"de Musset, Alfred - Tizianello" - читать интересную книгу автора (Musset Alfred De)

reach here without being seen by a soul. As regards her leaving later on, I will
look after thatЧthat is, if she can stay with me till evening."
"She will do it. Will to-morrow be convenient?"
"To-morrow at daybreak," said Pippo. He slipped a handful of sequins under the
messenger's gorget; then, without asking any further questions, he went back to
his room and shut himself in, resolved to watch till daylight. He at first
undressed, so that it might be thought he was going to bed. When he was alone,
he lit a good fire, put on an embroidered shirt, a scented collar, and a white
velvet doublet with sleeves of Chinese satin. Then, when all was in order, he
sat by the window and began to think of his adventure.
He was not so favorably impressed as one might think by the promptitude with
which his lady had accorded him an interview. You must not forget either that
this story is taking place in the sixteenth century, and that love affairs were
then much quicker arranged than now. From the most authentic testimony it
appears certain that in these times what we should call indelicacy was classed
as sincerity, and there are even grounds for thinking that what is to-day named
virtue then appeared to be hypocrisy. However this may be, a woman in love with
some fine fellow soon gave herself to him and he would for this reason have no
worse an opinion of her. No one thought of blushing for that which appeared
natural. In these times, a gentleman of the Court of France would carry on his
hat, in the place of a plume, a silken stocking belonging to his mistress, and
he would carelessly tell those who were surprised to see him in the Louvre in
this attire, that it was the stocking of a woman who was making him die of love.

Besides, such was Pippo's character that, had he been born in the present
century, he would perhaps still have been of the same mind. Despite much
dissipation and folly, if he was capable of sometimes lying to others, he never
lied to himself. By this I mean that he liked things for what they were worth
and not for appearances, and that, while fully capable of dissimulation, he
never intrigued unless his desires were real. If he thought the letter he had
received was but a whim, at least he did not think it the whim of a coquette: I
told you just now the reasons, which were, the care and delicacy with which the
purse had been embroidered and the time it must have taken to do it.
While his spirit was endeavoring to anticipate the happiness in store for him,
he thought of a Turkish marriage of which he had been told. When the Orientals
take unto themselves a wife, they see the face of their fiancee only after
marriage, and until then she remains veiled before him, as before every one
else. They rely on what their parents have told them and marry in this way on
what they have heard. The ceremony over, the young wife shows herself to her
husband, who can then settle for himself whether the bargain was good or bad. As
it is too late to draw back, there remains nothing to be done but to find it
good, and these unions do not seem any more unhappy than others.
Pippo found himself in just the same position as a Turkish fiance. It is true he
did not expect to find a virgin in his unknown lady, but he easily consoled
himself for this. Besides, there was this difference to his advantage, that it
was not such a solemn tie he was about to contract. He could give himself up to
the charms of expectation and surprise without troubling about the
inconvenience, and this consideration seemed sufficient to make up for what
might otherwise be lacking. So he imagined this night to be his bridal one, and
it is not to be wondered at that at his age this thought caused him transports