innocent considering her position. We ended the scene by mutual embraces,
and when I took my burning lips from Leonilda's I felt consumed with a
fire which I could not conceal.

When we left I told the duke that I would see his mistress no more,
unless he would give her up to me, declaring that I would marry her and
give her a dower of five thousand ducats.

"Speak to her, and if she consents I will not oppose it. She herself will
tell you what property she has."

I then went to dress for dinner. I found the duchess in the midst of a
large circle, and she told me kindly that she was very sorry to hear of
my losses.

"Fortune is the most fickle of beings, but I don't complain of my
loss--nay, when you speak thus I love it, and I even think that you will
make me win this evening."

"I hope so, but I am afraid not; you will have to contend against Monte
Leone, who is usually very lucky."

In considering the matter after dinner, I determined for the future to
play with ready money and not on my word of honour, lest I should at any
time be carried away by the excitement of play and induced to stake more
than I possessed. I thought, too, that the banker might have his doubts
after the two heavy losses I had sustained, and I confess that I was also
actuated by the gambler's superstition that by making a change of any
kind one changes the luck.