So the next day I woke much earlier than Renata and, again slipping carefully from her sleeping embrace, I went into the adjoining room. There by the window, through which young and handsome Düsseldorf sparkled in the morning sun, I considered my position. I felt already that I lacked the strength to leave Renata, that I either had been charmed to her by some magic power, or borne naturally into gentle bondage by the Mother of Love—the Cyprian. Boldly reviewing my position, like a warrior who finds himself fallen into danger, I now addressed myself thus: “Very well, abandon yourself to this madness if already you cannot overpower it, but be circumspect lest you lose in this abyss your whole life, and perhaps your honour. Mark to yourself beforehand terms and limits, and beware overstepping them when your soul is aflame and your mind powerless to give counsel.” I took out of the belt the coins sewn within it, and divided my savings into three equal shares: one share I decided to spend with Renata, another I desired to give to my father, and the third I kept for myself, so that, returning to New Spain, I should be able to live there an independent life.
