n my own account than on that of my employers. I had the
advantage of a very handsome face, but it was disguised by the shaven
crown and the unbecoming manner of cutting the hair; the coarse and
unwieldly monastic dress belonging to our order hid the symmetry of my
limbs, which, might have otherwise attracted notice on the Prado. I soon
perceived that, although my singing was admired by the other sex, their
admiration went no further. They seemed to consider that in every other
point I was, as I ought to have been, dead to the world.

There was a young lady, Donna Sophia, whom I had for some time
instructed in music, who appeared to be more favourably inclined. She
was an excellent performer, and passionately fond of the science: and I
have always observed, your highness, that between the real amateurs of
harmony there is a sympathy, a description of free-masonry, which
immediately puts them on a level, and on terms of extreme intimacy; so
much so, that were I a married man, and my wife extremely partial to
music, I should be very careful how I introduced to her a person of a
similar feeling, if I possessed it not myself. I was very much in the
good graces of this young lady, and flattered myself with a successful
issue: when one day, as we were singing a duet, a handsome young officer
made his appearance. His hair, which was of the finest brown, curled in
natural ringlets: and his clothes were remarkably well-fitted to his
slender and graceful figure. He was a cousin, who had just returned from
Carthagena; and as he was remarkably attentive, I soon perceived that
all my advances had been thrown away, and that I was more and more in
the background each morning that I made my appearance.

Annoyed at this, I ventured to speak too freely; and during his absence
calumniated him to the Donna Sophia, hoping by these means to regain my
place in her affections; but I made a sad mistake: for not only were my
services dispensed with for the future, but, as I afterwards
discovered, she stated to her cousin the grounds upon which I had been
dismissed.

I returned to the convent in no pleasant mood, when I was informed that
my presence had been demanded by the superior. I repaired to the
parlour, where he stated that my licentious conduct had come to his
ears; and after much upbraiding, he concluded by ordering me to submit
to a severe penance. Aware that disobedience would only be followed up
by greater severity, I bowed with hum