Produced by David Widger
MEMOIRS OF JACQUES CASANOVA de SEINGALT 1725-1798
TO PARIS AND PRISON, Volume 2d—The False Nun
Supper at My Casino With M. M. and M. de Bernis, the French Ambassador—A
Proposal from M. M.; I Accept It—Consequences—C. C. is Unfaithful to
Me, and I Cannot Complain
I felt highly pleased with the supper-party I had arranged withM—— M——, and I ought to have been happy. Yet I was not so; but whencecame the anxiety which was a torment to me? Whence? From my fatal habitof gambling. That passion was rooted in me; to live and to play were tome two identical things, and as I could not hold the bank I would go andpunt at the ridotto, where I lost my money morning and night. That stateof things made me miserable. Perhaps someone will say to me:
"Why did you play, when there was no need of it, when you were in want ofnothing, when you had all the money you could wish to satisfy yourfancies?"
That would be a troublesome question if I had not made it a law to tellthe truth. Well, then, dear inquisitive reader, if I played with almostthe certainty of losing, although no one, perhaps, was more sensible thanI was to the losses made in gambling, it is because I had in me the evilspirit of avarice; it is because I loved prodigality, and because myheart bled when I found myself compelled to spend any money that I hadnot won at the gaming-table. It is an ugly vice, dear reader, I do notdeny it. However, all I can say is that, during the four days previous tothe supper, I lost all the gold won for me by M—— M——
On the anxiously-expected day I went to my casino, where at the appointedhour M—— M—— came with her friend, whom she introduced to me as soon ashe had taken off his mask.
"I had an ardent wish, sir," said M. de Bernis to me, "to renewacquaintance with you, since I heard from madame that we had known eachother in Paris."
With these words he looked at me attentively, as people will do when theyare trying to recollect a person whom they have lost sight of. I thentold him that we had never spoken to one another, and that he had notseen enough of me to recollect my features now.
"I had the honour," I added, "to dine with your excellency at M. deMocenigo's house, but you talked all the time with Marshal Keith, thePrussian ambassador, and I was not fortunate enough to attract yourattention. As you were on the point of leaving Paris to return to Venice,you went away almost immediately after dinner, and I have never had thehonour of seeing you since that time."
"Now I recollect you," he answered, "and I remember asking whether youwere not the secretary of the embassy. But from this day we shall notforget each other again, for the mysteries which unite us are of a naturelikely to establish a lasting intimacy between us."
The amiable couple were not long before they felt thoroughly at ease, andwe sat down to supper, of which, of course, I did the honours. Theambassador, a fine connoisseur in wines, found mine excellent, and wasdelighted to hear that I had them from Count Algarotti, who was reputedas having the best cellar in Venice.
My supper was delicate and abundant, and my manners towards my handsomeguests were those of a private individual receiving his sovereign and hismistress. I saw that M—— M—— was charmed with the