Vietnam or Thailand ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Updated: September 8, 2025
"You are as pretty as you were twenty-six years ago, and if it had not been for the Abbe Galiani I should have left Naples without seeing you." I found Leonilda had developed into a perfect beauty. She was at that time twenty-three years old. Her husband's presence was no constraint upon her; she received me with open arms, and put me completely at my ease.
I resolved to accept the invitation, and when I got to the house I found the young Florentine already there. It was at this dinner that I found out many of his good qualities, and I saw that Donna Leonilda had not said too much in his favour. Towards the end of the meal the marchioness asked why I had not stayed till the end of the opera. "Because the young ladies were getting tired."
I could bear the suspense no longer, so, taking a light and begging Leonilda and the duke to excuse me, I asked Lucrezia to come into the next room with me. As soon as she was seated, she drew me to her and said, "Must I grieve my dear one when I have loved so well? Leonilda is your daughter, I am certain of it.
This conclusion gave me an involuntary shudder, and Leonilda fell fainting in the duke's arms. He called her dear child, cared for her tenderly, and brought her to herself. We all had to wipe our eyes, as we were all equally affected. I considered myself as a married man and under obligation to alter my way of living, and I stopped playing.
Amongst his dozen of nephews there was not one worthy of succeeding to the title. "They are all ugly, awkward lads, more like peasants than noblemen; all their education has been given them by a pack of ignorant priests; and so it is not to be wondered that the marquis does not care for them much." "But is Leonilda really happy?"
After telling me the family news, Leonilda concluded by saying that she was in a fair way to become a mother, and that she would be perfectly happy if she gave birth to a son. She begged me to congratulate the marquis. Whether from a natural instinct or the effects of prejudice, this news made me shudder.
There was the same sparkling glance, that fresh complexion, those perfect shapes, those beautiful lips in fine, all that had charmed my youthful eyes. We mutely caressed each other. Leonilda gave and received the tenderest kisses without seeming to notice what desires she might cause to arise; no doubt she knew that as her father I should have strength to resist, and she was right.
She replied that she would do so with pleasure, if I would blow out my candle and promise not to put my hand on her. I easily gave her the required promise, for I meant to keep myself fresh for Leonilda. I undressed hastily, followed her with bare feet, and laid myself beside her. She took my hands and held them, to which I offered no resistance.
"That is M. Casanova's name; it is the name of your father. Go and kiss him; his blood flows in your veins; and if he has been your lover, repent of the crime which was happily quite involuntary." The scene was a pathetic one, and we were all deeply moved. Leonilda clung to her mother's knees, and in a voice that struggled with sobs exclaimed,
I continued my recital, and when I was telling them how Donna Lucrezia shewed me Leonilda naked, M M went out, and the sly little puss asked me how I assured myself that my daughter was a maid. I took bold of her through the fatal grating, against which she placed her pretty body, and shewed her how assured myself of the fact, and the girl liked it so much that she pressed my hand to the spot.
Word Of The Day
Others Looking