And now, sir, comes the
winding up of this business. Seraphina told me that she was going to the
opera with some of her relations, and asked me if I would be there; that
the captain of the frigate, and all the other officers were going, and
that she wished me to go with her. You see, Mr Simple, although
Seraphina's father was so poor, that a mouse would have starved in his
house, still he was of good family, and connected with those who were
much better off. He was a Don himself, and had fourteen or fifteen long
names, which I forget now. I refused to go with her, as I knew that the
service would not permit a boatswain to sit in an opera-box, when the
captain and first lieutenant were there. I told her that I had promised
to go on board and look after the men while the captain went on shore;
thus, as you'll see, Mr Simple, making myself a man of consequence, only
to be more mortified in the end. After she had gone to the opera, I was
very uncomfortable: I was afraid that the captain would see her, and
take a fancy to her. I walked up and down, outside, until I was so full
of love and jealousy that I determined to go into the pit and see what
she was about. I soon discovered her in a box, with some other ladies,
and with them were my captain and first lieutenant. The captain, who
spoke the language well, was leaning over her, talking and laughing, and
she was smiling at what he said. I resolved to leave immediately, lest
she should see me and discover that I had told her a falsehood; but they
appeared so intimate that I became so jealous I could not quit the
theatre.
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