confinement, and I received visits from dancers and ballet-girls, who
were the only decent people I was acquainted with in that wretched
Stuttgart, where I had better never have set foot. My situation was not
pleasant to contemplate: I had been drugged, cheated, robbed, abused,
imprisoned, threatened with a mulct of a hundred thousand francs, which
would have stripped me to my shirt, as nobody knew the contents of my
pocket-book. I could think of nothing else. I had written to Madame the
Gardella, but to no purpose, as I got no answer. All the consolation I
got was from Binetti, Toscani, and Baletti, who dined or supped with me
every day. The three rascals came to see me one by one, and each tried to
get me to give him money unknown to the other two, and each promised that
if I would do that, he would get me out of the difficulty. Each would
have been content with three or four hundred louis, but even if I had
given that sum to one of them I had no guarantee that the others would
desist from their persecution. Indeed, if I had done so I should have
given some ground to their pretensions, and bad would have been made
worse. My answer was that they wearied me, and that I should be glad if
they would desist from visiting me.

On the fifth day of my arrest the duke left for Frankfort; and the same
day Binetti came and told me from her lover that the duke had promised
the officers not to interfere, and that I was therefore in danger of an
iniquitous sentence. His advice was to neglect no means of getting out of
the difficulty, to sacrifice all my property, diamonds, and jewellery,
and thus to obtain a release from my enemies. The Binetti, like a wise
woman, disliked this counsel, and I relished it still less, but she had
to perform her commission.

I had jewellery and lace to the value of more than a hundred thousand
francs, but I could not resolve to make the sacrifice. I did not know