#142] 
yet she had no causes for pity but 
what she was forced to affect. 
Fazio placed out his pieces of 
gold, for which he got gocd bills of 
exchange on an eminent banker at 
Pisa, and wrote to his wife that he 
had disposed of his ingots of gold, 
and was already set out on his 
return, Valentina shewed the letter 
to her relations and acquaintance, 
and to all that were willing to see it: 
and every one that sawit was filled 
with surprise. The majority still 
doubted of the reality of Fazio’s 
good fortune, when he arrived in. 
person at Pisa, 
He appeared with a triumphant 
air distributed his embraces on the 
right hand andthe left, and related 
the success with which his chemical 
Jabours had been crowned to all the 
world; not forgetting to add, that 
his bars, on being assayed, turned 
out to be the purest and the finest 
gold. He corroborated the verbal 
testimonies of his good fortune, by 
speaking and substantial proofs, and 
fetched from his banker’s 
thousand gold dollars in specie. To 
this kind of demonstration no objec- 
tion could be made. The story 
was told from house to house, and 
all men extolled his knowledge in 
the occult science of the transmuta- 
tion of metals. The very man, who 
but a few months before was pro- 
nounced a confirmed fool by the 
whole city at large, was now eleva- 
ted by that very city to the rank of 
a great philosopher ; and Fazio en- 
joyed, at one and the same time, the 
double advantage, of being honoured 
as both learned and rich. 
There was no longer any need of 
concealing his wealth, and there- 
fore he gave scope to his desires. 
He redeemed his farm from the 
mortgage, bought himself a title at 
nine. 
ANNUAL REGISTER, 1795. 
Rome, for connecting respect and 
riches together, he procured a mag- 
nificent house and a couple of 
estates, and made over the rest of 
his money to a merchant at ten per 
cent. 
He now kept two footmen, two 
maid servants, and, according to 
the prevailing mode of the times, 
two saddle horses, one for himself, 
and the other for his wife. In this 
manner they enjoyed the pleasure of 
knowing themselves to be rich ; a 
pleasure that is far more sensibly 
felt by such as have formerly been 
inwant. Valentina, who was now 
a woman of too much consideration 
to look after the affairs of the house 
herself, took home to her, with the 
approbation of her husband, an old 
and very ugly relation, with her 
young and beautiful daughter. . 
For living tothe top of the grand 
style (probably it was then the fa- 
shion at Pisa, as it is now with usin 
capital towns) Fazio resolved to 
keep amistress. He cast his eyes 
on the daughter of the aged relation, 
who, as was said above, was exe 
tremely handsome. She was called 
Adelaide, and was in the age of love 
and coquetry, either of which alone 
is sufficient to lead @ man into folly. 
Adelaide lent a very willing ear to 
the overtures made by Fazio, and 
soon entered into so intimate a cor- 
respondence with him, as to occa- 
sion a disagreement with his wife. 
But ere Valentina had time to pene- 
trate the secret, or to convince 
herself of her husband’s infidelity, 
Fazio had already spent a consi- 
derable sum of money on his dear 
Adelaide. 
Valentina was jealous of her rights 
to the last punctilio, and it grieved 
her much to see herself under the 
authority of an usurper. Discord 
broke 
