lady. As I went out I noticed that the would-be governess had
disappeared. The rest of the day I spent with the canon, making good
cheer, playing ombre, drinking hard, and talking about girls or
literature. The next day my carriage came to the door at the time I had
arranged, and I went off without thinking of the girl I had met at the
baroness's. But we had not gone two hundred paces when the postillion
stopped, a bundle of linen whirled through the window into the carriage,
and the governess got in. I gave her a hearty welcome by embracing her,
and made her sit down beside me, and so we drove off.

In the ensuing chapter the reader will become more fully acquainted with
my fresh conquest. In the meantime let him imagine me rolling peacefully
along the Dresden road.




CHAPTER XXIII

My Arrival at Dresden with Maton--She Makes Me a
Present--Leipzig--Castelbajac--Schwerin--Return to Dresden and
Departure--I Arrive at Vienna--Pocchini's Vengeance

When I saw myself in the carriage with this pretty girl, who had fallen
on me as if from the clouds, I imagined I was intended to shape her
destiny. Her tutelary genius must have placed her in my hands, for I felt
inclined to do her all the good that lay in my power. But for myself; was
it a piece of good or ill luck for me? I formed the question, but felt
that time alone could give the answer. I knew that I was still living in
my old style, while I was beginning to feel that I was no longer a young