- Rousseau journeys to Venice by ship. It's uncomfortable, but he's determined to finally hold down a job, darn it.
- Rousseau's got his work cut out for him, translating letters the Count has never bothered to read.
- At first, it's all fancy dinners and elaborate occasions for Rousseau as the Count's servant.
- Then, the Count starts being randomly mean. He has no reason to be a jerk, but he treats Rousseau like dirt.
- The last straw is the Count flying into a rage and accusing Rousseau of stealing his cipher.
- Not only does Rousseau deny it, but he mocks the Count to his face.
- The Count tries to have Rousseau arrested for the fictional crime, but Rousseau bails—bye-bye, Venice.
- You might be wondering how girls fit into the picture while Rousseau is in Italy. Well, prepare to be disappointed: Rousseau was pretty good… except for two occasions. On the first, a bunch of men scold Rousseau for being indifferent to Italian women. They introduce him to a lovely prostitute, but Rousseau's just not interested.
- The second prostitute Rousseau meets on board a ship is a little more interesting to him. Her name is Giulietta. He plans to visit her chambers (ahem) the day after he meets her, but he feels too guilty to follow through. Also, Rousseau makes a bad joke about her malformed nipple—not nice.
- When Rousseau returns home to Paris, Mme Beuzenval is pretty mad at him.
- She can't imagine how the Count can be wrong about Rousseau.
- Rousseau meets a girl he really, really likes. Her name is Therese, and she's the servant of his landlady.
- Rousseau is delighted to find that Therese is a virgin.
- He sets out to educate her about academics, but he ends up sincerely respecting her. Someone's in L-O-V-E.
- While he's falling in love, Rousseau finishes writing an opera. He tries to get it off the ground, but gets distracted by other matters.