and who now wore an air of rakish prosperity, greeted him with evident
pleasure, and, while their entertainer was engaged in seating the ladies
of the company, gave him a brief account of the situation.

The young French gentleman (whom he named as the Marquis de
Coeur-Volant) had come to Italy some months previously on the grand
tour, and having fallen a victim to the charms of Venice, had declared
that, instead of continuing on his travels, he meant to complete his
education in that famous school of pleasure. Being master of his own
fortune, he had hired a palace on the Grand Canal, had dispatched his
governor (a simple archaeologist) on a mission of exploration to Sicily
and Greece, and had devoted himself to an assiduous study of Venetian
manners. Among those contributing to his instruction was Mirandolina of
Chioggia, who had just completed a successful engagement at the theatre
of San Moise in Venice. Wishing to detain her in the neighbourhood, her
adorer had prevailed on his friend the Procuratore to give a series of
comedies at his villa of Bellocchio and had engaged to provide him with
a good company of performers. Miranda was of course selected as prima
amorosa; and the Marquess, under Castelrovinato's guidance, had then set
out to collect the rest of the company. This he had succeeded in doing,
and was now returning to Bellocchio, where Miranda was to meet them. Odo
was the more diverted at the hazard which had brought him into such
company, as the Procuratore Bra was one of the noblemen to whom the old
Duke had specially recommended him. On learning this, the Marquess urged
him to present his letter of introduction on arriving at Bellocchio,
where the Procuratore, who was noted for hospitality to strangers, would
doubtless insist on his joining the assembled party. This Odo declined
to do; but his curiosity to see Mirandolina made him hope that chance
would soon throw him in the Procuratore's way.