Page:The Book of the Courtier.djvu/298

THE SECOND BOOK OF THE COURTIER I certainly should prefer to be assured that she whom I served returned my love from her heart and had given me her mind, — without ever having any other satisfaction from her, — than to enjoy her to the full against her will; for in such case I should deem myself the master of a lifeless body. Hence they who pursue their desires by means of such trickery, which might perhaps be called treachery rather than trickery, do injury to others; nor have they yet that bliss which is to be desired in love, if they possess the body without the will. " The same I say of certain others who use enchantments in their love, charms and sometimes force, sometimes sleeping potions and such like things. Be assured, too, that gifts much lessen the pleasures of love; for a man may suspect that he is not loved and that his lady makes a show of loving him in order to profit by it. Hence you see that great ladies' love is prized because it could hardly spring from other source than real and true affection, nor is it credible that a great lady should ever pretend to love one of her inferiors unless she loves him truly." 95-— Then my lord Gaspar replied: " I do not deny that the purpose, toils and dangers of lovers ought to have their aim directed chiefly towards the conquest of the mind rather than of the body of their beloved. But I say that these deceits, which you call treachery in men and trickery in women, are excellent means of attaining this aim, for whoever possesses a woman's person is master of her mind as well. And if you remember rightly, Filippello's wife, after much lament over the deceit practised on her by Riciardo, discovered how much more delicious than her husband's were the kisses of her lover, and her coldness to Riciardo changed to sweet affection, so that from that day forth she loved him most tenderly. Thus it came about that what his frequent fond visits, his gifts and countless other tokens shown unceasingly, could not affect, a taste of his embraces soon accomplished. You now see that this same trickery, or treachery as you would call it, was a good way to capture the fortress of her mind." Then messer Bernardo said: " You advance a very false premise, for if women always sur- rendered their mind to the man who possessed their person, no i66