The memory of former loves awakens when one is near the once beloved
object, and desires rapidly become irresistible if the beauty still
remain. The lovers feel as if they were once more in possession of a
blessing which belongs to them, and of which they have been long deprived
by unfortunate incidents. These were our feelings, and without delay,
without idle discussion, and above all, without false modesty, we
abandoned ourselves to love, the only true source of nature.

In the first interval, I was the first to break the silence; and if a man
is anything of a wit, is he the less so at that delicious moment of
repose which follows on an amorous victory?

"Once again, then," said I, "I am in this charming land which I entered
for the first time to the noise of the drum and the rattle of musket
shots."

This remark made her laugh, and recalled past events to her memory. We
recollected with delight all the pleasures we had enjoyed at Testaccio,
Frascati, and Tivoli. We reminded each other of these events, only to
make each other laugh; but with two lovers, what is laughter but a
pretext for renewing the sweet sacrifice of the goddess of Cythera?

At the end of the second act, full of the enthusiasm of the fortunate
lover, I said,--

"Let us be united for life; we are of the same age, we love each other,
our means are sufficient for us, we may hope to live a happy life, and to
die at the same moment."