The Eternal Quest: Holland and Germany

J >> Jacques Casanova de Seingalt >> The Eternal Quest: Holland and Germany

MEMOIRS OF JACQUES CASANOVA de SEINGALT 1725-1798

THE ETERNAL QUEST, Volume 3c--HOLLAND AND GERMANY

THE RARE UNABRIDGED LONDON EDITION OF 1894 TRANSLATED BY ARTHUR MACHEN TO
WHICH HAS BEEN ADDED THE CHAPTERS DISCOVERED BY ARTHUR SYMONS.




THE ETERNAL QUEST




HOLLAND AND GERMANY




CHAPTER X

Portrait of the Pretended Countess Piccolomini--Quarrel and Duel--Esther
and Her Father, M. D'O.--Esther Still Taken with the Cabala--Piccolomini
Forges a Bill of Exchange: Results I Am Fleeced, and in Danger of Being
Assassinated--Debauch with the Two Paduan Girls--I Reveal A Great Secret
To Esther--I Bate the Rascally St. Germain; His Flight--Manon Baletti
Proves Faithless to Me; Her Letter Announcing Her Marriage: My
Despair--Esther Spends a Day With Me--My Portrait and My Letters to Manon
Get Into Esther's Hands--I Pass a Day with Her--We Talk of Marrying Each
Other

The so-called Countess Piccolomini was a fine example of the adventurers.
She was young, tall, well-made, had eyes full of fire, and skin of a
dazzling whiteness; not, however, that natural whiteness which delights
those who know the value of a satin skin and rose petals, but rather that
artificial fairness which is commonly to be seen at Rome on the faces of
courtezans, and which disgusts those who know how it is produced. She had
also splendid teeth, glorious hair as black as jet, and arched eyebrows
like ebony. To these advantages she added attractive manners, and there
was something intelligent about the way she spoke; but through all I saw
the adventuress peeping out, which made me detest her.

As she did not speak anything but Italian the countess had to play the
part of a mute at table, except where an English officer named Walpole
was concerned, who, finding her to his taste, set himself to amuse her. I
felt friendly disposed towards this Englishman, though my feelings were
certainly not the result of sympathy. If I had been blind or deaf Sir
James Walpole would have been totally indifferent to me, as what I felt
for him was the result of my observation.

Although I did not care for the countess, for all that I went up to her
room after dinner with the greater part of the guests. The count arranged
a game of whist, and Walpole played at primero with the countess, who
cheated him in a masterly manner; but though he saw it he laughed and
paid, because it suited his purpose to do so. When he had lost fifty
Louis he called quarter, and the countess asked him to take her to the
theatre. This was what the good-natured Englishman wanted; and he and the
countess went off, leaving the husband playing whist.

I, too, went to the play, and as chance would have it my neighbour in the
pit was Count Tot, brother to the count famous for his stay in
Constantinople.

We had some conversation together, and he told me he had been obliged to
leave France on account of a duel which he had had with a man who had
jested with him for not being present at the battle of Minden, saying
that he had absented himself in view of the battle. The count had proved
his courage with the sword on the other's body--a rough kind of argument
which was fashionable then as now. He told me he had no money, and I
immediately put my purse at his service; but, as the saying goes, a
kindness is never thrown away, and five years later he did the same by me
at St. Petersburg. Between the acts he happened to notice the Countess
Piccolomini, and asked me if I knew her husband. "I know him very
slightly," I answered, "but we happen to be staying at the same hotel."

"He's a regular black sheep," said the count, "and his wife's no better
than he."

It seemed that they had already won a reputation in the town.

After the play I went back to the hotel by myself, and the head-waiter
told me that Piccolomini had set out hot-foot with his servant, his only
luggage being a light portmanteau. He did not know the reason of this
sudden departure, but a minute afterwards the countess came in, and her
maid having whispered something to her she told me that the count had
gone away because he had fought a duel but that often happened. She asked
me to sup with her and Walpole, and her appetite did not seem to suffer
from the absence of her spouse.

Just as we were finishing supper, an Englishman, who had been of the
whist party, came up and told Walpole that the Italian had been caught
cheating and had given the lie to their fellow Englishman, who had
detected him, and that they had gone out together. An hour afterwards the
Englishman returned with two wounds, one on the fore-arm and one on the
shoulder. It was a trifling affair altogether.

Next day, after I had had dinner with the Comte d'Afri, I found a letter
from Piccolomini, with an enclosure addressed to the countess, waiting
for me at the inn. He begged me to give his wife the letter, which would
inform her of his plans, and then to bring her to the Ville de Lyon at
Amsterdam, where he was staying. He wanted to know how the Englishman
whom he had wounded was getting on.

The duty struck me as an amusing one, and I should have laughed with all
my heart if I had felt the least desire to profit by the confidence he
was pleased to place in me. Nevertheless I went up to the countess, whom
I found sitting up in bed playing with Walpole. She read the letter, told
me that she could not start till the day following, and informed me what
time she would go, as if it had been all settled; but I smiled
sardonically, and told her that my business kept me at the Hague, and
that I could not possibly escort her. When Walpole heard me say this he
offered to be my substitute, to which she agreed. They set out the day
following, intending to lie at Leyden.

Two days after their departure, I was sitting down to dinner with the
usual company, increased by two Frenchmen who had just come. After the
soup one of them said, coolly,

"The famous Casanova is now in Holland."

"Is he?" said the other, "I shall be glad to see him, and ask for an
explanation which he will not like."

I looked at the man, and feeling certain that I had never seen him before
I began to get enraged; but I merely asked the fellow if he knew
Casanova.

"I'll ought to know him," said he, in that self-satisfied tone which is
always so unpleasant.

"Nay, sir, you are mistaken; I am Casanova."

Without losing his self-possession, he replied, insolently,

"You are really very much mistaken if you think you are the only Casanova
in the world."

It was a sharp answer, and put me in the wrong. I bit my lips and held my
tongue, but I was grievously offended, and determined to make him find
the Casanova who was in Holland, and from whom he was going to extract an
unpleasant explanation, in myself. In the meanwhile I bore as well as I
could the poor figure he must be cutting before the officers at table,
who, after hearing the insolence of this young blockhead, might take me
for a coward. He, the insolent fellow, had no scruple in abusing the
triumph his answer had given him, and talked away in the random fashion.
At last he forgot himself so far as to ask from what country I came.

"I am a Venetian, sir," I replied.

"Ah! then you are a good friend to France, as your republic is under
French protection."

At these words my ill-temper boiled aver, and, in the tone of voice one
uses to put down a puppy, I replied that the Republic of Venice was
strong enough to do without the protection of France or of any other
power, and that during the thirteen centuries of its existence it had had
many friends and allies but no protectors. "Perhaps," I ended, "you will
reply by begging my pardon for not knowing that these was only one Venice
in the world."

I had no sooner said this than a burst of laughter from the whole table
set me right again. The young blockhead seemed taken aback and in his
turn bit his lips, but his evil genius made him, strike in again at
dessert. As usual the conversation went from one subject to another, and
we began to talk about the Duke of Albermarle. The Englishmen spoke in
his favour, and said that if he had been alive there would have been no
war between England and France; they were probably right, but even if the
duke had lived war might have broken out, as the two nations in question
have never yet succeeded in understanding that it is for both their
interests to live at peace together. Another Englishman praised Lolotte,
his mistress. I said I had seen that charming woman at the Duchess of
Fulvi's, and that no one deserved better to become the Countess of
Eronville. The Count of Eronville, a lieutenant-general and a man of
letters, had just married her.

I had scarcely finished what I had to say when Master Blockhead said,
with a laugh, that he knew Lolotte to be a good sort of girl, as he had
slept with her at Paris. I could restrain myself no longer; my
indignation and rage consumed me. I took up my plate, and made as if I
would throw it at his head, saying at the same time, "You infernal liar!"
He got up, and stood with his back to the fire, but I could see by his
sword-knot that he was a soldier.

Everybody pretended not to hear anything of this, and the conversation
went on for some time on indifferent subjects; and at last they all rose
from their seats and left the room.

My enemy said to his companion that they would see one another again
after the play, and remained by the fire, with his elbow resting on the
chimney-piece. I remained at table till the company had all left the
room, and when we were alone together I got up and looked him straight in
the face, and went out, walking towards Sheveningue, sure that he would
follow me if he were a man of any mettle. When I had got to some distance
from the hotel I looked round, and saw that he was following me at a
distance of fifty paces.

When I got to the wood I stopped at a suitable place, and stood awaiting
my antagonist. He was ten paces off when he drew his sword, and I had
plenty of time to draw mine though he came on fast. The fight did not
last long, for as soon as he was near enough I gave him a thrust which
has never failed me, and sent him back quicker than he came. He was
wounded in the chest above the right breast, but as my sword was flat and
the opening large enough the wound bled easily. I lowered my sword and
ran up to him, but I could do nothing; he said that we should meet again
at Amsterdam, if I was going there, and that he would have his revenge. I
saw him again five or six years afterwards at Warsaw, and then I did him
a kindness. I heard afterwards that his name was Varnier, but I do not
know whether he was identical with the president of the National
Convention under the infamous Robespierre.

I did not return to the hotel till after the play, and I then heard that
the Frenchman, after having the surgeon with him for an hour, had set out
for Rotterdam with his friend. We had a pleasant supper and talked
cheerfully together without a word being said about the duel, with the
exception that an English lady said, I forget in what connection, that a
man of honour should never risk sitting down to dinner at an hotel unless
he felt inclined, if necessary, to fight. The remark was very true at
that time, when one had to draw the sword for an idle word, and to expose
one's self to the consequences of a duel, or else be pointed at, even by
the ladies, with the finger of scorn.

I had nothing more to keep me at the Hague, and I set out next morning
before day-break for Amsterdam. On the way I stopped for dinner and
recognized Sir James Walpole, who told me that he had started from
Amsterdam the evening before, an hour after giving the countess into her
husband's charge. He said that he had got very tired of her, as he had
nothing more to get from a woman who gave more than one asked, if one's
purse-strings were opened wide enough. I got to Amsterdam about midnight
and took up my abode at "The Old Bible." The neighbourhood of Esther had
awakened my love for that charming girl, and I was so impatient to see
her that I could not sleep.

I went out about ten o'clock and called on M. d'O, who welcomed me in the
friendliest manner and reproached me for not having alighted at his
house. When he heard that I had given up business he congratulated me on
not having removed it into Holland, as I should have been ruined. I did
not tell him that I had nearly come to that in France, as I considered
such a piece of information would not assist my designs. He complained
bitterly of the bad faith of the French Government, which had involved
him in considerable losses; and then he asked me to come and see Esther.

I was too impatient to embrace her to stay to be asked twice; I ran to
greet her. As soon as she saw me she gave a cry of surprise and delight,
and threw herself in my arms, where I received her with fondness equal to
her own. I found her grown and improved; she looked lovely. We had
scarcely sat down when she told me that she had become as skilled in the
cabala as myself.

"It makes my life happy," said she, "for it gives me a power over my
father, and assures me that he will never marry me to anyone but the man
of my choice."

"I am delighted that you extract the only good that can proceed from this
idle science, namely, the power to guide persons devoid of strength of
will. But your father must think that I taught you the secret?"

"Yes, he does; and he said, one day, that he would forgive me any
sacrifices I might have made to obtain this precious secret from you."

"He goes a little further than we did, my dearest Esther."

"Yes, and I told him that I had gained it from you without any sacrifice,
and that now I was a true Pythoness without having to endure the torments
of the tripod; and I am sure that the replies you gave were invented by
yourself."

"But if that were so how could I have known where the pocket-book was, or
whether the ship was safe?"

"You saw the portfolio yourself and threw it where it was discovered, and
as for the vessel you spoke at random; but as you are an honest man,
confess that you were afraid of the results. I am never so bold as that,
and when my father asks me questions of that kind, my replies are more
obscure than a sibyl's. I don't wish him to lose confidence in my oracle,
nor do I wish him to be able to reproach me with a loss that would injure
my own interests."

"If your mistake makes you happy I shall leave you in it. You are really
a woman of extraordinary talents--, you are quite unique."

"I don't want your compliments," said she, in a rather vexed manner, "I
want a sincere avowal of the truth."

"I don't think I can go as far as that."

At these words, which I pronounced in a serious way, Esther went into a
reverie, but I was not going to lose the superiority I had over her, and
racked my brains to find some convincing prediction the oracle might make
to her, and while I was doing so dinner was announced.

There were four of us at table, and I concluded that the fourth of the
party must be in love with Esther, as he kept his eyes on her the whole
time. He was her father's favourite clerk, and no doubt her father would
have been glad if she had fallen in love with him, but I soon saw that
she was not likely to do so. Esther was silent all through dinner, and we
did not mention the cabala till the clerk was gone.

"Is it possible," said M. d'O, "for my daughter to obtain the answers of
the oracle without your having taught her?"

"I always thought such a thing impossible till to-day," I answered, "but
Esther has convinced me that I was mistaken. I can teach the secret to no
one without losing it myself, for the oath I swore to the sage who taught
me forbids me to impart it to another under pain of forfeiture. But as
your daughter has taken no such oath, having acquired it herself, she may
be for all I know at perfect liberty to communicate the secret to
anyone."

Esther, who was as keen as a razor, took care to say that the same oath
that I had taken had been imposed on her by the oracle, and that she
could not communicate the cabalistic secret to anyone without the
permission of her genius, under pain of losing it herself.

I read her inmost thoughts, and was rejoiced to see that her mind was
calmed. She had reason to be grateful to me, whether I had lied or not,
for I had given her a power over her father which a father's kindness
could not have assured; but she perceived that what I had said about her
oracular abilities had been dictated merely by politeness, and she waited
till we were alone to make me confess as much.

Her worthy father, who believed entirely in the infallibility of our
oracles, had the curiosity to put the same question to both of us, to see
if we should agree in the answer. Esther was delighted with the idea, as
she suspected that the one answer would flatly contradict the other, and
M. d'O having written his question on two sheets of paper gave them to
us. Esther went up to her own room for the operation, and I questioned
the oracle on the table at which we had had dinner, in the presence of
the father. Esther was quick, as she came down before I had extracted
from the pyramid the letters which were to compose my reply, but as I
knew what to say as soon as I saw her father read the answer she gave him
I was not long in finishing what I had to do.

M. d'O---- asked if he should try to get rid of the French securities he
held in spite of the loss he would incur by selling out.

Esther's oracle replied,

"You must sow plentifully before you reap. Pluck not up the vine before
the season of the vintage, for your vine is planted in a fruitful soil."

Mine ran as follows:--

"If you sell out you will repent, for there will be a new
comptroller-general, who will pay all claims before another year has
elapsed."

Esther's answer was conceived in the sibylline style, and I admired the
readiness of her wit; but mine went right to the point, and the worthy
man embraced us joyfully, and, taking his hat and stick, said that since
our replies agreed he would run the risk of losing three million francs
and make a profit of five or six hundred thousand in the course of the
year. His daughter began to recant, and would have warned him against the
danger, but he, who was as firm as a Mussulman, kissed her again, saying,

"The oracle is not wont to lie, and even if it does deceive me this time
it will only be a fourth part of my fortune that I shall lose."

When Esther and I were alone I began to compliment her, much to her
delight, on the cleverness of her answer, the elegance of her style, and
her boldness, for she could not be as well acquainted with French affairs
as I was.

"I am much obliged to you," said she, "for having confirmed my reply, but
confess that you lied to please me."

"I confess, since that will please you, and I will even tell you that you
have nothing more to learn."

"You are a cruel man! But how could you reply that there would be another
comptroller-general in a year's time, and run the risk of compromising
the oracle? I never dare to say things like that; I love the oracle too
well to expose it to shame and confusion."

"That shews that I do not invent the answers; but since the oracle has
pronounced it I am willing to bet that Silhouette will be dismissed."

"Your obstinacy drives me to despair, for I shall not rest till I know
that I am as much a master of the cabala as you are, and yet you will not
confess that you invent the answers yourself. For charity's sake do
something to convince me of the contrary."

"I will think it over."

I passed the whole day with this delightful girl, whose amiable
disposition and great wealth would have made me a happy man if it were
not for my master-passion, the love of independence, and my aversion to
make up my mind to live for the rest of my days in Holland.

In the course of my life I have often observed that the happiest hours
are often the heralds of misfortune. The very next day my evil genius
took me to the Ville de Lyon. This was the inn where Piccolomini and his
wife were staying, and I found them there in the midst of a horde of
cheats and sharpers, like themselves. As soon as the good people heard my
name they rushed forward, some to greet me, and others to have a closer
look at me, as if I were some strange wild beast. Amongst those present
were a Chevalier de Sabi, who wore the uniform of a Polish major, and
protested he had known me at Dresden; a Baron de Wiedan, claiming Bohemia
as his fatherland, who greeted me by saying that his friend the Comte St.
Germain had arrived at the Etoile d'Orient, and had been enquiring after
me; an attenuated-looking bravo who was introduced to me as the Chevalier
de la Perine, whom I recognized at the first glance as the fellow called
Talvis, who had robbed the Prince-Bishop of Presburg, who had lent me a
hundred Louis the same day, and with whom I had fought a duel at Paris.
Finally, there was an Italian named Neri, who looked like a blacksmith
minus his honesty, and said that he remembered seeing me one evening at
the casino. I recollected having seen him at the place where I met the
wretched Lucie.

In the midst of this band of cut-purses I saw the so-called wife of the
pretended Chevalier de Sabi, a pretty woman from Saxony, who, speaking
Italian indifferently well, was paying her addresses to the Countess
Piccolomini.

I bit my lips with anger to find myself in such honourable company, but
putting a good face on a bad game I greeted everybody politely, and then
drawing a roll of a hundred Louis from my pocket I presented them to
Master Perine Talvis, telling him I was glad to be able to return them to
him with my best thanks.

My politeness did not meet with much of a reception, for the impudent
scoundrel answered me, as he pocketed the money, that he remembered
having lent it me at Presburg, but he also remembered a more important
matter.

"And pray what is that?" said I, in a dry and half-disdainful tone.

"You owe me a revenge at the sword's point, as you know right well. Here
is the mark of the gash you gave me seven years ago."

So saying, the wretched little man opened his shirt and shewed the small
round scar. This scene, which belonged more to farce than comedy, seemed
to have struck all tongues with paralysis.

"Anywhere else than in Holland, where important and delicate business
debars me from fighting, I shall be glad to meet you and mark you again,
if you still desire to cross swords with me; but while I am here I must
beg you not to disturb me. All the same, you may as well know that I
never go out without a couple of friends in my pockets, and that if you
attack me I shall blow your brains out in self-defence."

"My revenge must be with crossed swords," said he. "However, I will let
you finish your business."

"You will do wisely."

Piccolomini, who had been casting a hungry eye upon my hundred louis,
proposed immediately afterwards a bank at faro, and began to deal.
Prudence would have restrained me from playing in such company, but the
dictates of prudence were overcome by my desire to get back the hundred
louis which I had given Talvis, so I cut in. I had a run of bad luck and
lost a hundred ducats, but, as usual, my loss only excited me. I wished
to regain what I had lost, so I stayed to supper, and afterwards, with
better luck, won back my money. I was content to stop at this, and to let
the money I had paid to Talvis go, so I asked Piccolomini to pay me,
which he did with a bill of exchange on an Amsterdam bank drawn by a firm
in Middlesburg. At first I made some difficulty in taking it, on the
pretext that it would be difficult to negotiate, but he promised to let
me have the money next day, and I had to give in.

I made haste to leave this cut-throat place, after refusing to lend
Talvis a hundred Louis, which he wanted to borrow of me on the strength
of the revenge I owed him. He was in a bad humour, both on this account
and because he had lost the hundred Louis I had paid him, and he allowed
himself to use abusive language, which I treated with contempt. I went to
bed, promising myself never to set foot in such a place again.

The next morning, however, I went out with the intention of calling on
Piccolomini to get the bill of exchange cashed, but on my way I happened
to go into a coffee-house and to meet Rigerboos, Therese's friend, whose
acquaintance the reader has already made. After greeting each other, and
talking about Therese, who was now in London and doing well, I skewed him
my bill, telling him the circumstances under which I had it. He looked at
it closely, and said,

"It's a forgery, and the original from which it was copied was honoured
yesterday."

He saw that I could scarcely believe it, and told me to come with him to
be convinced of the truth of what he said.

He took me to a merchant of his acquaintance, who skewed me the genuine
bill, which he had cashed the day before for an individual who was
unknown to him. In my indignation I begged Rigerboos to come with me to
Piccolomini, telling him that he might cash it without remark, and that
otherwise he would witness what happened.