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"I never meant to keep my promise, and I began to think out schemes by
which to escape from it. Only one way seemed open to me then, and
cherishing the thought of it in secret, I waited and watched and made
preparations for carrying out my purpose.
"At length the moment came to me. It was mid-Lent, and a masked ball was
given by my fiance's friends in one of the old Roman palaces. I can see
it still--the great hall, ablaze with glowing frescoes, beautiful
Venetian candelabras, gilded furniture, red and yellow damask and
velvet, and then the throng of handsome men in many uniforms and
beautiful women with rows of pearls falling from their naked throats.
"I had dressed myself as a Bacchante in a white tunic embroidered in
gold, with bracelets on my bare arms, a tiger-skin band over my
forehead, and a cluster of grapes in my hair.
"I danced every dance, I remember, most of them with my middle-aged
lover, and I suppose no one seemed so gay and happy and heedless. At
three o'clock in the morning I returned home in my father's carriage.


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