The Procuratessa was no exception to the rule, and as was natural to one
of her complexion, she preferred the convents where the greatest freedom
prevailed. Odo, however, had hitherto found little to tempt him in these
glimpses of forbidden fruit. The nuns, though often young and pretty,
had the insipidity of women secluded from the passions and sorrows of
life without being raised above them; and he preferred the frank
coarseness of the Procuratessa's circle to the simpering graces of the
cloister.
Even Coeur-Volant's mysterious boast of a conquest he had made among the
sisters failed to excite his friend's curiosity. The Marquess, though
still devoted to Miranda, was too much the child of his race not to seek
variety in his emotions; indeed he often declared that the one fault of
the Italian character was its unimaginative fidelity in love-affairs.
"Does a man," he asked, "dine off one dish at a gourmet's banquet? And
why should I restrict myself to one course at the most richly-spread
table in Europe? One must love at least two women to appreciate either;
and, did the silly creatures but know it, a rival becomes them like a
patch."
Sister Mary of the Crucifix, he went on to explain, possessed the very
qualities that Miranda lacked. The daughter of a rich nobleman of
Treviso, she was skilled in music, drawing and all the operations of the
needle, and was early promised in marriage to a young man whose estates
adjoined her father's. The jealousy of a younger sister, who was
secretly in love with the suitor, caused her to accuse Coeur-Volant's
mistress of misconduct and thus broke off the marriage; and the unhappy
girl, repudiated by her bridegroom, was at once despatched to a convent
in Venice.
Pages:
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364