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noble polenta was placed upon the board, flanked by two large dishes
of pork chops. But Momolo, who knew my tastes, and whom I had
made rich in the person of his daughters, added to the feast some
delicate dishes and some excellent wine. Mariuccia was simply dressed,
but her elegance and beauty and the modesty of her demeanour
completely seduced me.
We could only express our mutual flames by squeezing each other's
hands; and she did this so feelingly that I could not doubt her love. As
we were going out I took care to go downstairs beside her and asked if I
could not meet her by herself, to which she replied by making an

appointment with me far the next day at eight o'clock at the Trinity of
Monti.
Mariuccia was tall and shapely, a perfect picture, as fair as a white rose,
and calculated to inspire voluptuous desires. She had beautiful light
brown hair, dark blue eyes, and exquisitely arched eyelids. Her mouth,
the vermilion of her lips, and her ivory teeth were all perfect. Her
well-shaped forehead gave her an air approaching the majestic.
Kindness and gaiety sparkled in her eyes; while her plump white hands,
her rounded finger-tips, her pink nails, her breast, which the corset
seemed scarcely able to restrain, her dainty feet, and her prominent hips,
made her worthy of the chisel of Praxiteles. She was just on her
eighteenth year, and so far had escaped the connoisseurs. By a lucky
chance I came across her in a poor and wretched street, and I was
fortunate enough to insure her happiness.
It may easily be believed that I did not fail to keep the appointment,
and when she was sure I had seen her she went out of the church. I
followed her at a considerable distance: she entered a ruined building,
and I after her. She climbed a flight of steps which seemed to be built
in air, and when she had reached the top she turned.
"No one will come and look for me here," said she, "so we can talk
freely together."
I sat beside her on a stone, and I then declared my passionate love for
her.
"Tell me," I added, "what I can do to make you happy; for I wish to
possess you, but first to shew my deserts."
"Make me happy, and I will yield to your desires, for I love you."
"Tell me what I can do."
"You can draw me out of the poverty and misery which overwhelm me.
I live with my mother, who is a good woman, but devout to the point of
superstition; she will damn my soul in her efforts to save it. She finds

fault with my keeping myself clean, because I have to touch myself
when I wash, and that might give rise to evil desires.
"If you had given me the money you made me win in the lottery as a
simple alms she would have made me refuse it, because you might
have had intentions. She allows me to go by myself to mass because
our confessor told her she might do so; but I dare not stay away a
minute beyond the time, except on feast days, when I am allowed to
pray in the church for two or three hours. We can only meet here, but if
you wish to soften my lot in life you can do so as follows:
"A fine young man, who is a hairdresser, and bears an excellent
character, saw me at Momolo's a fortnight ago, and met me at the
church door next day and gave me a letter. He declared himself my
lover, and said that if I could bring him a dowry of four hundred
crowns, he could open a shop, furnish it, and marry me.
"'I am poor,' I answered, 'and I have only a hundred crowns in charity
tickets, which my confessor keeps for me.' Now I have two hundred
crowns, for if I marry, my mother will willingly give me her share of
the money you made us gain. You can therefore make me happy by
getting me tickets to the amount of two hundred crowns more. Take the
tickets to my confessor, who is a very good man and fond of me; he
will not say anything to my mother about it."
"I needn't go about seeking for charity tickets, my angel. I will take two
hundred piastres to your confessor to-morrow, and you must manage
the rest yourself. Tell me his name, and to-morrow I will tell you what I
have done, but not here, as the wind and the cold would be the death of
me. You can leave me to find out a room where we shall be at our