d's case was not so desperate as she imagined. Next I firmly
refused to become the depositary of her property. My reasons were as
follows. In the first place, I had no receptacle to which the goods
could be transferred with secrecy and safety. In the next place, her
husband might survive and make inquiries. This would compromise the
reputation of both her and me. I thanked her for the confidence she
reposed in me, and vowed that she should always, at the hour of need,
find me ready to support her as the guardian of her rights, her friend,
and a man devoted to her person. She expressed herself satisfied with my
decision; and once again we abandoned ourselves to the transports of a
love which only grew in strength with its indulgence. She was an
extraordinary woman; perfectly beautiful, always graceful, always new.
Even in her hours of passion she preserved a modesty which overwhelmed
my reason. Would that the six months of our platonic love had been
prolonged into a lifetime, instead of yielding place to sensuality! In
that case, the unexpected accident, which cut short our intercourse in a
single moment, would not have inflicted the wound it did upon my
feelings.

A friend of mine came about this time to Venice on business, and took
up his quarters with me. He observed me exchanging some words with this
young lady, and began to banter me, loudly praising my good taste. I
played the part of a prudish youngster, exaggerated the virtues of my
neighbour, and protested that I had never so much as set foot in her
house--which was indeed, the truth. It was not easy to deceive my friend
in anything regarding the fair sex. He positively refused to believe me,
swearing he was sure I was the favoured lover of the beauty, and that he
had read our secret in the eyes of both. "You are a loyal friend to me,"
he added; "but in the matter of your love-affairs, I have always found
you too reserved. Between comrades there ought to be perfect confidence;
and you insult me by making a mystery of such trifles." "I can boast of
no intimacy whatever with that respectable lady," I replied; "but in
order to prove my sincerity toward my friend, I will inform you that
even if I enjoyed such an intimacy as you suspect, I would rather cut my
tongue out than reveal it to any man alive. For me the honour of women
is like a sanctuary. Nothing can convince me that men are bound by
friendship to expose the frailty and the shame of a mistress who has
sacr