strange event of the tomb was too true.  I was sensibly afflicted, and went to the public burying-place, where there were several tombs like that which I had seen:  I spent the day in viewing them one after another, but could not find that I sought for, and thus I spent four days successively in vain.