Until the present moment it had been my custom to frequent
churches, gardens, festivals, and seaside resorts, without other wish
than the companionship of young friends of my own sex; now, I sought the
aforesaid places with a new desire, believing that both to see and be
seen would bring me great delectation. But, in sooth, the trust which I
was wont to place in my beauty had deserted me, and now I never left my
chamber, without first seeking the faithful counsel of my mirror: and my
hands, newly instructed thereunto by I know not what cunning master,
discovering each day some more elegant mode of adornment than the day
before, and deftly adding artificial charms to my natural loveliness,
thereby caused me to outshine all the other ladies in my surpassing
splendor. Furthermore, I began to wish for the honors usually paid to me
by ladies, because of their gracious courtesy, though, perhaps, they
were rather the guerdon of my noble birth, being due to me therefor,
thinking that if I appeared so magnificent to my beloved's eyes, he
would take the more delight in beholding me. Avarice, too, which is
inborn in women, fled from me, so that I became free and openhanded, and
regarded my own possessions almost as if they were not my own. The
sedateness that beseems a woman fell away from me somewhat, and I grew
bolder in my ways; and, in addition to all this, my eyes, which until
that day looked out on the world simply and naturally, entirely changed
their manner of looking, and became so artful in their office that it
was a marvel.
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