I knew very well what she had to fear, but pretending complete ignorance: 

“I cannot conceive,” I said, “what danger you might run on account of my being a patrician.”

“My darling, I cannot speak to you openly, unless you give me your word to do what I am going to ask you.”

“How could I hesitate, my love, in doing anything to please you, provided my honour is not implicated?  Have we not now everything in common?  Speak, idol of my heart, tell me your reasons, and rely upon my love; it is the guarantee of my ready compliance in everything that can give you pleasure:” 

“Very well.  I want you to give a supper in your casino to me and my friend, who is dying to make your acquaintance.”

“And I foresee that after supper you will leave me to go with him.”

“You must feel that propriety compels me to do so.”

“Your friend already knows, I suppose, who I am?”

“I thought it was right to tell him, because if I had not told him he could not have entertained the hope of supping with you, and especially at your house.”

“I understand.  I guess your friend is one of the foreign ambassadors.”

“Precisely.”

“But may I hope that he will so far honour me as to throw up his incognito?”

“That is understood.  I shall introduce him to you according to accepted forms, telling his name and his political position.”

“Then it is all for the best, darling.  How could you suppose that I would have any difficulty in procuring you that pleasure, when on the contrary, nothing could please me more myself?  Name the day, and be quite certain that I shall anxiously look for it.”

“I should have been sure of your compliance, if you had not given me cause to doubt it.”

“It is a home-thrust, but I deserve it.”

“And I hope it will not make you angry.  Now I am happy.  Our friend is M. de Bernis, the French ambassador.  He will come masked, and as soon as he shews his features I shall present him to you.  Recollect that you must treat him as my lover, but you must not appear to know that he is aware of our intimacy.”

“I understand that very well, and you shall have every reason to be pleased with my urbanity.  The idea of that supper is delightful to me, and I hope that the reality will be as agreeable.  You were quite right, my love, to dread my being a patrician, for in that case the State-Inquisitors, who very often think of nothing but of making a show of their zeal, would not have failed to meddle with us, and the mere idea of the possible consequences makes me shudder.  I under The Leads—­you dishonoured—­the abbess—­the convent!  Good God!  Yes, if you had told me what you thought, I would have given you my name, and I could have done so all the more easily that my reserve was only caused by the fear of being known, and of C——­ C——­ being taken to another convent by her father.  But can you appoint a day for the supper?  I long to have it all arranged.”