Dunkirk house. I begged him to name me in the letter in a special manner,
as I was going for the sake of pleasure. He seemed glad to oblige me, and
I started the same evening, and three days later I was at the "Hotel de
la Conciergerie," in Dunkirk.

An hour after my arrival I gave the charming Madame P---- an agreeable
surprise by handing her the box, and giving her her aunt's messages. Just
as she was praising her husband, and telling me how happy she was, he
came in, saying he was delighted to see me and asked me to stay in his
house, without enquiring whether my stay in Dunkirk would be a long or
short one. I of course thanked him, and after promising to dine now and
again at his house I begged him to take me to the banker on whom I had a
letter.

The banker read my letter, and gave me the hundred louis, and asked me to
wait for him at my inn where he would come for me with the governor, a M.
de Barail. This gentleman who, like most Frenchmen, was very polite,
after making some ordinary enquiries, asked me to sup with him and his
wife who was still at the play. The lady gave me as kind a reception as I
had received from her husband. After we had partaken of an excellent
supper several persons arrived, and play commenced in which I did not
join, as I wished to study the society of the place, and above all
certain officers of both services who were present. By means of speaking
with an air of authority about naval matters, and by saying that I had
served in the navy of the Venetian Republic, in three days I not only
knew but was intimate with all the captains of the Dunkirk fleet. I
talked at random about naval architecture, on the Venetian system of
manoeuvres, and I noticed that the jolly sailors were better pleased at
my blunders than at my sensible remarks.