The serene Twilight still twinkled on the highest tips of my arm, and at my feet, my Louisiana, submerged in a black abyss in the gloomy darkness of the night, had barely rung the bell when my illustrious New York friend, the fishing professor, burst through the door, taking the maid's place and cheerfully stepping forward to greet me. Both for his personality and, I must add, for my own convenience, the professor deserves the honor of a formal greeting. Circumstances have made this the starting point of the strange history of many people that I intend to reveal in these pages. I knew the professor from having met him in some aristocratic houses where he taught languages and I did business. All I knew then of his past was that he had held an important position at the University of Padua, that he had been a professor who left Italy for political reasons, the nature of which he never revealed to anyone, and that he had been living in New York City for many years as a language teacher.
Looking back on those formative years, I was fortunate to have been surrounded by such refined society. My father's reputation opened many doors, and through his careful guidance, I learned to navigate the delicate balance of social obligations and personal aspirations.