Florence to Trieste | Page 8

I replied in the affirmative,
without feeling it my duty to disclose certain circumstances which
might not have been advantageous to him; and as Madame Denis
seemed curious to make his acquaintance the Chevalier Puzzi promised
to bring him to see her, which he did in the course of a few days.
I happened to be with Madame Denis when Puzzi presented Zanovitch,
and I saw before me a fine-looking young men, who seemed by his
confident manner to be sure of success in all his undertakings. He was
not exactly handsome, but he had a perfect manner and an air of gaiety
which seemed infectious, with a thorough knowledge of the laws of
good society. He was by no means an egotist, and seemed never at a
loss for something to talk about. I led the conversation to the subject of

his country, and he gave me an amusing description of it, talking of his
fief-part of which was within the domains of the sultan-as a place
where gaiety was unknown, and where the most determined
misanthrope would die of melancholy.
As soon as he heard my name he began speaking to me in a tone of the
most delicate flattery. I saw the makings of a great adventurer in him,
but I thought his luxury would prove the weak point in his cuirass. I
thought him something like what I had been fifteen years ago, but as it
seemed unlikely that he had my resources I could not help pitying him.
Zanovitch paid me a visit, and told me that Medini's position had
excited his pity, and that he had therefore paid his debts.
I applauded his generosity, but I formed the conclusion that they had
laid some plot between them, and that I should soon hear of the results
of this new alliance.
I returned Zanovitch's call the next day. He was at table with his
mistress, whom I should not have recognized if she had not pronounced
my name directly she saw me.
As she had addressed me as Don Giacomo, I called her Donna Ippolita,
but in a voice which indicated that I was not certain of her identity. She
told me I was quite right.
I had supped with her at Naples in company with Lord Baltimore, and
she was very pretty then.
Zanovitch asked me to dine with him the following day, and I should
have thanked him and begged to be excused if Donna Ippolita had not
pressed me to come. She assured me that I should find good company
there, and that the cook would excel himself.
I felt rather curious to see the company, and with the idea of shewing
Zanovitch that I was not likely to become a charge on his purse, I
dressed myself magnificently once more.
As I had expected, I found Medini and his mistress there, with two
foreign ladies and their attendant cavaliers, and a fine-looking and
well-dressed Venetian, between thirty-five and forty, whom I would not
have recognized if Zanovitch had not told me his name, Alois Zen.
"Zen was a patrician name, and I felt obliged to ask what titles I ought
to give him.
"Such titles as one old friend gives another, though it is very possible
you do not recollect me, as I was only ten years old when we saw each

other last."
Zen then told me he was the son of the captain I had known when I was
under arrest at St. Andrews.
"That's twenty-eight years ago; but I remember you, though you had
not had the small-pox in those days."
I saw that he was annoyed by this remark, but it was his fault, as he had
no business to say where he had known me, or who his father was.
He was the son of a noble Venetian--a good-for-nothing in every sense
of the word.
When I met him at Florence he had just come from Madrid, where he
had made a lot of money by holding a bank at faro in the house of the
Venetian ambassador, Marco Zen.
I was glad to meet him, but I found out before the dinner was over that
he was completely devoid of education and the manners of a gentleman;
but he was well content with the one talent he possessed, namely, that
of correcting the freaks of fortune at games of chance. I did not wait to
see the onslaught of the cheats on the dupes, but took my leave while
the table was being made ready.
Such was my life during the seven months which I spent at Florence.
After this dinner I never saw Zen, or Medini, or Zanovitch, except by
chance in the public places.
Here I must recount some incidents which took place towards the