obtained egress or
ingress at any hour. I was a proficient on the guitar; and incongruous
as it may appear with my monastic vows, I often hastened from the
service at vespers to perform in a serenade to some fair senhora, whose
_inamorata_ required the powers of my voice to soften her to his wishes.

My sedillas and canzonettas were much admired; and eventually no
serenade was considered as effective, without the assistance of the
counter-tenor of Anselmo. I hardly need observe that it was very
profitable; and that I had the means of supplying myself with luxuries
which the rules of our order did not admit. I soon became irregular and
debauched; often sitting up whole nights with the young cavaliers,
drinking and singing amorous songs for their amusement. Still, however,
my conduct was not known, or was overlooked for the reasons which I have
stated before.

When once a man indulges to excess in wine, he is assailed by, and
becomes an easy prey to every other vice. This error soon led me into
others; and, regardless of my monastic vows, I often felt more inclined
to serenade upon 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
unwieldy 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 farther. 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 fin