CHAPTER III.
Bettina Is Supposed to Go Mad--Father Mancia--The Small-pox-- I Leave Padua Bettina must have been in despair, not knowing into whose hands her letter had fallen; to return it to her and thus to allay her anxiety, was therefore a great proof of friendship; but my generosity, at the same time that it freed her from a keen sorrow, must have caused her another quite as dreadful, for she knew that I was master of her secret.
Cordiani's letter was perfectly explicit; it gave the strongest evidence that she was in the habit of receiving him every night, and therefore the story she had prepared to deceive me was useless.

I felt it was so, and, being disposed to calm her anxiety as far as I could, I went to her bedside in the morning, and I placed in her hands Cordiani's note and my answer to her letter.
The girl's spirit and talent had won my esteem; I could no longer despise her; I saw in her only a poor creature seduced by her natural temperament.

She loved man, and was to be pitied only on account of the consequences.

Believing that the view I took of the situation was a right one, I had resigned myself like a reasonable being, and not like a disappointed lover.

The shame was for her and not for me.