ost say
adorable, being who wants to convince you that you are truly his
mistress."

"That is what he said when I asked him to bring me to Venice, and to
leave me. 'Amuse yourself,' he said, 'and I hope that the man whom you
are going to make happy will convince you that he is worthy of it.'"

"He is indeed an extraordinary man, and I do not think there is another
like him. Such a lover is a unique being; and I feel that I could not be
like him, as deeply as I fear to be unworthy of a happiness which dazzles
me."

"Allow me to leave you, and to take off these clothes alone."

"Do anything you please."

A quarter of an hour afterwards my mistress came back to me. Her hair was
dressed like a man's; the front locks came down her cheeks, and the black
hair, fastened with a knot of blue ribbon, reached the bend of her legs;
her form was that of Antinous; her clothes alone, being cut in the French
style, prevented the illusion from being complete. I was in a state of
ecstatic delight, and I could not realize my happiness.

"No, adorable woman," I exclaimed, "you are not made for a mortal, and I
do not believe that you will ever be mine. At the very moment of
possessing you some miracle will wrest you from my arms. Your divine
spouse, perhaps, jealous of a simple mortal, will annihilate all my hope.
It is possible that in a few minutes I shall no longer exist."

"Are you mad, dearest? I am yours this very instant, if you wish it."

"Ah! if I wish it! Although fasting, come! Love and happiness will be my
food!"

She felt cold, we sat near the fire; and unable to master my impatience I
unfastened a diamond brooch which pinned her ruffle. Dear reader, there
are some sensations so powerful and so sweet that years cannot weaken the
remembrance of them. My mouth had already covered with kisses that
ravishing bosom; but then the troublesome corset had not allowed me to
admire all its perfection. Now I felt it free from all restraint and from
all unnecessary support; I have never seen, never touched, anything more
beautiful, and the two magnificent globes of the Venus de Medicis, even
if they had been animated by the spark of life given by Prometheus, would
have yielded the palm to hose of my divine nun.

I was burning with ardent desires, and I would have satisfied them on the
spot, if my adorable mistress had not calmed my impatience by these
simple words:

"Wait until after supper."

I rang the bell; she shuddered.