gold; but let him believe that they are in gilt brass."

"Will you teach me how to fasten my beautiful garters?"

"Of course I will."

We went upstairs, and after our dinner which we both enjoyed with a good
appetite, she became more lively and I more excited by love, but at the
same time more to be pitied in consequence of the restraint to which I
had condemned myself. Very anxious to try her garters, she begged me to
help her, and that request was made in good faith, without mischievous
coquetry. An innocent young girl, who, in spite of her fifteen years, has
not loved yet, who has not frequented the society of other girls, does
not know the violence of amorous desires or what is likely to excite
them. She has no idea of the danger of a tete-a-tete. When a natural
instinct makes her love for the first time, she believes the object of
her love worthy of her confidence, and she thinks that to be loved
herself she must shew the most boundless trust.

Seeing that her stockings were too short to fasten the garter above the
knee, she told me that she would in future use longer ones, and I
immediately offered her those that I had purchased. Full of gratitude she
sat on my knees, and in the effusion of her satisfaction she bestowed
upon me all the kisses that she would have given to her father if he had
made her such a present. I returned her kisses, forcibly keeping down the
violence of my feelings. I only told her that one of her kisses was worth
a kingdom. My charming C---- C---- took off her shoes and stockings, and
put on one of the pairs I had given her, which went halfway up her thigh.
The more innocent I found her to be, the less I could make up my mind to
possess myself of that ravishing prey.

We returned to the garden, and after walking about until the evening we
went to the opera, taking care to keep on our masks, because, the theatre
being small, we might easily have been recognized, and my lovely friend
was certain that her father would not allow her to come out again, if he
found out that she had gone to the opera.

We were rather surprised not to see her brother. On our left we had the
Marquis of Montalegre, the Spanish ambassador, with his acknowledged
mistress, Mdlle. Bola, and in the box on our right a man and a woman who
had not taken off their masks. Those two persons kept their eyes
constantly fixed upon us, but my young friend did not remark it as her
back was turned towards them. During the balle