Page:The genius - Carl Grosse tr Joseph Trapp 1796.djvu/240

 The latter kept an actress of the French opera, a beautiful girl, but of a wanton and faithless character. Though he only supported her for the sake of fashion and not on account of real love, still his vanity made him believe, that he had an exclusive right to her favors as long as he purchased them. He did not consider that it were folly to exact continency from a harlot; and consequently he soon had reason to be jealous, amongst others, of the baron, who became his competitor in the good graces of that abandoned female.

Having discovered that the baron was very assiduous in his visits to Philinda whenever he was from her, he once went to her in the paroxysm of his spleen, and loaded her with the bitterest reproaches. Philinda heard him a good while with great composure, but this only serving to render him the more abusive, she at last asked him with the greatest sangfroid, "Shall I ring my servants, count, or will you take yourself off without escort, and never sect a foot in my house again?" This made my friend retire quite mortified, and