Pablo De Segovia

In the morning we got up to provide the plate, servants, and collation; / and there being nothing in this world that money cannot command, as / being a thing worshipped by all men, I found a nobleman's butler that / furnished plate, and undertook to wait himself with three of his / fellow-servants. The forenoon was spent in arranging affairs, and after / dinner I hired a nag and at the appointed time set out for the / summer-house. I had abundance of papers sticking out of my pockets; / besides that, my coat being unbuttoned, some peeped out at my bosom, as / if I had been a man of mighty business. When I came to the place the / ladies and gentlemen were there; the former received me with much show / of love, and the latter talked to me by plain _thee_ and _thou_, in / token of familiarity. I had told them my name was Don Philip Tristan, / and nothing was to be heard in all their mouths but Don Philip and Don / Philip; but I told them I had been so entirely taken up with some / business of the king's and the accounts of my estate, that I had much / ado to be as good as my word, and therefore they must expect a hurried / repast. By this time the butler came with all his tackle, plate and / servants; the gentlemen and ladies looked at me and held their peace. I / ordered him to go into the eating-room and lay the cloth, whilst we went / to divert ourselves at the fish-ponds. The old women drew near to fawn / and flatter, and I was glad to see the young girls unveiled, for since I / was born I never saw so delicate a creature as that was whom I designed / for my wife.

A skin as white as alabaster, delicate fair hair, a / singular fresh colour in her cheeks, a little mouth, fine, small teeth / standing close together, a well-shaped nose, large black eyes, tall of / stature, charming hands, with a delicate little lisp. The other was not / amiss, but more wanton, and I suspected she had been handled. We went to / the fish-ponds, saw all that could be seen, and by her talk I found that / my intended bride would have been in danger in Herod's days of being / included among the innocents. In short, she had not a grain of sense; / however, as I never love them for counsellors or jesters, but only to / take my pleasure with them -- and if they are ugly and clever it is like / lying with Aristotle or Seneca or a book -- I always pitch upon those that / are properest for the use I would make of them. This consideration / comforted me; we went towards the banqueting-house, and as we passed / along a branch of the hedge got hold of the lace of my band, and tore it / a little; the young lady stepped up and pinned it with a silver pin, and / her mother bade me send it to her house the next day, and Donna Anna, so / the maiden was called, would mend it. All the repast was in excellent / order, hot and cold, fruit and sweetmeats.