Our partnership at first made a great noise, owing to the mysterious tone with which Don Andrea told every body that he had chosen for his son-in-law a man who was possessed of immense riches. It was soon spread about, and every one was for dealing with us, and came to us in preference to other bankers; and we might by our credit only have increased every day the favourable opinion they had of our wealth, if we had been contented to have associated with tradesmen, and no doubt we should have made a considerable fortune; but the uncommon weak partiality that my father-in-law always had for people of the Court, put a check to our success. What he received with one hand was squandered with the other. If a Marquis, a Count, or a Knight of San Jago, were civil to him, they were sure to obtain any loan of money, and knowing his vanity, they would not fail to lavish upon him the most flattering compliments. If a minister looked favourably on him, the very next day he would send him some rich present to no purpose whatever. He always had his head filled with chimerical projects which he would put in execution, and if I happened to shew him the folly of them, he laughed at me, and treated me with contempt, as a man who had not common sense, and was quite a novice in the business of the great world. However, with all his experience, our best substance was soon spent, our stock grew low, and we were reduced to make use of every means to renew and uphold our credit. What engines did we not set to work for that purpose? we bought and sold any thing; we received pawns; we lent money at usurious interest; in short there was no sort of commerce which we were not engaged in; besides what I knew already, my industry, improved by exercising it, helped me to new expedients for the good of our society. However, I must own that I was but a mere beginner compared to my father-in-law. Our gains were great, and would have been sufficient to have maintained us agreeably; and if we had understood how to live with economy, we should not have been obliged to make use of some sorry shifts, which in spite of all our skill we were sometimes compelled to resort to. In addition to this, our domestic expenses were most profuse. If Don Andrea was fond of luxury and good living, his daughter was not behind hand with him; there was nothing too rich or too fine for her; we kept as magnificent a table as any nobleman, more servants than we conveniently wanted, and our house was continually full of relations and friends whom we entertained and treated with the greatest profusion.