At the nearest church
I confessed my involuntary sin in reading the prohibited books, and
having received absolution and the sacrament, I joined my friend the
abate at Cafaggiolo, whence we travelled to Modena, where he was
acquainted with a theatrical manager just then in search of a Columbine.
My dancing and posturing at Florence had given me something of a name
among the dilettanti, and I was at once engaged by the manager, who took
me to Venice, where I subsequently joined the company of the excellent
Tartaglia with whom I am now acting. Since then I have been attended by
continued success, which I cannot but ascribe to my virtuous resolve to
face poverty and distress rather than profit a moment longer by the
beneficence of an atheist.
All this I have related to show you how the poor ignorant girl you met
at Chivasso was able to acquire something of the arts and usages of good
company; but I will now pass on to the incident of my visit to Pianura.
Our manager, then, had engaged some time since to give a series of
performances at Pianura during the last carnival. The Bishop's nephew,
Don Serafino, who has a pronounced taste for the theatre, had been
instrumental in making the arrangement; but at the last moment he wrote
us that, owing to the influence of the Duke's confessor, the Bishop had
been obliged to prohibit the appearance of women on the stage of
Pianura. This was a cruel blow, as we had prepared a number of comedies
in which I was to act the leading part; and Don Serafino was equally
vexed, since he did me the honour of regarding me as the chief ornament
of the company.
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