ors
but virtuous remarks upon the scandalous connection which Sacchi had so
firmly put an end to. I tried to make the director see reason, and not
to expel a member of his troupe who was certainly a very useful actor.
All I could extort was a promise to keep Coralli, if some other player
happened to retire. Yet I knew that, after I had once expressed a wish
that he should stay, Sacchi would have managed this to gratify me. In
fact, the man was only forced to leave at last because of his own
knavish trickery. After learning from me what Sacchi had conceded, he
persuaded a good and simple fellow of his own city, Domenico Barsanti,
that the manager meant to give him, Barsanti, warning, and that he had
better, for his own repute, anticipate this misfortune by sending in his
resignation. When Barsanti proceeded to do so, Sacchi wormed the secret
out of him, and answered: "I had no intention of dismissing you. Go to
Conte Gozzi, tell him the whole story, and beg for his protection. That
will teach him what sort of fellow Coralli is." Barsanti accordingly
arrived, and stupefied me with the recital of this piece of swindling
ingenuity. I need not add that Coralli disappeared at the end of the
Carnival. I got a letter from him full of remorse, especially for having
hurt me by his stratagem for staying in the company.

I went on as usual with Signora Ricci, and had nothing particular to
notice in her conduct. Only I observed that gondoliers used often to
come behind the scenes with messages from ladies who desired her company
in the boxes. That they were not ladies, but a very different sort of
persons, I discovered in course of time. Again, she chose at this epoch
to change her dwelling from a house in the neighbourhood of the theatre,
which opened on a frequented street, to another at some distance, far
more expensive, and which had the disadvantage of standing in a little
lonely alley. This step exposed her to a renewal of the worst reports
about her private character and conduct. It also severely taxed her
purse for the expenses of removal and installation.

When she left Venice at the end of the Carnival, she placed her little
girl, my godchild, out at nurse. I used frequently to go and see this
excellent little creature in her mother's absence. For the rest, our
correspondence by letters continued much on the same footing as before.

LII.

_Fresh benefits conferred upon the playing company protected by
me.--Fresh