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+Project Gutenberg's The Joy of Captain Ribot, by Armando Palacio Valdes
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Joy of Captain Ribot
+
+Author: Armando Palacio Valdes
+
+Translator: Minna Caroline Smith
+
+Release Date: December 13, 2011 [EBook #38293]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE JOY OF CAPTAIN RIBOT ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was
+produced from images available at The Internet Archive)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+The Joy of Captain Ribot
+
+[Illustration: image of the book's cover]
+
+
+
+
+THE JOY OF CAPTAIN RIBOT
+
+AUTHORIZED TRANSLATION FROM THE
+ORIGINAL OF
+
+A. PALACIO VALDES
+
+BY
+
+MINNA CAROLINE SMITH
+
+[Illustration: colophon]
+
+NEW YORK
+BRENTANO'S
+
+1900
+
+COPYRIGHT, 1900,
+BY BRENTANOS.
+
+
+
+
+Introduction
+
+
+"We Americans are apt to think because we have banged the Spanish
+war-ships to pieces that we are superior to the Spaniards, but here in
+the field where there is always peace they shine our masters. If we have
+any novelists to compare with theirs at their best, I should be puzzled
+to think of them, and I should like to have some one else try"--wrote
+William Dean Howells in _Literature_.
+
+When a work by one of the world's masters of fiction has called forth a
+remark like the foregoing from a leading man of letters in America, it
+would be a misfortune if the public to whom the remark is addressed
+might not enjoy the privilege of acquaintance with that work. And it was
+this most charming novel by Senor Armando Palacio Valdes, "La Alegria
+del Capitan Ribot," that prompted Mr. Howells to write those words. Any
+reader must be hard to please who would not take the keenest delight in
+a story presented with a touch so delicate. The scene is laid in
+Valencia, one of the earth's famous garden spots, where the touch of the
+classic hand, laid upon the spot ages ago yet lingers. It is a story
+dominated by the purest joy, as its serene Mediterranean landscape is
+dominated by the purest sunshine.
+
+Every novelist of character must have some purpose in mind in a given
+work, and the purpose of Senor Valdes in this is of no slight import. It
+happens that, from an unclean quality that distinguishes the fiction of
+a certain nation, the minds of many lands have been infected. For the
+almost universal aim of its authors has seemed to be so pervasively to
+color their pictures of life with one particular kind of sin as to give
+the impression that it is a main factor of modern civilization, instead
+of something that blots but a small proportion of the lives of men and
+women in any land. So, when Senor Valdes wrote to me, several months
+ago, about his new novel, he said: "It is a protest from the depths
+against the eternal adultery of the French novel." And when I read the
+book, I thought that "A Married Woman" would have been a good name for
+the story, so nobly and so truly does it present a type of the true and
+devoted wife in Cristina Marti--one of the great creations in modern
+literature. The trait that makes Senor Valdes one of the most eminent of
+living novelists is greatness of soul, finding expression as it does in
+a consummate mastery of his art. That trait appears in his "La Fe" as in
+no other novel that I know; and in the present story it pervades the
+whole work, which, moreover, is clean, sweet, and wholesome in every
+part. Magnanimity is a word that somehow implies that greatness of soul
+derives itself from greatness of heart, and the magnanimity of Senor
+Valdes is of a degree that transcends limitations of race, of creed, and
+of patriotism.
+
+He has given evidence that in his catholic sympathies the fact of a
+common humanity is sufficient for the inclusion of any man in his
+brotherly regard. Of such as he the nations as yet count too few among
+their sons. And when one of these speaks, no difference of tongue should
+be allowed to bar our listening.
+
+In the same article that has furnished the text for these remarks, Mr.
+Howells notes, among the admirable attributes in which this noble-minded
+Spaniard excels, "something very like our own boasted American humor
+with some other things which we cannot lay special claim to; as a
+certain sweetness, a gentle spirituality, a love of purity and goodness
+in themselves, and an insight into the workings of what used to be
+called the soul." As to the specific qualities of the book before us, I
+cannot better express my own sentiments than to continue in the words of
+Mr. Howells:
+
+"La Alegria del Capitan Ribot is, as all the stories of this delightful
+author are, a novel of manners, the modern manners of provincial Spain;
+and, by the way, while we were spoiling our prostrate foe, I wish we
+could have got some of these, too; they would form an agreeable relief
+to our own, which they surpass so much in picturesqueness, to say the
+least. The scene is mostly at Valencia, where Capitan Ribot, who
+commands a steamer plying between Barcelona and Hamburg, is the guest of
+the civil engineer, Marti. The novel is, as far as Ribot and his two
+friends are concerned, a tender idyll, but on the other side it is an
+exquisite comedy, with some fine tragic implications. Around all is
+thrown the atmosphere of a civilization so different from our own, and
+of a humanity so like the Anglo-Saxon, as well as the Russian and the
+Scandinavian, even, that we find ourselves charmed at once by its
+strangeness and its familiarity. There are the same temptations, the
+same aspirations, the same strong desires, the same trembling
+resolutions, masking under southern skies and in alien air; but
+instantly recognizable by their truth to what all men feel and know."
+
+Mr. Howells has expressed a desire to have Senor Valdes for our own. So
+far as a most intelligently sympathetic presentation of this beautiful
+story in English can do so, I am sure that my friend the translator has
+made him so.
+
+SYLVESTER BAXTER.
+
+
+
+
+The Joy of Captain Ribot
+
+
+
+
+THE JOY OF CAPTAIN RIBOT
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+
+In Malaga they cook it not at all badly; in Vigo better yet; in Bilbao I
+have eaten it deliciously seasoned on more than one occasion. But there
+is no comparison between any of these, or the way I have had it served
+in any of the other ports where I have been wont to touch, and the
+cooking of a Senora Ramona in a certain shop for wines and edibles
+called El Cometa, situated on the wharf at Gijon.
+
+Therefore, when that most intelligent woman hears that the _Urano_ has
+entered port, she begins to get her stewpans ready for my reception. I
+prefer to go alone and at night, like the selfish and luxurious being
+that I am. She sets my table for me in a corner of the back shop; and
+there, at my ease, I enjoy pleasures ineffable and have taken more than
+one indigestion.
+
+I arrived the 9th of February, at eleven in the morning, and according
+to my custom I ate little, preparing myself by healthful abstinence for
+the ceremony of the evening. God willed otherwise. A little before the
+striking of the hour a heathen of a sailor broke a lantern; the burning
+wick fell upon a cask of petroleum and started a fire, which we got the
+better of by throwing the barrel overboard with several others. But the
+pilot-house was burned, together with much of the rigging and some of
+the upper works of the steamer. In short, the consequences kept us busy
+and on our feet nearly all night.
+
+And this was the reason why I did not go to eat my dish of tripe at the
+Senora Ramona's, but notified her, by means of the speaking trumpet, to
+be ready for me that evening without fail.
+
+It was about ten o'clock. Peaceful and contented, I descended the ladder
+of the Urano, jumped into a boat, and in four strokes of my boat-man's
+oars I was taken to the wharf, which stood deserted and shadowy. The
+hulls of the vessels could hardly be made out and absolute silence
+reigned on board them. Only the silhouette of the guards on their rounds
+or that of some melancholy-looking passer-by was vaguely outlined in the
+gloom. But the obscurity, that the few street-lamps were insufficient to
+dissipate, was soon enlivened by the wave of light that proceeded from
+the two open doorways of El Cometa. I fluttered away in that direction
+like an eager butterfly. There were only three or four customers left
+in the shop; the others had departed--some spontaneously, some because
+of intimations, each time more or less peremptory, given by Senora
+Ramona, who always closed up promptly at half after ten.
+
+This woman greeted my appearance with a peal of laughter. I cannot say
+what curious and mysterious titillation affected her nerves in my
+presence; but I can affirm that she never saw me after an absence more
+or less prolonged without being violently shaken by merriment, which in
+turn inevitably resulted in severe attacks of coughing, inflaming her
+cheeks and transforming them from their hue of grainy red to violet. Yet
+I was profoundly gratified by that peal of laughter and that attack of
+coughing, considering them a pledge of unalterable friendship, and that
+I could count, in life and in death, upon her culinary accomplishments.
+On such occasions it was my duty to double my spine, shake my head, and
+laugh boisterously until Dame Ramona recovered herself. And I complied
+therewith religiously.
+
+"Ay, but how good it was yesterday, Don Julian!"
+
+"And why not to-day?"
+
+"Because yesterday was yesterday, and to-day is to-day."
+
+Before this invincible reason I grew serious, and a sigh escaped me.
+Dame Ramona went off in a fresh fit of laughter, followed by a
+corresponding attack of asthmatic coughing. When at last she recovered
+herself she finished washing the glass in her hands, and called to three
+or four sailors chatting in a corner:
+
+"Come, up with you! I am going to lock up."
+
+One of them ventured to say:
+
+"Wait a bit, Dame Ramona. We'll go when that gentleman does."
+
+The hostess, frowning grimly, volunteered in solemn accents:
+
+"This gentleman has come to eat some stewed tripe, and the table is set
+for him."
+
+Thereupon the customers, feeling the weight of this hint, and
+comprehending the gravity of the occasion, lost no time in rising to
+depart. Gazing at me for an instant with a mixture of respect and
+admiration they went out, wishing us good-night.
+
+"Well, Don Julian!" exclaimed Dame Ramona, her face brightening again,
+"that tripe of yesterday fairly was of a kind to make one's mouth water
+with delight."
+
+My face must have expressed the most profound despair.
+
+"And that of to-day--won't it do anything?" I inquired in tones of woe.
+
+"To-day--to-day--you will see for yourself."
+
+She waved her fat hand in a way calculated to leave me submerged in a
+sea of doubt.
+
+While she was giving the last touches to her work, I took some absinthe
+to prepare my stomach adequately for its task, at the same time
+meditating upon the serious words that I had heard.
+
+Would it, or would it not, be so well seasoned, piquant, and aromatic as
+my imagination depicted?
+
+But when I had seated myself at the table; when I saw the dish before me
+and felt its bland fragrance penetrating my nostrils, a ray of light
+illumining my brain dissipated that dark spectral doubt. My heart began
+to palpitate with inexplicable pleasure. I comprehended that the gods
+still held in reserve some moments of happiness in this world.
+
+Dame Ramona divined the emotion that overpowered my soul, and smiled
+with maternal benevolence.
+
+"What's that, Dame Ramona?" I exclaimed, pausing with my fork held
+motionless in the air. "Did you hear it?"
+
+"Yes, senor; I heard a scream."
+
+"It called 'Help!'"
+
+"Out on the wharf."
+
+"Another scream!"
+
+I threw down the fork and rushed to the door, followed by my hostess.
+When I opened it I heard a sound of incoherent lamentation.
+
+"My mother! Help! For God's sake! She is drowning!"
+
+In two jumps I leaped over the rampart between me and the wharf, and
+made out the figure of a woman waving her arms convulsively and uttering
+piteous screams.
+
+I saw what had happened, and, running to her, I asked:
+
+"Who has fallen in?"
+
+"My mother! Save her! Save her!"
+
+"Where?"
+
+"Here!"
+
+And she pointed out the narrow space in the water between a lighter and
+the wharf.
+
+Although narrow, it was too wide for me to reach the craft. I plucked up
+courage, however, and sprang for the rigging rather than the deck,
+managing to grasp a cable. In this way I dropped to the deck. Seizing
+the first rope I came across, I made it fast and slid down to the
+water's edge. Happily, the woman had also grasped the rope and so kept
+herself afloat. When I got to her I endeavored to seize her by the head.
+But only a wig remained in my hand! I made another attempt, and this
+time caught her arm. I drew her to the side of the vessel. Then I saw
+that it would be impossible to get her out without help. How could I
+climb the rope with one hand only? Fortunately the cries of the
+daughter, together with my own, aroused the crew of a lighter, composed
+of four sailors, and they easily got us out. There were some planks at
+hand, and so we reached the wharf with her and took her to an
+apothecary's near by, where she was at last restored to consciousness.
+
+While the apothecary was attending her, the daughter, pale and silent,
+bent over her, her face bathed with tears. She was a young lady of good
+stature, slender, pale, her hair black and wavy; her whole personality,
+if not of supreme beauty, attractive and interesting. She was dressed
+with elegance, her mother also; and I inferred that they were persons
+distinguished in the town. But one of the throng that had pressed into
+the shop informed me that they were strangers, and had been but a few
+days in Gijon.
+
+When I found that she was neither dead nor hurt to any serious extent,
+and feeling the chill of the bath penetrating me and making me shiver, I
+wished them good-night.
+
+The young lady raised her head, came towards me with animation, and
+seizing my hands cordially, looked into my eyes with tearful
+earnestness, and murmured with emotion:
+
+"Thank you, thank you, senor! I shall never forget this!"
+
+I gave her to understand that my service deserved no thanks; that
+anybody in my place would have done the same, as I sincerely thought.
+The only real sacrifice that I had made was that of the stewed tripe;
+but I did not say this, very naturally.
+
+When I reached the steamer and got into my room I felt so chilled that I
+feared a heavy cold, if not pneumonia. But I rubbed myself energetically
+with alcohol and wrapped myself so warmly in my bed that I wakened as
+usual in the morning, healthy and lively, and in excellent humor.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+
+When I had dressed myself, and after I had complied with my ordinary
+duties and looked after the carpenters repairing the damages from the
+fire, I thought of the lady who had been on the point of drowning the
+night before. In strict truth, the one whom I thought of was the
+daughter. Those eyes were of the kind that neither can be, nor should
+be, forgotten. And with the vague hope of seeing them again I went
+ashore and directed my steps towards the apothecary's.
+
+The druggist informed me that they were stopping at the Iberia. So I
+went to ask about the lady's condition.
+
+"Is it necessary that you should see them?" the chambermaid asked me.
+
+That was my desire, but I hardly ventured to say so. I told her it was
+not necessary, but I should like to know how they had passed the night.
+I was told that Dona Amparo (the old lady) had rested fairly well and
+that the doctor, who had just gone, found her better than he had
+expected. Dona Cristina (the young lady) was perfectly well. I left my
+card and went down stairs somewhat depressed. But I had no sooner
+reached the street floor than the chambermaid came after me and asked me
+to come back, saying that the ladies wished to see me.
+
+Dona Cristina came out into the corridor to meet me. She wore an elegant
+morning-gown of a violet color, and her black hair was half-imprisoned
+by a white cap with violet ribbons. Her eyes were beaming with delight
+and she held out her hand most cordially.
+
+"Good morning, Captain. Why were you avoiding the thanks we wished to
+give you? I had just finished a letter to you in which I expressed, if
+not all the gratitude we feel, at least a part. But it is better that
+you have come--and yet the letter was not wholly bad!" she added,
+smiling. "Although you may not believe it, we women are more eloquent
+with the pen than with the tongue."
+
+She took me into a parlor where there was an alcove whose glazed doors
+were shut.
+
+"Mamma," she called, "here is the gentleman who saved you, the captain
+of the _Urano_."
+
+I heard a melancholy murmuring, something like suppressed sighing and
+sobbing, with words between that I could not make out. I questioned the
+daughter with my eyes.
+
+"She says that she regrets extremely having caused you to risk your
+life."
+
+I replied in a loud tone that I had run no danger at all; but even if I
+had, I was simply doing my duty.
+
+Again there proceeded from the alcove various confused sounds.
+
+"She tells me to give you a tablespoonful of orange-flower extract."
+
+"What for?" I exclaimed in surprise.
+
+"She thinks that you also must have sustained a shock," explained Dona
+Cristina, laughing. "Mamma uses that remedy a great deal, and makes us
+all take it too. Just tell her that you are going to take it, and it
+will please her immensely."
+
+Before I could recover from my astonishment I did as Dona Cristina
+requested, and was immediately rewarded with a murmur of approval.
+
+"I have just given it to him, mamma," she announced, darting a
+mischievous glance at me. "Now you may feel at ease!"
+
+"Many thanks, senora," I called out. "I believe it will do me good, for
+I was feeling a bit nervous."
+
+Dona Cristina pressed my hand and struggled to keep from laughing. She
+said in a low voice:
+
+"Bravo! You are on the way to become a consummate actor."
+
+The strange and unintelligible sounds renewed themselves.
+
+"She asks if you have telegraphed to your wife, and advises you not to
+do so, as it might frighten her."
+
+"I have no wife. I am a bachelor."
+
+"Then to your mother," Dona Cristina had the goodness to interpret.
+
+"I have no mother, either; nor father, nor brothers or sisters. I am
+alone in the world."
+
+Dona Amparo, so far as I could understand, showed herself surprised and
+displeased at my lone condition, and invited me to change it without
+loss of time. She also added that a man like me was destined to make any
+woman happy. I do not know what qualities of a husband the lady could
+have observed in me, except facility in grasping and sliding down a
+cable. I responded that surely I desired nothing else; but up to now no
+occasion had presented itself. My life as a mariner, to-day in one
+place, to-morrow in another, the shyness of men like me who do not
+frequent society, and even the fact that I had not met a woman who
+really interested me--all this had impeded its realization.
+
+While saying this I fixed my gaze upon the smiling eyes of Dona
+Cristina.
+
+A sweet and fanciful thought thereupon came into my head.
+
+"Let us change the subject, mamma. Everyone follows his own pleasure,
+and if the Captain has not married it must be, of course, because he has
+not cared to."
+
+"Exactly," said I, smiling, and gazing at her fixedly, "I have not cared
+to marry up to the present, but I cannot say that I may not care to some
+day when least looked for."
+
+"Meanwhile we wish that you may be happy; that you may get a very
+handsome wife and a half-dozen plump children--lively and mischievous."
+
+"Amen," I exclaimed.
+
+The frankness and graciousness of the young lady were spontaneously
+attractive. I felt as much at ease with her as if I had known her for
+years. She invited me to seat myself on the sofa, seating herself there
+also, speaking low that her mother might rest, for the doctor had said
+that she had better not talk.
+
+I asked for the details of her mother's condition, and was told that she
+had suffered a slight contusion on the shoulder, which the doctor had
+said was of little account. She had also overcome the ill effects of the
+chill. The only thing to be feared was the nervous shock. Her mamma was
+very nervous; her heart troubled her, and nobody could say what might be
+the consequences of that terrible shock. I did my best to assuage her
+fears. Then to make conversation, I asked her if they were Asturians,
+although knowing that they were not, both from what the doctor had said,
+and because of their accent.
+
+"No, senor, we are Valencianas."
+
+"Really? Valencianas?" I exclaimed. "Then we are almost compatriots! I
+was born in Alicante."
+
+So we continued the talk in Valencian, with pleasure unspeakable on my
+part, and I think also on her part. She told me that they had been in
+Gijon only nine days, having come to visit a nun who was her mother's
+sister. They had had this intention for years, and had never carried it
+into effect before, on account of the length and discomfort of the
+journey. At last they had undertaken it, but unfortunately, it seemed,
+for it had nearly cost her mother her life. They were pleased with the
+country, although it seemed rather dull in comparison with their own.
+
+"O Valencia!" I exclaimed with ardor, "I who have visited the most
+remote regions of the earth and have been on so many diverse shores,
+have never found anything comparable to that land. There the sun does
+not rise in blood, as it does in the North, nor scorch as in Andalusia;
+its light is gently diffused in balmy and tranquil air. The sea does not
+terrify as it does here; it is bluer and its foam is whiter and lighter.
+There the birds sing with notes more dulcet and varied; there the breeze
+caresses at night as by day; there the delicious fruits, that in other
+parts are in season only in the heat of summer, are enjoyed the year
+around; there not only the flowers and the herbs have scent, the earth
+itself exhales a delicate aroma. There life is not sad and weary.
+Everything is gentle, everything serene and harmonious. And the
+tranquillity of Nature seems to be reflected in the profound gaze of the
+Valencian women."
+
+That of Dona Cristina, which was the most gentle and profound I had ever
+seen, sparkled with a certain mischievous delight.
+
+"Who would think, hearing you talk, that you were a sea-wolf! You speak
+like a poet. I am almost tempted to believe that you have contributed
+verses to the periodicals."
+
+"Oh, no!" I exclaimed, laughing. "I am an inoffensive poet. I never
+write either verses or prose; but you will pardon me for saying that
+those eyes of yours revived in my memory various beautiful things, all
+Valencian, and the poetry went to my head."
+
+Dona Cristina appeared to remain in suspense for a moment; she regarded
+me with more curiosity than gratification, and changing the conversation
+she asked graciously:
+
+"And the steamer that you are commanding--does she go to America?"
+
+"Only once in a while. Usually we run between Barcelona and Hamburg."
+
+"And your stop here is for several days?"
+
+"Just long enough to repair the damages from a little fire on board, day
+before yesterday."
+
+On my part, I asked how long they proposed to remained in Gijon.
+
+"We had been thinking of leaving the day after to-morrow and stopping
+some days in Madrid, where we expected to meet my husband; but now it is
+necessary to postpone going on account of what has happened. At all
+events, as soon as my mother has completely recovered herself and the
+doctor gives permission, we shall start."
+
+I must confess it although it may seem ridiculous--that "my husband"
+produced a strange sensation of chill and discouragement in me that I
+could scarcely succeed in hiding. How the devil had it not occurred to
+me that the young lady might be married? I cannot account for it to this
+day. And conceding it to be the case, why should the information cause
+such a bitter emotion when it concerned a person whom I was only just
+beginning to be acquainted with? I cannot account for that either. I am
+tempted to believe in the truth of what happens in the old comedies when
+the gallant is fired with love at first sight of the lady. If I was not
+on fire, at least I had on board all the materials for the fire.
+
+Nevertheless, reason soon asserted its supremacy. I comprehended the
+absurdity and the ridiculous character of my sensations, and, calming
+myself, I asked about her husband with natural and friendly interest.
+She told me that he was called Emilio Marti, and was one of the
+partners in the shipping house of Castell and Marti, whose steamers run
+to Liverpool. Moreover, he had various other lines of business, for he
+was an active and enterprising man. They had been married only two
+years.
+
+"And you have no family?"
+
+"Not as yet," she responded, blushing slightly.
+
+She went on to tell me that they were both born in Valencia, where they
+had always lived; through the winter in the city, Calle del Mar; in the
+summer time at their villa in Cabanal.
+
+I knew several of the Castell and Marti steamers. I spoke of my
+satisfaction in placing myself at the service of the wife of one of
+their owners.
+
+We talked a little longer. I was downcast and felt a desire to go. I
+managed to take my leave, but not without another dialogue with Dona
+Amparo with closed doors and an interpreter. On reaching the street my
+unfounded and even irrational depression was soon dissipated, as I
+talked with acquaintances and went about my affairs. But all through the
+day the figure of Dona Cristina was constantly present to my
+imagination. I adore women who are slender and white, with great black
+eyes. My friends used to tell me once that in order to suit my taste a
+woman must be in the last stage of phthisis. They were not far from
+right. My only love had been a consumptive, and she died when all the
+preparations were made for our marriage.
+
+The next day I held it to be in the line of my duty to go to the hotel
+to inquire about the ladies. Dona Cristina asked me in and received me
+with even greater cordiality, putting her finger to her lips and asking
+me to speak in whispers like herself, for her mother was sleeping. We
+seated ourselves on the sofa and chatted in low but lively tones. Dona
+Amparo was well, and required nothing but attention.
+
+"Moreover (I will tell you in confidence), until they have finished her
+wig she will not show herself outside her room."
+
+"Ah, the wig! Yes, I remember now."
+
+"Yes, you remember that you tore it off, wicked one!" she replied,
+laughing.
+
+"Senora, it was impossible to foresee! It is fortunate that I did not
+tear her head from her body."
+
+We both laughed heartily, forcing ourselves at the same time to laugh
+noiselessly. A moment later she said, in a way so natural that it
+pleased me immensely:
+
+"I am hungry, captain, and am going to have some breakfast. Will you not
+join me?"
+
+I thanked her and excused myself. But as I could not say that I had
+breakfasted she said that of course I must breakfast with her, and went
+out to give some orders. I felt delighted, and even if I should say
+enthusiastic it would not be an untruth. While the maid was getting the
+table ready in the room where we were, we continued our chat, our mutual
+confidence steadily growing. All through the breakfast she treated me
+with a cordiality so frank and hospitable that it quite charmed me. She
+cut bread and meat for me with her own hands and poured out wine and
+water. When I wanted a dish or a plate, with provincial simplicity she
+would jump up and take it from the sideboard without waiting for the
+maid.
+
+I told her jestingly of the grave occupation in which her cries had
+surprised me the night of the accident. She laughed heartily and
+promised to make it up to me when I came to Valencia, by cooking a
+paella for me by all the rules of the art.
+
+"Not that I have the mad presumption of expecting to make you forget the
+tripe of Senora Ramona. I shall be satisfied if you eat a couple of
+platefuls."
+
+"Why a couple? I perceive with sadness that you take me for a gross and
+material being. I hope to show you, in the course of time, that apart
+from these hours of tripe and snails, I am a man naturally
+spiritually-minded, poetic, and even, to some extent, delicate."
+
+She ridiculed this, piling up my plate in most scandalous style,
+inviting me not to dissimulate my true condition, but to eat as if she
+were not present.
+
+"Do not think of my being a lady. Fancy yourself breakfasting with a
+companion--the pilot, for instance."
+
+"I have not sufficient imagination for that. The pilot is squint-eyed
+and lacks two teeth."
+
+This lively and intimate chat intoxicated me more than the Bordeaux that
+she poured for me without ceasing. And her eyes intoxicated me more than
+the wine or the chat. Although we talked in whispers and checked our
+laughter, occasionally there escaped me an indiscreet note. Dona
+Cristina raised her finger to her lips. "Silence, Captain, or I shall
+have to sentence you to the corridor before you have half breakfasted."
+
+She asked me to tell her something about my life. I gratified her
+curiosity, relating my history, which was simple enough. We discussed
+the pleasures of a sailor's life, which she thought superior to those of
+any other.
+
+"I adore the sea, but the sea of my home above all. Here it makes me
+afraid and sad. If you could see how often I go to the window of our
+villa at Cabanal to look at it!"
+
+"But in Valencia I prefer the women to the sea," I remarked, having
+reached too lively a stage.
+
+"I can believe it," she responded, smiling. "Oh, they are very
+beautiful. I have a little cousin named Isabel who is truly perfection.
+What eyes that child has!"
+
+"Are they more beautiful than yours?" I asked presumptuously.
+
+"Oh, mine are of no account," she answered with a blush.
+
+"Of no account?" I questioned with astonishment. "Indeed, there are no
+others so bewitching on all this eastern coast, among all the beautiful
+ones that there abound. They are two stars of heaven! They are a happy
+dream from which one would never wish to awake!"
+
+She instantly became serious. She kept silence for a while, without
+raising her eyes from the tablecloth. Then she said with an affected
+indifference, not free from severity:
+
+"You have breakfasted fairly well, have you not? But on board the food
+is better than at hotels."
+
+I kept silent for a while, in turn. Without responding to her question,
+after a moment I said:
+
+"Pardon me. We sailors express ourselves too frankly. We are not versed
+in etiquette, but our intentions must excuse us. Mine were not to say
+anything impertinent."
+
+She was immediately mollified, and we continued our chat with the same
+cordiality until the end of the breakfast.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+
+I went back to the ship in a worse state than that of the day before.
+The lady occupied my thoughts more than was desirable for content or
+peace of mind. I went back again that afternoon and again the next day.
+Her interesting figure, her eyes--so black, so innocent, and so piquant
+at the same time, were rapidly penetrating my soul. And as always
+happens in such cases, her eyes first began to please me and then her
+voice began to enchant me; soon it was her fine hands, like alabaster; a
+little after that the soft veil of hair that adorned her temples;
+immediately thereupon, three little dimples in her right cheek. At last
+I found happiness in a certain defective way she had of pronouncing the
+letter R.
+
+These and other discoveries of like importance could not be made, it is
+evident, without due attention, all of which, instead of pleasing the
+lady, annoyed her visibly. She always received me cordially, but not
+with her former frankness of manner. I observed, not without pain, that
+in spite of the gayety and animation of her conversation she revealed a
+bit of disquiet in the depths, as if fearing that I might again say
+something unwelcome. While comprehending this, nevertheless I had not
+the force of will to stop gazing at her more than I should.
+
+At last the wig was brought in secret to the hotel. Dona Amparo tried it
+on in the most absolute privacy; she found it imperfect. It was returned
+to the hands of its maker; various changes were effected in it without
+either the public or the authorities becoming aware of the fact, and
+after various trials equally secret the good lady emerged as fresh and
+juvenile as if my sinful hands had never attacked her charms. For in
+spite of all--that is, in spite of the wig, of years, and of
+obesity--Dona Amparo had not completely lost her charms.
+
+They invited me to take a drive with them through the environs of the
+city. The pleasure with which I accepted may be imagined. On reaching
+the country we alighted, and for an hour we feasted our eyes upon that
+smiling and splendid landscape. I found myself happy, and this happiness
+incited me to show towards Dona Cristina great deference and gentleness
+of speech. I felt impelled to say to her everything beautiful and
+interesting that occurred to me. But she, as if divining these perverse
+tendencies of my tongue, curbed it with tact and firmness, asking me
+some indifferent question whenever there seemed to be any danger of my
+uttering something indiscreet, leaving me with her mamma while she went
+on ahead, or taking pains to make her mother talk. This did not
+dishearten me. I was so stupid, or so indiscreet, that in spite of these
+clear signals I still persisted in seeking pretexts for directing
+various whiffs of incense towards her. I declare, however, that I did
+not think I was acting the gallant. I believed in good faith that such
+obsequiousness and such flatteries were legitimate; for we Spaniards
+from remote antiquity have arrogated to ourselves the right of telling
+all pretty women that they are pretty, without other consequences. But
+she cast doubts upon the correctness of such a proceeding. That these
+doubts were not ill-founded I see clearly enough, now that the mist of
+my sentiments has been completely dissipated and I read my soul as in an
+open book.
+
+It chanced that that same afternoon, on our way back to the city, seeing
+the numerous and handsome country houses that we passed, Dona Cristina
+remarked:
+
+"Our place at Cabanal is very charming, but not sumptuous. My husband is
+not satisfied with it; he wants something better."
+
+"He wants something better?" I cried without stopping to think. "But if
+I were your husband, I could desire nothing!"
+
+The lady kept silence for a moment, turned her face towards the window
+to look at the road, and murmured ironically,--
+
+"Well, sir; let us have patience."
+
+I believe that not only my cheeks, my forehead, and my ears turned
+scarlet, but even the whites of my eyes. For several minutes I felt on
+my face the impression of two red-hot bricks. I did not know what to
+say, and seeking escape from my embarrassment I turned to the other
+window and remained in ecstatic contemplation of the landscape. Dona
+Amparo, who had remarked nothing, spoke in response to her daughter's
+observation:
+
+"Emilio is a very good man, very industrious, although somewhat
+fantastic."
+
+"How is he fantastic?" exclaimed Cristina, turning sharply, as if
+struck. "Because he desires what is better, more beautiful, and seeks to
+acquire it? That shows rather his good taste and good will. For if the
+world did not have men who aspired to perfection, who always see a
+'farther on' and who take steps to approach it, neither these handsome
+country houses nor others still better, nor any of the comforts that we
+enjoy to-day would exist. The idlers, the spendthrifts, and the poor in
+spirit ridicule such ideas so long as they are not realized; but when
+the hour comes that the ends aimed at can be seen and touched, they shut
+themselves up in their houses and refuse to congratulate those who made
+it possible because they do not care to confess their stupidity. Then
+you know well that Emilio, however 'fantastic,' has never had the
+fantasy to think of himself; that all his efforts are devoted to give
+pleasure and prosperity to his family, to his friends, and to his
+neighbors, and that all his life up to now has been a constant sacrifice
+for others."
+
+Dona Amparo, during this vehement discourse, showed herself strangely
+affected. I was astonished to see her stammer, rub her eyes, grow red in
+the face, and fall backward as if in a swoon.
+
+"I--is it possible?--my son!"
+
+Uttering these incoherent words, she swayed, then seemed to lose all
+sense of the external world. To restore her to consciousness it was
+necessary for her daughter to bathe her temples with eau de Cologne and
+apply sal-volatile to her nostrils. When at last she opened her eyes
+there burst forth a flood of tears that flowed down her cheeks and
+poured into her lap like a copious rain, some of which moistened my
+coat. At these symptoms Dona Cristina again opened the little satchel
+that she carried, that I could see contained numerous little flasks. She
+took one of these, together with a lump of sugar, and moistened the
+latter with several drops of liquid. She thrust the sugar into her
+mother's mouth; that lady gradually recovered her senses and at last was
+conscious of her whereabouts and of who was with her.
+
+On my part, being the indirect cause of the unfortunate scene, I
+understood that nothing would be more suitable than for me to throw
+myself out of the carriage window, even though I should fracture my
+head; but imagining that the results of such a procedure might be too
+melancholy, I hit upon a decorous substitute by biting at the head of my
+cane and staring into vacancy. Dona Cristina did not choose to take
+cognizance of these tragic manifestations, but they so penetrated the
+heart of her mamma that the latter seized my hands convulsively,
+murmuring occasionally:
+
+"Ribot! Ribot! Ribot!"
+
+Fearing that she might again enter into the world of the unconscious, I
+hastened to take the flask of salts and hold it to her nose.
+
+The rest of the way back, heaven be praised! was traversed without
+further mishap, and I made desperate efforts to have my foolishness
+forgotten and forgiven, talking with all formality about various things,
+principally of those most to the taste of Dona Cristina. At length I was
+rewarded by seeing her bright face again unclouded and her eyes
+expressing their accustomed frank joyousness. And, prompted by her
+humor, she even went so far as to make gracious fun of her mamma.
+
+"Did you know, Captain Ribot, that mamma never swoons except when she is
+with the family, or among persons in whom she confides? The greatest
+proof of the sympathy with which you inspire her is that which she has
+just given."
+
+"Cristina! Cristina!" exclaimed Dona Amparo, half smiling, half
+indignant.
+
+"Now, be frank, mamma! If Captain Ribot has not won your confidence, how
+is it you ventured to faint away in his presence?"
+
+Dona Amparo decided to laugh, giving her daughter a pinch. When we
+parted at the hotel door they invited me to breakfast with them the next
+day, they having decided to leave for Madrid on the day after that.
+
+It could no longer be doubted; if I was not in love I was on the way to
+be, with a fair wind and all sails set. Why was it that this woman had
+impressed me so profoundly in so short a time? I do not think it was
+merely her figure, although it coincided with the ideal type of beauty
+that I had always adored. If I had fallen in love with all the white and
+slender women with dark eyes that I had met in the course of my life,
+there would not have remained any time to do anything else. But she had
+a special attractiveness, at least for me, which consisted in a singular
+combination of joyousness and gravity, of sweetness and brusqueness, of
+daring and timidity, alternately reflected in her expressive
+countenance.
+
+The next day, at the appointed time, I presented myself at the hotel.
+Dona Cristina was in most delightful humor and let me know that we were
+to breakfast alone, for her mother had not slept well the night before
+and was still in bed. This filled me with selfish satisfaction,
+observing her merry mood. Before going to the table she served me an
+appetizer, graciously ridiculing me.
+
+"Since you always have such a delicate appetite, and look so
+languishing, I have ordered something bitter for you, to see if we
+cannot give a little tone to that stomach of yours."
+
+I fell in with the jest.
+
+"I am in despair. I comprehend that it is ridiculous to have such a
+ready appetite, but I am a man of honor and I confess it. One time when
+I attempted to conceal it I missed my reckoning. One of my passengers
+was a certain very charming and spirituelle lady towards whom I felt
+somewhat favorably disposed. I could think of no better means to inspire
+her interest than to feign an absolute lack of appetite, naturally
+accompanied by languor and poetic melancholy. At table I refused the
+greater part of the dishes. My nourishment consisted of tapioca, vanilla
+cream, some fruit, and much coffee. Then I complained of weakness, and
+ordered glasses of sherry with biscuit. Of course I suffered terribly
+from hunger; but I overcame it finely in solitude. The lady became
+enthusiastic; she professed for me a profound and sincere admiration,
+and despised for their grossness all those at the table who were served
+with more solid nutriment. But, alas! there came a moment when she
+unexpectedly came down into the dining-saloon and surprised me feasting
+on cold ham. That ended the affair. She never spoke another word to me."
+
+"She did right," said Dona Cristina, with a laugh. "Hypocrisy is
+something more shameful than a good appetite."
+
+We began our breakfast, and I gave her to understand that now that she
+so abhorred hypocrisy I proposed to proceed with all possible frankness.
+
+"That is right! Entirely frank!" And she served me an enormous ration of
+omelette.
+
+We went on chatting and laughing in undertones, but Dona Cristina did
+not neglect to serve me with fabulous quantities of food, greater, in
+truth, than my gastric capacity. I wanted to decline, but she would not
+permit it.
+
+"Be frank, Captain! You have promised to be entirely frank."
+
+"Senora, this surpasses frankness. Anybody might call it grossness."
+
+"I do not call it so. Go on! Go on!"
+
+But soon, straightening herself back in her chair a bit, and assuming a
+solemn tone, she spoke:
+
+"Captain, I am now going to treat you as if you had not only saved my
+mother's life, but mine as well. At one and the same time I wish to pay
+you for her life and my own."
+
+My eyes opened widely without my comprehending the significance of such
+words. Dona Cristina rose from her chair and, going to the door, opened
+it wide. There appeared the maid with a big dish of stewed tripe in her
+hands.
+
+"Tripe!" I exclaimed.
+
+"Stewed by Senora Ramona," proclaimed Dona Cristina, gravely.
+
+The joke put me in better humor yet. But how short was the duration of
+that intoxicating delight! When we reached the dessert she informed me,
+perfectly naturally:
+
+"I have news for you. We are not going to-morrow. My husband is coming
+for us the day after."
+
+"Yes?" I exclaimed, with the expression of a man who is forced to talk
+under a shower bath.
+
+"Although the journey is a bit uncomfortable, coming and going again at
+once, he says that as mamma has probably not yet completely recovered
+from her shock he does not like to have us travel alone."
+
+Saying this, she took the letter from her pocket and proceeded to look
+it over. "He also tells me to give you a million thanks and is glad that
+he is to have a chance to give them to you in person."
+
+I was looking at the back of the letter, but I caught the words of the
+ending: "Adios, life of my soul," and it augmented the sadness of my
+mood. However, I expressed my satisfaction at the prospect of knowing
+Senor Marti so soon, but it required some effort to say so. As
+melancholy began to take possession of me, and as Dona Cristina was not
+slow in perceiving the fact, I found no better means of combating it
+than to take more cognac after my coffee than was prudent. This produced
+an exaltation that resembled, without being, joyousness. I chattered
+away, and must have uttered many ridiculous things and some of them wide
+of the mark, although I cannot remember. Dona Cristina smiled
+benevolently. But when, for the fifth or sixth time, I took the decanter
+to pour out another thimbleful, she touched my arm, saying:
+
+"You are already exceedingly frank, Captain. I will free you from your
+word."
+
+"I am its slave, senora, at the cost of my life," I replied, laughingly.
+"But I will drink no more. I am resolved to obey you in this, as in
+everything you may command. But nevertheless," I continued, looking
+boldly into her eyes, "there are things that intoxicate more than cognac
+and all spirituous beverages."
+
+Dona Cristina's eyes fell and her fair face frowned. But instantly
+smiling, she said vivaciously:
+
+"But you must not intoxicate yourself in any fashion. I abhor
+drunkards."
+
+I did not wish to follow this advice; and though it is true I drank
+little more, I insisted upon gazing at the fascinating lady. I continued
+chatting like a dentist, and in the midst of my prattle I came near
+giving utterance to more than one endearing phrase; but Dona Cristina,
+ingeniously and prudently, cut these off before I had a chance to say
+them.
+
+We both rose from our seats. We went to the balcony to look at the
+traffic and movement on the wharf. With her permission, I was smoking a
+Havana cigar. As her beautiful head occupied my thoughts more than the
+traffic on the wharf, I noted that a little shell comb was falling out
+of her hair.
+
+"If I were this little comb I should be very content with my place. I
+would make no effort to escape."
+
+And boldly, with no thought of what I did, I raised my hand to her head
+and put the comb back in place.
+
+She turned as red as a cherry, her eyes fell, and she remained silent
+for several seconds; at last, looking me in the face with a lofty
+expression, she said in a changed tone:
+
+"Senor, I do not know what motive induces you to take any liberties with
+me. The service you have rendered us entitles you to my gratitude, but
+not to treat me without respect."
+
+My semi-intoxication was dissipated as by magic. It left me petrified
+and ashamed as I had never before been in my life and never expect to be
+again, and I scarcely had power to murmur a few words of excuse. I
+believe she did not hear them. She turned her back disdainfully and left
+the room.
+
+In about one moment afterwards there flashed through my mind an idea
+that did not lack a certain probability, that is to say, that I was
+superfluous in that place. And without waiting to examine it with
+sufficient attention in the light of reasonable and serious criticism, I
+put it immediately in practice, taking my hat and removing myself before
+any grass had a chance to grow under my feet.
+
+Though I was on shipboard and in the consignee's office and in other
+parts of the city, shame did not quit me all day long. It was fastened
+to my face with a red seal and I was unspeakably mortified. My friends
+laughed and murmured such words as "Martel tres estrellas," "Jamaica,"
+"Anis del Mono," and others which sounded like marks of liquors, but I
+knew what ailed me, and this increased my woe. On the next day, after
+washing and scrubbing myself energetically with soap, it seemed as if
+there were some bits of that red seal still adhering to my skin.
+
+Of course I did all I could to forget Dona Cristina and her so holy
+name, and seemed to succeed throughout the day. But at night her image
+would not leave my couch for a moment; it twitched my feet, it pulled my
+hair, and later, to make it up to me for these shocking tribulations, it
+gently inclined itself towards me and lightly touched my cheek with its
+lips.
+
+On awaking, a luminous idea attacked me. Marti was to arrive that day,
+and it was my unavoidable duty to go to meet him at the station: first,
+for courtesy's sake; second, to prevent his asking for me, and thereby
+causing his wife any agitation; third, because my absence would surprise
+Dona Amparo; fourth, because it was necessary not to reveal what had
+occurred; fifth--I do not know what the fifth reason was, but I have an
+idea that there was a fifth reason and that it had something to do with
+the mad desire that I felt to see Dona Cristina again.
+
+The mail train arrived in the afternoon. I therefore had sufficient time
+to think over the bother of such a step and to change my purpose. But
+after considering it in all its aspects and then considering it again
+and making infinite efforts for heaven to touch my heart, I still did
+not repent, and my feet conducted me to the station almost in spite of
+myself.
+
+On reaching the platform I saw my ladies talking with an employee.
+Availing myself of the prodigious diplomatic aptitude with which heaven
+had been so good as to favor me, I passed along behind them at a slow
+pace and profoundly absorbed in the contemplation of a pile of beets.
+
+"Ribot! Ribot!"
+
+I stopped, filled with astonishment. I turned my head to the southeast,
+then to the north, next to the northeast, and so on successively towards
+all the points of the compass until, after many unfruitful efforts, I
+succeeded in locating the direction from which the voice proceeded.
+
+"Oh, senoras!"
+
+I approached them, overflowing with astonishment, and seized the hand of
+Dona Amparo. I started to do likewise with Cristina and--did I not say
+before that this lady was distinguished by a white skin? The statement
+must be corrected. At that moment she might have been born in Senegal.
+
+I asked for her health without venturing to extend my hand, and she
+responded, looking in another direction.
+
+"How is this, Captain Ribot?" asked Dona Amparo. "All day yesterday you
+did not come, or to-day either."
+
+I excused myself, saying I had been occupied. Dona Amparo would not
+accept my explanation and talked to me fondly. This lady showed herself
+constantly more affectionate and amiable towards me. While we were
+talking, Dona Cristina did not open her lips. I felt hurt and confused.
+I did not venture to look her in the face, but observed her from the
+corner of my eye and noted that her face, instead of recovering its
+ordinary aspect, became more and more cloudy. Her eyes persisted in
+gazing in the opposite direction from where I stood.
+
+Dona Amparo, not remarking anything, monopolized the conversation. On my
+part, I spoke little and incoherently. My having come at all was
+weighing me down fearfully, and I had an impulse to leave under some
+pretext, without awaiting the arrival of Marti. But before I could make
+up my mind the station-guard sounded his trumpet announcing the train.
+So it was no longer possible to go without grave discourtesy.
+
+The train came into the station, and among the goodly number of heads
+that suddenly showed themselves at the car windows the eyes of Dona
+Cristina discovered that of her husband.
+
+"Emilio!" she cried joyfully.
+
+"Cristina!" he replied in a like tone.
+
+And without waiting for the train to come to a full stop he leaped out
+and embraced and kissed her effusively. But she, blushing like a
+schoolgirl, and at the same time smiling with pleasure, brusquely freed
+herself from his arms.
+
+"Always the same!" he exclaimed, laughing heartily, as he extended his
+hand to his mother-in-law.
+
+She, however, was not satisfied with his hand and seized him by the head
+like a child and kissed him repeatedly, asking with hearty interest
+about his journey as he inquired about her health.
+
+While they were talking I maintained a respectful distance from the
+group. And then it was that Dona Cristina turned her eyes towards me
+with a friendly smile, at the same time beckoning me to approach. That
+unexpected smile caused me such pleasure and surprise that I could
+scarcely hide my feelings. I hastened to obey.
+
+"He saved mamma!" she said, with a little emphasis, presenting me to her
+husband.
+
+He grasped my hands affectionately, expressing boundless thanks. He was
+a man of twenty-eight or thirty years, tall, slender, pale-faced and
+black-eyed, his beard also black, silky, and abundant; a Levantine type,
+like his wife--but delicate and fragile, at least in appearance.
+
+"Thanks to his bravery, we are not mourning a misfortune to-day,"
+continued the lady.
+
+"Senora!" I exclaimed, "the action was of no merit whatever. Any passing
+sailor would have done the same."
+
+But she, paying no attention, went on to relate what happened with all
+details, exaggerating my conduct.
+
+This panegyric from her mouth, after what had happened, caused me more
+shame than pleasure. I felt the pangs of remorse, and what at first had
+seemed to me a slight imprudence now appeared a lack of delicacy.
+
+Returning to the town I left them at the hotel door, refusing to stop
+with them, in spite of Marti's insistence. In these first moments the
+presence of a stranger might be unwelcome. But I agreed to take coffee
+with him that evening at the Suizo. I hoped that he might bring his
+wife, for she enjoyed taking a walk after dinner.
+
+But the hope was not realized. Marti came alone, saying that his wife
+was fatigued and indisposed. I thought this a pretext, and it made me
+sad. Perhaps that first moment had exhausted her effusive gratitude, and
+distrust and rancor had returned to her heart.
+
+In less than an hour, Marti and I were excellent friends. He struck me
+as a sympathetic person, of open nature, affectionate, cheerful, and
+candid. The hundred affairs that occupied him did not leave him much
+time to give to any one thing. In his conversation he sped lightly from
+one affair to another, but showed himself ever wide-awake and energetic.
+I let him talk, observing him with intense curiosity. The impression
+from that first conversation that best remains with me was his fashion
+of rumpling his wavy hair, running his fingers back through it after
+the manner of a comb, and giving a little cough when about to express
+some idea that he deemed important. This mannerism, which in another
+might perhaps seem ridiculous, had in him a gracious effect, boyish and
+attractive. I cannot clearly express the sentiments that Marti inspired
+in me at that time. They were an indefinable mixture of sympathy and
+repugnance, of curiosity and jealousy, which can be accounted for only
+by one who has found himself in a situation analogous to mine.
+
+The _Urano_ was to weigh anchor the next day at flood-tide in the
+afternoon. In the morning I presented myself at the hotel to take leave
+of my new friends. Marti and his mother-in-law warmly expressed their
+regret at my departure. Cristina did not make her appearance. She was
+shut in her chamber at her toilet, as I understood, and had not the
+kindness to have me asked to wait; on the contrary, she dismissed me so
+abruptly that she seemed to fear I might.
+
+"_Adios_, Captain Ribot!" she called from within. "Pardon me for not
+coming out; it is impossible at this moment. May you have a most happy
+voyage; and again you have a million thanks from me. We can never forget
+what you have done. A pleasant trip!"
+
+Marti urged me to breakfast with them, but I had much to do and
+declined. Moreover, I must confess I felt so melancholy that I wanted
+to get into the street. He, as well as Dona Amparo, offered me a
+thousand inducements to run down to Valencia on my return to Barcelona,
+where the steamer always stayed for eight or ten days. He, as well as
+his wife, would take great pleasure in entertaining me at their home. I
+was obliged to promise to do so, but with the definite intention of not
+complying.
+
+It was always difficult to get away from the ship; and the coldness of
+Dona Cristina gave me no encouragement to make such a visit.
+
+In the afternoon Marti came on board to press my hand once more before
+my departure. He again urged me cordially not to fail to make them a
+visit. Again I made the promise, with the mental reservation already
+mentioned. We finally bade each other a most affectionate farewell and I
+put to sea, continuing my voyage to Hamburg.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+
+Not until I found myself on the bridge of my steamer, between the sky
+and the sea, could I take account of the impression that the wife of
+Marti had made upon me. How many hours I have passed that way, in the
+solitude of the ocean, given over to my thoughts! Seldom have they been
+sad. My life, after the profound grief caused by the death of my
+fiancee, of which I have spoken, has generally had a tranquil, if not
+happy, course.
+
+I was born in Alicante, my father a seafarer. In my school days I showed
+a fondness for study. My father would have desired me to become a lawyer
+or a physician; anything rather than a sailor. But I found such careers
+prosaic, and impelled by the romanticism natural to youth, and to my
+somewhat dreamy and fanciful temperament, I preferred that calling. My
+father agreed to this with apparent reluctance, but was, perhaps,
+pleased in reality by the appreciation that I showed for his own
+profession. I soon learned navigation, and made two voyages to Cuba. But
+my only sister having died and my mother feeling rather lonely, I felt
+obliged to stay at home and lead the life of a young gentleman of
+leisure. Nobody was surprised at this. As my father was said to have
+amassed a reasonable fortune, I was to a good degree exempt from the
+hard law of toil.
+
+A few years later I fell in love. My marriage was arranged and would
+have taken place had not Matilde, as she was named, been taken ill. Her
+recovery was hoped for, but hoping and hoping, the good and beautiful
+girl passed from life. My grief was so intense that my health and even
+my reason were threatened. My parents could find no more adequate remedy
+than to send me to sea again. I agreed with indifference. Now I went as
+second officer in a steamer of the same company in which my father was
+employed. After a few months my father was crippled by rheumatism, and
+while he was undergoing treatment the owners placed me temporarily in
+command of the _Urano_. Unfortunately he could not resume his place;
+after dragging out a painful existence for some time he died. My mother
+would have liked me to forsake the sea and again live leisurely at home
+with her; but I had grown so accustomed to the sea, to the varied and
+active existence of the navigator, to-day in one port, to-morrow in
+another, that I could not be persuaded to forsake it. On board of my
+steamer, therefore, to which I had become greatly attached, I reached my
+thirty-sixth birthday. My mother died, and a little later the incident
+took place that I have just related.
+
+I have said that when alone with my thoughts I comprehended that Dona
+Cristina had taken too much possession of them. Her image floated before
+me like a dream. That look, now grave, now roguish, of her black eyes;
+that impressionable shyness, her blushing like a schoolgirl in contrast
+with her gracious self-possession; then her facile forgiveness, and the
+repressed tenderness that she showed for her husband--all tended to
+idealize her. But more than anything, I confess, my own temperament
+contributed to this, and the solitude in which the mariner passes most
+of his time. After the death of Matilde no true love had ever occupied
+my heart again. Idle affairs, adventures for a few days, amused me along
+various degrees of the scale. And so I had come to see the first gray
+threads in my beard and hair. But my romantic nature, although dormant
+in the depths of my heart, was by no means dead. The adventures in
+folly, the coarse pleasures of the seaports, far from choking that
+tendency, encouraged its revival. I never felt more thoughtful and
+melancholy than after one of those affairs. To recover my equilibrium, I
+would stretch out under the awning with a book in my hands; filling my
+lungs with the pure sea air and opening my soul to the ideas of the
+great poets and philosophers, peace and joy would return. Reading has
+always been the supreme resource of my life, the most efficacious balm
+for its troubles.
+
+The adventure with Dona Cristina transported me to complete ideality,
+and I breathed the atmosphere wherein I found myself most sane and
+happy. So I occupied myself with pleasurable thoughts about her, without
+considering that unhappy consequences might follow. Many a time, when a
+pretty young woman had crossed my path in port, I would afterwards
+tenaciously hold her image in my mind's eye. Again, in the solitude of
+the sea, fancy would evoke her, I would imagine her in diverse
+situations, I would make her talk and laugh, I would make her grow angry
+and weep, and would endow her with a thousand charming qualities. And in
+the companionship of this phantasm I would pass happy days, until on
+arrival in port it would dissolve or be replaced by another.
+
+So now I attempted to do the same. But I could not succeed, even
+partially. Dona Cristina had not fleetingly passed me by like many other
+handsome women. The impression that she had left with me was much
+deeper; she had stirred nearly every fibre of my being. Instead of
+representing her as I chose, I saw her as she had appeared in reality.
+And again I felt the shame and the sadness that she had made me
+experience. On the other hand, her condition as a married woman deprived
+my dreams of the innocence that they had had on former occasions; it
+tinged them with a sombre shade that was little pleasing to my
+conscience.
+
+I therefore determined to clear my mind of these thoughts. I sought to
+distract myself from such imaginings, to forget the beautiful
+Valenciana, and recover my peace. Thanks to my efforts, and even more to
+my prosaic occupations, I succeeded. But on skirting the eastern coast
+on my return trip from Hamburg, when I doubled the cape of San Antonio
+and there spread before my view the incomparably lovely plain that holds
+Valencia and surrounds it with its garden of eternal verdure like a
+brooch of emerald, the image of Dona Cristina appeared to me in form
+more ideal, more seductive than ever; it took possession of my
+imagination never to leave it again.
+
+I do not know how it was, but the day after arriving at Barcelona I
+hastily adjusted the most important matters, left the ship in charge of
+the first officer, and took the train for Valencia. I arrived at dusk,
+went to a good hotel, dined, changed my clothes, and made the most
+careful toilette I had ever made in my life. Then I went out to look up
+the house of Marti.
+
+Not until then did I take account of the folly I had committed. I well
+knew that Marti would receive me with open arms, and would be delighted
+at my visit. But what would his wife think of it? Would she not suspect
+that its motive was an interested one, and put herself on her guard? The
+idea that she might think that I sought payment in annoying gallantry
+for my service at Gijon was abhorrent. I was tempted to return to the
+hotel, go to bed, and leave the next day without letting anybody know
+that I was in Valencia. Nevertheless, an irresistible impulse pressed me
+to see her again. An instant, only for an instant, to engrave her image
+most profoundly in my soul and then to go away and dream of it through
+all my life!
+
+Walking slowly I came to the Plaza de la Reina, the most central and
+lively place in the city. The night was serene, the air warm, the
+balconies were open; before the cafes people were sitting outdoors. And
+to think that there in Hamburg I had left the poor Germans shivering
+with cold! I took a seat under the awning of the Cafe del Siglo, as much
+for the sake of calming myself as to wait until they had finished supper
+at the house of Marti. When I thought it was time, I entered the Calle
+del Mar, which was near by. I followed its course, agitated and joyous,
+and stopped before the number that Marti had indicated. It was one of
+the most sumptuous houses of the street, elegant, of modern
+construction, with a high principal story, crowned by a handsome upper
+story. The great portal was adorned by statues and plants and
+illuminated by two clusters of gaslights. One of the windows was open
+and at that moment there escaped the lively notes of a piano. "Is it she
+who is playing?" I asked myself with emotion. I enjoyed the music for a
+moment, and at last approached the door. The porter called a servant,
+whom I told that I wished to see his master on urgent business. I was
+shown into the office. Marti appeared without delay. What a cry of
+surprise! what a cordial embrace he gave me! Then taking me through a
+corridor, speaking to me meanwhile in a whisper that his wife might not
+fail to be surprised, he ushered me into a room full of people.
+
+"Cristina, here comes the bad man!"
+
+She was at the piano. At the sound of her husband's voice she turned her
+head; her eyes met mine. She instantly turned them away and back to the
+piano just as quickly, as if she had seen something sad or alarming. But
+controlling herself almost in the same moment, she rose, and, advancing
+towards me with a forced smile, she extended her hand.
+
+"I am very glad to see you, Captain Ribot. We are immensely pleased to
+have you visit us."
+
+I felt my heart constricted, and I could not help responding with a
+certain carelessness:
+
+"There is no occasion for such feeling. It is entirely casual. I had
+some business to look after in Valencia and on that account you see me
+here."
+
+Marti embraced me anew.
+
+"I am enchanted with the rude frankness of you sailors! That is just the
+way to speak! Away with these conventional lies that deceive nobody and
+simply serve to show what actors we are. The main thing is that we have
+you here and that your visit gives us genuine pleasure."
+
+Then turning to the company he added, not without a certain emphasis:
+
+"Senores, I present you to the captain of the _Urano_. I have nothing
+more to say."
+
+An extraordinarily lean young man approached to give me his hand. His
+skin was rough and weather-marked, as if he had come from long and
+painful labors in the sun. He was prematurely bald, and from his mouth
+there depended an enormous pipe stuffed with tobacco. He was dressed
+with elegance, though a little carelessly.
+
+"My brother-in-law, Sabas."
+
+He was followed by a person of about the age of Marti, more or less,
+tall rather than short, blonde, his mustache small and silky, his skin
+flaccid, most carefully shaven. He was likewise fashionably dressed, and
+with a care that contrasted with the negligence of the other.
+
+"My intimate friend and partner, Don Enrique Castell."
+
+These were the only men present. I was next taken before Dona Amparo,
+who was working at her crochet, seated in a crimson-velvet chair; I was
+then presented to the wife of his brother-in-law, a plump little woman,
+round-faced, blonde, and blue-eyed, sitting on a divan and at work with
+an embroidery frame on her lap. Beside her was a young girl of seventeen
+years whose face of admirable correctness, soft and ivory-like, had the
+same expression of timid innocence as the virgins of Murillo. She was
+the daughter of a white-haired lady with an aquiline nose and severe and
+imposing physiognomy, seated beside a gilded table with a newspaper in
+her hands. Marti presented me to her as his Aunt Clara, a cousin of his
+mother-in-law.
+
+The entire company welcomed me most kindly, particularly Dona Amparo,
+who with tearful eyes seized both my hands, retaining them until the
+excess of her emotion obliged her to drop them in order to raise her
+handkerchief to her eyes. The conversation first turned upon the mishap
+of that lady. My conduct was eulogized to a degree that put me to shame
+and made me uneasy, and they discussed the causes of the accident. The
+brother-in-law of Marti, with voice cavernous and husky, perhaps from
+abuse of tobacco, bitterly censured the conduct of the authorities of
+Gijon for not having properly lighted the wharf. I replied that almost
+all wharves were lighted in the same way, since they were not intended
+for purposes of public pleasure but for the loading and unloading of
+merchandise. He insisted upon his position, showing that in all maritime
+cities the wharves are places of recreation. I replied that in that case
+people must look out for themselves. Marti cut short the dispute by
+asking me to what hotel I had gone, that he might send for my luggage.
+In vain I opposed his doing so. Seeing that he felt hurt by my refusal I
+gave way at last, all the more since the entire family joined in urging
+me.
+
+In the meantime Cristina played the piano with careless fingers, talking
+all the while with her sister-in-law. She was elegantly dressed in a
+loose crimson gown beneath whose folds were revealed the lines of coming
+maternity. Whenever I could I gazed at her with intense attention. And
+when she observed it she seemed restless and nervous, and took pains
+that her eyes should not meet mine. Marti went out to give some orders
+about my chamber. His friend and partner, who had kept silent, reclining
+negligently in an easy-chair with legs crossed, began to ask me various
+questions about my voyages, the fleet of steamers, the ports where we
+touched, and everything relating to the commerce in which the ships of
+our line were engaged. The talk acquired the character of an
+examination, for Castell showed that he knew as much as I did, or more,
+about such things. He had travelled much, knew two or three languages
+perfectly, and on his travels had not only gained knowledge useful in
+commercial affairs but a multitude of ethnographic, historical, and
+artistic facts that I was far from possessing. He was a really
+accomplished man, but I could not help noting that he was fond of
+exhibiting his learning, that he carefully rounded his periods in his
+talk and listened to himself, and that, without lacking in courtesy, he
+did not conceal his slight appreciation of the opinions of others. On
+the whole the man was not congenial to me, although I recognized his
+excellent qualities. He had a voice clear and mellow like a preacher,
+with grave and noble gestures that enabled him to display his hand,
+which was short and beautiful, and ornamented with rings.
+
+Marti returned, and his Aunt Clara, without giving up her newspaper,
+questioned him.
+
+"How is it with olives, now, Emilio? Have they not risen twenty centimos
+this week?"
+
+"Yes, aunt, I am informed that they have risen and will rise still
+further."
+
+"It couldn't be otherwise," she exclaimed in triumphant tones. "I told
+Retamoso so last month, and he paid no attention to me. He is obstinate,
+like a good Galician, and so short-sighted in business that he can
+scarcely see the length of his nose. If it weren't for me, I believe
+that he would soon go into bankruptcy."
+
+The voice of the lady was vibrant and powerful; her sculptural head
+raised itself so proudly when she spoke, her aquiline nose was held so
+high, and her eyes flashed so imposingly that in her presence one might
+fancy himself transported to the heroic age of the Roman republic.
+Cornelia, the mother of the Gracchi, could not have been more severe and
+majestic.
+
+Marti coughed, to avoid replying, desiring neither to contradict his
+aunt nor to offend his uncle.
+
+"And what do you say to the fall in cocoa?" she continued, with the
+heroic accent that might be employed in asking a consul about a legion
+surprised and overwhelmed by the Gauls.
+
+Marti contented himself with shrugging his shoulders.
+
+"Yet he had the assurance to deny that it is anything serious," she
+continued with increasing scorn. "It could only be hid from a man of the
+narrowest, most limited judgment, altogether unadapted to ventures in
+the wholesale trade. When I saw the Ibarra steamers arriving, loaded
+with Guayaquil, I said to myself, 'Yes, indeed, this staple is bound to
+fall.'"
+
+"Uncle Diego knows how to tell where the shoe pinches, all the same,"
+Marti ventured to remark.
+
+"Yes, indeed! Behind a counter, selling cheese and codfish by the
+quarter pound, he would be invaluable. But as a man of business he is a
+good-for-nothing; it is only because I have taken the trouble to think
+for the two of us that we have been able to get where we are."
+
+At this moment there appeared in the doorway a short stout man, of a
+pale complexion, bald, with small eyes, who greeted those present with a
+pronounced Galician accent.
+
+"Good evening! How do you do?"
+
+"Hola! Uncle Diego! How do you do, Retamoso?"
+
+Dona Clara, caught in the act, turned her eyes again to her periodical,
+without abating an atom of her dignity.
+
+Her husband, who, so far as could be seen, had heard nothing, shook
+hands with those about him, kissed his daughter, and coming over to his
+wife, said to her in affectionate tones:
+
+"Don't read at night, wife! Now, you know you are trying your eyes."
+
+Dona Clara took no notice. Retamoso, turning to the others, declared
+with profound conviction:
+
+"She never can be idle. Isabelita, my daughter, entreat your mamma not
+to read! Now, you know that she does too much. When she is not reading,
+she is casting up accounts; when not casting up accounts, she goes down
+to the warehouse to make out bills; when not making out bills, she
+writes letters; when not writing letters, she speaks English with the
+Ricartes's governess. Hers is a wonderful head! I don't understand how
+she is able to do so many things in turn, without being either disturbed
+or fatigued."
+
+I owe it to Dona Clara to say that she seemed suspicious of this
+panegyric, for instead of acknowledging it and showing herself gratified
+by it, she made the gesture of an offended queen.
+
+"I do not disturb myself for such little things, dear, because I have
+trained myself in a manner different from the women of your province. If
+there they still go on spinning by the fireside, in the rest of the
+world they hold a more brilliant position. Here is a sailor," she added,
+indicating me, "who has travelled much, and can confirm this."
+
+I bowed and murmured some courteous phrases.
+
+"Well, all this does not hinder my admiring your ability," went on
+Retamoso in a tone of exaggerated adulation. "Does not all the world
+know it in Valencia? Am I to be the only one who does not, or pretends
+not to know it? How many women might be educated like you, and yet not
+have the capacity to accomplish in a month what you do in a day!"
+
+"Tell me, Ribot," queried Dona Clara, addressing me as if she had not
+heard her husband, who went on murmuring flattering phrases, opening
+his eyes wide and arching his eyebrows to express the admiration which
+possessed him, "among all the many ports that you have visited, have you
+not met women with as much business faculty as men, or more?"
+
+"I have known some women at the head of powerful commercial houses,
+directing with much wisdom, carrying on correspondences in several
+languages, and keeping their books with perfect exactitude. But--I
+confess freely that a woman engaging in industrial speculations, or
+inclined to politics or business, appears to me like a princess with a
+taste for selling matches and newspapers in the streets."
+
+"What's this!" exclaimed Dona Clara, throwing up her Roman head. "Then
+you believe that the position of woman is nothing more than that of a
+domestic animal, caressed or beaten by man, according to his caprice?
+Woman should, in this view, remain always in complete ignorance, without
+studying, without instruction!"
+
+"Let her be instructed as much as she likes," I replied, "but in my
+notion woman has no need of learning anything, because she knows
+everything----"
+
+"Just so!" interrupted Retamoso with enthusiasm. "That has always been
+my opinion. Isabelita," he went on, turning to his daughter, "have I
+not said to you a thousand times that your mamma knows everything before
+having to learn it?"
+
+I saw a smile flit over Marti's lips. Cristina rose from the piano where
+she had been sitting and went out of the room.
+
+"I do not understand what you wish to say," declared Dona Clara, with a
+certain acerbity.
+
+"Women who know how to make us happy, make happiness for themselves
+also. What other knowledge can equal this upon the earth? The toils of
+men, the callings conquered by civilization, go to achieve slowly and
+painfully what woman performs at once and without endeavor, making life
+more supportable, and alleviating its woes. Being, as she is, the
+repository of charity and of the gentle and beneficent sentiments, she
+guards in her heart the secret of the destiny of humanity, and transmits
+it by heredity and education to her sons, contributing to progress in
+this way more truly than ourselves."
+
+"That is more gallant than exact," interrupted Castell, impertinently.
+"Woman is not the repository of progress, and has contributed nothing to
+it. You may study the history of the arts, the sciences, and the
+industries, and you will not find a single useful discovery that we owe
+to the genius or the industry of a woman. This demonstrates clearly that
+her mind is incapable of elevation to the sphere wherein move the high
+interests of civilization. Woman is not the repository of progress. She
+is solely the repository of being; and as this is the case, two things
+only ought to be demanded of her, health and beauty."
+
+"You would be right," I replied, "if the unique phase of progress lay in
+useful discoveries. But there are others; and, as I understand them,
+more important ones--the brotherhood of man, the moral law. This is the
+true goal of the world."
+
+Castell smiled, and, without looking at me, said in a low voice:
+
+"For all that, I believe that I could name about fifty-seven other
+goals, if I know the world."
+
+And lifting his voice he added: "I have discussed life with many men,
+and I can declare that scarcely one has failed to assign his own
+especial goal to the world. Among clergymen it is the triumph of the
+Church; among democrats, political liberty; among musicians, music; and
+among dancers, the dance. And yet the poor world contents itself with
+existing, laughing once in a while at so much folly, and trampling
+everybody under foot as it goes its way."
+
+He paused and settled himself more comfortably in his arm-chair. I felt
+annoyed at those words, and especially at the scornful tone in which
+they were uttered. I was going to reply with energy, but Castell
+continued his discourse, tranquilly expounding his thoughts in a series
+of reasonings held together with logic, and expressed in elegant and
+precise fashion. I could not help admiring the varied qualities of his
+erudition, his penetrative talent, and, above all, the clarity and grace
+of his choice of words. Like submissive slaves, all of those in the
+dictionary came trooping to his tongue's end, to express his thoughts
+easily and harmoniously.
+
+His theories seemed strange and sad to me. The world bears its goal in
+its own existence. Morality is the result of especial conditions that
+life has unfolded for itself upon our planet. If the human race had been
+produced under conditions of life like those of the bees, it would be a
+duty for unmarried women to deal out death to their brothers, as the
+workers do. All manifestations of life, even to the highest, are ruled
+by instinct. The virtuous man, like the degenerate, is moved by an
+irresistible impulse of his nature. Morality, which the religious man
+admires as a divine revelation, is nothing more than an invention
+destined to satisfy this or that instinct.
+
+I really found myself without enough courage to contradict successfully
+his audacious assertions. My reading was wide, but desultory, as I had
+read more for entertainment than for instruction.
+
+Then, too, I had never cultivated expression; because my profession did
+not require it, and I wrestled with great difficulties whenever I tried
+to express my thoughts.
+
+Marti came to my aid, cutting off the discussion in a jocular fashion.
+
+"Do you know what is the destiny of woman according to my
+brother-in-law, Sabas?"
+
+All looked up, including the one spoken of.
+
+"Sewing on buttons."
+
+"I don't see why you say that," muttered Sabas, ill-humoredly, taking
+his pipe in his hand.
+
+"Why shouldn't I say it? There isn't a man in the Peninsula who has lost
+more buttons than you! Yet I could not mention one of having gone to
+your house and not finding Matilde sewing on some."
+
+Sabas muttered some unintelligible words.
+
+"What does _she_ say?" asked Marti.
+
+"Yes, he loses enough!" said the plump lady, laughing.
+
+But her husband, coloring, gave Marti a severe glance.
+
+"If he loses as many as there are in the world," interrupted Dona
+Amparo, from her little red-satin elbow-chair, "buttons are not
+everlasting, and I believe that my son would rather go like Adam than
+trouble others to sew on his buttons!"
+
+She spoke these words with emotion as if they were accusing her son of a
+fault.
+
+"Although he loses more than there are in the world, it is a matter of
+no importance, and not worth while for you to put yourself out about, or
+be vexed with us," replied Marti.
+
+"I am put out about it because it seems to me that everybody has a
+desire to find fault with my son. The poor fellow is always in disgrace.
+But until the day he dies his mother will always defend him!"
+
+She uttered these words with even more emotion. I saw with astonishment
+that she was preparing to weep.
+
+"But, mamma!" exclaimed her son-in-law.
+
+"But, mamma!" exclaimed her daughter-in-law.
+
+Both of them appeared contrite and concerned.
+
+"Such is my maternal passion, my children!" went on Dona Amparo,
+struggling not to weep. "I cannot help it! We all have faults in this
+world, but a mother is not able to endure those of her children. I
+suffer horribly when anyone points them out to me, and much more when it
+is a member of the family. Some such sad ideas come into my head! It
+seems to me that you do not care for--I believe that I could die content
+if I knew that you cared as much for one another as I care for you."
+
+Excess of emotion prevented her from saying more. She let her needlework
+fall upon her lap, leaned her forehead upon her hand, and seemed half
+ready to faint away.
+
+Her daughter-in-law hurried to bring her flask of salts, and she began
+to smell it. Marti also assisted, with filial solicitude. Both showered
+a thousand affectionate attentions upon her, soothing her and making
+excuses. Thanks more to their tender words, I think, than to the salts,
+the sensitive mother recovered her faculties. When these were restored,
+she tenderly kissed her daughter-in-law's brow and seized Marti's hand,
+begging pardon for having offended them.
+
+As I already knew a little of the character and whims of Dona Amparo, I
+was not surprised that Retamoso and his wife, Isabelita and Castell,
+paid scarcely any attention to this incident, and went on talking among
+themselves as if nothing had happened. Sabas, the cause of the disquiet,
+tranquilly smoked his pipe.
+
+As soon as he had calmed his mother-in-law, Marti invited me to come
+with him that he might show me the room intended for me. It was
+luxurious and elegant, exceedingly luxurious it seemed to me who had
+passed my life in the narrow confines of a ship's cabin, or in our
+modest dwelling at Alicante. When we reached this room, a maid was
+making ready my bed under the senora's inspection. As we entered unheard
+she was herself smoothing the sheets with her delicate hands. Our
+footsteps made her lift her head, and as if she had been caught doing
+something wrong, she seemed annoyed, relinquished her task, and said to
+the maid with an ill-tempered accent:
+
+"Well, you may go on with this, and see if you can finish it quickly."
+
+She was going out, but her husband detained her, taking her hand.
+
+"Have orders been given for bringing up cold coffee and cognac?"
+
+"Yes, yes; Regina will stay and see to everything," she replied with
+some impatience, drawing away her hand and walking out.
+
+I enjoyed her embarrassment with ill-concealed delight. As we went out
+again into the corridor I said to Marti, to make talk, and also out of
+curiosity:
+
+"It seems to me that Dona Amparo was a good deal upset."
+
+"You saw that!" he exclaimed, laughing in the frank and cordial manner
+that characterized him. "The least thing upsets her. The poor thing is
+so good! I am as fond of her as if she were my own mother. Her one
+desire is for us to love her. She is so sensitive that the least little
+sign of indifference, the smallest neglect, affects her deeply, and
+almost makes her ill. For that matter, although we all go on carefully,
+and are very attentive to her, it is not enough. Fancy this! I have
+taken up the custom of kissing her good-night before going to bed! If by
+bad luck I forget it for one day, the poor lady cannot sleep, thinking
+that I am vexed with her, wondering if she has offended me without
+knowing it; and next day she casts timid, anguished glances at me that I
+do not understand until my wife explains the enigma to me. I laugh, and
+go and smooth her down."
+
+When we returned to the parlor, the company was dispersing. Castell gave
+me his well-cared-for hand, shaking mine, expressing with the careless
+coolness of a man of the world his pleasure in knowing me. Sabas and his
+wife showed more warmth. Dona Clara, majestic and severe, said
+good-night to me without mentioning Jupiter or Pollux, or any other
+pagan divinity, which surprised me. Retamoso improved a moment of
+confusion to say to me half in Galician:
+
+"It may be that you are right, Senor de Ribot, and that women are not
+made for business. But mine is an exception, you know. Oh, a marvel! You
+have already had opportunity to be convinced of this. A veritable
+marvel. Phs!"
+
+And he arched his eyebrows and showed the whites of his eyes, as if he
+beheld before him the Himalayas or the pyramids of Egypt.
+
+Cristina took leave of them all from the head of the stair with the
+gracious gravity that suited so well her attractive face. I had eyes
+for nobody but her. Dona Amparo kissed everybody, kissed her son, her
+daughter-in-law, Dona Clara, Isabelita, and also, even, Retamoso. I do
+not say she kissed Castell, but I believe it was more from lack of
+courage than lack of inclination.
+
+At last we four found ourselves alone. In order to prolong the waking
+moments, I begged Cristina to play on the piano a piece from an opera.
+She showed herself willing, and, without replying, seated herself on the
+piano stool, fingered the keys lightly for a moment, then commenced to
+sing in a half-voice the serenade from Mozart's "Don Juan." As I did not
+know of this accomplishment my surprise was great, but even greater my
+pleasure. Hers was a contralto voice, grave and sweet. The music of the
+great masters has always the power to move us, but when the voice of an
+adored woman transports the soul, music truly seems as if it had come
+hither from the heavens. I enjoyed for some moments a happiness
+impossible to describe. My very being was transformed, enlarged,
+quickened with love and joy. When the last notes of the lovely
+accompaniment died away, I remained swallowed up in a delicious ecstasy,
+scarcely knowing where I was.
+
+Marti pulled me out of that abruptly.
+
+"Come, come! The Captain is falling asleep!"
+
+We all rose. Dona Amparo retired to her room, but not until Marti had
+kissed her hand, giving me at the same time a mischievous wink.
+
+"If you need anything," said Cristina to me, "you have only to ring the
+bell."
+
+And without giving me her hand, she wished me good-night. Marti
+accompanied me to my room, and took himself off, chaffing me
+affectionately.
+
+"If you are not able to sleep without the smell of pitch, Captain, I
+will order a piece brought up and we will set it on fire."
+
+When I found myself alone, all the impressions of the evening were
+loosed in my heart like imprisoned birds, and began fluttering about in
+a bewildering whirl. Why was I there? What did I expect? How was this
+going to end? The kind welcome and frank cordiality of this noble family
+moved me. The heartiness of Marti filled me with confusion and shame,
+but the lovely form of Cristina rose up before me, adorable,
+bewildering, blotting out all the rest. The thought of being so near
+her, when I had resigned myself to see her no more, overwhelmed me with
+felicity. I asked again and again, how would this end? At last I slept,
+kissing the hem of the sheet that her hands had smoothed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+
+According to my morning custom I rose first of anybody in the house, and
+went out to take a walk in the city. I had seen much of Valencia, and
+was always gratefully impressed by the quiet animation of her streets,
+her serene heavens, her perfumed balminess. Yet how different from those
+impressions was the sensation that I now experienced.
+
+The beautiful city of the east was awakening from sleep. People began
+stirring in the streets; balconies were opened, and faces, pearl-white
+and with magnificent Arab eyes, were visible behind the flower-pots. As
+a morning greeting the gardens sent forth odors of pinks and
+gillyflowers, mallows and hyacinths; the sea its breezes fresh and
+wholesome; the sky its rays of radiant light. Valencia awoke and smiled
+upon her flower-gardens, her sea, and her incomparable sky. Her
+fortunate situation made me think of ancient Greece; and as I saw
+passing me the happy, peaceful, intelligent faces of her inhabitants, I
+longed to repeat the famous words of Euripides to his countrymen: "Oh,
+beloved sons of the beneficent gods! In your sacred and unconquerable
+country you reap the glory of wisdom as a fruit of your soil; and you
+tread stately evermore with sweet satisfaction beneath the eternal
+radiance of your skies."
+
+I doubt if anyone, Greek or Valencian, was ever more content than I was
+at this moment. But as a sorrowful moment waits eagerly upon every
+joyous one in life, I was disappointed, on returning to the house, not
+to see Cristina. Marti and I breakfasted alone in the dining-room; and I
+learned from him that his wife had already breakfasted, and was in her
+own room.
+
+What man was ever so gay, so affectionate as Marti? He began to tell of
+his family, his friends, and his projects exactly as if we had been
+friends all our lives. His projects were innumerable--tramways, harbor
+improvements, railroads, street widening, etc. I could not help thinking
+that for carrying out all these plans not only an enormous capital would
+be needed, but also an activity almost superhuman. Marti seemed to
+possess it. At that time, besides the steamboat traffic that almost ran
+itself and took up but little of his time, he was exploiting some zinc
+mines in Vizcaya, was building several wagon roads in several provinces,
+and was opening artesian wells in Murcia. In this last he had already
+used a large sum without getting much result, but he was sure of
+success.
+
+"When we strike water," he said to me, laughing, "I intend to sell it
+by the cupful like sherry."
+
+He expressed himself rapidly, incoherently at times; but always
+pleasingly, because he put his whole soul into every word.
+
+I contrasted his confused and vehement mode of expression with that of
+his friend and partner, Castell, so firm, so clear, so polished. We
+spoke of him, and Marti outdid himself in eulogies of his personality.
+There was not apparently in all the world a man better informed, more
+talented, or upright. He knew everything; the sciences had no secrets
+for him; the planet hid no corner that he had not explored. He was,
+moreover, highly trained in the plastic arts, and he owned a collection
+of antique paintings, picked up on his travels, that was famous in Spain
+and in foreign lands.
+
+"But--Castell is a theorist, did you know it?" he ended by saying,
+winking one eye. "We are two opposites, and maybe because of this we
+have been friends from childhood. He has always been given to studying
+the foundation of things, and their reason, philosophy, aesthetics. I
+don't understand anything of all that, I have a temperament essentially
+practical, and if you will not think me boastful, I will venture to say
+that in Spain there is a greater lack of useful men than of
+philosophers. Does it not seem as if there is a plethora of theologians,
+orators, and poets? If we wish to take our place beside the other
+countries of Europe it is necessary to think about opening ways of
+communication, making harbors, pushing industries, exploiting mines. In
+my modest sphere, I have done all that I could for the progress of our
+country; and if I have not accomplished more," he added, laughing, "do
+not believe that it is for lack of will, but for want of the precious
+metal."
+
+"And Castell is your partner in these enterprises?" I asked him.
+
+"No; we are not associated except in the steamboat line. He is a man who
+is fretted by figures. He is rich and wishes to enjoy his fortune
+tranquilly. But although he does not mix much in business, when there is
+any lack of money he finds it for me without hesitation, because he has
+full confidence in me."
+
+"It seems as if this taste for business is in the family. Your Aunt
+Clara also shares this temperament," I said, to satisfy the curiosity
+that had pricked me since the previous night.
+
+"My Aunt Clara is a notable woman of great talent. But I believe,
+without speaking ill of her, that the soul of the house, who has made
+all the money, is her husband. Oh, my Uncle Diego looks out for number
+one. There is no abler nor more prudent merchant on all the eastern
+coast. Believe me, anything he lets go by isn't worth stooping to pick
+up."
+
+"Surely, according to what I have been given to understand by himself,
+it is the senora who guides him in difficult matters, who really holds
+the tiller in the business."
+
+"Yes, yes," said Marti, smiling and a little out of countenance, "I do
+not doubt that my Aunt Clara gives him some good counsel, but not of
+necessity. In Valencia he is considered a bit crafty. It is possible
+that there may be some truth in it. You know the Galicians----"
+
+He coughed to hide his embarrassment, and to change the conversation. I
+had already taken notice that it was repugnant to him to find any fault.
+He found himself on terra firma only when he was praising people, and he
+did this with such ardor that he seemed to taste a peculiar pleasure in
+it. Rare and precious quality, that ever made him more worthy of esteem
+in my eyes!
+
+When we had finished breakfast, I pretended that I had occupations, and
+left him to look after his own. I went out into the streets again, and I
+soon encountered Sabas in one of the nearest ones. He seemed to me even
+more dried up and black than last night. He saluted me with grave
+courtesy, and after turning and joining me, urged me to accompany him to
+his house, as it was necessary for him to change his clothes. I was
+surprised at this necessity, as I could not see that he was damp or
+untidy. Later I found out that it was his custom to change his garb
+three or four times every day, following the elegant rules of court
+life.
+
+Meantime, as we wended our way to his house, not far from that of his
+brother-in-law, he informed me that he had a collection of canes and of
+pipes--a very notable collection. It appeared that it was one of the
+sights most worthy a visit of any in the city, and with an amiability
+that I appreciated highly, he offered to show it to me. He lived in a
+charming little house. His wife came to open the door for us, to whom he
+said laconically:
+
+"I have come to change."
+
+We went to his room, and he at once proceeded to open the cupboards
+wherein he kept the canes. There were, indeed, a lot of them and of many
+kinds, and he exhibited them with a pleasure and pride that filled me
+with even more astonishment than their number and variety.
+
+"You see this palasan; it has forty-two knots. It had forty-three, but
+it was necessary to take off one, because it was too long. Look at this
+other one, this violet stick." He stroked it. "Feel it. This one is of
+tortoise-shell. It is the real thing--a white one. It was brought to me
+by the captain of one of my brother-in-law's steamers."
+
+The door of the room was half-opened and a little red head appeared.
+
+"Papa, mamma let us come to give you a kiss."
+
+"Run away; we are busy now," replied the father solemnly, dismissing
+the child with a gesture. But I had gone to the door, and I kissed with
+pleasure that little red head. He was a bright child of six or seven
+years. Behind him came another smaller one, red-headed too, and leading
+by the hand a girl of three or four years, dark, with great black eyes
+and curling black hair. I have never seen more lovely little creatures.
+I caressed them all warmly, and especially the little girl, whose
+velvety eyes were marvellous. But they were all timid, and without
+paying attention to my questions, looked doubtfully at their father. His
+face showed sternness and annoyance. He seemed offended that I found his
+collection of children more notable than his canes. He kissed them as if
+in compromise, and when his wife came running to find them, he said to
+her sharply:
+
+"Why did you let them come in here while I was busy?"
+
+"They got away while I was getting out a shirt for you," she answered
+humbly.
+
+And pushing the chicks before her, she drove them from the room. After
+this I felt hopeful that her husband would terminate his exhibition of
+canes. He finished at last, and I, knowing that I flattered him, uttered
+a thousand exaggerations about his collection, which profoundly
+delighted him. He then took the liberty of dressing before me. His wife
+began to wait upon him like the most efficient and servile of valets.
+She put on his shirt; she put on his cravat; she got down upon the floor
+to fasten the buttons of his shoes. This happy husband let himself be
+dressed and polished off with a restrained gravity, meantime prattling
+about his canes and pipes, these collections being, it appeared, the aim
+and end of his existence. From time to time he reproved his meek spouse.
+
+"Don't fasten it so tight! Less dressing and more rubbing on these
+shoes! Tell the maid that I wish her to take care not to daub my shoes.
+I don't care for that cravat; bring me a scarf that will tie!"
+
+Finding a button off his waistcoat, he was struck dumb. He stared at his
+wife with a look so severe that it made her flush.
+
+"I don't know how I missed it," she stammered. "It came off when the
+waistcoat was washed. I put it aside to sew it on. I was called to the
+kitchen, and after all I forgot all about it."
+
+"Nothing, it is nothing! Of what consequence is one button more or
+less?" he said with a sarcastic smile.
+
+"You know I am very sorry about it."
+
+"Have I not told you it is nothing, madam? Why do you worry about it?
+One button, one button! What does one button signify compared to a bit
+of gossip with the laundress?"
+
+"But, man, for heaven's sake, don't be like that!" she cried in anguish.
+
+"Have I said anything?" he shouted, furious.
+
+Matilde controlled herself and occupied herself with sewing on the
+button.
+
+"How _should_ I be? Say!" he persisted with unabated fury.
+
+His wife did not look up.
+
+Sabas then permitted several snorts to escape him, mingled with
+incoherent words, and accompanied by a gnashing of teeth that the
+sarcastic smile still upon his lips made even more repellent.
+
+With heroic courage I tried to soothe his troubled spirit. The winds
+fell, the waves became tranquil, and he said to me affably:
+
+"You are going to dine on a _paella_ to-day. I know it already from
+Cristina. My sister has a cook who stews like an angel."
+
+Matilde finished sewing on the button. When she lifted her head I saw
+tears in her eyes.
+
+Sabas gave the signal for starting, but first he sent his good lady to
+find his gloves, to bring his stick, and then his handkerchief. He
+drenched it with scent from a perfume bottle, gave the last polish to
+his shoes, and a few touches of the comb to his whiskers. Matilde
+fluttered about him like a butterfly, arranging his coat and his cravat
+and his hat with her plump white hands. And when he, dismissing her,
+took her chin in his hand with a careless, protecting gesture her eyes
+shone with a radiant, triumphant expression that seemed to transport her
+to the heavens.
+
+In the passage as we were going out we encountered the three children,
+who would have thrown themselves upon their father to be kissed, but he
+stopped them with a threatening gesture.
+
+"No, I can't now. I should be all slobbered over."
+
+I, who had no fears of being daubed, kissed them with pleasure, wishing
+to make amends to them for his crossness. Vain hope! They received my
+caresses with indifference, following with their eyes their elegant and
+morose papa.
+
+Matilde watched us from the top of the stair, having eyes for nothing
+but her husband. She noticed that the collar-band of his shirt did not
+fit well, on account of his overcoat, hastened to pull it down for him
+and turn it up; and profited by the opportunity to give a few more
+touches to his whiskers with her fingers.
+
+It was now eleven o'clock in the forenoon. The streets were full of
+people. The sun shone in the sky in all its splendor. We breathed a
+perfumed air, proving ourselves to be in the city of flowers. At every
+step we encountered servants carrying branches and sprays of them that
+loving ones were sending to delight their friends. In Valencia flowers
+make up so large a part of life, and their use is so general and
+natural, that the sending of flowers is like saying good-morning.
+Contemplating this profusion of carnations, roses, and lilies that
+rejoice the eyes and make fragrant the air, I could not help saying,
+"This is the city where there is so much that is lovely to enjoy that it
+matters little what one does with one's days!"
+
+I could have gone about the streets with pleasure until time for dinner,
+but Sabas felt himself in duty bound to invite me to take an appetizer,
+and we entered a cafe in the Plaza de la Reina.
+
+While sipping a glass of vermouth Sabas showed himself loquacious and
+expansive, but without losing his natural gravity. He talked to me about
+his family and friends. I saw at once that he had an analytical
+temperament of the first rank, clear perceptions, and a keen instinct
+for seeing the weak side of people and things.
+
+His sister was a discreet woman, affectionate, of upright and noble
+intentions--but her character was excessively difficult; she enjoyed
+opposing people; at times she lacked courtesy; she was wanting in
+docility, in a certain meekness absolutely essential in a woman; lastly,
+although really generous, she did not make herself liked.
+
+I should have enjoyed protesting against this absurd summing up. It was
+precisely these qualities of her character, at once timid and resolute,
+and her coldness a bit harsh, that made me more in love than ever. I
+abstained, however, for prudential reasons, from speaking.
+
+His brother-in-law was, poor fellow, an industrious man, generous,
+intelligent in business--but absolutely incapable, as everybody knew.
+All the world imposed upon him and used him. He was of a temperament so
+volatile that as soon as he had undertaken one project he was tired of
+it, and thinking of another. This had made him lose a great deal of
+money. He could not tell how many enterprises Marti had engaged in. Some
+of them would have been very successful if he had stayed in them; but he
+scarcely encountered the first difficulties in them before he threw them
+aside, abandoned them. He had only shown himself persistent where it was
+absolutely useless--in the matter of the artesian wells. What a lot of
+money the man had already carried off and buried in that wretched
+business! The one thing that had really turned out well had been the
+steamboats, and these he did not start, but inherited them from his
+father.
+
+His friend Castell possessed great learning, expressed himself
+admirably, and was immensely rich--but had not a scrap of heart. He had
+never shown any affection for anybody. Emilio was mistaken through and
+through in thinking that he returned the passionate, fervent adoration
+that he felt for him.
+
+"But do not touch upon this point when you are again with him, as I have
+tried it several times. Whenever the conversation brings in the name of
+Castell it is necessary to open the mouth, roll up the eyes to their
+whites, and fall into an ecstasy, as if one beheld a divinity of
+Olympus. Castell knows this weakness of my brother-in-law, approves of
+it, and gives himself airs over it. For the rest, on the day when he has
+any need of him, he will see how the matter stands then."
+
+"But Marti told me that he finds money for him when he needs it in his
+business," I put in.
+
+"Yes, yes," he agreed with his sarcastic smile; "I do not doubt that he
+finds money for him, but everybody in Valencia knows the meaning of
+that."
+
+I asked no questions. Having been admitted into the intimacy of the
+family, I would not prompt him. Sabas went on:
+
+"This man is, moreover, vicious and immoral. He has been entangled for
+years with a woman who has borne him several children; but this is no
+obstacle to his bringing back a charmer with him whenever he makes a
+foreign journey. He has already had three, one of them a Greek, a
+beautiful woman! He keeps them a while and presently tires of them, like
+lackeys who no longer please him. This, you understand, makes a great
+scandal in a provincial capital; but as he is named Don Enrique Castell
+and owns eight or ten million pesetas, nobody wishes to offend him. The
+priests and the canons, and even up to the bishop, take off their hats
+to him a league off."
+
+"I have been told of the wealth of your relations, the Retamosos!"
+
+"Oh, no; that is a much more modest fortune; it is counted by thousands
+of duros, not by millions; but all that has been earned bit by bit, did
+you know it?--peseta by peseta, at first behind a counter, and then at a
+desk."
+
+"Your Aunt Clara, it seems, is a lady of much judgment in business."
+
+Sabas roared with laughter.
+
+"My Aunt Clara is an imbecile! She has never done anything in all her
+life, except speak English with governesses and show her classic nose in
+the Glorieta and the Alameda. But my Uncle Diego is the slyest Galician
+born in this century. He laughs at his wife, and he is capable of
+laughing at his own ghost. I do not consider that he has ability for any
+great enterprises. He has not, as I just said, the genius of affairs;
+but I assure you that, among those who handle small amounts, I have
+never known, nor do I think you could readily find, a more cautious
+man."
+
+In this fashion my elegant friend continued his studies of his family
+with a criticism implacable, yet clever and at times witty. From that he
+went on to talk about his native city; and I found his observations
+concerning the character of the Valencians, their customs, politics, and
+administration of provincial affairs, sharp and to the point. I confess
+that I had mistaken him. I had at first taken him for a mere coxcomb, a
+vapid and frivolous young man. He turned out to be a man of good
+understanding, observing and clever, although a little exaggerated in
+his analyses, and sufficiently severe.
+
+We went out of the cafe, and before going to the house, we took another
+turn in the streets. Naturally, as I am a native of the east coast, son
+of a sailor, and myself a sailor, the aspect of the great Mediterranean
+city had an especial seduction for me. The narrow streets, tortuous,
+clean, with their profusion of fine shops; the large number of ancient
+stone houses with artistic facades, belonging to noble families that
+have made their names known and respected throughout the world; the hill
+towers, among whose turrets one may imagine still flit the old-time
+archers; the bridges with their benches; the Lonja, whose rooms of
+exceptional size and beauty shelter the richest traders of Spain; the
+lively market-place and open space about--all reveal, together with her
+mercantile traditions, an ancient and opulent capital. All spoke to me
+of the grandeur of my race.
+
+I gave myself into the hands of my companion, who took me to the
+flower-market. We were not long in penetrating an iron-walled passage
+where, on one side and the other, leaving space in the middle, was seen
+a multitude of pale, black-eyed women exhibiting their
+merchandise--carnations, roses, lilies, hibiscus, and iris. Great was
+the animation in this little place. Ladies, with their rosaries and
+mass-books in their hands, stood before these venders, examining their
+wares with liberal and intelligent eye, and bargaining everlastingly
+before deciding to buy. Gentlemen laden with branches and sprays were
+given numerous instructions concerning their arrangement. Servants and
+shop-girls also hastened to the stalls, took their little handful of
+flowers, stuck some of them in their hair, and leaving their bits of
+copper, marched happily away with others in their hands, to continue
+their tasks. With what enthusiasm they would look at their
+flower-fillets! With what pleasure they breathed their fragrance!
+
+As we cruised among the stalls I observed that most of the
+flower-venders greeted my friend by name, smiling amiably upon him, and
+asking him if he had no orders to give.
+
+"You are popular in the market," I said to him, laughing.
+
+"I am a good customer, nothing more," he answered modestly.
+
+And placing his hand on my shoulder, he pushed me towards one of the
+doors, where we stationed ourselves, somewhat retired and half-hidden
+among the foliage.
+
+"This is a strategic point," he said to me. "You will see how many fine
+figures pass by here within five minutes."
+
+And truly the ladies who entered by the other door, after making their
+purchases or giving their orders, went out by this one. They passed so
+near us that their dresses brushed us. My companion had a compliment or
+a pleasant word for all. Many of them knew him and greeted him; some
+paused an instant to respond with gracious repartee to his gallant
+phrases. I was surprised at the impudence with which this man, married,
+and understanding good form, thus paid court to women; and yet more that
+they accepted his gallantries without reserve.
+
+I have seen many beautiful faces in the various lands where my wandering
+life has carried me, but nowhere so many, so delicate, of such opaline
+transparency of complexion, of such exquisite purity as now. Then, what
+eyes! The soul moved in their blackness and mystery as if yearning to
+enfold you in happy dreams--sweet, voluptuous, unfathomable eyes, that
+seemed to hold both love and death. From among the multitude of heads
+there was cast upon me a swift glance. It was she; yes, it was she!
+While still she was hid in the crowd, I knew it was she who approached!
+My heart began to beat violently. In a few moments she appeared. She
+was dressed in black, and wore a mantilla. In one hand she carried her
+mass-book and a rosary wound about her wrist like a bracelet; in the
+other, a bunch of carnations. She was with her cousin Isabelita, and
+both were accompanied by Castell. I cannot explain the sort of
+impression that man made upon me at this moment. My heart was
+constricted as if in the presence of great danger, and the vague
+antipathy he had inspired me with the night before was transformed into
+hatred. The violence with which this feeling was born within me
+surprised me, but I did not confess to myself the cause of it. I held it
+well in hand and forced myself to appear as agreeable as I could.
+
+They seemed surprised when they saw us. Castell and Isabelita
+congratulated us on the excellent position that we had chosen.
+
+"What doesn't this rogue know about the conduct of gallantries!"
+exclaimed the daughter of Retamoso, giving Sabas a tap on the shoulder
+with her book. And then, laughing, she blushed like a poppy.
+
+"Come, cousin," returned Sabas, "at least you know that I haven't
+offered you any gallantries. But we still have time. You are got up with
+so much elegance that on seeing you I forget our family ties."
+
+Isabelita blushed even more, if that were possible. Sabas persisted in
+his compliments. Castell came to his aid. Meanwhile Cristina glanced
+absently from one to another. I divined that it was to avoid meeting my
+eyes.
+
+Sabas spoke to her:
+
+"Little sister, aren't you going to put one of your carnations in my
+button-hole?"
+
+"Why not?" she answered.
+
+And handing her book to her cousin, she took the largest and most
+beautiful one in her bouquet and fastened it where he bade her.
+
+Moved by a sudden impulse, and with a daring that I thought I had lost
+towards this woman, I said:
+
+"And is there nothing for the others?"
+
+"Would you like one?" she asked me, handing me one with a glance.
+
+"No; I desire the honor of having you fasten it in my button-hole," I
+replied firmly.
+
+There was an instant of suspense. She showed indecision; but at last
+picked out another carnation and hastily put it in its place. I thought
+I noticed (it may have been illusion, I do not know) that her hands
+trembled. Oh, _Dios_, with what pleasure I could have kissed them!
+
+"And I? Do I not have my turn?" asked Castell then, bowing with an
+amiable smile.
+
+"Oh, pshaw! we have already had enough of carnations," she said
+crossly, going on out of the door.
+
+"I came too late," murmured the banker in some confusion.
+
+"Would you like one of mine?" Isabelita asked him, timidly.
+
+"Oh, with the greatest pleasure."
+
+And he bowed smiling, and apparently delighted while the young girl
+placed the carnation in his coat. Yet I understood that he was
+disgruntled.
+
+We all followed Cristina; and her cousin paired off with her, Sabas,
+Castell, and I walking behind. But we had not walked far when Sabas saw
+a charming shop-girl, and stopped to chat with her. Castell and I waited
+for him a moment, but seeing he was not likely to finish soon, we
+followed on after the ladies.
+
+"This brother-in-law of Marti's seems to me a youngster of a good deal
+of ability," I said to my companion.
+
+"As a critic?" asked Castell, laconically.
+
+"As a critic?" I returned, surprised.
+
+"Yes; he is admirably endowed with power to see the weak and strong
+sides of things, to weigh and measure, to compare, to penetrate the
+labyrinths of conscience. But these faculties are exercised upon others;
+it never occurs to him to apply them to himself. Thus all his analyses,
+criticisms, wise and pointed counsels, are wasted; and he is an
+absolutely fatuous and useless man. He has undertaken five or six
+careers, and gone on in none of them; he wasted his patrimony in
+gambling and dissipation; he martyrizes his wife, neglects his children,
+and he is at present living on his brother-in-law."
+
+"A good panegyric!" I exclaimed, laughing.
+
+"You will hear the same from all sensible people in town. This does not
+hinder him from being an agreeable fellow, popular and generally liked;
+and this is because his defects can scarcely be called public, but
+private vices."
+
+We joined the ladies at last, and arrived at Marti's about the hour of
+dinner. My hosts had invited in my honor the company of the night
+before, all of them with the exception of Castell being members of the
+family. Emilio made me sit at his wife's right. The touch of her dress,
+the perfume that floated from her, and a yet more mysterious fluid
+wherewith her nearness filled me, intoxicated and upset me. This went so
+far that, desiring to show myself gallant and attentive to her, I could
+scarcely say or do the most ordinary things. I spilled water on the
+tablecloth, I asked her three times if she liked olives, and dropped the
+olive-fork in offering her one. But I was happy, and I could not conceal
+it.
+
+She showed herself courteous and a little more kindly disposed,
+thanking me for my attentions and gracefully covering up my blunders.
+
+It made me even more happy when Castell fixed his glance upon the
+carnation in my button-hole, and asked me with his cold, ironical smile:
+
+"Captain, would you take a thousand pesetas for that carnation you are
+wearing?"
+
+"A thousand pesetas!" exclaimed Marti, looking up in surprise.
+
+I was indescribably agitated, as if I had been surprised in the act of
+committing a crime. I knew no better than to smile stupidly and exclaim:
+
+"How full of jokes you are!"
+
+But Cristina held up her beautiful head proudly, and turning to Castell,
+she said:
+
+"Captain Ribot is a gentleman, and does not sell the flowers that a lady
+bestows upon him."
+
+"Ah, so she bestowed it upon you!" said Marti, and turning to Castell
+added: "But, Enrique, would you wish Ribot to sell you this carnation,
+when, if she had given it to me, I, although her husband, would not let
+you have it for your whole fortune?"
+
+And at the same time he gazed at his wife with a look of intense
+affection. The innocence and nobleness of that man moved me. He must
+have touched the soul of Cristina. Dropping her head again, she murmured
+in intense tones:
+
+"Thou art thou--_tu!_"
+
+These simple words were a poem of tenderness.
+
+"It is well known," observed Castell with the same indifference, "that
+there are things in the world that cannot be and should not be bought
+with money. Unfortunately men are not in the same category with them,
+and therefore we pursue material and even gross objects until we secure
+them, however remote they may be."
+
+"But I do not find them remote," said Sabas. "It seems to me that money
+serves well enough for almost all the cases that present themselves.
+Thus you hold another carnation to be better than this. This was given
+me by a lady. All right, Castell, I will let you have this one for two
+pesetas."
+
+The company laughed. Cristina seemed vexed and said to her brother:
+
+"You are rude; you are a clodhopper. Matilde, do me the favor of taking
+the carnation away from that pig. After that, he shall not keep it."
+
+Sabas covered it up with his hands.
+
+"Wait a bit, my girl, wait a bit. If Castell pays the two pesetas, I'll
+give it up. Until then we do not separate, no!"
+
+"Here it is!" said Castell, taking the money out of his pocket-book and
+passing it across the table.
+
+"There--go!" said Sabas, passing over the carnation.
+
+This jest produced a shout at the table. Yet it did not please Cristina.
+She was furious, and called her brother names, and vowed that she would
+never give him another flower as long as she lived.
+
+Meanwhile I had had time to recover from the extreme agitation that the
+words of Castell had caused me. We finished dining gayly, but Cristina
+did not again appear smiling and cordial as before.
+
+Two hours later I took the train for Barcelona, where my presence was
+indispensable. I was accompanied to the station by Marti and Sabas.
+Marti made me promise another and a longer visit.
+
+"After my next voyage," I told him, "I am thinking of asking the
+company's permission to stop at home when they change the order of time
+for the ships, six weeks hence. Then I will come down from Alicante and
+spend a week or a fortnight with you."
+
+"We shall see if you are a man of your word," he replied, squeezing my
+hand affectionately until it was time for me to take the train and be
+off.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+
+I do not know what relation exists between salt water and love, but
+experience has made me realize that there exists in it some mysterious
+and stimulating virtue. On land I am able to control somewhat my most
+vehement sentiments and conquer them. Once on board I am a lost man. The
+most insignificant attraction takes on gigantic proportions and in a
+little while knocks me flat. So it happened that while in Valencia I
+proposed to myself to make nothing of flattering invitations, and never
+again in my life to return to stand before Dona Cristina, continuing in
+this commendable resolution until I left Barcelona, no sooner did I find
+myself afloat than it vanished like the mist, and seemed to me a
+veritable absurdity.
+
+It was from Hamburg that I wrote to the shipping house, asking
+permission to remain over one voyage at home, to arrange certain family
+affairs. Meanwhile it had come about that I was not able to think of
+anything but the wife of Marti. Not even in dreams did she leave my
+mind; every word she had spoken sounded ceaselessly in my ears, as if I
+had in my brain a phonograph charged with conversations, and in my
+heart I felt every one of her gestures and movements. On returning
+towards Valencia the delight of thinking that soon I was going to enjoy
+a sight of my idol produced in me a sentiment of mingled shame and
+remorse. I feared a disdainful reception from her, and I feared also an
+affectionate and cordial one from her husband.
+
+I did not intend to lodge in his house, to hush my noisy conscience.
+After spending six days in Alicante, I went to Valencia with a friend
+who chanced along, and made him an excuse for not going to the house of
+Marti. I did not go directly to see him, preferring to go later. I went
+out first to take a walk in the streets. But while walking through one
+of the principal streets, I saw not far distant three ladies looking at
+the fashions in a shop-window.
+
+As I drew near I perceived that one of them was Cristina, and the other
+two, Dona Clara and Dona Amparo. I hastened up to them, and saluted them
+standing behind them. (How could I do such a thing?)
+
+Cristina turned her head; and, as if she had seen something alarming,
+she gave a cry and ran forward hastily a few steps. My astonishment was
+great and the surprise of these ladies was scarcely less. Perceiving at
+once the strangeness of her conduct, and as if ashamed, she turned and
+came and welcomed me with unusual amiability. She explained her cry and
+her flight by declaring that a few moments ago she had given a bit of
+alms to a poor creature who had been a criminal, and all at once,
+without knowing why, it seemed to her as if he had followed them and was
+going to attack her. Dona Amparo and Dona Clara were satisfied with
+this, and laid her attack of nerves to her condition; they wished her to
+come into a shop and take a quieting draught, but Cristina said no.
+
+I knew better than this, and walked on with them, saddened because I
+knew.
+
+Marti received me with lively delight, professing to be vexed with me
+because I had not sought the hospitality of his house; but I, fortified
+by my excuse, held fast, and would not give in. Sabas also showed
+pleasure at seeing me. I could not do less than offer him my compassion
+on seeing in his face traces plainer than ever of his arduous labors
+beneath the sun. The result of these, by what I could gather, was the
+acquisition of an amber mouthpiece with his initials engraved upon it,
+of which he was so proud that it seemed as if all the vigils and
+anxieties that it had cost him had been well spent.
+
+It was not necessary to inquire what impression my arrival made upon
+Castell. His cold, ceremonious courtesy made unnecessary any inquiries
+of that sort. Really it seemed to me that the lightly disdainful
+attitude that he held towards all the world was a little emphasized
+towards me. Perhaps I was ill-tempered, but a secret instinct warned me
+that this man hated me, and I paid him in his own coin.
+
+Cristina was now quite advanced in her maternal expectations. Although
+women do not consider themselves beautiful at this time, except to their
+husbands, I found her more beautiful and interesting than ever, an
+indubitable proof of the depth of the affection wherewith she had
+inspired me. Her imaginary fears and her agitations at sight of me only
+increased it, and I credited her lack of courtesy to these imaginary
+fears. I noted that after the meeting she took pains not to look at me;
+but the very haughtiness with which she did it showed that some
+agitation ruled her spirit, and that I was not absolutely indifferent to
+her. Such was at least my illusion at the time.
+
+Although I was not lodged in his house, the cordiality of Marti and my
+secret longing forced me to go every day to dine and spend some time
+with them. It was impossible for me to hide my love. At the risk of
+being observed (not by Marti, who was innocence personified, but by the
+others), I scarcely quitted the sight of Cristina. Whenever occasion
+presented, I made plain what was passing in my soul. If she dropped
+anything upon the floor, I was there to hasten and pick it up. If she
+glanced towards the door, I had already run to close it. If she
+complained of any ill feeling, I proposed all the remedies imaginable.
+In short, I showed to all concerned a lively interest and anxiety that
+came from my heart. She received these attentions with a serious face,
+sometimes with a certain diffidence; but I understood that she would not
+permit herself to take the slightest notice, and this sufficed me.
+
+One day I grew more daring. Showing no such intention, I went nearer and
+nearer to her until my arm touched her dress. Then she got up brusquely
+and placed herself elsewhere. These silent rebuffs produced a melancholy
+impression upon me. But I was compensated by other enjoyments, fanciful,
+perhaps, but that did not hinder their being delicious. When we were
+sitting at table, although as I have said she took great pains not to
+look at me face to face, she could not help glancing about, and her eyes
+would meet and thrill my own. When this happened, I believed I could see
+that her face colored slightly.
+
+Love did not wholly stifle my powers of observation. I mean to say that
+I loved the wife of Marti and studied her at the same time. I soon came
+to see and understand that beneath her rare and gracious mingling of
+timidity and ease of manner, of insistent happiness and supercilious
+seriousness, there existed in her a depth of exquisite sensibility,
+carefully and even ferociously guarded. The modesty of sentiment was so
+strong in her that any manifestation of tenderness caused it to retreat.
+She preferred to pass for hard and cold rather than that anyone should
+read her soul.
+
+Unlike her mamma, who was delighted to receive endearments, and who
+kissed everybody, she never gave a caress to any member of her family,
+and avoided receiving one whenever possible. Her husband himself, when
+he found himself a little rebuffed, took it with his jolly shout,
+accepting everything with a laugh. In spite of this they all loved her
+dearly, and looked upon her coldness as a graceful oddity, with which it
+pleased her at times to snub them a little.
+
+Because of her character, the least expression of affection from her
+lips had an inestimable value. But it was necessary to turn it off and
+pretend that it was not noticed. If it was observed and she knew it, all
+was lost. She returned at once to her brusqueness, cutting off gratitude
+with some ironical or disdainful speech. She also had the spirit of
+contradiction well developed; that is to say, she was wont to antagonize
+other people, not from pride or ill-humor, as I was soon convinced, but
+rather because of her great reserve, which made it repugnant to her to
+show the real strength of her feelings.
+
+And with all this--an extraordinary thing!--there was never a creature
+whose features expressed more fully the movements and emotions of her
+spirit, even to the faintest shades of thought. Whatever dominated her
+for the moment, whatever stirred her, in spite of barred fortress that
+she sought to guard, was revealed in her eyes, in the changeful lights
+on her face, in all her gestures and movement.
+
+Marti showed himself every day franker and more cordial towards me.
+This, it may be divined, made it possible for none but a villain to
+breathe in an enterprise against him. And I, who did not hold myself
+that, was embarrassed and saddened. We were inseparable from the first.
+Not only did we dine and take our coffee together, but he often insisted
+that I should accompany him while he was attending to his business; he
+soon made me his confidant and even asked me to give him advice. At
+last, after I had been five or six days in Valencia, he joyously
+proposed that we should thee-and-thou each other, and without waiting
+for my response began to do so with a cordiality that touched me. I
+experienced a mingled pride and humiliation, pleasure and pain; thinking
+how the confidence of this man brought me nearer his wife, yet held me
+all the more removed from her morally. I had occasion to prove this only
+a few hours afterwards. When we were again at the house, I, out of
+shyness, did everything possible to conceal that we had so soon adopted
+a new method of addressing each other. Marti made it plain directly.
+Cristina lifted her head surprised, looked at us both an instant, and
+dropped her eyes again, but not before I had, I believed, surprised in
+them an expression of annoyance. I guessed what passed in her soul.
+
+Marti invited me the next day to visit his estate at Cabanal, where he
+had certain orders to give about the house and garden. The family was
+usually installed there by May, the present month; but this year, on
+account of the happy event that was expected, the moving out had been
+postponed.
+
+We made the trip on foot, by the road and across the fields, in order to
+see the farms and gardens that lie between the city and the sea. I
+consented with good will, and at the hour for the promenade we started
+out upon our way, walking slowly until we reached the place.
+
+My companion never closed his mouth after we came out of the house. The
+discussion of his affairs engrossed him to such an extent that he paid
+no attention to the delicious country, carpeted with flowers, whose
+white cottages seemed like doves alighted near us. Round about every one
+of the little houses with their sharp-pointed roofs grew a grove of
+orange-trees, pomegranates, and algarrobos. Beyond were cultivated
+fields with flowers and vegetables, some set with roses, lilies,
+carnations, gillyflowers; and others with strawberries, alfalfa, and
+artichokes. Running about among them on the well-beaten paths were
+beautiful brunette children, who stopped to gaze at us with their deep,
+dark eyes. The father of the family, bending to his task, would always
+lift his head as we passed and salute us gravely and silently, lifting
+his hand to his hat of coarse straw.
+
+Marti did not see this, and scarcely the road we were walking on.
+
+"One of two things! Either this business of the artesian wells will turn
+out well, in which case I not only hope soon to get a return on the
+capital employed, but I shall also make a good income for myself and my
+heirs; or it will turn out badly, and then it will look as if the
+capital were lost, but it will not really be so, because of my
+disposition and personal knowledge, trained and skilful in this class of
+work, which I think I should immediately use in making canals from a
+river in the province of Almeria, where there are great tracts of land
+that might prove very productive if watered, and which need only
+irrigation and ways of communication. It is a project that I have been
+turning over in my head for several years. You know well how much time
+and money it takes in Spain to get people together for this sort of
+business. Not only are directors, capitalists, and superintendents
+lacking, but even workmen who know how to carry out a certain class of
+works that I undertake. Well, whether the artesian wells turn out well
+or ill, I still have this knowledge ready at my command."
+
+"That seems to me exactly the idea," I said, absorbed in the
+contemplation of the beautiful, variegated floral carpet that was spread
+before us.
+
+"Yes, I think that's it!" exclaimed Marti, with emphasis. "But these
+ideas, friend Ribot," he went on, gayly flinging out his arms as if to
+embrace all mankind, "these ideas only come after some years of
+experience, and not even then unless one has practical sense and a
+vocation for business."
+
+"Yes, aptitudes can be developed, but they cannot be acquired."
+
+"There is my brother-in-law, Sabas. I make superhuman efforts to
+discover in him some ability, something he can do, and I only succeed in
+putting myself out. Whatever matter I confide to his care, even if I
+give him precise and definite instructions, he manages to knock all to
+pieces. It has got so tiresome that I leave him in peace and employ him
+in nothing whatever."
+
+I could not help thinking that this punishment was not found very cruel
+by the brother-in-law, and yet it came into my imagination that he might
+have purposely provoked it as certain naughty children provoke it from
+their teachers, but I kept these and my other observations to myself.
+
+"It is very different with my friend Castell. Of wide and penetrating
+talent, with a remarkable mind, immense learning, a profound knowledge
+of the sciences and arts, and even of mechanics--but from the first
+moment of application he is discouraged by the least scrap of an
+obstacle in his way. He is all obstacles and doubts and scruples. He
+loses heart before he begins anything and he has given up business. To
+carry out an industrial enterprise a knowledge of the matter is not
+enough; it must be studied; it is necessary that the one who undertakes
+it should possess an essentially positive mind--above all, that he
+should have, like me, an iron will."
+
+Little by little we drew nearer to Cabanal. I have already described
+these shores of the sea whose great plain lies blue beneath the sun. We
+walked on enveloped in its light and breathing the fragrant air. The
+joyfulness of such a scene, serene and luminous as a picture by Titian,
+the idyllic bits that we came upon here and there, entered into the soul
+and overflowed it with a gentle felicity. In all this joy, this soft
+tranquillity, Marti with his beautiful, waving locks, his great,
+innocent eyes, did not seem to me so forcible a man as he wished to
+appear, not altogether of iron.
+
+Before coming to the first houses of the village we turned off to the
+left. There at a distance was a white villa that Marti told me was his
+property. On the way I saw a curious plot of ground whose walls were
+made of perfectly symmetrical and equal-sized stones. These walls
+seemed to be in ruins, and through great openings I could discern
+certain structures, great iron pipes, rusted and fallen in pieces to the
+ground, wheels and other portions of machinery.
+
+"What is this?" I asked, surprised.
+
+Marti coughed before replying, pulled a bit at his shirt cuffs, and
+declared, with a gesture between peevishness and shamefacedness:
+
+"Nothing--a factory of artificial stones."
+
+"But it does not seem to be running."
+
+"No."
+
+"Whom does it belong to?"
+
+"To me."
+
+I shut up, because I understood how much the subject mortified him. We
+went on several steps without deigning to cast another look upon the
+abandoned factory, when, turning, he suddenly exclaimed:
+
+"Don't imagine that I didn't know how to manufacture stone--all these
+walls are built of the products of the factory. Take up a piece of the
+stone and examine it."
+
+I took up a piece, examined it, and saw that in fact it had, in
+appearance at least, all the necessary qualities of resistance. It gave
+me pleasure to say so. Marti explained that the failure of the factory
+was due to the scarcity of workmen. Valencia was a province that for
+centuries had neglected industrial for agricultural pursuits; it lacked
+hands. Then the manager had not properly filled his place; the increase
+on tariffs and freights, etc., etc.
+
+The subject was undoubtedly vexatious to my friend. He spoke of it in a
+low voice, with a frown on his forehead, and he avoided looking at the
+unlucky factory. So in order to mortify him no more, I showed the least
+possible interest in all the rusting machinery, and went onward without
+bestowing another particle of attention upon it.
+
+We came at last to the walls of his grounds. We entered them by a
+wrought-iron gateway, and crossed a handsomely laid-out garden to
+approach the house. This was a modest structure, but sufficiently
+spacious, and furnished within in considerable luxury. The furniture,
+suitable for the summer season, was simple and elegant. But that which
+roused my enthusiasm was the extensive park that stretched beyond, whose
+walls reached to the seashore, upon which it opened by a wrought-iron
+gateway. Formerly this had been a productive field. But first Marti's
+father and then himself had transformed it into a vast garden. Shady,
+gravelled pathways were bordered by orange-trees, lemons, pomegranates,
+and many other sorts of fruit-trees. Here was a little grove of laurels,
+and in the middle of it was a stone table surrounded by chairs. There
+was a grotto tapestried with jasmine and honeysuckle; yonder was a
+thicket of cannas, or cypresses, and in the centre a statue of white
+marble. And like a base for decoration, there was the azure line of the
+sea, into whose waves seemed ready to fall the oranges that hung from
+the boughs. The sun, that was already sinking, enveloped the garden and
+the sea with a sudden blaze of illumination; its golden rays were
+scattered over the white paths of the enclosure, made the whitewashed
+house resplendent, penetrated the thickets of cypress and laurel,
+lighting up the marble faces of the statues, and hung drooping from the
+branches of the trees like threads of the gold of waving tresses. At the
+right were visible over the walls the masts of little fishing boats with
+their simple rigging, and yonder extended the town of Cabanal in a rare
+and picturesque blending of fishermen's cots and aristocratic mansions
+wherein the grandees of the city came to spend the summer. More distant
+still was the port and the tall masts of steamboats.
+
+Marti showed me all the grounds, although without much pleasure or
+pride. Business, past and future, burdened him; he did not know how to
+throw it off. It was only when we came to a corner next the beach that
+he was enough distracted for a few moments to point out to me a
+summer-house in the Greek style that was admirably introduced into this
+smiling landscape. It was adorned within by carved furniture brought
+from Italy, statues and vases. It had a little lookout balcony towards
+the sea, and over the door was inscribed a name that caused me a slight
+tremor.
+
+"The building of this summer-house was a thing of my wife's. That is why
+I had her name put over the door."
+
+From thence we returned to the house by new and ever more beautiful and
+embowered pathways. Before reaching it, we came upon a little artificial
+hill, and, topping it, a bit of a castle. About it was a little pond of
+water, imitating a moat. We crossed it by means of a drawbridge, and
+ascended by a narrow footpath between hedges of box and orange, arriving
+at the top in the time that it takes to tell of it. The path, because of
+its artful windings, produced the effect of being measured by rods,
+instead of by inches. Over the door of the little castle was engraved
+another name that also made me tremble, although in a very different
+way.
+
+"The idea of the little artificial hill was my friend Castell's, and,
+naturally, it bears his name--which is all the better that it exactly
+suits it," he added, laughing.
+
+For me the pun had much less charm. Perhaps the antipathy with which the
+subject inspired me had part in this. We entered the diminutive castle
+and ascended to its roof. From there were admirably revealed not only
+the park, which did not seem so vast, but also a good part of the
+cultivated grounds, all the harbor, and the Puerto Nuevo and the grand
+expanse of the sea. Above its innumerable wavelets, above the freshness
+and dark depths of the water hung the crystal vault of the sky, dappled
+with delicate tints of rose. The sun flung a river of gold across the
+waves. Among the flowery fields and the fields of maize shone the little
+white cottages nestled among their oranges and cypresses. Beyond
+Valencia was Miguelete, and in the distance the encircling mountains,
+that at this hour seemed all of violet and mauve and lilac.
+
+"What is this hut?" I asked, disagreeably impressed by the sight of an
+ugly brick structure which reared itself up on the confines of the park.
+
+"Nothing--that was an attempt at a beer manufactory," replied Marti
+dryly.
+
+And again his brow was furrowed by the frown.
+
+"And did it not get to the making of it?"
+
+"Yes, there was some made. It turned out badly on account of the quality
+of the water. The maker, whom I got here from England, did not explain
+this to me in time, and I was obliged to waste money enough uselessly."
+
+Coughing perfunctorily, he pulled at his shirt-cuffs, ran his fingers
+through his hair, and hastily descended the stair of the little castle,
+followed by me. There was in every movement of this man when he
+expressed pleasure or annoyance so much heartiness, such childlike
+innocence, that I felt myself constantly more attracted to him. It
+seemed to me that I had loved him for a great while.
+
+When we came away from his estate the sun was already setting behind the
+distant mountains. We made our way around the house, and crossed the
+grounds again and through the fields of maize, the gardens and orchards.
+It was the hour of stopping work, and the laborers in the fields, with
+their Valencian kerchiefs about their heads, were resting at the doors
+of their cottages under the sweet fresh tendrils of vine-covered arbors.
+Their children were climbing upon their knees and dancing about them
+while the mothers prepared the rice for supper.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+
+When we arrived at the house, night had already fallen. The family was
+assembled in the dining-room and the table set. Isabelita dined at her
+cousin's, and Retamoso and Dona Clara were getting ready to leave
+without their daughter. Sabas and Castell dined there also. We were
+joyously welcomed, and all, except perhaps Cristina, attacked me with
+questions concerning the impression that the country-place had made upon
+me. I showed myself enthusiastic, not merely for courtesy, but because I
+really was so. I enlarged heartily upon the enchanting situation, the
+taste and care with which the place was laid out, the elegance of the
+Cristina pavilion (I believe that I insisted too much on this point),
+and I finished by saying that I should not find it unpleasant to spend
+all my life there.
+
+"In the Cristina pavilion?" asked Castell, with his ironical smile.
+
+"Why not?" I responded boldly, casting a quick look at Marti's wife. She
+seemed to be thinking of something else at this moment, but I divined,
+none the less, that she did not lose a word of what I said.
+
+"Then it's your taste to live caged like a canary. I also should like
+very well to live in that way, but on condition that I should be taken
+care of by a hand chosen by myself."
+
+Saying this, he also looked out of the corner of his eye at Cristina,
+who kept her face turned the other way, and looked terribly dignified.
+
+"But I, who am not a sybarite, make no condition whatever," I returned,
+laughing.
+
+Marti slapped his friend several times upon the shoulder affectionately.
+
+"As if we did not all know you, you old rascal! You would live in the
+way you are talking about a fortnight perhaps. At the end of that time
+you would be so bored with your cage, with lovely hands, and canary seed
+that you would throw it all over."
+
+Castell protested against this judgment, declaring that fickleness in
+love depends not so much upon the temperament and its changes as upon
+the vague but pressing necessity that we all feel to seek for the being
+who can respond to our inmost sentiments, our most intimate aspirations,
+our secret longings; or, to speak in more prosaic words, although less
+clear also, those that adapt themselves exactly to our physical and
+moral individuality.
+
+"I have not found--like you," he concluded daringly, "among so many
+women, the one who meets all the necessities of my being, many of them
+unimportant perhaps, but none the less existent. If, like you, _or
+before you_" (he uttered these words in a peculiar manner), "I had
+chanced upon her, then certainly my career of gallantry had ended, and
+you would have had no cause to call me, as now, an old rascal."
+
+His attitude, his accents, and the furtive glances that the rich
+ship-owner cast from time to time upon Cristina while he was talking,
+confirmed me in the suspicion that I had conceived, whereof I have not
+before had occasion to speak, that this gentleman was paying court to
+the wife of his intimate friend and associate.
+
+The effect of this dawning suspicion upon me was deplorable. I already
+hated my rival; now to myself I called him false friend, traitor,
+double-faced! But at the same time a voice cried out in my conscience
+that I, though a new friend, was not perceptibly better. This voice
+distressed me indescribably.
+
+The talk went on, and Castell found occasion to say all he chose to
+Cristina, as if nobody but herself could hear. His well-chosen words
+admirably fitted the gestures, quick and speaking, wherewith he
+emphasized them. Cristina talked with her mother, but by her evident
+agitation and by the cloud of vexation which darkened her face I
+guessed that she was listening to what Castell said, and that it was not
+to her liking. In that moment, with a frown upon her forehead and a
+proud expression in her eyes, she seemed to me more adorable than ever.
+
+Retamoso, with his hat already on his head, came up to Castell, and
+bending as if to speak in his ear, but in reality talking loud enough to
+be heard by his wife, said in his attractive Galician accent:
+
+"Senor Castell, you are in the right--like a saint! The question hits
+the mark, hits the mark. If I had not had such good judgment in choosing
+a companion, what would have become of me, poor fellow! What a
+darling!--eh? What a treasure! Ssh! silence, keep the secret for the
+present, but I wouldn't have had two pesetas. Silence, ssh!"
+
+And arching his eyebrows and making up faces expressive of admiration
+and restrained bliss, he moved away, shuffling his feet. His beloved
+better half, who had heard perfectly well, gave him a sidewise look
+which was not shining with gratitude, and turning up her hawk's nose,
+she said good-night to us with imposing severity.
+
+We were now all standing up and preparing to seat ourselves at the
+table. Marti, observing that his piece of bread was a little broken,
+exclaimed jestingly:
+
+"Aha, I think I find here the footprints of my little mouse, don't I,
+Cristina?"
+
+She smiled assent.
+
+"I suppose I'll be banished for picking at your bread, some day."
+
+Then, as Marti turned to talk with Castell, I went up to the table
+carelessly and, pretending something else, contrived to get a morsel of
+the bread that Cristina had picked at, and ate it with inexplicable
+pleasure. This did not escape her, and I noticed that her face took on a
+slightly annoyed expression.
+
+"Come, come to dinner, and everyone to his place!" she cried, with a
+pretty grimace of vexation.
+
+I obeyed humbly, and seated myself in my accustomed place. The dinner
+was a gay one.
+
+Marti was talkative and full of fun. As if he had not until then made
+enough of the beauties of his estate at Cabanal, he enlarged upon them
+with an enthusiasm that I had communicated to him on our walk. He ended
+by proposing that we should go there afternoons for picnics, since
+circumstances hindered the moving out altogether. It is needless to say
+with what delight I heard this proposition. Cristina welcomed it with
+pleasure, and also the others at the table. Sabas remarked, with his
+habitual gravity, that perhaps he should not be able to go every day.
+
+"No; we know already that we need not count upon you. It would not do,
+would it--to throw over all business in the Plaza de la Reina and the
+Cafe del Siglo?" said his sister, laughing.
+
+"It isn't that, my girl!" exclaimed the elegant creature, piqued. "You
+know that I am not particularly fond of rural amusements."
+
+"Yes, yes, I know that you are one of the citified, and cannot breathe
+except in an atmosphere of tobacco smoke."
+
+Dona Amparo hastened, as always, to the rescue of her son.
+
+"It will please me very much if Sabas does not go, for picnics always
+disagree with his stomach."
+
+"What would it matter to Cristina if I had to stay shut up?" exclaimed
+the critic with an affectation of bitterness.
+
+"Poor little thing! You get on admirably on late suppers at the club,
+with olives and champagne."
+
+Marti intervened and cut off the dispute between them, seeing that Dona
+Amparo was already making ready to faint away. Everyone has his own
+preferences in the matter of amusements and it was folly to try to
+impose our own upon others. "Everybody has a right to be happy in his
+own way," and if Sabas found himself happier under a roof than under the
+open sky, he had no wish to disturb him.
+
+"All that I beg," he ended by saying, "is, that although he is not to be
+of the party, that he will let Matilde and the children come with us."
+
+Sabas generously granted this petition, and all friction seemed to be
+ended; but Cristina, who still wished to tease him a little, said with a
+mischievous smile:
+
+"Of course we understand that this means the afternoons when she has no
+buttons to sew on."
+
+"Cristina, Cristina!" cried Marti, half vexed, half laughing.
+
+We all did all we could to restrain our laughter. Sabas shrugged his
+shoulders with apparent disdain, but remained surly the rest of the
+evening.
+
+The next day and the days thereafter, without his honorable company but
+with that of Matilde and the eldest of his children, we made our
+excursions to Cabanal.
+
+Marti and Castell's carriages took us thither directly after breakfast,
+and brought us to the city at sunset. This time was spent chatting on
+the upper balcony of the summer-house while the ladies embroidered or
+sewed, or we went out into the park, where we played like children with
+balls or hoops.
+
+Sometimes we left the place and ran about the village or went down on
+the beach, where we were greatly entertained by watching the fishing
+boats coming in; at other times we directed our footsteps into the
+country, visited some of the cottages, usually that of a certain Tonet,
+an old servant of Marti's, who owned the little farm where he lived.
+There we often rested, and his wife welcomed us with chocolates or
+peanuts or served us some other refreshment.
+
+But the important business of the afternoon was the picnic, or rather
+its preparation. For it interested us that the picnic was spread and
+eaten in the open air. We carried the alcohol stove and the rest of the
+things to some distant and shady place in the park. The ladies put on
+their aprons; the gentlemen, in shirt-sleeves, made chocolate or coffee,
+or fried fish that we had just bought on the beach, and passed a happy
+time. How happy I was when the party gave me the task of stewing up some
+sailor's dish, and I went about among my scullions and scullionesses
+with the stewpan in my hands, despotically giving them exact orders and
+sometimes--who would believe it?--going so far as to forget that I was
+in love!
+
+Yet I was more and more in love all the time; there is no doubt about
+that. Neither when I said to Cristina in an imperious tone, "Bring me
+the salt!" nor, when I reproved her sharply for cutting the fish up into
+too small pieces, did it even enter my imagination that a more perfect
+creature could ever have existed under the sun. In the country the
+supercilious severity that I had often remarked in her disappeared. Her
+mood was gay, changeful, lively, and she invented a thousand tricks to
+make us laugh, while from her lips witticisms flowed continuously. She
+was the soul of our excursions, the salt that seasoned them.
+
+I could not keep my eyes away from her. I listened to her and stared at
+her like an idiot. Sometimes, though not often, she made me feel that I
+was carrying water in a sieve. For example, one afternoon, standing in
+the summer-house, she showed us a thimble that she had bought. Everybody
+examined it, and I also after the others, then I contrived to keep it
+without being noticed. A good while passed; nothing more was said about
+the thimble. But when we left the mirador to go to our picnic she
+crossed in front of me and said without looking at me:
+
+"Put the thimble in this little basket."
+
+It was of no use to be cunning and crafty with her. She saw everything;
+she observed everything.
+
+Another afternoon, when her sister-in-law Matilde was playing on the
+piano and she standing turning the leaves of her music, I stole up
+silently from behind. Pretending to find myself enraptured by the music
+and looking closely at its sheets, I devoured with my eyes her alabaster
+neck and the fine, soft hair, there where the black locks of her head
+seemed to die away and be lost like exquisite music that melts in
+pianissimo. Well, then as if she had eyes for seeing what was behind
+her, she raised her hand to the neck of her dress and pulled it up with
+a gesture of impatience. It was an admonition and a reprimand. But in
+spite of her dumb rebuffs and reproofs and although she used seldom to
+look at me, I felt myself happy beside her. And this was because in
+these rebuffs and in the sternness of her countenance I found no
+distaste for myself, nor desire to mortify me. Everything emanated from
+a noble, if exaggerated, sentiment of dignity, without counting the
+intense affection that she professed for her husband, of which she
+constantly gave clear proof. Nor in this either was she unworthy the
+exquisite delicacy of her sentiments. Instead of showing herself tender
+and submissive towards him as so many women would have done in her case,
+she shunned showing any fondness in my presence and, whenever it was
+possible, avoided the caresses that he would have given her. Sometimes
+he laughingly asked her the reason for such severity, but she remained
+inflexible.
+
+Of her sense of justice and the instinct that inspired it she gave
+witness more than once, although it was always tacit. I had gone to the
+house one morning. There was no one in the dining-room but herself and
+her mother. She happened to ask for a glass of water. I took it upon
+myself to anticipate the servant, went to the sideboard, took a goblet
+and a little tray, and was about to pour out the water and serve her
+when she interrupted me dryly:
+
+"No, let it be. I am not thirsty now; it was a whim."
+
+I was very much crestfallen, and even more saddened than humiliated. I
+cut short my visit and retired. That afternoon I stayed at the _fonda_
+and did not go to Cabanal as usual.
+
+At night I went to the house when they were finishing supper, entered
+with a stern countenance, and did not try to glance at her. But I saw
+plainly that she looked at me, and I wished her to keep on until I saw a
+humble expression on her face.
+
+In a few moments she addressed me with unusual amiability, seeking to
+make amends. I stood my ground rigidly. Then she said in a clear voice
+and with a gracious smile that I can never forget:
+
+"Captain Ribot, will you do me the favor to pour a little water into one
+of those goblets and bring it to me?"
+
+I served her, smiling. She smiled a little too before drinking it, and
+my resentment was melted like ice in the warmth of that smile.
+
+Castell was always one of the party on our excursions to Cabanal.
+Sometimes, though rarely, he drove out alone in one of his traps.
+
+I no longer doubted that he paid court to Cristina and had also observed
+the love that I felt for her. But he owed it to his immeasurable pride
+not to seem to notice a rival so little formidable; I could not see the
+slightest change in him. He continued to treat me with the same refined
+courtesy, not exempt from patronage, and--why should I not say it?--with
+also a sort of benevolent compassion. It is true that Castell extended
+this compassion towards all created beings, and I think I should not be
+wrong in affirming that it went beyond our planet and diffused itself
+among other and distant stars. As a general rule, he listened to nobody
+but himself; but at times, if he were in the humor, he would invite us
+to express our opinions, making us talk with the complacency shown to
+children; listening, smiling sweetly at our nonsensical chatter and our
+little mistakes. It was a regular secondary-school examination. When he
+deigned to pry into my limited field of knowledge I could not help
+fancying myself a microscopic insect that had by chance fallen into his
+hands, that he twirled and tortured between his encircling fingers.
+
+They all listened to him with great deference. Marti ever showed himself
+proud of having such a friend, and believed in good faith that neither
+in Spain nor in foreign lands existed a man to compare with him--in the
+world of theory, of course, because in practical matters, Marti was all
+there, as I knew.
+
+But Isabelita, Cristina's cousin, listened to him with even more
+absorption. It is impossible to imagine a more complete attention, an
+attitude more submissive and devoted than that of this girl with a
+profile like an angel, when Castell held forth. Her pure and pearl-like
+face was turned towards him; she sat perfectly still as if in ecstasy;
+the lashes of her innocent eyes did not move.
+
+The one who took the least pleasure in the dissertations of the rich
+ship-owner was, as far as I could see, Cristina. Although she forced
+herself to hide it, I was not long in divining that the science of her
+husband's friend and associate did not interest her. She often grew
+absent-minded and, whenever she could find a plausible pretext, she
+would leave the room. Can it be supposed that this lack of reverence for
+a representative of science lowered her in my eyes? I think not!
+
+I noted further that, although Cristina joined apparently the projects
+of her husband, and never contradicted him when he discussed them with
+his usual frankness before us, she showed lively vexation when Castell
+encouraged them. When the millionaire, therefore, would begin a pompous
+eulogy of Marti, praising in affected language his clear sight, his
+decision and activity, Cristina's face would change; her cheeks would
+lose their delicate rose-color; her brow would be knitted, and her
+beautiful eyes would take on a strange fixity. Usually she could not
+stand it to the end. She would get up and leave the room abruptly. The
+good Emilio, intoxicated with gratitude and pleasure, took no notice of
+this.
+
+What a soul was that of this man, how noble, how sensitive, how
+generous! Chance brought to my knowledge a magnanimous action that
+raised him still more in my eyes. With the freedom that he had given me
+from the first, I entered his private office one day unannounced at a
+rather inopportune moment. His mother-in-law sat sobbing (for a change)
+in an arm-chair, and he with his back towards the door was opening his
+safe. On hearing me he turned and quickly shut the door of the safe. He
+seemed a little more serious and thoughtful than usual, but the generous
+expression of his face had not disappeared. He greeted me, making an
+effort to appear cheerful; then turning to his mother-in-law and putting
+one hand upon her shoulder, he said affectionately:
+
+"Come, mamma, there is nothing to grieve about. Everything will be
+arranged this afternoon, without fail. Come now, go to Cristina and rest
+a little. You must not make yourself ill."
+
+"Thank you, thank you!" murmured the suffering lady, without ceasing to
+weep and blow her nose.
+
+Recovering finally at least a part of her energies, she left the place,
+not without giving me a strong, convulsive grasp of the hand and
+drawing her son-in-law to the door for three or four kisses. He shook
+his head and said, smiling:
+
+"Poor woman!"
+
+I gave him a glance of interrogation, not venturing to put the question
+in words. Marti shrugged his shoulders and murmured:
+
+"Tss! It's the same as always. Her son abuses the bounty of this poor
+woman and it gives her a great deal of trouble."
+
+As I perceived that he did not wish to go into further explanations, I
+refrained from inquiries, and we talked of other things. But a moment
+later Cristina came into the office, not in a good temper, and asked
+him:
+
+"Mamma has been begging money of you, hasn't she?"
+
+"No, my girl," replied Marti, coloring a little.
+
+"Don't deny it to me, Emilio. I have known all since this morning."
+
+"Very well, what of it? The thing is not worth wrinkling this little
+brow," he answered, touching it tenderly.
+
+Cristina remained silent and thoughtful a few moments.
+
+"You know," she said at last firmly, "that I have never opposed your
+expenditures for Sabas. I have enjoyed your generosity towards all, but
+your treatment of my brother has especially pleased me. Yet I have
+asked myself sometimes, 'Will this generosity of Emilio have really good
+consequences? Will it not encourage my brother to continue in his idle
+and dissipated habits?' If he were alone in the world, he might indulge
+in such luxurious ways without much danger. When he came to want, you
+could, by reducing him to strict necessities, keep him on his feet. But
+he has a wife, he has children, and I fear that they will have to bear
+the consequences of your generosity and of the habits which, thanks to
+your kindness, their father does not abandon. And, too," she added in
+low tones that trembled a little, "at present we have no great
+responsibilities, but we shall have them----"
+
+"I believe you; we shall have them!" exclaimed Marti. "It looks to me as
+if the first of them would not be many days in arriving!"
+
+Cristina's cheeks colored swiftly. Emilio, changing his tone, went over
+to her, put his arm about her shoulders affectionately, and said to her:
+
+"You are right in this, as you are in everything that you say. You are a
+hundred times more sensible than I am. Perhaps I should have refused
+Sabas if he had come begging of me, because I am already a little tired
+of his affairs; but your mother comes--when I see her crying--you don't
+know how that moves me."
+
+Cristina lifted to him her eyes shining with immense gratitude, her
+face quivering with feeling; fearing that she could not control her
+emotion, she suddenly left the room.
+
+"Poor little thing!" said Marti, smiling once more. "She is very right.
+Sabas is a bore."
+
+"He gambles, doesn't he?" I ventured, because of the confidence that had
+been shown me.
+
+"It would be better to say he is skinned by sharpers. What a fellow! He
+has lost, and promised to pay, five thousand pesetas."
+
+"He promises it, and you have to pay it."
+
+"Possibly. But what is to be done? It is not all his fault. He has a
+mother who is too soft."
+
+"And a brother-in-law who is too kind," I thought.
+
+Marti put his arm across my shoulders, and we went thus to the
+sewing-room to find Cristina and Dona Amparo. They were both there, the
+first frowning and meditative, the other completely overcome by her
+emotions. Matilde came in presently to breakfast with them. I perceived
+that she was sad and seemed as if ashamed. Soon after two ladies dropped
+in for an intimate call, and conversation cleared up the heavy
+atmosphere of the room.
+
+Cristina went out for a moment to attend to some of her domestic
+matters, and I noted that she left her handkerchief forgotten upon her
+chair. Then, with the dissimulation and ability of an accomplished
+thief, I went over to it, sat down as if absent-mindedly, and when
+nobody noticed, I took the precious object and hid it in my pocket.
+Cristina appeared again, and I noticed that she glanced about at all the
+chairs in search of her handkerchief; then she shot a glance at me, and,
+I firmly believe, guessed from my manner that I had it. Then not daring
+to ask me for it aloud and at the same time unwilling to give up and let
+it pass that she allowed me to have it, she went about searching in all
+the corners of the room, asking:
+
+"Where can my handkerchief be?"
+
+Nobody but me observed it, because all the rest were absorbed in
+conversation. At last I saw her sit down in her chair, take up her work,
+and go on with it in silence.
+
+I went away to luncheon at the _fonda_, without accepting their
+invitation to remain. I had a vehement desire to enjoy my precious
+conquest by myself; for I considered it such in my mad presumption after
+she gave over looking for it. Once in my quarters and assured that the
+door was fastened, and that nobody could see me through the key-hole, I
+snatched the kerchief from my pocket and gave myself up to a sort of
+madness which even now makes me blush when I remember it. I breathed its
+perfume with intoxication, kissed it numberless times, pressed it to my
+heart, swearing to be eternally faithful, put it away with the pictures
+of my father, took it out to kiss it, and put it away again. At last I
+came to the end of all imaginable extravagances, better suited to a
+young student of rhetoric than to the captain of a steamboat of three
+thousand tons.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+
+In the afternoon I was with the family at Cabanal as usual. Marti did
+not accompany us, having to attend to a certain business matter. (Did it
+have to do with the five thousand pesetas that his brother-in-law had
+lost?) At all events, I was selfish enough to rejoice at his absence.
+During the trip out and the hours that we stayed at the place, I
+observed something in Cristina's manner and gestures that made my heart
+tremble with joy and hope. I cannot explain how, without her looking at
+me nor once speaking directly to me, I felt overwhelmed by a celestial
+happiness, but so it was. We passed all the afternoon in the
+summer-house. The ladies worked at their sewing or embroidery. I read or
+made believe to read. Cristina, affected by an unusual languor, did not
+rise from her chair until the moment of leaving. While the others
+laughed and jested, I saw that she kept silence and was grave although
+without any apparent cause. Her face was slightly flushed. My
+imagination suggested to me the idea that it was because of the thoughts
+drifting through her soul and the timidity that they inspired. On the
+dark and gloomy horizon of my life light began to dawn; so my heart said
+to me. During that unforgettable afternoon, I was as happy as the angels
+must be in Paradise, or the author of a drama when he goes out on the
+stage to receive applause between the leading old man and young lady.
+
+After dining at my hotel I went to take coffee at the Siglo, with the
+intention of going thence to Marti's house. I encountered Sabas on
+entering, his pipe in his mouth, seated among several of his friends,
+whom he was haranguing in his own solemn and judicial manner. He saluted
+me from a distance with a wave of the hand, and presently seeing that I
+was alone, separated himself from the group and came to join me.
+
+He was in a jovial mood and did not seem in the least cast down by his
+folly of the day before, nor ashamed of it. We talked of our daily
+excursions to Cabanal, and I described them as very lively and
+delightful. He did not care to contradict me openly, but I understood by
+his gestures more than by his words that he looked upon all that as
+childishness unworthy a serious and mature man like himself. For one who
+could appreciate them, Valencia held pleasures more highly flavored,
+other fascinations; and he was sorry that I was out of them without
+tasting them. He did not say what they were, but from what I already
+knew, it was readily to be supposed that they had some relation direct
+or indirect with roulette.
+
+"Have you seen the famous stone factory?" he asked me in serious tones,
+although his eyes gleamed with a malicious smile.
+
+"Yes, I have seen it."
+
+"A fine business! And also the celebrated beer distillery?"
+
+"Also."
+
+"Better business yet! isn't it?"
+
+Then sounded in the depths of his throat a chuckle that could not be
+uttered because at that moment he was earnestly sucking his pipe. I was
+confused, as if he had said something offensive about one of my family,
+and I responded vaguely that certain enterprises turn out well, and
+others ill, and that their fortunes depend upon fortuitous circumstances
+more than upon the intelligence and industry of whosoever undertakes
+them.
+
+"Tell that of others, but not of my brother-in-law," he answered with
+sarcastic gravity. "Emilio's enterprises are always brilliant, because
+his is a practical genius, essentially practical."
+
+"He seems to me a very clever man," I remarked with some embarrassment.
+
+"Not at all; not at all; I will not admit a bit of it. His is a
+practical, and his friend Castell's a theoretical genius."
+
+"We have already talked a little about that," I replied smiling, to
+turn his scalpel away from the unpleasant subject.
+
+"They are both geniuses, each one in his own fashion, the only geniuses
+that we have in Valencia."
+
+I did not know what to say. That sarcastic tone annoyed me extremely.
+Sabas must have observed this, because exchanging it at last for another
+more serious, he set himself to make, as usual, a careful and reasonable
+analysis of his brother-in-law's conduct. It was something to see and to
+admire, the gravity, the aplomb, the air of immense superiority with
+which that man talked over others, the penetration with which he
+uncovered the hidden motives of all their acts, the incontrovertible
+force of his arguments, the sorrowful divination with which he
+formulated them. It was such that I could not do less than acknowledge
+to myself that every one of his observations hit the mark; but although
+I knew this, I was both astounded and indignant while I listened. I
+tried to hold the opposite side, but I could see that this only served
+to make clearer the perspicacity and conclusiveness of his judgments,
+and when I had taken my coffee and smoked a cigar, I got away from him.
+
+"For all that," I said, shaking his hand, "I have no room for doubt that
+Emilio is a very good fellow, and full of talent."
+
+"Agreed!" he responded, returning the hand-shaking, "but confess that a
+little common sense would be useful to him!"
+
+I left the cafe angry and miserable. I was very glad to get away from
+the sight of the dolt who had spoiled my morning. I directed my steps
+slowly towards the house of Marti, but on the way my thoughts took a
+sadly audacious direction. I was filled with a moral suffering, that had
+since morning afflicted me; this, mingling with my flattering hopes,
+made me so that I had not strength to mount the steps, and in front of
+the door I turned about, went to my hotel, and went to bed.
+
+That was for me a memorable night! As soon as I had put out the light I
+understood that it was going to be long indeed before I could woo sleep
+to come to me. A whirl of wild thoughts filled my brain, disordering,
+agonizing. The lovely vision of Cristina came in the centre of all, but
+did not succeed in calming their ardor, nor controlling them. In vain
+fancy called up the scene of the handkerchief and that adorable face,
+softened and moved, the sight whereof had made me happy all day long. In
+vain I invoked the celestial felicity that sooner or later must descend
+upon me. Whether it was illusion or reality, I thought that the fruit
+was ripening, and already responded with delicate tremors to the
+continued shaking that my hand gave the bough. Perhaps it would be long
+in falling into my lap. But I ought to confess that this alluring
+future possibility did not leave me peaceful and joyous as I had hoped.
+I tried to become so by closing my eyes, but this did not do it. My eyes
+were only the more widely open. My forehead burned my hand when I passed
+it across it. I experienced a strange restlessness that obliged me to
+change my position constantly. The curious suffering whose first slight
+stings I had felt during the day, now pierced me fiercely and
+intolerably.
+
+This suffering was nothing else but remorse. To be really happy it is a
+necessity that a man should be contented with himself, and I was not.
+Another image, melancholy and grief-stricken, followed always after that
+of Cristina in the interminable procession of my thoughts, disturbing
+the happiness of which I had had a glimpse. It was that of Marti. Poor
+Emilio! so good, so generous, so innocent! His mother-in-law wrung money
+out of him and would have ruined him to support her son in his idleness;
+his friend, whom he looked upon as a brother, deceived him; his
+brother-in-law, upon whom he heaped kindnesses, ridiculed him publicly.
+He had no heart near him that was loving and faithful except that of his
+wife. And I, an outsider, to whom he had offered so much frank and
+affectionate hospitality, I would snatch it away! The idea weighed down
+my heart, made me feel myself disgraced. In vain I forced myself to
+picture in lovely colors what it would be to be the lover of Cristina,
+to taste of the intense pleasure of passion, and the joy of conquest. In
+vain I tried to make my fault seem less by recalling to mind the
+shortcomings of others. In my ears sounded ever a voice assuring me that
+to go on would be to be unhappy. And my quivering nerves kept me tossing
+between the sheets with my eyes ever more and more wide open.
+
+The hours went by, sounding slowly, sonorously, and sadly from the
+cathedral clock. I tried earnestly to shut my eyes and go to sleep, but
+fiery, invisible fingers pressed open my eyelids. At last I bounced out
+of bed, struck a light, dressed myself, and began walking the floor. And
+when I had paced back and forth for a while, searching the most secret
+corners of my heart, I understood what must of necessity be done. I had
+recourse to chloral, more chloral than I had ever taken in nights like
+this of sleeplessness and struggle. I renounced my desires once for all,
+my hopes, the enjoyments of love and the flatteries of self-love. I
+entered into my spirit with a lash and drove from it the perfidy of will
+which, for the few pleasures that it gives us, causes us so many burning
+wounds. This cost me labor, for it hid itself away in all sorts of
+corners, obliging me to pursue it closely, leaving it no point to stop
+upon. But at last I succeeded in driving it out in sober earnest, and I
+stopped in the middle of the room, tired out, perspiring like one who
+has performed some heavy task, but at peace. I undressed again, lay down
+on the bed, and the winged god, son of sleep and night, bore me away in
+his arms to the mysterious palace of his father.
+
+When I awoke, the sun, already high in the heavens, was shedding its
+golden rays upon the city. As soon as I had dressed myself I went
+directly to the house of Emilio. The husband and wife were together in
+the sewing-room, and with them were Dona Amparo, Isabelita, Dona Clara,
+a dressmaker, and a domestic. The first question that was asked me was
+where I had been the night before. I excused myself with a headache.
+Cristina, who was embroidering near the balcony, did not lift her eyes,
+but I noted on her face the same expression of gentle compassion that
+she had worn during the episode of the handkerchief. And, too, while I
+was talking with the others I saw that she stole a swift and timid
+glance at me.
+
+I improved a moment when all were occupied, and approached her. Drawing
+the handkerchief from my pocket, and in a voice so low that the company
+could not hear me, yet not low enough to make any secrets suspected, I
+said:
+
+"I have carelessly kept a handkerchief of yours, thinking that it was my
+own. Until I got home I did not perceive my mistake. Here 'tis; take
+it."
+
+She lifted her head and gave me a look of intense surprise; her face
+flushed a vivid carmine; she took with a trembling hand the handkerchief
+that I held out to her, and again bent her brow over her embroidery
+frame.
+
+After that, tell me frankly if I have not the right to laugh at Caesar,
+Alexander, Epaminondas, and at all the heroes of pagan antiquity in
+general! At least I live in the intimate conviction (and this thought
+makes me vastly greater in my own eyes) that if Epaminondas had found
+himself in my shoes he would not have returned the handkerchief.
+
+I turned anew to the group and joined the chat with animation, although,
+perhaps, it was an excessive animation. My soul was profoundly moved and
+it should be declared among these frank confessions that, although I
+felt no pride in my heroism, neither did I experience that sweet content
+that the moralists say always accompanies good actions.
+
+I lunched with them and we went afterwards to Cabanal, where the
+afternoon passed as merrily as ever. But my gayety was only feigned;
+although I wore myself out pretending it, and to divert myself, I am
+sure I cut a sorry figure.
+
+Cristina did not care to hide her preoccupation. All the afternoon she
+was thoughtful and serious, even to the point of making herself
+remarked.
+
+When night came, praise God! I would have opportunity to turn the key
+that locked up my thoughts and weighed down my soul, and ease my pain a
+little.
+
+It chanced that Marti had brought from his library the works of Larra,
+and he read to us, to pass the time, one of his most delicious pieces,
+entitled "El Castellano Viejo." We all laughed and applauded the gifts
+and ingenuity of the great satirical writer. From this we went on to
+talk of his life and his tragic end in the flower of his youth, for he
+was not yet twenty-eight years of age when he voluntarily quitted this
+world.
+
+"And why did he kill himself?" asked Matilde.
+
+"For that which men usually kill themselves, for--a woman!" answered
+Marti, laughing.
+
+"I believe you! When they don't kill themselves on account of money,"
+exclaimed the young wife, showing herself a trifle annoyed.
+
+"That kind have not wholly lost their senses, but there are many more of
+the first sort," he returned, laughing.
+
+"Thanks, very much. And was she married or single--this one who
+interested him?"
+
+"Married. It is said that he maintained relations with her during the
+absence of her husband, that his return was announced, and that then
+she, repentant or timid, made known to him her resolution to break off
+with him. The grief of Larra was so severe that he was not able to bear
+it, so he shot himself."
+
+"But she did right, and he was very stupid to leave life when he was so
+young and when there are so many women to choose from and marry."
+
+"He was already married," said Marti.
+
+"He was married!" exclaimed the women indignantly and all together.
+
+"And had several children."
+
+"Then he should be quartered! He ought to be hung! The scoundrel should
+be cast out with the other refuse! It would serve him right!"
+
+The wrath of the ladies made us laugh. Someone observed that she also
+was married, and that this fact had not seemed to irritate them so much.
+
+"Because women are weak creatures. Because women do not run after men.
+Because they are deceived by honeyed words. Because men rouse their
+compassion, pretending to be mad and desperate!"
+
+"You are right," I said, to calm them. "The one who resists ought not to
+have the same responsibility, if failing at last, as the one who makes
+the attack. But coming to the concrete example of which we were talking,
+my opinion is that Larra gave more proofs of suicidal egotism than of
+high and delicate love. If he had really loved this woman, he would have
+respected her penitence, would have considered her all the more worthy
+of adoration, and would have found in his own heart and in the nobleness
+of the adored being resources to make life worth living. But to leave
+life, to deprive his children of a father and his country of a true
+Spaniard, makes me, at least, think that he did not love his beloved for
+the lovable qualities heaven had bestowed upon her, but for his own
+sake."
+
+The ladies joyfully agreed with me. This roused Castell's pride of
+wisdom; or perhaps he only gave way to his ever-present desire to
+instruct his fellows, believing himself infallible. He leaned back in
+his chair, and holding my attention by his little finger glittering with
+rings, delivered a complete course in philosophy. His was a well-linked
+chain of reasoning, elegant sentences, a great abundance of
+psychological, biological, and sociological facts--all to show that "man
+is irrevocably fettered to his own sensations;" that "no other sincere
+motive exists except that of pleasing them;" "the world is a battle
+without a truce;" "struggle is the inevitable condition for the
+preservation and upholding of the great machine of the universe," and so
+on.
+
+"Without struggle, friend Ribot," he concluded, "we should return to the
+condition of inert matter. Combat trains us and strengthens us; it is
+the sole guarantee of progress. He who, led away by a mad notion,
+strives to suppress antagonism towards other creatures attacks the very
+root of existence and attempts to violate the most sacred of its laws."
+
+"Oh, yes!" I exclaimed with emotion. "He would be mad, but I affirm that
+he would experience immense pleasure in attacking this sacred law. I
+should like nothing better than to get up some morning and smash it into
+bits. I have passed the greater part of my life upon an element where
+this sacred law demands a fervent worship. In the depths of the sea the
+creatures devour one another with indefatigable devotion; the greater
+religiously swallow up the less. You may rest assured, Senor Castell,
+that the great machine of the universe will not suffer any damage from
+their sins. But I confess frankly that I have never become accustomed to
+these proceedings, wherein marine animals have the advantage over
+terrestrial ones. Some nights in summer, on the bridge of my boat, I
+have asked myself: 'Is it possible that man is obliged to imitate this
+ferocious struggle everlastingly, and be forever implacable to all who
+are below him? Will there not come a day when we will gladly renounce
+it, when compassion will rise above interest, and the pain that we cause
+not only to our fellow-beings, but to any living creature, become
+unendurable to us?'"
+
+"Dreams, nothing more! Nor are you the first who has followed this
+chimera."
+
+"Well, then, let us dream!" I cried, with more passion than I suspected
+myself capable of, "let us dream that this sad reality is no more than
+an appearance, a horrible nightmare from which perhaps the human spirit
+will one day awaken. And meanwhile so much!--let every man manufacture
+his magic world and travel through it, companioned by love and
+friendship and virtue, by all those beautiful visions that make life
+joyful. For life, Senor Castell, however balanced and physiological it
+may be, is a sad and insipid thing when the imagination is not moved to
+adorn it. If capricious fortune should ever drag me, like Larra, into
+being enamored of a woman who belonged to another" (here my voice did
+not change in the least), "I should not perfidiously attempt to gain her
+affection away from her husband, to win pleasure or joy. At least, I
+should not hesitate to strike down my own joy pitilessly. I should
+rather try to make use of my poor imagination, as great Petrarch made
+use of his divine one, to love her, to keep her image sacred in the
+depths of my heart, to give her unselfish adoration; and my life, by
+contact with this pure love, would gain elevation and nobility."
+
+From the beginning of our talk I had felt the eyes of Cristina resting
+upon me. Now I saw her rise hastily and go to the piano to conceal her
+emotion. Dona Clara, Matilde, and Isabelita applauded. Emilio, laughing,
+threw his arms about my neck.
+
+"What warmth, what enthusiasm, Captain! I am a man essentially
+practical, and not in the least able to argue with Enrique; but you
+have answered him, and said things very agreeable, and very fine, and,
+what is rarer, you know how to say them very well."
+
+This was the truth, in spite of my modesty. It was the first and only
+time in my life that I felt myself an orator. And if in that moment the
+directors of the Athenaeum at Madrid had invited me there, I think I
+should not have minded giving in the capital a lecture on "The Future of
+the Latin Races," or any other topic however grand!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+
+From that day her attitude towards me changed materially. She showed
+herself less diffident and distrustful; she did not seek so carefully to
+avoid looking me in the face. When I entered she did not suddenly turn
+serious as she used. Little by little her freedom of manner increased,
+making her cordial, and affectionate too, within the bounds of her
+reserved temperament. Her delicacy hindered her from recompensing me in
+words for what I had uttered in her presence; but she used her ingenuity
+to find a way to make me understand that she approved of me.
+
+One afternoon there was talk of certain things that had been bought and
+left forgotten in a shop. Marti wished to send a servant for them. She
+said with apparent indifference:
+
+"Captain Ribot, do you not go through the Calle de San Vicento? Then do
+me the favor to get this parcel and bring it to me to-night."
+
+I was overwhelmed with delight. At night when I delivered it to her she
+received it with more indifference than ever.
+
+"Thanks!" she said dryly, without looking at me.
+
+It did not matter. I was sure she had given me a reward. I felt happy
+and peaceful.
+
+But next day, after this small bounty and grateful success, adverse fate
+had prepared for me a graver alarm than I had ever experienced in my
+life of peril and hazard. Neither when I ran aground in the Rio de la
+Plata, nor when the sea knocked away the bridge and half our masts in
+the English Channel, did I feel my heart so constricted by any sudden
+encounter. The agent to furnish me with this most cruel trial was Dona
+Amparo. We had been chatting in this lady's sewing-room, Cristina and I.
+While they worked I had been turning over an album of portraits of all
+of the family and many of their friends. I inquired, and Dona Amparo
+told me, who the originals were. Cristina remained silent.
+
+"Who is this charming child?" I asked, gazing at the likeness of a
+little girl of ten or twelve years. "What beautiful eyes!"
+
+"Don't you recognize her? It is Cristina."
+
+"Ah!" I exclaimed, surprised. And, looking at her, I observed that she
+was crimson.
+
+"She was then in school. Wasn't she very lovely?"
+
+"Yes, I think so," I stammered.
+
+"Mamma, don't say such absurd things. She looks like a picked chicken!"
+exclaimed the one under discussion, laughing.
+
+"Like a picked chicken!" cried the mother indignantly; "you were plump
+as possible. From that time you have done nothing but lose ground. I
+would give something to see you now as you were then. And Ribot will say
+the same."
+
+"Senora," I murmured, although in confusion, "no doubt she was very
+beautiful at that time, but I think that the present is better worth
+while."
+
+Cristina blushed more yet, and bent over her work serious and silent.
+Her mother did not choose to drop the subject. I did not venture to
+contradict her openly; I only uttered monosyllables or phrases of
+doubtful interpretation. At last we gave up this conversation, so
+dangerous to me. We were told that the hairdresser had come, and
+Cristina went to her room.
+
+I continued turning over the album, and Dona Amparo went on moving back
+and forth the ivory needle of her lace-work. We preserved silence; but
+three or four times, on lifting my eyes, I observed that she was looking
+at me with irritating persistence. Finally I could see that she laid
+down her work, doubtless to look at me more to her liking.
+
+"Ribot," she uttered in a low voice.
+
+I thought it well to seem deaf.
+
+"Tss! Ribot."
+
+"What did you say, senora?" I asked, pretending to come out of my great
+abstraction.
+
+"Look me in the face."
+
+"How? I do not understand."
+
+"Will you look me in the face?"
+
+As I had not been doing anything else, this petition would have been
+tremendously absurd if it had not been even more disquieting.
+
+"Now, move your chair a little nearer."
+
+This new demand appeared to me much more disquieting. I drew up, none
+the less, according to orders, dragging the chair with an ill-omened
+squeak. Adopting a tranquil and unembarrassed air, distinctly contrary
+to what would have suited me at that instant, I waited for what it was
+she had to say to me. Dona Amparo gazed at me smiling, and then, with a
+deep look, she said:
+
+"Ribot, you are in love with my daughter Cristina!"
+
+I grew pale, then crimson; afterwards other shades of yellow, green, and
+blue. Indeed, I think my face was a rainbow for the space of several
+seconds.
+
+"Senora! I! How can you suppose it? On my life, what a notion! What an
+idea!"
+
+Dona Amparo, on seeing me in such a terrible state of agitation, became
+frightened, and turned pale also. She reached out immediately for her
+smelling-bottle; with one hand she held up my head, and with the other
+put it under my nostrils. I was given salts to smell in such a moment as
+that!
+
+I took my bitter cup as best I could, thanked her, and, with smothered
+words and faltering tongue, ascribed my emotion to my natural surprise.
+The accusation was so grave that really----
+
+Dona Amparo smiled benevolently, doubtless to calm me, and would not
+consent that we should say another word before I took a drop of ether to
+fortify me. I swallowed it not without difficulty, for my throat was
+constricted so that I was scarcely able to breathe. Then, to mollify the
+just indignation of this lady, I returned to my discomfited and
+incoherent protestations against such a monstrous supposition.
+
+I in love! How could it be possible that I should have the hardihood,
+the audacity? Her daughter was a model of all the virtues. Nobody would
+have the rashness to offend her with other sentiments than those of
+respect and admiration--I least of all, a friend of Marti, who was such
+a gentleman, so loyal, who had given me so many proofs of unmerited
+esteem, etc., etc.
+
+"All this is very well, Ribot," declared Dona Amparo, emotionally
+sniffing her smelling-salts, "but this does not hinder you from being on
+fire, mad, lost, for my daughter."
+
+"You deceive yourself, senora. I assure you that you----"
+
+"Come, confess yourself," she said, putting one hand on my shoulder, and
+looking at me with a smilingly mischievous face: "nobody can hear."
+
+"Senora, for God's sake!"
+
+"Confess, sinner! Confess yourself!" and she gave a gentle and
+affectionate little pull at my beard.
+
+I was terrified, dreading something decidedly unpleasant.
+
+"Let us keep the secret between us two. You are in love with Cristina,
+as Castell has been for some time."
+
+"Enough of this!" I said, trying to find a way to escape.
+
+"He is a much worse rake, and, between the two, frankly I prefer you."
+
+I was stupefied. What was it that this senora preferred? Why was she
+talking to me in this manner? Where was she going to stop?
+
+"Isn't it true that Cristina is very lovely?" she went on with the same
+flippancy. "She is such an interesting type, of such delicacy! It is not
+strange that you should become enamored of her. Of course, I will not
+have her talked about."
+
+"Senora!"
+
+"No! I know what you would say! She is the best of creatures, virtuous,
+incapable of failing her husband. Further, Emilio has no equal, so much
+affection, so much loyalty, so splendid! He adores his wife. I am as
+proud of him as if he were my own son. I would not consent, for
+anything in the world, that he should have the least trouble."
+
+"He will not have any on my account, make yourself easy," I ventured to
+say.
+
+"That is honorable in you, Ribot," she replied, pressing my hand. "You
+are very good, enough better than that rascal of a Castell," she added,
+smiling sweetly. "And, truly, you could not do less than be fond of
+Emilio. He is so good. I always find him so affectionate towards me. But
+who can blame any poor fellow for falling in love! The wrong is in
+murmuring soft nothings in the ear of Cristina when Emilio is not
+looking. We will suppose that they are foolish things, that she has eyes
+like this and a skin like that. But that is not right. Emilio is his
+best friend, and if he suspected, he would be disturbed. You, Ribot, are
+much more respectful. You would not let yourself gaze, except by
+stealth. But what eyes he makes at her! Come, now, let us see, sinner,
+did you fall in love at Gijon or here?"
+
+"I beg of you, senora--I--I feel so much upset, I must ask you to allow
+me to retire."
+
+"How reserved you are, Ribot! Well, this pleases me. Men of few words
+are those who best know how to care. But with me you ought not to be so
+timid. I know the affection you have vowed her. Open your heart to me,
+so that I can do everything possible to console it. To whom better than
+me can you unbosom yourself?"
+
+"A thousand thanks, senora. Permit me to go. At present I feel that I
+should not be able to say anything in reason."
+
+"I understand you! I understand you, dear Ribot!" declared Dona Amparo,
+pressing one of my hands with emotion between both her own. "You are
+like me, exceedingly sensitive, exceedingly emotional. Don't you want
+another drop of ether? Neither you nor I is fit for this world. I cannot
+bear to see anyone suffer. Now here you see me, me who, in spite of my
+adoration for my son-in-law, for whom I would willingly give my life, am
+dissolved in tears at seeing you suffering on account of my daughter. I
+am weeping like mad."
+
+And truly Dona Amparo did not in this moment malign herself.
+
+"Frankly, Ribot," she went on rackingly, "if it were possible for
+Cristina to care for you without troubling Emilio, I would myself go and
+intercede for you."
+
+"Thank you, thank you," I murmured, pressing her hand before I got mine
+away.
+
+"Believe me, you are as dear to me as a son, and I would give something
+if----"
+
+Here her voice strangled in her throat, and I improved the precious
+opportunity to stride with tragic footstep from my scene of trial.
+
+I went out in indescribable confusion. I felt angry, wrathful at such a
+woman, who with so much frivolity and folly lifted the veil of the most
+delicate secrets, the deepest intimacies of her family life. Between my
+teeth I called her coarse, imbecile, a bad mother. My anger carried me
+so far as to accuse her of an inclination to trade upon her child's
+attractions, of having been born for the part of a _Celestina_. Yet
+little by little I calmed myself, and with calmness arrived at last at
+justice. Dona Amparo was absolutely idiotic, of this there was no doubt;
+but she was not a bad woman. Hers was a heart that spread itself like
+butter over the first comer. It was necessary to her to be looked after
+and petted like a child or a dog, and like them she knew no difference
+between the hands that bestowed caresses. Reflecting thus, my spirit was
+little by little inspired with less wrathful sentiments; but I could not
+help thinking, all the same, that if the foregoing conversation should
+become known to Cristina, she would fall dead of shame.
+
+I encountered her in the office with her husband and Castell. Emilio,
+who was beginning to organize and get under way his famous project for
+putting canals through the province of Almeria, was in an excellent
+humor. I suspected that Castell had finally facilitated the matter with
+the needful. Emilio was babbling away, chaffing his friend
+affectionately about his scepticism and theories, and his apathy towards
+business. If he had Castell's means at his disposal, he would undertake
+to become the richest man in Spain, at the same time giving bread away
+to many families and furthering the progress of the nation. When I
+entered, the torrent of his chaffing was diverted to me, and he
+threatened to marry me off within a period of not more than two months.
+Then he began talking to me about his project. As soon as the great
+family event we were all hoping for had come off, he would go to Almeria
+to hasten the preparation for the canal. He drew from the desk a lot of
+portfolios and showed me the plans, explaining details, and trying to
+stir up in me the same enthusiasm that animated him. I gave him a
+religious attention, but only in appearance. I really lost not one
+movement of Castell's while I looked over the papers, for I suspected
+him. I saw him manage skilfully to get near Cristina, who with one foot
+on the balcony sill was turning over a book. When he got near her, under
+pretext of examining the book she held, I observed that he brought his
+cheek near hers until it almost touched; and although his back was
+towards me and I, of course, could not see his lips move, I knew that he
+was whispering something to her. The lady moved her head abruptly away
+and tried to withdraw; but--oh, what a surprise!--Castell detained her,
+taking hold of her wrist. At the same time with his other hand he tried
+to put a letter between her fingers. Cristina refused to take it. There
+was a struggle in silence. My heart beat in my breast. I was afraid that
+Marti would turn his head and see what was going on. Not for sake of the
+villain Castell, it may be readily understood, but to save my friends
+from the scandal and from cruel trouble, I did everything possible to
+keep him occupied. Cristina's frightened eyes were several times turned
+towards us; then not getting free otherwise, and fearing that which was
+surely going to happen, if this struggle were prolonged a few seconds
+more, she decided to take the letter, which she crumpled and hid in her
+hand. Then, pale, yet smiling, she came over to us and busied herself
+also in looking over the plans, forcing herself to seem at ease. But her
+face did not lose its intense pallor and her whole body was trembling.
+
+As for Castell, I never saw anybody cooler, serener, or showing less
+emotion of any sort. He remained a little while quiet, his hands in his
+pockets, looking out over the balcony into the street. Then he walked
+about the room. Now and then he would give Cristina a quick,
+scrutinizing glance. In spite of the profound aversion with which he
+inspired me, I could not help admiring the man's incredible audacity and
+at the same time his perfect self-control and unquenchable confidence
+in himself. I have never known anyone to whom other created beings
+represented less.
+
+I did not lose sight of the hand in which Cristina had crumpled the
+letter. Emilio went on through the portfolios without ceasing his long
+prolix explanations. Then rising from his chair and taking Castell's
+arm, he halted him in his walk.
+
+"Do you--don't you want to go into such a business?" he said in the
+chaffing tone.
+
+"You know already, Emilio, that I can't serve you," replied the other,
+with his placid and patronizing smile.
+
+"In work, no--I know that. But as a figure-head you can do me a great
+service. As you are rich and are known as a scientific man (you know
+that, although you don't care much about it), it is necessary that you
+should take the most important position, and be president of the council
+of administration. No work will be demanded of you. You shall be given a
+comfortable arm-chair, and you can, from time to time, drop off to
+sleep, scattering benedictions."
+
+Cristina had remained near the table. Standing up, she, with a lofty
+expression, cast one full glance at Castell. Then unfolding that which
+she held, she tranquilly tore it up and flung the tiny bits into the
+waste-paper basket.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+
+Our way that afternoon lay towards the cottage of Tonet, where some
+refreshment was prepared for us. This Tonet, a regular Moor according to
+his eyes, his complexion, and his teeth, was a wonder at preparing
+_paellas_ and playing on the flute. Whenever it occurred to us to go and
+visit him, he received us with the gravity and courtesy of a feudal
+senor. Scarcely opening his lips, he made himself understood to his wife
+and children by signs, had chairs brought for us under the arbor, and
+soon afterwards he used to serve us figs, dates, chufas, and fresh
+cinnamon cakes, with which his pantry was always provided. When we had
+let him know we were coming, as on the present occasion, he offered us
+ice cream, rich with vanilla and filberts. He was a meek, sad man,
+seeming careless of all things. He was never joyful, but liked to see
+joyousness in others. On Sundays and on many afternoons when his work
+was done early, he would come out and sit down alone in front of the
+cottage and play softly for a while on his flute. He did not do it for
+his own pleasure; it was a lure, nothing more. Little by little he drew
+to his own cottage the young people from all the cottages round about,
+and a dance was improvised. His eldest son, a boy of fourteen years,
+played on the taboret and was almost as grave and silent as he. Both
+passed hours, one blowing and the other beating his instrument, serious,
+melancholy, with eyes fixed on space, and heeding neither much nor
+little the noisy dance that their music evoked.
+
+Sabas, who was of the party this afternoon, marched abreast with me as
+we were making our way across the fields of high Indian corn, already
+bursting into ears. The first subject that he proposed for my
+consideration, sucking his pipe and spitting at regular intervals, was
+of a nature essentially critical. Why did his brother-in-law persist in
+keeping up this estate with so little of it under cultivation, and at so
+much expense, when by so little effort it could be made productive?
+Every one of the constituent elements of this proposition was separately
+examined by a rigidly mathematical method. To do so he formulated in the
+first place certain definitions, clear, distinct, and luminous. What is
+an estate for recreation? What is a productive estate? What is an estate
+of combined pleasure and utility? After this he laid down certain axioms
+as profound as they were indisputable. All that is productive ought to
+produce. To attain an end one ought to employ means. Man is not alone in
+the world, and ought to consider his family. Vanity should not
+influence human actions. One-sided propositions immediately followed
+with their premises and corollaries; then he would go on to the end
+gently, but with invincible logic to prove the proposition on which hung
+the following corollary: Emilio is an active and enterprising man, but
+at the same time a careless fellow.
+
+Satisfied, with good reason, by the method and intuition and the logic
+wherewith the Supreme Being had so highly favored him, Sabas continued
+sucking and spitting with dizzying rapidity. The second subject which
+this lucid soul attacked this afternoon directly concerned me.
+
+"Come, tell us, Ribot, have you never thought of getting married?" he
+asked me after a long pause, taking out his pipe and fixing a
+scrutinizing gaze upon me.
+
+I confess I felt disturbed. I understood that the depths of my soul were
+next to be sounded, and trembled, perceiving that this transcendent
+critic was disposed to exercise his scalpel on me.
+
+"Tss! Sailors think little of that. Our life is incompatible with family
+pleasures."
+
+"Sailors, when they arrive at a certain comfortable condition and have
+reached an independent position like you, have the right to retire
+peacefully and enjoy a comfortable life," he replied with the gravity
+and firmness which marked every utterance that came out of his mouth.
+
+How did he know that I had reached an independent position? Solely by
+his marvellous intuition, for I had given nobody an account of the state
+of my affairs. I admired such tremendous penetration from the bottom of
+my heart, and was humbly disposed to find out how much more he knew
+about me.
+
+Sabas meditated several minutes. And while he meditated, sucking his
+pipe, his cheeks sunk in a supernatural manner. The energy that he
+expended upon that tobacco smoke was such that I was persuaded he must
+be swallowing it.
+
+At the same time the intensity of his reflections influenced in like
+manner the secretion of his salivary glands.
+
+"Why should you not marry my cousin Isabelita?" he said to me suddenly,
+with that brusque and peremptory accent which characterizes men who rule
+their kind by their power of thought.
+
+Isabelita was walking on with Matilde in front of us. I grew pale,
+fearing she might have heard these serious words, and frightened and
+confused, murmured some incoherent words.
+
+"Yes," proceeded the critic, "my cousin is a very nice girl, very
+modest, and more, she admires you extremely."
+
+"Admires me!" I exclaimed, amazed. "And for what does she admire me?" I
+asked candidly.
+
+Sabas laughed noisily, coughed, and got rid of his nicotine.
+
+"She will tell you that when you are alone with her, hand in hand."
+
+"You do not understand me," I returned, nettled. "What I wish to say is
+that I do not see anything in myself to be admired by anybody. And as
+for Isabelita, I have always believed that she had dedicated all of her
+admiration to Castell."
+
+"That is nothing special. A man with eight million pesetas is an
+admirable being. But the admiration, in this case, will not bring any
+practical result. All the world knows that Castell keeps the mother of
+his children, and no young lady of good family thinks of him. With you
+the case is different; it would be possible for it to be quickly carried
+to a satisfactory solution; and my opinion is that you ought to leave
+your steamboat and try at once for this elegant craft. Isabelita is
+sensible, modest, well-educated, diligent; she is accustomed to the
+strict economy of a house where they turn a dollar over a hundred times
+before parting with it; an only child, and heiress of all her father's
+money. And my Uncle Retamoso owns more than people imagine. Who ever can
+tell exactly how much money a Galician has? Probably while he lives you
+would not have a right of five centimes; but what does that matter to
+you? In the first years of marriage you can keep yourself well enough on
+your capital, and when necessities grow greater, and certain additional
+things become necessary, you can make a raise on your prospects as his
+son-in-law, enough to carry you over until a certain joyful event----"
+
+Other wise reflections poured like busy and knowing bees from the mouth
+of that extraordinary man. In my life seemed gathered together all the
+loose ends of existence, all its aims fulfilled, and the quintessence of
+human relations extracted.
+
+While my future was thus being discussed, although I found myself
+embarrassed by the new perspective offered to my view, I had, none the
+less, enough largeness of mind to admire the logic of his discourse, his
+surprising wealth of figures, richness of diction, turns of expression,
+subtle and logical distinctions, and the perfect links of his chain of
+reasoning. The breathing world, I believe, held no secrets from this
+man, and the mechanism of his reasoning worked with the exactness of a
+chronometer.
+
+When we reached the cottage and were seated to partake of the
+refreshment that had been prepared for us, Emilio, who was near me,
+asked me in an undertone:
+
+"Then it is decided that you are going to leave us to-morrow?"
+
+"There is no help for it. The boat is due any moment now."
+
+"What a pity!" he exclaimed in a melancholy tone; and placing one hand
+affectionately on my shoulder he added: "Do you know, you rascal, that
+we are getting used to you!"
+
+I was moved by his words, and more yet by the cloud of sadness that
+darkened his cheerful, sympathetic face. I kept silence. He did the
+same. Throwing himself back in his chair, he remained unlike himself,
+thoughtful and melancholy. At last he turned to me and said, almost in
+my ear:
+
+"If you would take my advice you would give up your sea-faring life,
+which, say what you will, is a little risky, and marry and settle down.
+Why be always alone? Do you never think of old age, and how sad it would
+be to pass the last years of your life in the power of self-seekers,
+without children to make bright your home, without a wife who of herself
+brings order and comfort?"
+
+"But I am an old fellow already," I answered smiling, but sad in the
+depths of my soul, "I am thirty-six years old."
+
+"That is a good age for a man. And then, by your looks and strength and
+suppleness, you are only a boy. I know," he added, casting a mischievous
+glance towards the place where Isabelita was, "a girl of eighteen Aprils
+who would marry you in preference to all the young bucks of the city."
+
+"Bah! this girl would laugh if you should propose to her a man double
+her age."
+
+"Don't you believe it! Because you know it already, I will tell you in
+confidence that Isabelita admires you."
+
+"But, man----"
+
+"No, no. I know particularly that she admires you."
+
+The thing was serious. This unexpected admiration made me anxious and
+timid. I could not see my face in a mirror, because there was none
+there; but a glance at my shaggy, brown hands and at my feet, neither
+small nor especially well-shod, made me unable to divine the nature or
+extent of my charms.
+
+Well, well, the least that a man can do when, with reason or without, he
+finds himself admired by a girl, is to pass her the plate of olives and
+ask her if she likes them. This is exactly what I did a little after I
+had had it brought to my notice that I had fascinated Retamoso's
+daughter. She pricked one with her fork, and at once her lovely face was
+covered with blushes, as if she had pricked my heart. I was not sure,
+but I figured that the next thing after this was to serve her a bit of
+sausage. The same blushes dyed her brow for this hash as for the olives.
+The consecutive repetition of this physiological phenomenon filled my
+spirit with alarm. My gallant sentiments grew so animated that I did not
+stop offering her entertainment at very short intervals for some time. I
+think that if she had taken all I offered her that afternoon, medicine
+would have been powerless to counteract the effects of my attention, and
+that angelical being would have spread her wings for heaven, the victim
+of an indigestion.
+
+Once started on the downward path of soft nothings, I did not hesitate
+to sit down beside her and let her know that she had wonderful eyes,
+indescribable; cheeks that were smooth, rose-colored, indescribable;
+hands little and shapely and charming and--also indescribable. The
+knowledge of these facts caused her profound surprise, to judge by the
+look of incredulity that appeared upon her countenance. She told me that
+truly I knew very well how to go on, and that only a rascal of a sailor,
+accustomed to flatter women all along the coast, could find such a
+proceeding possible. Saying this, she grew redder than a cherry.
+
+The conversation went on for some time in this sweet and pleasant
+fashion, as if we were playing at fencing in a comedy, and while it
+lasted the blood ebbed and flowed constantly in the face of Isabelita. I
+outdid myself, as the critics say of bad actors in the journals; that
+is, I was jolly, smart, full of chaff, and absolutely stupid. Our chat
+attracted the attention of the rest, and I could see that they looked at
+us with curiosity and glanced mischievously at one another.
+
+I don't know now what fatuity made me do it, but I begged Tonet to play
+on his flute, and I proposed that, when the company came, we should
+dance together. She accepted readily, and laughed a good deal (was it at
+me?) when we were thus matched. I invited Isabelita, that's sure, and I
+began jumping about with her like a rattle-pated student, and I was not
+long in discovering that in a little while everybody was watching us
+attentively. My agitation was not calmed by this. However, I went on
+hopping about at a great rate, while everybody applauded, crying
+_vivas_, and looking at us with laughing eyes. Only the silent Tonet and
+his immobile son fixed theirs upon us as grave and melancholy as if they
+wished to remind us of the nothingness of all things human, and the
+brevity of existence.
+
+Cristina, who until then had been quiet, and on whose brow I could see
+the lines marked by the scene of the morning, now began quickly to wake
+up a bit. Her face was so lively that everybody admired it. They had not
+seen her like that in years. Dona Amparo declared that since she was a
+little girl, when her playfulness and tricks had caused her mother more
+than one start, Cristina had not frolicked in such fashion. We
+encouraged her, applauded her, threw her _chufas_ and almonds until she
+began to show a wish to dance also. Emilio and her mother would not let
+her, on account of her condition. But nonsense and witticisms kept on
+issuing from her mouth, splitting everybody's sides with laughter. She
+had a lively wit, and she got her words off with a brusque naturalness
+that gave them a great effect. Some things that she said seemed to me a
+little dashing, but I admired her so much that I did not mind them. When
+anyone talks a great deal of nonsense, it is almost impossible to keep
+within strictly prudent limits.
+
+"This is all right," said Sabas in my ear, seating himself beside me.
+"Now you have a chance to strike while the iron is hot. Get in with my
+uncle. Talk to him about the subject that will butter your bread."
+
+I laughed, but took no further notice. I went on paying court to
+Isabelita with everybody's good will. I mistake--Dona Clara looked at us
+now and then with eyes whose expression was a trifle more severe than
+usual, and she sniffed her Roman nose when we chanced to take a little
+luncheon of _chufas_. I do not know but I may be wrong, but two or three
+times I had a notion that I heard her murmur the English word,
+"Shocking!" This would have been nothing strange, for in difficult
+places this illustrious matron preferred the Anglo-Saxon language to her
+native idiom. That which I can fearlessly affirm, and nobody will
+contradict, is that I saw her eat more than a kilo of chocolates, and
+that this operation, however vulgar in itself, did not make her lose one
+atom of her majesty.
+
+The hour arrived for us to go back to the house for our carriages, to
+return to the city. But at the moment of starting to walk, Cristina felt
+very badly. I saw that she grew pale and put her hand several times to
+her head and heart. The sal-volatile of Dona Amparo was of no avail;
+neither was the orange-flower water nor the Melisa water, nor other
+remedies that, like faithful friends, accompanied this nervous lady
+everywhere. Cristina begged us to leave her alone a moment with Tonet's
+wife, who would bring her a cup of _tila_. A quarter of an hour later
+she came out of the cottage, serene, but with reddened eyes. The nervous
+crisis had ended in tears.
+
+The sun had already disappeared when we started on our walk through the
+fields of Indian corn and the little fruit orchards. Calming my dashing
+gallantry and stifling the gush of vanity that had burst forth in my
+spirit at the supposed admiration of Isabelita, I remained silent and
+sad. As I was walking apart in company with her and Matilde, I did my
+utmost to hide it; but seeing that this was impossible, and fearing that
+they would notice my mood, I made a feint for the purpose of falling
+back to walk alone. I was displeased with myself. The gallantry of that
+afternoon seemed to me a treason to my true sentiment, to the sweet and
+delicate love that I guarded like a treasure in the depth of my heart. I
+could not but think with disgust that I had descended to the most
+trivial cheapness. I was afraid, with good reason, that Cristina, whose
+regard and esteem for me had seemed increasing, would despise me from
+that hour, and this thought hurt me deeply.
+
+Since her indisposition she had not turned towards me or looked at me,
+nor spoken a word to me. Luck made it so that she could not help
+speaking. She had forgotten her watch and left it in the cottage and
+wished to go back for it. I quickly anticipated her. When I returned
+with it, she waited for me, a little apart from the others.
+
+"Thank you," she said, with a hard, cold face, and tried to rejoin the
+rest.
+
+Whoever has experienced the pangs of love will believe me when I say
+that that gloomy countenance gave me inexpressible joy.
+
+"Listen to me a moment, Cristina; I have something to say." I spoke with
+a voice not quite under control.
+
+"You may say it," she replied, looking over my head at the horizon, and
+in a glacial tone that, for a like reason, warmed instead of chilling
+me.
+
+"I wish to beg advice of you and I scarcely dare. Did you notice that
+this afternoon I paid a little more attention to your Cousin Isabelita,
+as if I were courting her?"
+
+"No. I have noticed nothing," she answered, more sharply still.
+
+"Because this is the truth--and I venture to say it, it is only because
+of the great difference in age between us--I only did it because
+Isabelita admires me."
+
+She gazed at me stupefied, as if she suspected that I had gone mad.
+
+"At least this is what I have been informed in turn by Sabas and
+Emilio."
+
+"What idiots!" she exclaimed, her lips smiling, understanding my
+meaning. "They are capable of making sport of everything. Fortunately
+you are a man of sense, and take no stock in such nonsense; and if not,
+you would stop at my poor cousin."
+
+"In this case, I have, after all, taken certain steps towards winning
+her good will, and before going farther I wish to obtain your approval."
+
+"My approval!" she exclaimed, agitated, and with a choking voice. "But
+what need have you of my approval? I have no part in the matter. Beg it
+of her parents."
+
+"Before begging it of her parents I desire it from you. I know that you
+have no direct interest in the matter, but it has to do with your
+cousin, of whom you appear to think a good deal, who has distinguished
+me with her esteem, however little merited. Nobody can give me true
+counsel in this case better than you; so I beg it of you, in the name of
+our good friendship, as a favor which I shall appreciate all the days of
+my life."
+
+She remained silent for some time.
+
+We walked on together through the high-growing corn which made even
+dimmer the fading twilight.
+
+I watched her out of the corner of my eye, and it seemed to me that I
+could detect slight, almost imperceptible, changes sweep over her face.
+Soon her brow contracted and her lips moved several times before a sound
+escaped them. At last she said in a trembling voice:
+
+"It makes me very happy that you have made your choice at last. Men
+ought not to live alone, and especially those who, like you, have an
+affectionate, indulgent temperament, and know how to appreciate the
+delicate heart of a woman. Isabelita is almost a child; I can tell you
+little about her character. You will take it upon yourself to form her.
+But I can assure you that she knows how to fulfil the duties of a
+housewife. She is industrious, careful, economical; and under these
+qualities are hid others that will show themselves. She is very pretty,
+too."
+
+"You have forgotten the one which makes her dearest and most attractive
+to me."
+
+"What?"
+
+"That of being your cousin."
+
+Her beautiful face darkened; she frowned and replied in a sharp tone:
+
+"If you do not care for my cousin for herself, if you would take her as
+a toy to distract you from other illusions, or, which would be worse, to
+follow and nourish them in secret, you would commit a great sin; and I
+should in such case advise you not to think of her, but to leave her in
+peace."
+
+Uttering these words, she hastened on and joined the others, leaving me
+alone.
+
+When we got into the carriages to return to the city, I was melancholy,
+too wrapped up in serious meditations to go on playing the boy with
+Isabelita. Under pretext of a headache I found a place alone at the
+back, and to support my pretext I did not go up to Marti's house, but
+retired to my hotel.
+
+At eight o'clock in the morning I heard the cheerful voice of Emilio,
+who came into my quarters like a hurricane, threw open the windows, and
+sat down on my bed.
+
+"You can't go to-morrow, Captain!" he cried, laughing, and pulling my
+beard to finish waking me.
+
+"Why?" I asked sleepily.
+
+"Because to-morrow you are going to be god-father to a little girl more
+beautiful than the morning star."
+
+"What! Cristina----?"
+
+"Yes; Cristina was taken ill after you left us. We thought that it was
+to be like her afternoon indisposition; but she, who ought to know,
+begged us to send for the woman she had engaged for the case. I was
+afraid she might not succeed, and sent for the doctor; but Cristina
+would not consent that he should come into her room. When the woman took
+charge of her, the poor--Oh, what courage, what suffering, Captain! Not
+a groan, not a moan. I walked about dead, torn to pieces, praying God
+that she would scream. I don't understand suffering without a sound. I
+am appalled by temperaments like Cristina's, that not one complaint
+escapes in the worst of pains. At two o'clock in the morning my brave
+little woman came through her trouble, making me father of the
+prettiest, healthiest, cleverest little one the sun of Valencia ever
+shone on. I'm sure of it, although I have not yet seen it."
+
+He got up from the bed, took several turns in the room, came back and
+sat down, got up again, and went through a series of evolutions that
+showed the delightful agitation of his spirit. I felt deeply moved too,
+and congratulated him with hearty words. When he stopped at last, I
+asked him:
+
+"So you do me the honor of being god-father?"
+
+"It will give me great pleasure if you will accept. To tell the truth, I
+thought first of Castell. You don't mind, do you? Enrique is more than a
+friend and brother to me. It would be the natural thing. But I will tell
+you privately, Cristina opposed it. Religious scruples, do you see?
+Enrique professes such upsetting ideas and declares them with such
+excessive frankness, the ladies cannot forgive him. It is all because he
+is not a practical man. He might hold all the notions he liked if he
+would keep them a little more to himself when he is among women. As for
+me, I laugh at his materialistic ideas. Enrique a materialist, when
+there is not a more generous man in the world! Because, in spite of his
+great talents and his wonderful powers of illustration, do you know,
+Enrique is a child, a heart of gold!"
+
+As he uttered these words with an accent of conviction, he shook his
+black, curly head in a way that made me want to laugh and to weep at the
+same time.
+
+"And what does Cristina say to the substitute?"
+
+"When I proposed your name, she was delighted."
+
+I was delighted too, hearing this. I dressed hastily and marched off to
+make the acquaintance of the new star. The next day we went to church,
+and I performed my duty with emotion, yes, bursting with pride. Later I
+took the train for Barcelona, promising my friends to return soon to
+visit them, and to make the visit permanent by settling my camp in
+Valencia.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+
+I thought this matter over, and my purpose became fixed during my
+voyage. I found that, although not rich, I had enough to live
+comfortably on; and when I returned to Barcelona I offered my
+resignation to the shipping house.
+
+I cannot clearly explain the sentiments whose tumult at that time filled
+my soul. Confusion reigned therein. Intense love for Cristina, the
+angelic beauty and innocence of Retamoso's girl, the desire for repose
+and for a comfortable and tranquil life that all men feel on arriving at
+a certain state, and the sharp prickings of conscience that questioned
+my right to obtain it under such conditions, struggled together within
+me. But there was one sentiment which, however silenced, was stronger
+than the others--the ardent desire to be near Cristina, to live in her
+intimate circle, and never to lose sight of her charming face. I held no
+thoughts against the peace of her heart or the honor of her husband, but
+only to be happy enjoying her presence all of my life.
+
+In this mind, neither saint-like nor criminal, I took the train for
+Valencia two months after I had left it. In a train that passed mine in
+a station on the way, I caught a glimpse, through a window, of the
+silhouette of Sabas, and near it the red head of a woman who was not
+Matilde.
+
+"Sabas, Sabas!" I called.
+
+When he saw me, he saluted me affectionately with his hand. The lady who
+was beside him also smiled cordially; I did not see why, for I did not
+know her. I remained puzzled. I was doubtful if I had not been mistaken.
+Was it really Matilde? I was not long in finding out.
+
+I reached Valencia before dark. After leaving my things at the inn, I
+hired a conveyance to take me out to Cabanal, where I knew that Marti
+was now installed. I was anxious to consult with him about my plans. As
+I drew near the country house I felt my heart beating violently. This
+roused anew my sentiment of honor. "Are we like this?" I said to myself
+scornfully. "While thinking of binding yourself by a sacred fetter, of
+offering yourself to an innocent young girl, you cannot control your
+impulses! You are going to press the hand of a friend, to make him your
+confidant, your kinsman, while still your spirit is not cleansed of
+traitorous thoughts!"
+
+The family was assembled in the dining-room. I observed at once a
+certain sadness and unusual gravity on their faces. They all wore long
+faces, filled with a consternation that alarmed me excessively. Marti
+embraced me, however, with his accustomed cordiality, showing sincere
+delight at my arrival. I gave my hand to the others and, coming to
+Matilde, I said to her, without stopping to think:
+
+"So you are a widow? I saw your husband in a station. We had no chance
+to speak, but we greeted each other."
+
+I had not finished uttering these words before I was stupefied by her
+beginning to weep bitterly. She pressed my hand convulsively and,
+between the sobs that rent her breast, said:
+
+"Thanks, Ribot! Many thanks! My husband was running away with the young
+lady."
+
+"I saw a red-headed lady beside him, but I did not think--" I stammered,
+abashed.
+
+"Yes, yes, the young lady," she sobbed.
+
+"Forgive me, but what has been said can't be unsaid; but, yes, she
+seemed young to me."
+
+"She would like to seem young! She is more than thirty years old!" she
+cried angrily; "more painted and bedizzened than a doll in a bazaar. You
+should see her mornings on her balcony!"
+
+Marti came to my aid, saying in low tones:
+
+"She was the young lady in the company acting at the theatre."
+
+"Ah!"
+
+Everybody kept still and looked at the floor as one does when paying a
+visit of condolence. Nothing could be heard in the room but the
+increasingly poignant sobs of the outraged wife. The situation was
+trying, agonizing in the highest degree. Fortunately Dona Amparo had the
+happy inspiration to faint away, and this accident introduced an element
+of variety into the scene which we immediately improved. We ran to her
+aid. We opened flasks with shining stoppers. The dining-room was filled
+with the penetrating fragrances of the apothecary's shop. Tears,
+embraces, sighs, kisses. At last her equilibrium was restored, and she
+came to herself.
+
+I thought I would lose my head in the odor of ether; but before this
+could happen Marti drew me from the room, and carried me off to his
+office.
+
+"Did you ever see such a wretched affair?" he cried, shaking his head in
+immense annoyance.
+
+"But what is it all?"
+
+"Nothing; the other night he won three or four thousand pesetas at play,
+and he has gone gayly off to spend them with an actress."
+
+"What madness! But he will come back!"
+
+"I believe you; he'll come back when he has run through with every
+dollar, as he did the other time."
+
+"The other time?"
+
+"Yes; three or four years ago he eloped with a circus-rider. But then he
+carried off more money than this time."
+
+I had no wish to seek for more details, for I saw that Marti was going
+to break down. There is nothing sadder than the sadness of a happy man.
+To distract him, I turned the conversation, and talked of myself and the
+projects I had under way. His face changed at once, and a cheerful smile
+played about his mouth.
+
+"Bravo, Captain! At last you are going to be our own," he cried, hugging
+me until he choked me.
+
+We talked the matter over carefully. At last we decided that,
+considering my age and character, I must not conduct myself like a
+youth, but with all due formality. After gaining the consent of
+Isabelita, which Marti seemed to think already assured, I must, before
+entering upon our relations, visit her people and talk seriously with
+them. This plan captured his imagination and he drove along assuredly.
+He cheered me, embraced me several times, calling me cousin, and
+promising me to help me all that he could, and promised, too, that
+Cristina would do the same.
+
+We returned to the dining-room. Our cheerful countenances were in great
+contrast to the solemn and dejected ones there. Dona Amparo's eyes still
+showed the water-marks of their recent flood. Matilde--there is no
+saying how she was. Isabelita, who was staying with her cousins,
+received me with the same blushes, but without any great signs of
+rejoicing, which I attributed to the trouble her family was in. Castell
+was, as always, cold and disdainful. Cristina--I cannot express how I
+found Cristina. Her eyes had a strange sadness, which impressed me
+painfully. I at once imagined that she found herself bowed beneath the
+burden of some great wrong, and that this could be nothing else but the
+infamous gallantry of Castell. Perhaps he had narrowed the circle.
+Perhaps--oh, what a thought!
+
+All at once I saw her eyes brighten with delight at the entrance of the
+nurse with my god-daughter in her arms. She was a beautiful rosebud,
+fresh, sweet, delicate, and probably, as that is the rule, dowered with
+marvellous intelligence. Marti would have testified to that with his
+blood.
+
+To carry conviction to our minds, he found no more adequate means than
+to enter upon a series of mimic representations, certain of which had a
+surprising success. First he intoned a hymn of the Church with the voice
+of a precentor. The little girl at once began to put up her lips and
+burst out crying. Then he sang some _sequidillas_, and the youngster at
+once cheered up and began to bounce, trying to get down on the floor,
+doubtless to run away on all fours. He barked, he mewed, he crowed like
+a cock, and we understood at once that the little one had no lack of
+zoological notions, but had an idea of the classifications introduced in
+the animal kingdom.
+
+Marti demonstrated the thesis in a way which left no room for doubt, and
+proud of the impression on the assemblage that his notable experiments
+succeeded in making, he considered it proper next to take the child from
+her nurse's arms and toss her up and down in his own like a bottle of
+ink. Maybe he imagined that by this method of concentration he would
+invigorate still more her psychic faculties. But he did not go on with
+this long enough to make her black. The little creature, not
+familiarized with his novel method, objected to it with loud screams and
+all the indignation of her soul. Cristina took her, did all that she
+could to hush her, and gave her again to the nurse, who was the one who
+really brought calm into her outraged heart.
+
+Before we went in to supper, they obliged me to dismiss my cab. Castell
+would take me back in his own. I tried to get out of this, because the
+company of this gentleman grew constantly more distasteful to me; but it
+was not possible. Emilio, with his characteristic impetuosity and slight
+knowledge of men, gave the order to the coachman to depart.
+
+They placed me beside Isabelita. Everybody would say that that was
+perfectly natural, and that I ought to have been whispering to her all
+the evening. Of this I have nothing to say. Perchance, if they had been
+asked if I should touch her foot gently with my own and fondle her hand
+underneath the table, some of them would have held a contrary opinion
+and would have discussed it more or less at length. But I, deciding that
+the majority would finally decide in favor of it, did not hesitate in
+anticipating the decisions of such a tribunal.
+
+At twenty minutes after ten I settled down in a corner of the
+dining-room where Retamoso's girl was, and where I could chat freely
+with her. I told her first that she was the only woman in the world who
+could make me happy; second, that by my frank and sympathetic character,
+and by my honorable intentions--and because of the voice I said it in--I
+deserved what would make me happy. In accordance with these things I was
+resolved that on the following day I would give an account of this
+matter to Senor and Senora Retamoso. It was then twenty-five minutes
+after ten.
+
+Our deliberations continued a little longer. Castell was accustomed to
+depart at eleven, and he asked me politely if I wished to do the same. I
+agreed, as was proper, since the family would wish to retire, and we
+betook ourselves to the city. During the ride I had occasion to think
+once more that it was an error of nature that I had hair on my face, and
+that instead of a hat I should have covered my childish thoughts with a
+thick hood. That gentleman, penetrating into the secret laboratory of
+life, arranged the facts of being in his mind, taking pains to pit his
+ideas against my inexperienced reasonings; sometimes yawning, again
+smilingly pardoning my puerilities. Take it all together, he handled me
+so well that, in consequence, I could feel a real hood on my head. But
+that which stirred me up most was his gracious manner of considering me
+a man; and the recognition of this attitude towards me irritated me more
+than ever, and I swore between my teeth that I would never ride again in
+his cab, but would, instead, go on my own feet.
+
+Next day, solemnly attired in a coat which had made the voyage to
+America eleven times and to Hamburg thirty-seven, I presented myself at
+the Retamoso house. It was situated on the Plaza del Mercado, not far
+from the Lorija, and was more substantial than beautiful, of modern
+construction, only one floor above the business rooms, with a plain
+front destitute of ornamental carvings, with three large doors and three
+little stone balconies. But it was much more spacious than its exterior
+promised. Its warerooms, occupying the corner part, were large and high
+as the salons of a palace. Great piles of codfish, barrels of flour and
+of alcohol, cases of sugar and cocoa filled it, forming narrow and
+intricate passages. Through these I went, half-suffocated by the
+distasteful odors of these products of overseas, and preceded by a
+clerk with a pen behind his ear, until I reached the back of the room,
+where there were three glass doors, giving upon a _patio_. Near one of
+these was a low railing of pine, painted green; in the middle, a single
+table and a big desk; and behind the table and the desk, a little man
+with an embroidered velvet skull-cap. It was himself, Senor Retamoso.
+
+"Senor de Ribot! What good fortune is this?" he exclaimed, rising to
+come out of the enclosure, making numberless bows, and lifting his hand
+as many times more to his skull-cap. "To what do we owe the honor?"
+
+"I wish to speak a few words to you," I answered, casting a significant
+glance at the clerk, who, understanding, disappeared in the zigzag
+passages.
+
+The face of Senor Retamoso underwent an enormous change. The delight
+that had overspread it was swiftly succeeded by a deep sadness. It was
+as if a cloud had intercepted in an unexpected fashion the rays of life
+and warmth, withering and drying up that which a moment before had been
+joyous welcome.
+
+"Very well. I will be with you in a moment," he murmured, re-entering
+the enclosure, carefully locking the safe and putting the key in his
+trousers pocket.
+
+This done, he came out and, facing me, said in a glacial way:
+
+"I am at your service."
+
+"This good man thinks I have come to beg money," I said to myself,
+surprised at this change.
+
+"The occasion of this visit," I said with hesitation, "is a little
+delicate. It is possible that you know."
+
+"I know nothing," he declared, resolutely cutting me short.
+
+"I meant to say it is possible that you have suspected----"
+
+"I have suspected nothing," he said in turn, more dryly still.
+
+A little irritated by these interruptions, I said with spirit:
+
+"It is all the same. You are going to know now. It has to do with a
+certain sympathetic understanding established between your daughter
+Isabelita and me. As this sympathy might in time be transformed into
+affection, and be carried to the point of loving relations, I thought
+that I ought to consult the will of her parents. My age forbids
+flirtations or a clandestine courtship. Further, the friendship that
+binds me to Marti, in whose house I had the honor of meeting your
+daughter, and the kindness, however unmerited, with which your wife and
+you have honored me, oblige me to conduct myself frankly and loyally."
+
+The round face of Uncle Diego resumed its first expression. The cloud
+that intercepted the rays of delight had been chased away.
+
+"Oh, Senor de Ribot! What do I hear? I knew nothing. I had heard
+nothing. I am a poor man. Why not go to my wife, who understands it much
+better, and will know what I ought to answer?" he exclaimed smiling, all
+honey, lifting his hand to his embroidered skull-cap, and throwing back
+his leg so as to make a deeper bow.
+
+"I thought of seeing both of you."
+
+"Oh, Senor de Ribot! But why? Come, come with me. I will take you to the
+place where you can adjust this account. I know nothing about these
+experiences, but there is one in the house who knows more than Merlin.
+Take care, Senor de Ribot, take good care. Keep your stirrups. Whoever
+has to come to an understanding with my lady needs the use of his head."
+
+Going on like this, he conducted me to a staircase, and by it we
+ascended to the principal story. Once arrived, he squeezed my hand hard
+between his own, and, in a falsetto voice, recommended me to look out
+for myself when talking before his wife, and not be disconcerted in her
+presence. He promised that he would help me all that he was able, but
+that I must not expect much, as he also felt constraint before Dona
+Clara.
+
+"She is a deep woman, Senor de Ribot. When I say this, I say all."
+
+Without freeing me, he led me to the door of a parlor, and gave two
+knocks upon it with his knuckles; the voice of Dona Clara was heard,
+saying:
+
+"Enter."
+
+Retamoso again squeezed my hand to encourage me, and we entered the
+apartment.
+
+Dona Clara was discovered dressed in black, as correct and elegant as
+ever, seated in a leather chair, with a book in her hands. She took from
+her aquiline nose her gold-bowed glasses and let them hang suspended
+over her breast by their golden chain. She gave me her hand, at the same
+time casting upon me a look so imposing that, in spite of the valor
+wherewith her spouse had inspired me, I could do no less than tremble.
+Then she took her tragic figure up out of her chair and went and sat
+down in the middle of a sofa of green velvet, inviting us by a gesture
+to place ourselves in the arm-chairs that were on either side. We obeyed
+orders, and Retamoso, finding no more excellent resource as a
+preparation for the session than to rub his knees with the palms of his
+hands, looked at me meanwhile sadly and anxiously.
+
+"Senor de Ribot," he said at last, "I beg you to tell my wife what you
+have just had the kindness to tell me."
+
+"It has to do, senora," I said in a trembling voice, "with a delicate
+matter that I desire to submit to the approval of you both. So if I take
+the liberty of speaking of it to you, it is solely that, no matter
+what, it cannot be said that I lacked in showing the respect and esteem
+with which you inspire me. Between Isabelita and me an especial
+friendship, is beginning to take shape----"
+
+"I know it," interrupted Dona Clara solemnly.
+
+There followed a moment of suspense, then I went on:
+
+"Isabelita, because of the gifts of character, innocence, and modesty
+which adorn her, deserves not only affection, but hearty admiration. I
+cannot, naturally, explain all the charm that she has for me since I
+have felt myself attracted towards her. I found courage to give her to
+understand this, and I flatter myself to think that she did not take it
+ill. Until now no bond has existed between us, except a sensitive
+attraction----"
+
+"I know it," said Dona Clara once more, with the same solemnity.
+
+I felt even more constrained. Retamoso gave me several encouraging
+grins, and taking breath, I was able to go on:
+
+"From then until now I can affirm that there has been nothing serious
+between us. I could not do otherwise, as I would never think of aspiring
+without the permission of her parents. But however this inclination may
+seem unexpected, when I embarked for Hamburg two months ago, I carried
+the thought with me, and the resolution to strengthen this dawning
+friendship----"
+
+"I know it," once more said Dona Clara with even more solemnity, if that
+were possible.
+
+I remained mute and confused, giving up my disclosures, which the
+supernatural penetration of this lady left useless. But I could not help
+admiring the singular contrast between these consorts--he knew nothing,
+she knew everything.
+
+Retamoso gave me several mischievous winks, making me understand that
+this was to be expected and had nothing surprising in it. Dona Clara, at
+the end of a short silence, held herself up still more erect, and
+blowing her nose in a manner to inspire a monkey with awe, said:
+
+"Before going farther, I beg you to let us continue the conversation in
+English. The subject is so serious and delicate that it demands it."
+
+I profess and have always professed a great admiration for the language
+and literature of Great Britain. On the little book-shelf of my cabin
+voyaged always the "Tom Jones" of Fielding, the "Don Juan" of Byron, and
+certain books of Shakespeare. But, in spite of this admiration, I had
+never supposed that it was the only idiom in which grave and delicate
+subjects could be treated. I did not seek, however, to oppose this fine
+philological stroke, nor to discuss the preference that the stern mamma
+of Isabelita showed for one branch of the Indo-European languages over
+its sister tongues, and hastened to yield to her request. With this the
+surprise, delight, and grins of Retamoso reached a climax. He put his
+finger to his forehead, arched his eyebrows, opened his eyes absurdly,
+and several times when Dona Clara could not see, being turned towards
+me, he lifted his hands to heaven, murmuring unheard:
+
+"What a woman! What a woman!"
+
+Dona Clara, without being at all set up by this idolatrous worship, let
+me know in guttural and emphatic English that nothing of all I had said,
+done, or thought had been hid from her, and that she knew also all that
+had been said, done, or thought by her daughter Isabelita. This
+declaration filled my mind with a feeling of littleness and limitation
+that ended by humbling me. In the impossibility, then, of supplying any
+facts she did not know, or of uttering one thought worthy of the
+intellectual height of this lady, I took upon myself the role of calming
+down, submitting my feeble reasons beforehand to her own.
+
+After sniffing several times like a ship displaying its banner on
+weighing anchor in a port, and after fixing upon her nose her gold-bowed
+glasses to contemplate me for a while in silence, Dona Clara found it
+well to give me some account of her intentions. Isabelita was a child, I
+was a man. Laying down these two propositions, at first sight
+undeniable. Dona Clara logically deduced from them that it was necessary
+to be careful. A child does not generally know what she wants; a man is
+in duty bound to know. Further, it was impossible to put aside what I
+wished for.
+
+"Senor de Ribot," Retamoso at this point interrupted, "will you be so
+kind as to put what my wife says to you into Castilian for me?"
+
+This was done, and when he found out what was meant, he expressed noisy
+enthusiasm, exclaiming energetically:
+
+"Just so! That's it! Exactly! That's it, that's it! Just so! That's it!"
+
+Dona Clara did not pay the slightest attention to these words, and
+keeping her nose pointed the same way, submitted me to a long and
+careful examination. Although I was sufficiently upset, I answered her
+questions clearly, and had the satisfaction of noting certain slight
+signs of acquiescence that touched my pride. She examined my
+pretensions, and (as a result of the conscientious investigation
+concerning my conduct, which was carried to the extreme) Dona Clara
+declared at last, turning her head slowly towards her husband like a
+globe revolving on its axis, that I was "a decent person," a thing that
+I had never doubted in my most extravagant moments.
+
+Every phase of the investigation was successively and faithfully
+interpreted by me into Castilian, so that Senor Retamoso could
+understand. Everything won from him the same warm approval, and was
+greeted with a salvo of "That's it's!" and "Just so's!"
+
+Dona Clara terminated the interview by rising from the sofa, and with
+the same firmness, the same impassive calm and sang-froid, let me know
+that here would be my home, and that she would have much pleasure in
+receiving me whenever I wished to come. Saying this, she let her glasses
+drop by means of a clever and surprising jerk of her nose, and presented
+me her hand. I took it with the greatest veneration.
+
+"Permit me, Senor de Ribot! One moment, one moment, no more!" exclaimed
+Retamoso, who, following our example, had also risen. "I have not the
+knowledge that my wife has, nor do I understand foreign tongues. So I am
+not sure that I understand all that you desire. It seemed to me that I
+understood that there is something between you and Isabelita."
+
+"Are we still there?" I said between my teeth, looking at him with
+surprise and anxiety. As for Dona Clara, she cast a look upon him that
+might have ground him to powder.
+
+"Yes, senor," I replied shortly at last.
+
+"Bear with me, Senor de Ribot. I am a little slow of understanding, and
+especially in matters so fine as these. Yet I believe I understood
+(pardon me if I mistake) that you desire our permission to pay court to
+her. Pardon me, for heaven's sake, if I do not express myself like you
+two."
+
+"Yes, senor, I desire your authorization to confirm my relations with
+Isabelita."
+
+"Precisely! That's it! I see that I am not mistaken. Well, then, sir, I
+am agreeable to all that Dona Clara has said, and if she had said more,
+I should be still more agreeable. You already know my opinion of you,
+Senor de Ribot. When there is a head in the house capable of giving
+useful advice in all affairs, why bother one's head discussing them?
+Only I desire that in this nothing is promised on our side. For the
+present, nothing is settled. If later, Senor de Ribot, we are of the
+same opinion, and all come to an understanding, we shall be able to talk
+in another fashion. My wife has already talked in another fashion, and I
+have not cut her short; but you understand me, senor?"
+
+I understood perfectly that this crafty Galician, before giving his
+word, wished to find out exactly how much I was worth. I let myself be
+imposed upon by the ruse. I accepted what he proposed, saying that my
+visit was not an official one, but merely a simple call of courtesy and
+respect, and that I desired that they should retain their liberty, as I
+retained my own.
+
+"That's it! Just so! Nothing is settled."
+
+Dona Clara had maintained her rigid and immovable position while we
+were talking, gazing into space over our heads in an attitude solemn and
+disdainful; nothing would give an idea how grandiose it was, except the
+Minerva of Phidias on top of the Acropolis, if by chance this work of
+the antique pagan master had been preserved intact until our time. She
+remained thus until I, taking myself to the stairway, disappeared from
+her horizon. Retamoso went down stairs with me, took me as far as the
+door, pulled off his skull-cap, and uttering a thousand oh's and ah's,
+pressed both my hands with inexplicable tenderness, and said in my ear,
+as he dismissed me, "It is understood, Senor de Ribot, that nothing is
+settled, isn't it? My opinion is that nothing should be settled."
+
+My good Marti laughed not a little when I related to him the details of
+this interview. He congratulated me warmly, and, carried away by his
+fanciful optimism, he sketched out twenty plans, each more agreeable
+than the last, for my future. I was to become very rich, and be
+associated with him and Castell in a steamboat line whose direction
+should be my charge. I should also have a part in the business of the
+artesian wells when they began to strike water. In regard to the canals
+from the river, he expressed sincere regret that it was impossible at
+present to give me anything to do. I replied that that did not weigh on
+me; I would try to live without it. My resignation moved him so much
+that he finished by saying, running both hands through his tresses:
+
+"I shall be very much annoyed if, after all, we don't find a way for you
+to get a show in this business, for it is going to be the best thing
+ever done in Spain before to-day."
+
+When what had taken place was made known to Cristina, she showed herself
+more affectionate and kind to me than usual. I observed, none the less,
+on her face a melancholy expression that she tried in vain to conceal.
+She made a visible effort to appear gay, but at the best she seemed a
+bit absent, and her great black eyes were often fixed upon space,
+revealing deep absorption.
+
+I stayed to supper with them. We were at table, besides the married
+couple and their mamma, Isabelita, Castell, and Matilde, with all her
+children, who entertained us very much. The deserted wife, whose eyes
+were now always red, smiled sadly, seeing the tenderness and enthusiasm
+with which these little creatures inspired me. There was not lacking
+someone--I think it was Dona Amparo--to hint that I was going to be a
+most affectionate father, which caused Isabelita a veritable suffocation
+of blushes. This color came back several times during supper, because
+Marti thought well to season it with more or less transparent allusions
+to our future kinship. Above all, when he opened a bottle of champagne,
+and, lifting the goblet, drank to the wish "that Captain Ribot would
+cast anchor in Valencia for life," the cheeks of his cousin did not set
+fire to the house, because, fortunately, there was no combustible
+material stowed near them.
+
+When we rose from table to take a turn in the garden, I offered my arm
+to Cristina. I had a lively desire to talk with her, to sound her soul,
+which seemed to me to be disturbed. Before seeking refuge in another
+port, where the fate that was controlling me was drawing me, I ought to
+know that it was the will of God; but never, never could I forget that
+dream of love. This was the truth. Although I had made heroic efforts to
+drive it away, thinking of other scenes, other joys, other duties, it
+returned persistently to charm my nights and to disturb my conscience.
+
+I had already taken her hand upon my arm when Castell, coming up to us
+and making a little bow, said:
+
+"Have we not arranged that this evening I was to be your escort?" At the
+same time he cast upon her a particular look; it was threatening, and
+did not soften the cold smile that played about his lips.
+
+Cristina responded with a timid glance and hastened to release my arm
+from her own, saying in an altered voice:
+
+"Thank you, Captain Ribot. Enrique had invited me before----"
+
+And they departed down the stairway. From above, when the light of the
+vestibule fell upon their faces, I could see that Castell was talking to
+her with an angry gesture, as if he were making recriminations, and that
+she was excusing herself with the greatest humility.
+
+Oh, God! the veil that had hid the truth from me was swiftly torn away.
+That man must even now be her lover. All the blood in my veins rushed to
+my heart. I felt giddy and was obliged to grasp the railing so as not to
+fall.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+
+I can swear that no anger entered into the agitation that I experienced.
+My pride did not resent her preference. I only felt a mortal sadness as
+if the last illusion left to me in life had flown away and escaped. And
+more, the deep love wherewith she inspired me was not quenched or
+lessened. The respect and idolatry of my sentiment were weakened, it is
+true, but its tenderness was at the same time increased. The goddess had
+fallen from her pedestal and was transformed into a woman. Losing in
+majesty, she had gained in charm.
+
+During the days following, I observed that the humble expression of her
+face that had so much surprised me grew more marked. From this I judged
+that she acknowledged her fault and begged my pardon. Instead of showing
+myself troubled, I did everything possible to appear more respectful and
+cordial than before. She recognized this, and constantly gave me proofs
+of her affectionate friendship. Her heart was noble; if she had fallen
+in her own sight, it was owing to fatal circumstance, and not to her
+vicious inclination. Such were then my sentiments.
+
+And Marti? Poor Emilio! Every time that I saw him I felt more and more
+attracted by his generosity and innocence. I thought that he was a
+little thinner, but always cheerful and always confiding. We spent one
+afternoon alone at the seaside. As neither he nor I was out of humor our
+conversation ran playfully from one subject to another, and we laughed
+at the anecdotes we happened to remember. One of those that I told had
+better fortune than it deserved. He laughed so much that at the end he
+grew pale, put his hand to his chest, and, to the great terror of us
+both, threw up blood. I helped him as well as I could, carried him to a
+fountain near by, where he drank water and washed himself. I was much
+startled by this. I could scarcely speak. I encouraged him, however,
+telling him that this was not important, and citing numerous cases of
+friends who had had this sort of thing without any serious consequences.
+When he had composed himself, he smiled.
+
+"You are right. It is nothing. I am sure that my lungs are perfectly
+sound, because until now I have never even coughed. I will take a little
+better care of myself, and when summer comes, I will go as a
+precautionary measure to Panticosa. But it is necessary to keep all this
+from Cristina. You know how women are. Don't say anything to Castell
+either. He is very pessimistic, and his affection for me would make him
+alarmed. He would be capable, in his anxiety, of revealing it to
+Cristina."
+
+My eyes, in spite of myself, filled with tears. Seeing this, he appeared
+surprised; there was a moment of suspense; then, laughing aloud, he
+embraced me, exclaiming:
+
+"You are very original, Captain! There is some strength to be desired
+here too! But I confess that if I had not such a practical temperament,
+and were not accustomed to examine every subject coolly, this would make
+me apprehensive. Fortunately, I know what to count on in the strength of
+my constitution."
+
+"My emotion was caused by surprise," I hastened to say, to mend matters.
+"And then I am not very well these days; my nerves are upset. But, as I
+have said, this means nothing, especially for you, who seem to be such a
+robust man."
+
+"The most robust of men! I have nothing more than a rather weak stomach,
+and sometimes a little kidney trouble. Except for this, I am an oak. If
+this were not so, how could I endure all the work loaded on my
+shoulders, the frequent journeys, and all that I have to carry?"
+
+"Exactly. I have no doubt of it. And you have never before felt any pain
+in your lungs?"
+
+Marti took a few steps, looked at me closely, and in a voice made to
+seem strong by a special effort, answered:
+
+"My lungs are those of an athlete!"
+
+"Indeed?"
+
+"Those of a gladiator," he insisted, shaking his head with an air of
+unquenchable conviction.
+
+Upon this he launched into a panegyric of his respiratory apparatus with
+much enthusiasm and warmth. He could not have been more eloquent if he
+had been a commercial traveller and was offering it as a sample to a
+great commercial house. I congratulated him with equal enthusiasm on the
+possession of such a perfect example. Inspired by his own eulogies, he
+struck his chest, taking deep breaths, then sang the last aria of
+"Lucia." After that, who could have any doubts of his organs?
+
+We returned to the house, he in an excellent humor, but not I; for in
+spite of his weight of testimony, I was not able to dismiss certain
+apprehensions. Indeed, as our pathway narrowed, and he walked ahead of
+me, his narrow shoulders, his long neck and drooping ears, did not
+remind me of the figure of Milon of Crotona nor any other winner in the
+Olympian games. It seemed to me that such magnificent lungs as he said
+he had would not have chosen such a poor lodging.
+
+It was the hour of twilight. The park began to be filled with darkness
+and mystery. Although we were in the last days of September, the fresh
+blossoming flowers of that fortunate region filled the air with
+fragrance. The trees were as green and leafy as in early spring; the
+turf shone in eternal freshness. But mingled with the luxurious,
+romantic scent of heliotrope, roses, and violets came from surrounding
+orchards other heavier breaths of ripe fruits. The fruitful earth filled
+the air of heaven with the perfume of grapes and melons, pears and
+apples, drying hay and Indian corn.
+
+In front of the house, seated in rocking-chairs, we found Cristina and
+her mother, Isabelita, Castell, and Matilde. Her children were running
+about the garden, cackling and gabbling like parrots, while their
+unhappy mother watched them with a melancholy smile. When we appeared in
+front of a close thicket of Indian cannas, Castell was seated beside
+Cristina, talking to her in low tones. She cast one glance at her
+husband, then at me, and at once lowered her eyes with a serious,
+pondering expression on her face; but raising them again, she
+scrutinized Emilio carefully, while he sat down, chatting and laughing
+with exaggerated volubility. Cristina got up, went over to him, and
+said:
+
+"Emilio, you are pale. Do you feel ill?"
+
+"I? What an idea! I never felt better. It is because I have been
+laughing all the afternoon. The captain has a stock of delicious
+anecdotes. At supper we must tell some of them; not all, though, for
+they are all colors."
+
+She was not satisfied; but although she went and sat down, her eyes
+never quitted him. Castell made efforts to attract her attention,
+talking into her ear. The conduct of that man seemed to me the height of
+cynicism.
+
+Soon it was quite dark, and we went into the dining-room, where it was
+light and the table ready. Just as we were going to sit down at it, a
+servant entered, and calling Marti apart, gave him a letter, with an air
+of mystery. He opened it at once and was not able to repress a movement
+of annoyance. Pocketing it and excusing himself for a few moments, he
+took his hat and went out. Our curiosity was excited, but nobody said
+anything. At last Cristina, whose anxiety was evident, asked the man:
+
+"Who gave you the letter?"
+
+"A gentleman."
+
+"Did he wait for an answer?"
+
+"No, senora. He wanted to speak with the senor, and he went across by
+the main door to wait for him."
+
+The unusualness of the incident, and the mysterious manner of the
+servant, increased our curiosity extraordinarily. We had not long to
+wait for its satisfaction. Marti presented himself in a few moments,
+and, putting his hat down on a chair, asked jocularly:
+
+"Don't you all know whom I shall have the honor to present to you?"
+
+We all looked eagerly at him.
+
+"A gentleman whose name begins with an S."
+
+"Sabas!" exclaimed Matilde.
+
+Her next act was, with quivering face and violent gestures, to hurry her
+children out of their chairs, and, pushing them wildly before her, get
+them out of the room, herself following after.
+
+We all stood up in our agitation. The nose of the deserting husband was
+promptly stuck in at the garden door, and behind it entered its
+interesting proprietor. A groan from Dona Amparo. A convulsive embrace
+next, tears in abundance.
+
+Sabas, although in the arms of his mother, cast a wandering and
+afflicted glance about the dining-room.
+
+"Matilde! My children!" he cried in a dramatic manner.
+
+"All have abandoned thee except thy mother!" responded Dona Amparo in
+most pathetic accents.
+
+Sabas leaned his head, a resigned victim, against the maternal bosom. At
+this Dona Amparo hugged him yet more fervently, ready to give her
+life-blood for her abandoned son. He freed himself at last, arranged his
+cravat, and held out his hand to us solemnly, in the dignified attitude
+of a general who concludes a capitulation after a heroic resistance.
+
+He went up to greet Cristina, but she turned her back upon him, and went
+out of the room. He shook his head in a sentimental manner, and gave us
+a sweet, expressive glance. Then he raised his eyes to heaven, as if
+petitioning for the justice that earth denied him.
+
+I was truly alarmed to see that his face was black and the skin peeled
+off in some places, especially the nose.
+
+He looked as if he had returned from a scientific and civilizing
+expedition into Central Africa, rather than from a romantic expedition
+with a young lady to the capital of Catalonia.
+
+Dona Amparo made him drink a glass of orange-flower water to calm him.
+There was no need of it. His attitude on that critical occasion, at once
+tranquil and resigned, impressed us profoundly. However, when he had
+drunk the orange-flower water, he said with astonishing firmness:
+
+"I must see Matilde."
+
+And, joining the action to the word, he proceeded, full of majesty,
+towards the door. He went on into the inner rooms. And we all followed
+him, we were so fascinated by his noble and severe manner.
+
+We were filled with anxiety concerning the dramatic scene that was going
+to take place. Sabas opened two or three doors consecutively, without
+being able to find his wife. But his intrepid heart was not cast down.
+Without uttering a word he mounted to the upper story. We followed him
+anxiously.
+
+Matilde was in her room, and Cristina was with her. At sight of her
+husband she groaned wrathfully, and started towards another door to try
+to get away again. Cristina tried to detain her.
+
+"Let me go!" she cried madly; "I don't wish to see him."
+
+"Matilde, for heaven's sake!" cried Cristina, embracing her.
+
+"Let me go, let me go! Everything is over between us two!"
+
+Then the fugitive, standing in the middle of the room, showed that his
+strength was leaving him. He put his hand feebly to his forehead, his
+legs doubled under him, and, taking just enough steps towards a sofa to
+reach it, he fell across it in a swoon.
+
+We all ran to his aid, and his offended wife was not the last one. On
+the contrary, it was she who, grieving and trembling, bathed his temples
+with water, and unfastened his waistcoat and shirt to help him breathe,
+exclaiming wildly:
+
+"Sabas, my Sabas! Forgive me!"
+
+Meanwhile, Dona Amparo applied to his nostrils various chemical products
+of a stimulating nature. The rest of us helped on the restorative work
+more or less modestly, bringing a carafe of water, uncorking bottles, or
+giving air to the fainting man by means of a fan.
+
+The only one who remained inactive, seeming indisposed to offer any
+hygienic aid to her brother, was Cristina. Standing erect near us, she
+looked strangely severe. Doubtless her behavior might seem to some
+persons cruel and unnatural; but not to me, for my deep, unreasoning
+love for this woman made all that she did seem right and proper, her
+every movement adorable.
+
+At last Sabas returned to the world of consciousness, and asked of his
+mother, who was in front of him, that which has been asked so many
+times:
+
+"Where am I?"
+
+"With your wife!"
+
+"With your mamma!"
+
+"Who adores you!"
+
+"Who idolizes you!"
+
+Four feminine arms embraced him, and four lips were pressed almost at
+the same time above his skinned nose.
+
+His eyes wandered about the room at all of us as if he did not know us,
+and were fixed at last upon his wife; then he groaned frightfully:
+
+"Matilde! Matilde! Matilde!"
+
+Then he hugged her and fell back in an attack of convulsive laughing.
+His loud laughter joined to the sobbing of his wife and the wails of
+Dona Amparo made a terrifying mixture that would have melted the hardest
+heart. More, by virtue of the contagion that all the world knows lies in
+this sort of an attack, I felt a shocking desire to laugh also. By hard
+work I managed to stifle it. I left the room and went down again to the
+dining-room. The others were not long in following me, leaving Sabas
+restored and at peace with his wife and his mother. Ten minutes later
+they came down also. Cristina gave the order to serve the soup, and I
+observed with some astonishment that Sabas dined with an excellent
+appetite, and during dinner showed himself as gay and disputatious and
+smart as ever. His wife devoured him with eyes of pure affection, and
+devoted herself to waiting upon him.
+
+When we finished, he rose before taking his coffee, lighted a good
+cigar, and asked his brother-in-law if he would let him take his cab.
+
+"But are you going out?" his wife asked him with surprise and annoyance.
+
+"Yes; I am going to take my coffee at the Siglo. I haven't seen a single
+one of my friends yet. I shall be back soon."
+
+Matilde tried to keep him, begging that he would not go that night,
+caressing his hands, with no result except to make him cross. Observing,
+however, the bad effect this had upon us, he changed his tone and
+embraced her, saying in endearing accents:
+
+"Goosie! Aren't you going to let me go and celebrate our
+reconciliation?"
+
+With this the infatuated wife was satisfied and content, brushed the
+dust from his shoes, and went with him to the cab door.
+
+We remained in the dining-room some time. Emilio was the first to start
+to bed, saying that he felt sleepy. I thought that his hemorrhage had
+affected him more than he had acknowledged. Matilde went up to put her
+children to bed. We remained chatting, Isabelita and I in one corner,
+Cristina and Castell in another, while Dona Amparo embroidered by the
+light of a lamp between.
+
+This state of things impressed me uncomfortably. We seemed like two
+pairs engaged in courtship, watched over by the mamma; and this idea, so
+far as it concerned Cristina and Castell, could not but fill me with
+great repugnance. Such was my faith in that woman that I scarcely
+believed what I saw. I was absent and melancholy, and with difficulty
+kept up the conversation with my intended.
+
+My intended! The winds were driving me upon a coast where I didn't know
+whether I was going to be shipwrecked or find a snug harbor. I confessed
+to myself with alarm that since my dreadful convictions about Cristina,
+my heart was less inclined than ever to admit another woman.
+
+When Matilde came down after getting her children to bed, in order to
+get out of this scarcely decent situation, and also to rid myself a
+little of the sadness that overpowered me, I proposed that we take a
+turn in the park. The proposition met with favor, and Cristina was the
+first to accept it, rising from the sofa where she had been sitting. But
+Castell said, with his usual decision:
+
+"I don't feel equal to it. It is much too damp in the park at this
+hour."
+
+Cristina turned and sat down again beside him.
+
+"We are not so much in fear of dying, are we, Matilde?" I said smiling.
+She and Isabelita followed me. Dona Amparo stayed with her daughter and
+Castell. We went to the end of the garden, and from there entered the
+open spaces of the park, where the balmy air did me a great deal of
+good, for my brow had been burning and my heart filled with mournful
+presentiments.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+
+The park, wrapped in the shades of night, seemed like a forest; it was
+more grand and mysterious. The magnolias, cypresses, and araucarias that
+half covered the ground might be imagined cavaliers wrapped in their
+cloaks, silent and threatening. The foliage did not stir; the gravelled
+roads scarcely showed their whiteness; the footpaths were submissive to
+the darkness. We followed the first of these in a sort of vague
+disquiet, exchanging few words. The same emotion seemed to seal our lips
+and oppress our hearts. When I recall those first moments of that night
+and the overwhelming melancholy that oppressed me, I cannot help being a
+bit superstitious.
+
+But if the darkness inspired sadness and a vague dread, the fragrances,
+some sweet, some keen, that filtered through the silent leaves, invited
+us to go farther. We inhaled, as we went on our way, a thousand
+delicious odors, from the scarcely perceptible breath of violets to the
+strong, dominating perfume of the magnolia.
+
+On arriving at a certain place, a sort of little opening where the
+languorous, sensuous perfume of heliotrope dominated all others,
+Matilde made a gesture of pleasure. It was her favorite fragrance. She
+would not let us go any farther, and made us sit down on a rustic bench
+so that she could get her fill of it, as she said. But, unluckily, that
+perfume, subtle with Oriental love, immediately recalled to her memory
+the poetical image of her spouse. And, fascinated by this recollection,
+she entertained us for some time by relating the most interesting
+particulars of his domestic life--at what hour this extraordinary being
+got up in the morning, how soon afterwards a glass of water with lemon
+in it was introduced into his precious organism, how many slices of
+toast he took with his coffee, how many pipes he smoked, how he walked
+about the house, and even how, every Thursday, he took magnesia to
+cleanse and purify this splendid work of nature.
+
+As if in sympathy with her enthusiasm, and desiring to give testimony to
+the admiration that such a rare and beautiful subject inspired, a gentle
+light suddenly shone over the place. We turned our eyes towards the sea,
+and saw the moon coming up above its quiet waves. The waters smiled; in
+the park the silver, smooth leaves of the magnolias, the silky-whiteness
+of the roses, the tops of the cannas and laurels glittered in luminous
+points of light. The darkness fled away into the depths of the thickets,
+forming dense, impenetrable masses. Soon the moonlight began
+penetrating these also, as the moon rose higher in the azure vault,
+scattering golden rays.
+
+Matilde, who was reminded by everything in heaven or on earth of Sabas,
+thought that it was now time to get his bed ready for him, and asked us
+to come into the house. Isabelita did not wish to go so soon. The night
+was delicious; she would stay alone with me. I did not wish to say
+anything about the unusualness of this, to disturb her angelic
+innocence. We sat for some moments on the same bench, chatting about
+indifferent matters.
+
+I was not long, however, in bringing the conversation to our projected
+marriage. It interested her immensely. She must have six dozen of
+chemises, and four of petticoats, and three of this, and eight of that.
+I could not help her much in all that. I was absent-minded or critical,
+and, without knowing why, responded but poorly and with little tact when
+she consulted me. But my attention was held when the child began to talk
+about our house, and the expenses it would occasion, and the
+expenditures we must count upon to furnish it. I was surprised at the
+ease and capacity wherewith she discussed economic subjects. She not
+only understood what concerned her father's business, but also exchange,
+discounting bills, stocks, and so on. For some time I listened with
+amazement while she discussed the probable rise of certain public
+stocks that her father had recently bought, of the transferring of
+others that he held, of the sudden fall of the stock of the tobacco
+company, of treasury bonds, and a thousand other things of whose
+existence I scarcely knew. This financial erudition did not impress me
+agreeably. I understood the necessity of a woman's having some knowledge
+of affairs in order to rule over her house properly; but so much
+mercantile knowledge shocked my temperament, which was not at all
+practical, and, more yet, the idea it gave me of this young creature. It
+seemed impossible that such old words could issue from such youthful
+lips.
+
+But this was not the only thing. Going on from one thing to another with
+strange smartness, the child reached the point of inquiring the amount
+of my capital. I did not try to hide it from her. At the first hint I
+told her, with complete clearness, one house, a little land, a few bonds
+of the company in whose service I had been--about sixty thousand dollars
+all reckoned.
+
+Isabelita kept silence a moment.
+
+"It isn't much," she said at last, with a certain antagonistic
+inflection I did not know in her.
+
+And, after another pause, she added, with a forced smile:
+
+"My father thought that you were much richer."
+
+"But you perceive how mistaken he was," I said, with a smile still more
+forced. "We are almost always deceived about others, sometimes thinking
+them richer than they are, sometimes more noble."
+
+This was all that I said. I felt an enormous, overwhelming repugnance,
+almost a nausea. In one instant I had made up my mind. I would not marry
+this self-hawker, with her angelic profile, for all the treasures of
+earth.
+
+And, curiously, as soon as I made this resolution, I felt at peace and
+almost happy. I felt as if I had thrown off a great load. So, to the
+surprise of Retamoso's daughter, who had remained thoughtful, and a
+little put out by my words, I began to show myself gay and never more
+merry.
+
+But the evening was advancing, and as I was not interested in
+conversation, and wished to be alone and think over the proper method
+for breaking off with her, I proposed that we should return to the
+house. As we got up we heard a murmur as of people coming; we did not
+know any other way except to sit down again. Castell and Cristina sailed
+into the little open space. From the darkness of the place where we were
+sitting, we could see them plainly, for the moonlight completely
+enveloped them. I perceived at once that the conversation was a serious
+one. He came along smiling, bending his head insinuatingly towards her,
+to talk close to her ear. Cristina was pale, with frowning brow, her
+gaze hard, and fixed on space. I wished to get up at once, but
+Isabelita held me back. They passed before us without seeing us. As for
+him, we could not hear him, because he spoke very low; but some of her
+words reached our ears distinctly.
+
+"There is nothing more to be said about that."
+
+This sentence, uttered with unusual energy, impressed us forcibly.
+Isabelita grasped my wrist with a nervous hand and stood up to follow
+them. And, truly, if curiosity excited her, my own was no less; but as I
+knew where that would lead me, and as it seemed to me indecorous to
+surprise such a secret, I tried to stop her. It was useless. The girl
+pulled away from me, and was off after them. I followed also,
+determining to do something to attract their attention in some way. But
+by this time I could no longer see Isabelita. I went forward in the
+darkness, which was there very dense, guided only by the sound of their
+voices. In a few moments I realized that Castell and Cristina had
+stopped. I still advanced and saw that they were in a glorieta, or
+arbor, formed by four great laurels, planted a little distance apart,
+whose branches interlaced. I approached with a cautious step. Isabelita
+was outside the arbor with her ear glued to the branches. When I came up
+to her, she flashed one hand over my mouth and the other arm about my
+neck so hard that she hurt me. I was stupefied by such violence, whose
+reason I could not imagine. Weakly, and because I thought it would save
+Cristina's modesty, I remained passive and quiet.
+
+"Perhaps you consider," said Castell, "my patience of several years, my
+sufferings, the silent, constant service I have given you, a mere
+caprice. Perhaps you suppose that my self-love is concerned in this
+rather than a deep, irresistible passion. Have I not an equal right to
+suppose that the disdain with which you have so many times humiliated me
+is the work of pride and of obstinacy more than of virtue?"
+
+"You may suppose whatever you like. The way you judge me--"
+
+"I know you," interrupted Castell. "Nobody could be more charming. I
+have never found a woman whose beauty and whose character appeared to me
+more interesting and worthy of admiration."
+
+I heard a slight sniff of disdain and then these words:
+
+"I would prefer you to admire me less, and let me live more at peace.
+But it is not about this that I wish to talk at present. I consented to
+come out with you, and find myself here at this improper hour, at the
+risk of my husband's honor, which is dearer to me than life, because I
+see a way to solve the problem of my life. Rich or poor, happy or
+disgraced, I am resolved to live in honor and peace."
+
+Nobody can imagine exactly what went on within me at that moment. The
+horrible suspicions, almost certainties, which had smeared the image of
+my idol, fled like black spectres. I saw her again in all her purity,
+with an aureole of virtue that was her glory and charm. A celestial
+happiness descended into my heart. All my body trembled, seized with an
+irresistible emotion.
+
+"You might search everywhere, you might look the wide world over, for
+one whose happiness concerns me more than your own, and you could not
+find one," said Castell.
+
+"That is very little to say," replied Cristina with a sarcastic accent.
+
+"Because you think that nothing on earth moves me or interests me, don't
+you? There you are wrong. Before I gave rein to this disgraceful
+passion, I lived in a state of perpetual interest in all things. Cities,
+mountains, rivers, the ocean, society, art, passing affections,
+everything moved me and attracted me. To-day all these things are
+objects of loathing in my eyes. Barren boredom, a wearing contempt, and
+a causeless weariness dog me everywhere, surrounding me like poisonous
+vapors. All the nerves of my life are parched--except one. When this is
+stirred, my being trembles, my faculties are roused, the horrible spell
+that binds me is broken, and daylight breaks upon my spirit----"
+
+"Better say night. A bad conscience has need of night."
+
+"Conscience always stops on the steps of the temple of love. Did you
+ever know anyone who, truly in love with a woman, devoured by desire for
+her, has been hindered by conscience? I know nobody. If any human being
+came to me with a tale like that, I should tell him frankly that he
+lied. No mouse ever hesitated before cheese; no man before a woman, in
+fear of his conscience."
+
+"All the worse for men if that is so. But I repeat it is not about this
+that I wish to speak at this moment. At the risk of your carrying out
+your half-veiled threats, I am resolved to put an end to this
+persecution, and it shall be ended. Indeed, it shall be ended!"
+
+"Do you know one thing, Cristina? I have come to think that you enjoy
+being obstinate rather than virtuous."
+
+"Do you know another thing, Castell? I have always thought that there is
+no love whatever in your make-up, but, instead, a monstrous vanity that
+has need of satisfying itself at the cost of the honor and happiness of
+your best friend."
+
+"If there was nothing in me but vanity, how long would it have taken it
+to be revenged upon this scorn, these insults? I doubt if there is a
+woman in the world who knows how better to cut the heart with a gesture,
+envenom the soul, and fill it with mad anger by a glance. I am
+persuaded that you cannot love, but only scorn, a man. If you condescend
+to your husband, it is because he is a poor, miserable thing who doesn't
+dare hold up his head in your presence."
+
+"Spare your insults! This is well! If you had always talked like this, I
+should have been saved much pain. Now let us come to the other matter.
+It is absolutely necessary that from this night henceforth you must
+cease to mortify me, either with words, looks, or hints of any kind. It
+is absolutely necessary that, if you cannot treat me with respect as the
+wife of your friend, I should be to you as any indifferent person. And,
+further, I am resolved, thinking everything over, to give an account of
+what has passed to my husband."
+
+"This is decreed?" he asked in a mocking tone.
+
+"This is decreed!" she said angrily.
+
+There was a pause.
+
+"And are you not afraid," he asked at last, speaking slowly, "if
+following upon the thousand tortures and humiliations that you have made
+me suffer, and my despair of ever being successful with you, if no
+compassion follows, that my love might be turned into hate, and that I
+take means that the event which overthrows me should engulf you and
+yours in yet more frightful ruin?"
+
+"No, I am not afraid," she replied with fiery pride.
+
+"You do well. I shall not take any revenge whatever."
+
+"You may do it if you choose," she interrupted him impetuously. "Emilio
+is a man who likes luxuries and comforts, I know, but he cares very much
+more for his wife and his honor. If the alternative were offered him, he
+would give his fortune gladly, if not also his life. So you may ruin him
+as soon as you please. If nothing is left us, we two can go to work. But
+when he finds himself in somebody's office as a humble clerk, nobody can
+come up to him and call him a complaisant husband; and when I go through
+the streets, the people in Valencia may lean out of their balcony
+windows and say: 'This poor woman that we see there with a basket on her
+arm used to have her carriage and go dressed in her silks;' but they
+shall not say, I swear it, 'She who goes yonder is a prostitute.'"
+
+Her voice sank as she uttered the word. I felt my throat constrict.
+
+"Oh, oh! this is too much!" exclaimed Castell.
+
+"Yes." She repeated the word firmly. "And it is all the same whether one
+sells oneself for fear or to get money."
+
+"Pardon me, Cristina, but it seems to me that you are giving the
+conversation rather a romantic turn. 'A basket on her arm.' This is
+folly! I call your good judgment in against such nonsense. Here is a man
+who loves you with all the strength of his soul, who to win your love
+would be capable of making any sacrifice, even of his life. You have
+already taken away all my hope, and, in abandoning the contest, at least
+don't make me out a seducer in a novel of the kind that stirs up the
+wrath of dressmakers."
+
+"Let us stop talking. I cannot stay here any longer," she said. I could
+see that she stood up.
+
+"Yes, let us put an end to it. I give up trying for you, but not loving
+you. I renounce the idea of vengeance, as I have told you. But
+understand, however, that this is only a truce. My hopes that you will
+love me some day will not be banished. Separated from you, I shall wait
+with patience for a time when our paths shall cross again and I shall
+offer you the poor heart that you have coldly trampled upon."
+
+"Very well. Good-by."
+
+Castell also stood up. More by Cristina's next words than by what I
+could really see, I understood that he was holding her.
+
+"Let me go!"
+
+"Before you go, I want the reward that my sacrifice merits. Let me kiss
+these glorious eyes."
+
+"Let me go!" she repeated forcibly and fiercely.
+
+"I have renounced all," he said as energetically, but lowering his
+voice; "but I swear to you I will not renounce this kiss, if it costs me
+my life."
+
+"Let me go, or I shall scream."
+
+"Scream as much as you like. If you want to make a scandal and perhaps
+kill your husband--his death for one kiss--I am willing."
+
+At that moment I entered the glorieta and put my hand on his shoulder.
+
+"Who is it? Who goes there?" he exclaimed, giving a jump that separated
+him widely from Cristina.
+
+"There is no need of being alarmed. It's me."
+
+"And who are you?" he replied, drawing a revolver and pointing it at me.
+
+"Keep your gun for thieves, or hold it in readiness for some traitor
+who, abusing the confidence reposed in him, tries to seize upon honor
+and happiness. There are no thieves or traitors here."
+
+"If there are no thieves, there are at least persons about devoting
+themselves to overhearing private conversations. But for such persons a
+whip would be more suitable than a revolver," he returned in sarcastic
+tones.
+
+"Keep your sarcasms likewise for a more opportune occasion. Nobody here
+has tried to overhear conversations. They are heard when they come to
+one's ears, and I am sincerely sorry that I was here at this time to
+hear them. If I had been asleep in my bed, I should have avoided the
+sorrow of entering into the foul and hidden corners of the human
+conscience."
+
+"You lie!" he cried, coming wrathfully towards me. "You were spying
+upon us. How can you talk of foulness when you are sunk in filth
+yourself? You have been spying upon us, I repeat it. I have seen you
+doing that for some time past. By what right do you follow our steps and
+pretend to interfere in the affairs of this family, you who are an
+outsider?"
+
+"An outsider interferes when he sees anyone is in need of help," I
+replied calmly. "Moreover, I have not the habit of following any path,
+except those of the ocean currents. I have not insulted you, and you
+have no right to insult me as you have been doing."
+
+Then he, perhaps taking my calmness for cowardice, or possibly wishing
+to provoke a violent scene, so as to extricate himself from his
+difficulty, grabbed me by the lapels of my coat, shook me, and bringing
+his threatening face up to mine, yelled:
+
+"Yes, senor, you have followed us, and I will not endure it. Do you
+hear? Yes, I have insulted you, and why? Are you not satisfied with one
+insult? Then here goes for another."
+
+I caught his arm in air. I caught hold of the other one also, and
+holding him like a vise, because here my greater muscular strength was
+of service, gave him several shakings and forced him backwards into the
+foliage of the arbor.
+
+A voice sounded in my ears:
+
+"Give up, Enrique, give up! Don't risk your life for anybody!"
+
+I paused, stupefied. My fingers relaxed their hold and released their
+captive. Turning my head, I saw before me the virginal figure of
+Isabelita. Yes, it was she.
+
+"Thank you very much," I said smiling.
+
+But I was of no consequence. She did not even glance my way. With an
+agitated countenance, her eyes fixed upon Castell, she took his hand and
+led him out of the glorieta.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+
+Cristina was sitting down, her face hidden in her hands. I went up to
+her.
+
+"Forgive me for coming in here. I was not master of myself."
+
+"You did exactly right; thank you," she murmured, without changing her
+position.
+
+We remained silent. Presently, rising abruptly, she exclaimed:
+
+"Come, let us go in! let us go in!"
+
+And emerging from the glorieta, she went hastily towards the house. I
+followed her, and catching up with her, suggested the propriety of not
+presenting herself in such a disturbed state to Emilio.
+
+She did not reply to me, but she changed her direction, and turned her
+steps towards a narrow acacia path, where the light of the moon could
+scarcely penetrate. I soon lost sight of her. I paused a moment,
+debating whether to go on to the house or follow her. I decided upon the
+last, because I was afraid she might stumble anew upon Castell.
+
+I followed the path, and saw her as she came out in front of the little
+pavilion that bore her name. I joined her and advised her to rest there
+a moment.
+
+The salon, profusely adorned with statues and vases, offered at this
+hour a mysterious enchantment. The moon shone through the crystalline
+windows. The polished furniture, the porcelains, the pictures hanging on
+the wall, reflected the moonlight mournfully. The marble statues threw
+huge dark shadows upon the walls, tragic and threatening.
+
+Cristina dropped upon a sofa, and I sat down beside her.
+
+We remained silent for some time.
+
+"When, for the first time," I said at last, "I had the pleasure to enter
+your house, I felt as if I saw a little bit of heaven below--joy,
+cordiality, serene and innocent happiness, the tender love of a wife who
+inspires respect, the restful felicity of a husband free from any of the
+suspicions that embitter existence--a yoke of love and peace; and about
+you plenty, riches, all the good gifts of life. Shall I surprise you if
+I say that among the leafage of so many joys I have seen uplifted the
+head of the serpent?"
+
+"I do not doubt it," she replied pensively, looking out at the heavens
+through the crystal-clear windows.
+
+"If I could not see your face, I should still be able to divine what you
+are feeling. Your eyes are not able to conceal what passes in your
+soul. How happy you would have made me by confiding to me your troubles!
+I am a new friend, I know, but the affection that you and Emilio inspire
+in me could not be more sincere."
+
+"Thank you, thank you, Captain Ribot," she murmured, "but it is not
+possible."
+
+"It is not possible, truly. How could it be when I lack skill to
+persuade you of the sincerity of my sentiments? I confess that there
+have been reasons why you should not give me your confidence. I have
+repented with all my soul, and I beg your forgiveness."
+
+As if these words agitated her, she rose, pushed aside a hanging
+curtain, went to the piano that stood open, ran her fingers over the
+keys, then came and sat down again.
+
+"I understand by what I overheard," I said, after a pause, "that Castell
+has some hold over you--that you are in his debt."
+
+"Our entire fortune is in his hands."
+
+"What!"
+
+"Emilio has been to him for money to use in his business, which was
+ruined."
+
+"And this was given in the hope of obliging you to accept his devotion?"
+
+"It is possible. Castell is more of a business man than a lover. No
+matter what he pretends, buying and selling is his business. He has
+always had the idea of getting absolute control of the steamboat line."
+
+"I suppose that after what has been overheard, he will desist for a
+little in trying to get possession of it."
+
+"I don't know."
+
+She sat thoughtful for a few moments. Then, as if she were talking to
+herself, she said in a dull voice:
+
+"The day that Emilio and I were married he was at my house from the hour
+of the ceremony until I went to change my dress. We were going to Madrid
+to spend a few days. When I came down, I stumbled upon him waiting for
+me on the stairs. He made some gallant speeches to me at that time, and
+begged a spray of my orange flowers, which he put next his heart. I gave
+it to him against my will, from bashfulness, from timidity. He was
+repulsive to me from the first moment. Later, when we were at the
+station, and he came to give me his hand for good-by, he said, almost in
+my ear, 'If some day it chances that you get tired of him, remember that
+he has friends who admire you as much or more than he does.'"
+
+"What insolence!"
+
+"I did not like to say anything to my husband then; I have not wished to
+since. The friendship that united them was strong, and I hesitated to
+break it. How many times since then I have asked myself if I did right
+or wrong!"
+
+"And before that he had not addressed you especially?"
+
+"Yes, and no. Once we were at Denia. Castell was there, and I danced
+with him at a ball at the house of some friends; it was several months
+before I knew Emilio. That evening he made a little love to me and
+almost declared himself. I took that for what it was, the diversion of a
+traveller who does everything he can think of to keep from being bored.
+And, indeed, he left Denia, and Spain, and spent nearly two years in
+travelling. When he came back, I was going to be married to Emilio. It
+was only a fortnight before the wedding."
+
+"Providence has been cruel placing such a man in your pathway, and
+giving him power to cause you so much trouble."
+
+She did not answer. She remained thoughtful for a while; at last,
+looking at me with her great eyes full of interest, said:
+
+"But you are so very, very good, Ribot. Don't let us talk any more about
+my troubles, but think of those that _you_ have to bear."
+
+"Bah! 'tis quite the contrary with me. I should give thanks to God that
+I have been undeceived in time. Somehow I have always suspected that the
+girl was in love with Castell, although Emilio and Sabas were so certain
+of something else. And, to be frank, I also love someone else better."
+
+"Then why don't you marry her?"
+
+"Because, because--I don't know why; that is to say, if I knew and if
+you also knew--but there are things that I do not care to confess to
+myself."
+
+These words made her look troubled. I was repentant at once, as the rays
+of the moon let me see on her forehead that frown dreaded of yore.
+
+"No, Cristina, no!" I hastened to say vehemently, "I beg you not to
+think that which I read in your eyes. I have been through bitter
+struggles, despairing conflicts with myself. I have stumbled, and fallen
+too, but I have risen; and--I can say it without pride--never shall
+treachery find shelter in my breast. I have not Castell's brilliant
+qualities. I am far from possessing the advantages that make that man
+admired and sought after; but if I possessed them all, I swear I would
+not use them to stab a friend in the back. Far more than the
+satisfactions of love, more than all the enjoyments of earth--and even
+those of heaven if they were offered me--I hold the peace of my own
+conscience."
+
+The warmth of my tones and the sincerity of expression with which I
+uttered these words made her lift her head and look at me in a slight
+amaze. Her brow grew calm, and a sweet smile lingered upon her lips.
+
+"Yes, I have already come to see that you are more original in that way
+than could at first have been imagined. I think it much better this
+way."
+
+And saying so, she graciously held out her hand to me, and I pressed it
+with as much respect as emotion. At this moment a shadow fell across us,
+then one appeared before us, saying:
+
+"Good-evening."
+
+Both Cristina and I were painfully startled.
+
+"You here, Emilio? I thought you had gone to bed," she said, instantly
+controlling herself.
+
+"No, no; I didn't go to bed. I felt the heat, like the rest of you, and
+came out for a turn in the garden. I heard the sound of conversation, so
+I came in."
+
+In spite of the natural voice he made a point of using, there was
+something in his manner and a strangeness in his tones that disquieted
+us immensely.
+
+"It is a very beautiful night," he went on, beginning to walk up and
+down the place with his hands in his pockets. "The month of September
+has not fallen behind August. Even in the mornings it is scarcely cool
+yet. I found I had no desire to go to bed."
+
+I replied to him in words as unimportant as his own. He gave no sign of
+having heard me. He went on walking up and down in an absorbed manner,
+and at last he went over to the balcony and stood motionless looking out
+through the glass. Then he opened one of the windows and stepped outside
+to get more of the cool night air.
+
+Cristina gazed at him without moving an eyelash. In her eyes a great
+anguish was visible. She seemed alarmed. Thus several minutes passed in
+silence. At last, as if unable longer to endure this tension, she rose
+impetuously, went to her husband and put her hand on his shoulder,
+saying:
+
+"Come, let us go to the house."
+
+"As you like," he replied dryly.
+
+We went out of the pavilion and along the avenue of acacias that led to
+it. I tried to walk with Marti and to talk with him. I saw that he
+shrank from my company, and answered with few words. Before reaching the
+house he took his wife's arm and went on ahead, leaving me behind. This
+mute rebuff made my heart ache. I followed with a sadness that presently
+gave way to decided impatience, thinking with what injustice I was
+treated. As we went along in this fashion, there came into my mind the
+strong resolution to enter into a clear and definite explanation with
+him, and disclose to him all that had passed.
+
+We arrived at the door of the house and paused under the glass portico.
+Through the opened window of the dining-room I could see Isabelita,
+Castell, and Dona Amparo.
+
+"Come," I said, with affected indifference, "you two are going to bed
+and I into the city."
+
+"Won't you wait until we can order the carriage?" asked Cristina
+timidly.
+
+"No; I have an appetite for a stroll in the light of the moon. _Hasta
+manana._ Good-night."
+
+I offered Emilio my hand.
+
+"No," he said, with an unusual gravity. "I am going with you as far as
+the farthest gateway. I, too, feel like a stroll."
+
+I gave my hand to Cristina. For the first time in her life she pressed
+it with singular force, at the same time giving me an anxious look of
+supplication. I, moved to the depths of the soul, answered her eyes with
+my own, promising her in that way that she might depend upon me.
+
+We walked away slowly, taking the path that led to the entrance gate.
+Marti walked with his hat in his hand, and preserved an obstinate
+silence. I waited for him to break it before we parted, promising myself
+to be faithful to the silent promise that I had made to Cristina. So it
+was he who, as we approached the boundary wall, paused and, without
+looking at me, spoke:
+
+"Married men, Ribot, often have an exaggerated susceptibility. Not only
+do their own affections torment them, but the fear of becoming objects
+of ridicule sometimes obliges them to be suspicious even when they are
+by nature confiding. The friends of such men do well to avoid awakening
+this susceptibility, conducting themselves on all occasions with care
+and delicacy. By this means friendship is yoked to gratitude."
+
+"You are right," I replied. "So far in my life I have managed to fulfil
+this obligation towards all men with whom I have had to do, not merely
+towards friends, as you say, but towards men of my general acquaintance.
+An unfortunate accident placed me in a situation that wounds your _amor
+proprio_, if not your honor. Understand, however, that Cristina----"
+
+"We will not talk of Cristina," he interrupted, gazing firmly into my
+eyes. "Every night of the year before going to sleep I give thanks to
+God for having united me to her. To-night will be the same as the
+others."
+
+"We will talk about me, then. An unfortunate accident, I repeat, placed
+me in a situation to hurt the susceptibility that has been mentioned. I
+deplore this with all my soul, although I do not find myself to blame.
+In any case, it would have been an indiscretion. However, these matters
+are of such peculiar delicacy that a recent friendship cannot risk the
+consequences of the slightest annoyance. If you feel any such annoyance,
+I am resolved to take myself away from here, and never again set foot in
+your house."
+
+There was no response. We pursued in silence the remaining distance to
+the gate. When we reached it, he paused and, without looking at me, said
+in a trembling voice:
+
+"Although I feel it very much, I cannot do less than accept your
+resolution. Perhaps I am making myself ridiculous in your eyes and in
+those of anyone who might know of what has passed; but what would you? I
+prefer to be considered absurd rather than see disturbed in the
+slightest degree the tranquillity that until now I have enjoyed."
+
+"You are right," I said. "In your place I should do the same. To-morrow
+morning early I shall leave Valencia, and it may be that we shall never
+meet again. I desire you to know, none the less, that this is one of the
+profoundest griefs of my whole life. I appreciate your friendship more
+than you realize. I am grateful for your affectionate hospitality, and I
+shall never console myself for having unintentionally caused you the
+least trouble. If some day you have need of me, all that I have is
+yours."
+
+"Thank you, thank you, Ribot," he murmured, moved.
+
+He put one hand on the latch of the gate, and with the other lifted his
+hat. I did not care to let him see that I knew he did this to avoid
+taking my hand, so, without extending my own, I went out into the road.
+
+"_Adios_, Marti," I said, turning my head, "God keep you always as happy
+as you have been until now."
+
+"_Adios_, Ribot. _Muchas gracias._"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+
+The gate closed. Through its bars I could see him going farther and
+farther away, his uncovered head bowed, until he was lost to sight among
+the trees. I stood alone in the middle of the road. A profound
+depression filled me; it was as if I had lost something that had been
+the chief interest of my existence.
+
+With slow step I began my departure from that pleasant place, believing
+that I should never return to tread this path again. Indeed, these
+latest events had followed one another so hastily and precipitately that
+I could scarcely realize them. One moment I had been in that house as
+the accepted friend about to become a member of the family. The next, I
+left it as a stranger whose name would soon be forgotten. Yet in the
+midst of my sorrow, in the mournful night that had fallen upon my heart,
+shone one consoling star; it was Cristina's look of supplication. In
+that house, perhaps, my name would now no more be spoken, but she would
+never forget it. This thought gave me inexpressible consolation. I went
+on my way with a firmer step, and when I came to the last corner of the
+walls surrounding the estate, I stopped beside it. I looked at it
+sorrowfully for a little, then, going up to the stone, I kissed it many
+times. Then I went on again, blushing as if someone had seen me.
+
+The moon on high bathed the country in luminous purity, transforming it
+into a sleeping lake. The plain stretched before me, bordered by the
+mountains whose crests seemed floating in the distance in a white mist.
+Here and there the little groves of orange-trees and laurel stood out in
+the fleecy whiteness, or great cypresses rose solitary and still,
+casting their shadows across the road. Beyond smiled the sea, reflecting
+the light of the moon.
+
+The sweetness of that night penetrated my heart, refreshing it. The
+fields, still abounding in flowers and fragrant with the odors of ripe
+fruits, soothed my senses and calmed the fever of my thoughts. I went on
+with a lighter step. Valencia already slumbered lightly upon her couch
+of flowers. Her street lights shone afar like stars of earth. Those of
+the heavens formed a rich canopy above, protecting that fortunate city.
+
+When at some distance from the country house, I felt the need of resting
+a little while. I did not care yet to be among people. It was necessary
+to get my thoughts together and contrive some plan of life in place of
+that that had, in one moment, been upset. I sat down on a stone, drew
+out a cigar, lighted it, and calmly began smoking. I had not been
+sitting there long when I heard the sound of an approaching carriage. At
+first I did not know whether it was coming from Valencia or Cabanal.
+When I was convinced it was from the latter, I felt strangely uneasy,
+and thought of concealing myself; but instantly changing my mind, I
+determined to remain where I was. Soon I descried the horses; they drew
+near. It was Castell's cab, as I feared.
+
+When he was quite close I planted myself in the middle of the road and
+called to the coachman in an imperative voice:
+
+"Stop!"
+
+He made a gesture of surprise, but stopped the horses almost as they
+came upon me. As he was pulling them in with the reins, obliging them to
+stop in time, the man recognized me and said:
+
+"Good evening, Don Julian."
+
+Castell had been leaning half out of the window. When I approached him
+he looked at me in surprise, then springing up with a fiery gesture he
+reached for his pocket, crying:
+
+"If this is an attack, take care!"
+
+"No, it is not an attack," I said, lifting my hand in sign of peace; "I
+wish to speak with you."
+
+"Send me your seconds and I will speak with them," he said haughtily.
+
+"Before doing that, it is necessary to speak with you a moment," I
+replied.
+
+He stared at me a little while as if trying to discern my intentions.
+Convinced, doubtless, that they were not bellicose, he opened the cab
+door and said coolly:
+
+"Get in!"
+
+I sat down facing him. The carriage went onward.
+
+"I desire to know," I said, at the end of a moment, "if it was you who
+let Marti know that he would find Cristina and me alone in the
+pavilion?"
+
+He opened his eyes wide in no feigned surprise, and answered in an
+ungracious manner:
+
+"I don't understand what you are saying to me."
+
+I perceived that this was true, and I went on, modifying my tone.
+
+"After you and I separated, she and I went along the acacia path to the
+pavilion, for the purpose of giving Cristina time to recover herself
+before going to the house. She found herself very much upset and did not
+care to present herself to her husband in that state. After we had been
+there a little while, Marti came unexpectedly. He was angry, naturally;
+sought an explanation with me, and in consequence I have left his house
+never to return."
+
+"I knew nothing of it. Although I feel no obligation to give you any
+satisfaction whatever, since there is a question between us to be
+settled on other grounds, I will yet tell you that I did not speak one
+word to Marti about the affair. It rests with you to believe me, or not.
+But it certainly surprises me that after having had an explanation with
+him, you should leave his house and now be talking with me as cordially
+as ever."
+
+"It is very simple. I did not speak one word about what I had just
+heard."
+
+"You have allowed him to suspect you of treachery?" he asked in the
+greatest surprise.
+
+"Yes, senor."
+
+"And why have you done so?"
+
+"For my pleasure."
+
+He cast a hostile, suspicious glance at me, shrugged his shoulders, and
+remained silent. I broke the silence after a moment.
+
+"The pleasures of men, Castell, are as varied as their physiognomies.
+However much you may have thought yourself in love with Cristina, I
+believe I was more. I adored her with all my soul, with all the powers
+of my heart. But to win her by treacherous means would, far from causing
+me joy, be the worst misfortune that could befall me upon earth. I
+should never sleep quietly again. I have made a cruel sacrifice, but I
+have made it for love of her, for the peace of my conscience. The tears
+that you see in my eyes now refresh my soul; they do not scorch it. I am
+going away, going away for good. You will remain, and perhaps time may
+bring it about that you can gain what I have so much desired; but
+wandering upon the sea, alone on the deck of my ship, I shall be happier
+than you. The stars of heaven shining above me will say: 'Be joyful, for
+you have done right.' The wind whistling through the rigging, the waves
+breaking against the sides will say: 'Joyful, joyful!'"
+
+The light of the moon illuminated his face. I saw a smile gradually
+spread over it.
+
+"These same waves that will say such agreeable things to you will think
+nothing of swallowing you like a fly some day. The winds will help them
+finish the task, and the stars of heaven will be present with all
+possible serenity. You are living in a profound error, Ribot. There is
+no other happiness upon earth except in possessing what one desires."
+
+"Although to get it you stab a friend to death from behind?"
+
+There was a moment of suspense, but he presently said firmly:
+
+"Although to get it 'twere necessary to walk over men."
+
+"There is neither good nor evil, then?"
+
+"In life the good of some is the evil of others, and it will be so to
+the end of time. You may have seen some time a nest of swallows? The
+little ones wait anxiously for the arrival of the mother; she comes
+gently, opens her bill and, with loving care, feeds them one by one. How
+interesting! How full of tenderness such a sight! But the insects that
+have been destroyed and fall into the beak of the swallow to serve her
+in feeding her children--does the spectacle seem so tender and
+interesting to them? On the other hand, you see a man go stealthily up
+to another, knock him down with a blow, take the money out of his purse
+and carry it away to his house to buy bread for his children. How
+horrible! You shudder and hurry quickly away from such a scene. But why?
+If you were an insect you would go along there buzzing joyously."
+
+"But we are given a conscience."
+
+"Conscience does not prevent us from being fatally fettered. You find
+yourself in love with Cristina, the same as I am; both of us desire her.
+You are held back by fear of remorse, but I pursue my undertaking with
+no fears whatever. We both follow an instinct. Mine is more sane,
+because it tends to augment my vitality, while yours tends to diminish
+your strength. You need not laugh nor be so much surprised. Remorse in a
+world where necessity rules is absurd. Think you that the heroes of
+Homer and Aeschylus hesitated at fratricide or incest? Yet they were,
+nevertheless, the most noble examples of human kind."
+
+"I am far from opposing you in augmenting your vitality," I replied,
+ironically; "but would it not be better that you seek a wife of your
+own, rather than another's."
+
+"Another's, another's!" he repeated under his breath. "That is
+conventional, like all the rest."
+
+He remained thoughtful for several minutes, looking out at the landscape
+through the window. I watched him with a mixture of curiosity and
+repugnance. Those blue eyes of his with their steely reflections
+inspired me for the first time with a sudden dread.
+
+"The virtuous? Draupadi," he began saying slowly, without taking his
+eyes from the scene, "one of the most interesting heroines of antiquity
+had five husbands, all brothers. Those heroes enjoyed her love in
+common, without dishonor or remorse. If we lived in like simplicity, to
+aspire to Cristina would be moral and plausible; we should be offering a
+woman two new protectors. Why does it cause you so much horror to share
+a woman with a friend? The world began in that way and will end in that
+way."
+
+"It may end as it chooses!" I exclaimed. "Now and evermore, it will be a
+sin voluntarily to cause pain."
+
+"Don't be a child, Ribot," he replied with his irritating
+self-sufficiency. "There is only one undeniable truth in this world, and
+that is the common impulse of plants and animals, insects and man. In
+the serene region where life abides, everlasting life, sorrow and death,
+signify nothing. The one supreme end of the universe is to augment the
+intensity of this life."
+
+I did not respond. I remained thoughtful and silent in my turn for some
+time, gazing out of the other window at the road. At last I saw the
+first houses of the suburbs.
+
+"Will you have the kindness to ask the man to stop?" I said; "I wish to
+get out here; and to-morrow I leave Valencia without fighting with you.
+Attribute this to cowardice if you like. It will be a new sacrifice for
+me to make on the altar of my love, and to the friendship that I owe
+Marti. I do not aspire to be a Homeric hero like you, nor dream of
+leaping triumphantly upon the bodies of my enemies. Will you stop?"
+
+He gave me a big, contemptuous stare, and pulled the cord, saying
+coldly:
+
+"I don't know whether or not you are a coward; but I can tell you on the
+spot that you are one of those people who are self-deceived, and live in
+delusions concerning themselves and the world about them."
+
+The cab stopped. I opened the door and stepped out upon the ground.
+
+"_Adios_, Castell," I said, without giving him my hand. "You may seek
+that happy region which I do not desire to know. I will remain in this
+other that is more sorrowful yet more honorable."
+
+He shrugged his shoulders without answering, and turned his eyes away
+from me disdainfully, as he again pulled the cord. Then he leaned back
+comfortably. The carriage departed, and I began walking slowly towards
+my hotel. I followed the white highroad whereon scattering houses now
+cast shadows, until I reached the city's streets, and lost myself in
+their labyrinth.
+
+In the Calle del Mar I found myself in front of the house of Cristina.
+On her bedroom balcony grew a rose-mallow. I made sure that nobody saw
+me, then I climbed up to it and picked some of its leaves. I went to the
+hotel, and up to my room, and was soon sleeping sweetly with those
+leaves held fast in my hand.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+
+Once more the sea! Port traffic, the noise of loading and unloading,
+troublesome business in the consignees' office--afterwards lonely,
+tranquil hours lulled by the songs of the sailors and the murmur of
+waters against the keel! I did not let my dream of love weigh down my
+soul. At the end of several months, it remained a tender and poetic
+impression which gave reality to my existence. Yet when one night we
+passed Valencia, and I saw the lights of Cabanal shining in the
+distance, I was surprised to find myself singing on the bridge in a low
+voice the farewell from "Grumete"--
+
+    "_Si en la noche callada_
+     _Sientes el viento!_"
+
+And, without being able to help it, my eyes filled with tears like a
+sentimental female. But that soon passed, and I soon recovered the
+joyous mood which seldom, thank heaven, forsook me.
+
+I heard from a friend in Barcelona that Castell had married Isabelita
+Retamoso. Much good may it do! I learned from the same man that the
+steamship company, Castell and Marti, had gone to pieces, and that both
+partners were involved in a ruinous lawsuit. On hearing that, I could
+not refrain from exclaiming with exquisite delight:
+
+"Ruined, it may be! but dishonored, no!"
+
+My friend stared at me surprised, and it cost me not a little to evade
+an explanation. Did not some self-satisfaction enter into my pleasure? I
+am almost sure it did. I do not give myself out for a saint, and not
+even the saints are able to get rid of self-love entirely. At last, on
+my return from Hamburg, after one of my voyages, I found in Barcelona a
+letter that had been waiting for me several days. It was from Marti,
+although written in another hand. He told me that he was very ill, and
+in trouble, and invited me in extremely affectionate terms to come and
+make him a visit if it were possible. He did not explain what his
+troubles were, nor allude in the least to the misunderstanding that had
+been between us, perhaps not to let his amanuensis into our secrets; but
+the whole letter breathed of his hearty desire to be all right with me
+again, and to make me forget my unhappy departure from his house.
+
+I took the train immediately for Valencia. I entered the city at
+nightfall, one year and three months after leaving it. I went to the
+hotel where I had then stayed. The hotel-keeper received me with cordial
+demonstration, and told me, without my asking, many details of the
+lawsuit between Castell and Marti. Marti was ruined. He had lost his
+directing share in the steamboat line, in which his partner still
+remained. Following that, to reimburse himself for capital loaned,
+Castell transferred Marti's credit. The creditors sold all his property
+at auction, including that at Cabanal and the house in the Calle del
+Mar.
+
+"If, in spite of all this," said my host, "Don Emilio enjoyed good
+health, he could easily get up again, for he is young and he has a great
+head for business. But the poor man is very ill, very ill. I have not
+seen him for some time, but by all that I hear it is his last sickness."
+
+These words made me very sad. It was dinnertime; but, although I went
+and sat down at table, I could scarcely take a morsel of food. I went
+out afterwards, intending to go to the house of Marti--he was living now
+in an apartment in the Calle de Caballeros. Before arriving I turned
+about, fearing to disturb him at that hour, or cause him any emotion
+that might hinder him from resting well. I directed my steps to the
+residence of his brother-in-law, Sabas, that he might prepare Marti, or
+at least advise me when it would be best for me to go to see him.
+Sabas's plump wife, as lively, busy, and sweet as ever, received me with
+her usual affability. Her idolized husband had gone out.
+
+"He is at Emilio's house?" I said, as the natural thing.
+
+"No, I believe--" she hesitated. "You had better go to the theatre.
+Maybe he is there. As the doctor found Emilio better to-day, he said
+that he would go and celebrate."
+
+She blushed as she uttered these words. I showed no surprise, in order
+not to increase her confusion. After kissing my old friends, her
+children, I went off to the theatre that she named in search of their
+elegant papa.
+
+When I entered, the play had already begun. I took up a position in a
+corner behind the stalls and scrutinized the theatre. I was not long in
+seeing him in his place in a proscenium box. These boxes in the
+provinces, as in the capital, are the sacred spots, whence the superior
+beings of each locality radiate their splendors. Accustomed to lay down
+the law for the multitude, the gilded youths who meet there, converse,
+argue, smoke, and yawn, firmly convinced that they have no duties to
+fulfil towards the masses, those who listen placidly from the stalls.
+They dwell separate like the gods of Olympus, in conscious enjoyment of
+their perfections and their power, grinning at the actors, tossing
+compliments to the actresses, and from time to time talking in loud
+voices with their kind in the opposite boxes, over the heads of the
+rabble of the unfashionable.
+
+Sabas belonged to the ruling caste, although his face showed none of the
+marks that characterize it, neither the flabby flesh, the pallid skin,
+nor the loose mouth, signs of the life of self-indulgence.
+
+His dark, sunburned face, peeled in places, offered rather an extremely
+industrious aspect. It would not have been strange if he had arrived
+that same night from Madagascar or Java, after enriching himself in a
+caoutchouc expedition. This was doubtless the opinion of the contralto
+of the company (much richer in avoirdupois than in voice), to judge by
+the timid admiration and the blushes wherewith she received his ardent
+compliments every time that the exigencies of the piece obliged her to
+go near his box. I sat down in one of the _butacas_ and waited for the
+fall of the curtain. I confess that I was less interested in what was
+going on on the stage than in the play that was revealed between the box
+and the footlights. Sabas, leaning his chin in his hand with a purely
+Oriental languor, fixed his gaze of serpent-like fascination upon the
+contralto. She, overcome with an irresistible terror, made efforts to
+flee from that glance and escape. In vain. In spite of herself, even in
+the most important scenes and against all the demands of the play, she
+would break abruptly away from the tenor in a love duet and turn towards
+that tropical and fascinating man of the quivering nostrils. She
+listened with eagerness to his voice vibrating like a cry in the
+desert, hoping ever that he would end by offering her fifty elephants, a
+necklace of pearls, and the heads of three rajahs, his enemies.
+
+When the act was ended I went without delay to the box. Sabas received
+me with the grave indifference which, in all perfectly cultivated
+countries, expresses elegance. I explained my wishes at once. He
+accepted them benignly; disdaining his conquest, secure like all heroes
+of arriving always in time to conquer, he took his hat and we left the
+theatre. We walked for some time in silence. I felt my heart oppressed
+with sadness wherein I perceived with alarm a certain anticipation of
+something pleasant. This something could be nothing else than the
+presence of Cristina. Yes, I recognized it with shame; yet in that sad
+hour it absorbed me more than anything else in the world.
+
+Sabas stopped after a time, took his pipe from his mouth, and, looking
+at me attentively some moments, remarked solemnly:
+
+"You see how it is, friend Ribot. The madness of my brother-in-law has
+carried him to the extreme that I have prophesied so many times."
+
+"Poor Emilio!" I exclaimed.
+
+"Yes, poor indeed. At present he hasn't a peseta, nor anybody who will
+lend him one."
+
+"The worst of all is, according to what has been told me, his illness is
+very serious."
+
+He found nothing to answer to this. After a while he again took out his
+pipe and paused.
+
+"Does it seem to you, friend Ribot," he exclaimed in indignant accents,
+"as if a man with a family has the right to throw away his capital
+according to his own caprices and reduce that family to destitution?"
+
+I shrugged my shoulders, without knowing what to answer, suspecting that
+Sabas included himself among the most important members of that
+suffering family.
+
+He put his pipe back between his teeth, and having, doubtless, thus got
+himself in connection with his electric current, contrived to move
+onward. He was not long in interrupting it, by taking out the pipe
+again, spitting, and going on talking.
+
+"I understand perfectly how a bachelor can dispose of his means as he
+pleases; how, getting up some morning out of humor, he could go out on
+the balcony and toss over everything that he owns. At most there is only
+himself to pay for the consequences of his whims. But when a man who is
+not alone in the world, who has assumed sacred obligations to fulfil,
+throws himself into senseless speculations and wastes an important
+property, his conduct seems to me not merely imprudent, but also
+immoral."
+
+I did not doubt that Sabas included among these sacred obligations that
+of providing him with means to submit to his own fascinations all the
+sopranos and contraltos who presented themselves on the Valencian
+horizon; and not to say anything impertinent, I determined to hold my
+peace. In this manner, using his pipe like a manipulator of an electric
+machine to retard or hasten his fancy, and slopping over in a torrent of
+critical wisdom, we reached at last the house where his brother-in-law
+lived. It was not so sumptuous as that in the Calle del Mar, but new and
+elegant. We mounted to the apartment on the second floor, which was the
+one that Marti occupied, and rang. Regina, the old _doncella_, came out
+to open for us, and on seeing me could not refrain from a cry of
+surprise.
+
+"Oh, Don Julian!"
+
+"Silence!" I exclaimed, putting my finger on my lips.
+
+Next, I seized upon my god-daughter, taking her in my arms and silently
+covering the child with warm and tender kisses. But she did not receive
+them in the silence that was to be desired. Frightened by my beard, and
+perhaps pricked by it, she began at once crying to heaven.
+
+I heard the voice of Cristina.
+
+"Who is there?"
+
+And she appeared from the end of the corridor. On seeing me, she paused
+for an instant, then immediately came on to me, holding out both hands
+with an affectionate gesture.
+
+"Oh, Captain! My poor Emilio is dying!"
+
+I saw her eyes cloud with tears. I pressed those beautiful hands that I
+held, and murmured some words of hope. Perhaps her fears were
+exaggerated. Emilio had always enjoyed good health; but this sort of
+temperament bore disease for many years. I asked if it were possible to
+see him at that hour, and, having been answered affirmatively, made
+ready to go in. Cristina would not let me enter until she had first
+prepared him. He was very nervous, and a sudden emotion might injure
+him. While she was gone to perform this gentle duty, Sabas improved the
+opportunity to give me his hand, dark as an Asiatic colonial's, in
+good-by and departed with his energetic characteristic importance.
+Through the door that still stood open I saw him go down the stairs
+carrying in his ardent glance desolation and tears for the contralto.
+
+"Come in, come in this minute!" It was the voice of Emilio, a little
+hoarse, but as vigorous as ever. I hastened towards the place whence
+came the sound, and entered a room where the luxury of the furniture was
+in contrast with the modesty of the things in the rest of the place. He
+was reclining in an arm-chair with two cushions at his back, wearing an
+elegant dressing-gown. The light of a candle fell on his face, where I
+could see very clearly the fatal signs of tuberculosis. But that face
+was beautiful, more beautiful and more interesting than any I had ever
+seen. The hair of head and beard was longer; this with the whiteness of
+the skin and the great, black, melancholy eyes made him look like the
+Nazarene. Those eyes shone at sight of me with a frank and cordial
+expression. He took my hand and, pressing it affectionately between his
+own, said several times in a low voice:
+
+"Captain! Captain! Captain! How good you are!"
+
+I found myself too much moved to speak.
+
+"How do you find me? In a very bad way, don't you?" he asked at last,
+after a long silence.
+
+"I hope I shall see you better soon," I answered, making an effort to
+control myself and hide the emotion that mastered me.
+
+At the same time I took the candle, and bringing it nearer his face,
+pretended to examine it with close attention.
+
+"Do you know what ails you?" I asked. "It's _morrina_!"
+
+"What is that?" he asked, opening his eyes wide.
+
+"It is an illness that attacks the Galicians when they lose an amount
+exceeding fifty centimos."
+
+I saw a smile steal over his lips and, glancing gayly at his wife, he
+exclaimed:
+
+"The same as ever! He doesn't seem to me a bit changed--no!"
+
+I understood that the kindest thing I could do at that moment was to go
+on joking. I plucked up my courage and unlocked my stock of
+buffooneries, although they can't be called very witty. Soon I had the
+pleasure of hearing him laugh heartily. His face brightened, his eyes
+shone; in a few minutes we were chatting together with the same gayety
+as if he were perfectly well and had not lost a centimo of his capital.
+
+Cristina watched us with a melancholy smile. She was happy in seeing her
+husband so cheerful, although she knew that this could not last long.
+
+And, indeed, a violent attack of coughing soon came to interrupt most
+sadly our chat. He became livid and half-stifled, holding his head
+between his hands.
+
+"The chill of the night air is bad for you. It is the chill of night
+that brought it on, Emilio," said Cristina. "It is time for you to go to
+rest."
+
+He lifted his hand, making lively signs of negation with it. When the
+attack subsided, and he could speak, he exclaimed:
+
+"No, don't take him away from me! I feel much better. The captain is a
+mouthful of oxygen. He brings me the good sea air."
+
+I stayed half an hour longer, to please him. At last I went, not before
+promising to return early the next day. I did not wish to go in that
+night to pay my respects to Dona Amparo. I had already had notice from
+Sabas that she had taken up a fashion lately of fainting away at sight
+of any friend whatsoever. As the hour seemed to me unseasonable for such
+an organic phenomenon, I deferred it until another more suitable.
+
+Cristina came with me to the door.
+
+"How do you find him?" she asked, fixing an anxious look upon me.
+
+"I don't find him well. But while there is life, who knows? who knows?"
+
+Nobody could help knowing. She also knew; but the unhappy lady sought
+some way to hide the truth from herself.
+
+I went away with my head in a whirl, and my heart torn and rent. The
+force I had used to appear cheerful upset my nerves, and I could not
+sleep. Poor Marti! Never had he seemed to me more hearty, more innocent,
+more worthy to be beloved. Not one word, not the most insignificant
+allusion to the treacherous actions of his friend Castell, nor the
+inhuman manner in which he had ruined him. And in the days following it
+was the same. His soul not only knew how to avoid filth like the feet of
+ladies, but did not believe in it.
+
+I wrote to our shipping house to say that, for reasons of health, I
+wished to stay on land during the next voyage, and constituted myself
+companion and nurse to my unfortunate friend. I was seldom away from
+him. When I left him I saw a sadness in his eyes so sincere that I
+wished to stay. Every day he lost strength; I saw that he grew
+constantly weaker. He began to have cruel stiflings that threatened his
+life. While they lasted I fanned him, and Cristina bathed his temples.
+But when he came out of these attacks like a man who has succeeded in
+escaping an imminent peril and unexpectedly finds himself safe and
+sound, he would be talkative and gay, assuring us that very soon he
+would be able to go out into the streets and take up his business again.
+
+His business! Neither illness nor ruin had been able to uproot his
+passion for projects and his liking for great industrial enterprises.
+
+"If you could guess, Captain, the idea which I have had for days in my
+head!" he said to me once, looking at me with his candid eyes and
+pushing back his hair. "A grand project, and sensible, too, at the same
+time. At fifteen kilometres from Valencia there is a river that can be
+made to produce a waterfall of a thousand horse-power. Suppose that two
+hundred are lost in harnessing it, there would still be eight hundred,
+which, well distributed, would move almost all the industries of the
+city and give light to it all. Manufacturers and the city would save an
+enormous amount, and to become the owner of that waterfall would be a
+brilliant stroke of business. Because, as you can see----"
+
+Here he took a paper, drew out a pencil, and set himself to scheming
+with figures with as much enthusiasm as if the operatives were already
+installing the great electric machine that was to distribute power to
+all the factories of Valencia, with so many horse-power and such and
+such qualities as if he had the magazine in the house.
+
+Cristina and I exchanged a look over his head, and we knew not what to
+say. Formerly this passion had been his peril. Now it seemed to console
+him. So, not to go against him, we followed his fancy, and praised his
+project to the skies. This made him so happy that his cheeks burned and
+his glassy eyes shone with pleasure. Cristina could not control her
+emotion, and hastily left the room. I went on admiring the project
+warmly, so that he would not notice her going, and went so far as to
+promise to invest my small capital in the enterprise. With this his
+gayety came to an end. Quickly changing his expression, he pressed my
+hand, and, looking at me sorrowfully, exclaimed:
+
+"No, Ribot, no! Although the affair is all plain enough, there might be
+some bad luck. I will not risk your capital!"
+
+"There would not be any risk," I replied; "I would gladly put it in,
+because it seems to me that this is a sure thing."
+
+"Absolutely sure!" he said, with the accent of unquenchable conviction,
+which at another time would have made me smile. "But I won't give you
+any shares in it until it is under way and has begun to pay dividends."
+
+Poor Marti! He was going fast. His cheeks fell in, the circles under his
+eyes grew deeper; he passed his nights in coughing and his days in
+torment between pain and choking.
+
+The fainting fits of Dona Amparo grew constantly more frequent and
+prolonged. Her sensibility became so over-excited by this, that the
+fluttering of a butterfly was enough to throw her into a convulsion,
+from which she could only recover by covering everybody's face, as of
+old, with tears and kisses. As for me, being the friend most often at
+hand, I received the greater part of these inundations.
+
+Sabas came every day at eleven o'clock, before going for his usual
+promenade to the cafe where he took his vermouth. If the doctor had said
+that the invalid had less fever (and he often said it to encourage him),
+this gave our dandy so much satisfaction that he could not do less than
+celebrate by going to breakfast at the cafe, and then go off on an
+excursion with friends of both sexes.
+
+We saw the end approaching. As the fatal hour drew near, Emilio showed
+himself less and less apprehensive, occupying himself constantly with
+making calculations and planning out new schemes. Even in the middle of
+the night he would beg for paper, and scratch down figures.
+
+"Next week I think I shall be able to be out," he said to me one
+morning. "There is nothing ailing me now. The pain in the kidneys is all
+gone; my tongue is almost clean. If this cough that keeps me awake would
+only leave me, I should be quite well. To-day I feel just like walking,
+like taking a good long walk."
+
+And he proved his words by getting up from his chair and taking several
+steps.
+
+"I am going to the dining-room," he said, opening the door; "see what a
+surprise I am going to give Cristina."
+
+And he walked down the passage. I stood looking at him from the
+threshold of his room. When he had got about half-way, the poor fellow
+toppled, and before I could get to him, fell his length upon the floor.
+Several years have passed since then, and yet they have not been able to
+obscure in my soul the shamed and melancholy smile he gave me as I came
+to him.
+
+"That's bad, Captain!"
+
+I lifted him and carried him in my arms back to his chair. He weighed no
+more than a child. Cristina, as well as I, reproved his imprudence, but
+we readily convinced him that his weakness came from lack of
+nourishment. If he would eat more his strength would increase rapidly,
+and we should soon see him able to walk out in the garden as of old.
+
+Although Cristina knew the seriousness of his condition, and made
+herself no illusions regarding the outcome, I observed in her a sort of
+ignorance or disregard which, at such a time, could not fail to make me
+anxious. She thought certainly that his illness was unto death, but by
+every word that came from her mouth I perceived that she judged the end
+to be very far off. I could see that it was very near. And yet it was
+nearer than even I supposed. On the day following his fall in the
+passage, I went to see him between ten and eleven o'clock in the
+morning. Contrary to his custom, he had not dressed. He said he found
+himself a little fatigued from coughing. I cheered him up by calling him
+only lazy, and sat down beside him. I found him indeed very feeble, and
+looking very much discouraged. In spite of this he was chatty and
+cheerful as always. At last he decided to get up, but before doing so we
+decided that he should take a little cup of broth to give him strength.
+Cristina went out to prepare it. A few moments after, the sick man had
+an attack of coughing and choking that nearly overcame him. I did not
+call Cristina, not wishing to alarm her, and began to fan him, as usual,
+to give him air, hoping that he would quickly recover. Yet, without
+knowing why, I felt more disturbed than usual. My heart beat violently,
+seeing that pallid face, with its closed eyes and the opened mouth
+struggling for breath. As the seconds went by, my anxiety increased in
+like measure, and I reached my hand towards the bell-button. But at that
+moment Marti opened his eyes and smiled sweetly. I calmed myself and
+said:
+
+"Now you are better! It has passed."
+
+"Open the shutters. I can't see well," he answered me. These words
+brought back my alarm. The shutters were open. Yet I made a movement to
+go, to please him; but as I tried to leave him, he seized one of my
+hands.
+
+"Ribot, Ribot!" he cried, gazing at me with sightless eyes. "Do not
+leave me! I am dying, do not leave me!"
+
+He raised up, convulsively grasping my hand. His expression changed
+quickly, his eyes glazed. His head rolled about as if it would be
+disjointed, then he fell heavily backward. Horror and stupefaction kept
+me a moment stunned, gazing at the floor. But recovering myself, I took
+his head between my hands and held it against my breast, crying:
+
+"Marti! my friend, my brother! Canst thou hear? In this world of
+treachery there are few men left like thee!"
+
+And I kissed that brow where had never fallen the shadow of a sinful
+thought.
+
+At that moment a hand touched my shoulder. I turned as if it had stabbed
+me and saw her eyes straining wide with terror and her trembling form
+that fell prone upon the ground.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+
+It is impossible to describe what took place in that house upon the
+death of Emilio. Everybody adored him; to all he was like a loving
+father, ready to sacrifice his own wishes for those of others.
+
+The grief and woe of Cristina were so great that we feared for her life.
+After a few days, however, it was necessary to think about business
+matters. Those of Marti were so much entangled that his unfortunate
+family was likely to become quite destitute. The only one to call upon
+in regard to his affairs, as the nearest relation, was Sabas; but this
+profound person, for whom the human heart had no hidden corners,
+despised the prosaic details of existence. He lived like a god in a
+state of perpetual joy, removed from the toils and anxieties that
+afflict mankind. It was necessary that I grasp the reins. I begged
+permission to do this, and took hold of the work with little knowledge,
+but with illimitable interest and good will. At the end of six months of
+hard work, struggling with creditors, lawyers, and clerks, I succeeded
+in disentangling the snarl. The debts were all paid and a small income
+was rescued for Cristina, sufficient to enable her to live comfortably
+but without any luxuries. I breathed freely again, and enjoyed my
+success as much as if I had brought through successfully some gigantic
+undertaking.
+
+The gratitude of Cristina was my sweetest reward. In a grave and
+reserved way, as she did all things, she made me understand it
+constantly. This gratitude, joined to the innocent caresses of my
+god-daughter, who now began to prattle, calling me "Uncle Ribot," as if
+I were of her own blood, fully repaid me for all my endeavors. All that
+troubled me was to note with what scrupulous care Cristina reduced the
+expenses of her house, and the straits she endured. I told her this care
+was exaggerated--her income would permit her a little more leeway, but I
+did not succeed in making her see it. After a while I came to understand
+that her economy did not cause her the slightest pain. I thought she
+rather enjoyed it, and by this means was saving up to add to the small
+inheritance of her little daughter. Later I found out, not without
+indignation, that these savings served to support the household of her
+elegant brother. He had gone on applying the scalpel to all of our
+actions. Persuaded after a while that neither the kindness of his sister
+nor my business ability would henceforth provide him with means
+sufficient to make the conquest of even one single chorus girl, he
+decided at last to go to work, watching the bank in a gambling club.
+
+None of her ancient splendors seemed to be missed by Cristina, as far as
+I could ascertain, neither handsomely furnished rooms, nor carriages,
+nor servants. The property at Cabanal alone excited in her a melancholy
+regret. Only when we mentioned that did she become sad and pensive. This
+was very natural. Her passion for the country, for a free and peaceful
+life was strengthened now by the gentle memories that that estate kept
+for her heart. There had fleeted the happiest hours of her life. After I
+had observed this on a number of occasions, the thought was born in my
+brain to try to buy the place. I quickly thought over the state of my
+property. As I was a man of few wants, I could part with a third of what
+I had, and there would still be enough left me to live upon. As soon as
+I was convinced of that, every hindrance got on my nerves. I could not
+rest until I had gone to Barcelona, where lived the banker to whom the
+estate had been assigned, and had had a talk with him. Cabanal had gone
+at auction for eighteen thousand duros. I soon saw that its present
+owner would like to get it off his hands for the same money, then his
+profits would not all be eaten up in the expense of keeping up the place
+as it had formerly been. At last, after several conferences and enough
+bartering, we agreed upon the contract and the deeds were passed, I
+making him promise to keep the transaction a secret. Then I made a deed
+of gift to my god-daughter of the property. With both documents in my
+pocket and with my heart light with joy, I returned to Valencia. Before
+taking possession of the country house it was necessary to buy, and
+instal there, furniture as nearly as possible like that which the house
+had had before. It cost me some labor, but I performed it with
+inexplicable enjoyment. It is needless to say that where I laid myself
+out to have everything perfect was in Cristina's own room--her
+_tocador_. By means of untiring search I was able to find some of the
+same pieces of furniture that had been there before, and I bought them;
+others I ordered copied, and they turned out very like. As soon as all
+was ready I took possession of the place, cautioning all persons who had
+served me, and the gardener, too, not to let the matter get noised
+abroad before it was time to open the house.
+
+The birthday of my god-daughter arrived. Several days before, I had all
+the furniture put in place in the country house, and I took pains to see
+that all was placed as nearly as possible as it had been formerly. I
+knew so well every arrangement of that house that it was not difficult
+for me to make it look very homelike. Cristina's room took a good deal
+of time, for I aspired to have it lack not one detail. The furniture,
+the curtains, the articles on the dressing-table, even the coverlet on
+the bed, had been restored or copied with utmost exactness. On the
+birthday I carried my god-daughter a fine toy in the morning, promising
+her another for the afternoon. And for the afternoon I invited her, with
+her mamma and Dona Amparo, to take an excursion into the country, to
+picnic in some secluded spot, to celebrate that memorable date. The
+coachman, previously instructed by me, drove us about for a time, then
+brought up in the neighborhood of Cabanal. There I made him stop and
+said:
+
+"Senoras, I don't know whether I have committed an indiscretion. If I
+have, I beg your pardon beforehand. Knowing Cristina's passion for
+Cabanal, I have had our picnic prepared there. I am a friend of Puig,
+who bought it, and when I was in Barcelona he gave me permission to go
+into the house, and to take as many people with me as I liked. I repeat,
+you must forgive what I have done, if you do not approve of it."
+
+Dona Amparo declared it very nice, and was joyful to the soul at
+visiting once more the place that had always pleased her. But Cristina's
+face was something to behold. She had never let me see it so forbidding.
+She controlled herself, however, in silence; and I, taking no notice of
+her annoyance, ordered the coachman to go on. The gardener and his men
+played the drama of receiving us as guests, and conducted us to a
+glorieta where I had had the table spread. Before our picnic, I invited
+them to take a little walk, but Cristina refused emphatically, affirming
+that she had hurt her foot. As Dona Amparo did not care to leave her
+alone I went with my god-daughter; the little one and I amused ourselves
+by running and frolicking about in those shady avenues. When we returned
+I observed that Cristina's eyes were red and that her mamma was drooping
+with evident intentions of popping off.
+
+But I did not care to go into any of that. Joyful and merry as I had
+never been, I began to open the baskets and distribute their contents,
+aided by the little girl and the man who had brought them from the
+hotel. By a great effort, and to conceal her suffering, Cristina took a
+few, but very small, mouthfuls. Dona Amparo, however, ate heartily. But
+Julianita, the little one, and I knew how to do our duty. To finish off,
+I opened a bottle of champagne. Then, standing up and taking my
+god-daughter on one arm, I swung the glass high with the other,
+exclaiming:
+
+"To the health of Julianita! To the health of my little girl!"
+
+I drained the glass, then gave the baby the drops in the bottom.
+
+"I promised thee a present for this afternoon, and thou shalt see that I
+keep my promise. Thy present is this estate, of which thou hast been
+despoiled. I bought it for thee some days ago. Receive it, my daughter,
+with this tender kiss which I place upon thy cheek, and may heaven bless
+thee with many and happy days!"
+
+Cristina rose up from the bench, pale and trembling.
+
+"Captain Ribot! It cannot be!" she cried in a choking voice.
+
+"Here is the deed of the property, and here is the deed of gift," I
+answered, presenting the documents.
+
+"But my daughter cannot accept such an enormous sacrifice!"
+
+"I have few necessities and no near relations. The law gives me the
+right to choose my heir. I have already chosen her," I added, placing my
+hand on the curly little head of my god-daughter.
+
+She remained quiet with her eyes fixed upon the ground. At last she went
+out of the glorieta, and without opening her lips started towards the
+house. I followed her at a distance, leaving the fainting form of Dona
+Amparo to the care of the child and the servant. I observed that she
+walked faster and faster. When she reached the door she was almost
+running. She paused a moment, kissed the wall, and entered.
+
+I followed her as she went about the rooms; I heard her exclamations of
+delight, and even saw her go into her own room. At sight of that, a cry
+escaped her, and she fell sobbing upon the white-wood bed.
+
+I went over to her and said:
+
+"This room holds yet within its walls the perfume of a sacred and
+peaceful life. The furniture had been scattered through the city; and
+these pieces, that could claim nobody as one master, on finding
+themselves together again will speak to you, Cristina, in the sweet and
+mysterious language of their souvenirs. I consider myself happy in
+having restored them, and happier yet in having worked for so many days
+to arrive at this moment."
+
+She rose from the bed, and, holding out her hand, said to me in a
+trembling voice:
+
+"Thank you, Ribot, many thanks. You are indeed a faithful friend to us.
+God will reward you for all the good you have done, for I can never
+repay you."
+
+I was moved to the depths of my soul by those simple words.
+
+"Cristina," I replied, "I accept the title that you so nobly bestow upon
+me. I have been a loyal friend to you and to Emilio; I have watched over
+his interests and his honor with ceaseless care. But I have watched over
+my thoughts with even more diligence; because thoughts are restless
+things, and might, against my will, go straight away and annoy you. I
+have nothing to reproach myself with. I have always loved you as I love
+you now, with the respect that divine beings inspire. But in spite of
+all my efforts to stifle it, a strong desire lifts itself in my soul,
+and I feel that I shall never find peace if I do not suffer it to live,
+or at least need not kill it. Forgive me, Cristina, for the question I
+am going to ask. But may I not hope that some day you will call me by
+another name than friend?"
+
+She remained grave and silent, looking down at the floor. Then she sat
+down in a chair near the candle-stand, leaned her elbow on the little
+table, and her head in her hand, and there she sat in a thoughtful
+attitude. I knelt down beside her and let myself hope.
+
+"Get up, Ribot," she said, giving me a sad and affectionate glance. "It
+causes me pain and almost shame to see at my feet the man who sweetened
+the last hours of my husband, who has sacrificed himself for me, and his
+fortune for my daughter. My heart tells me that this man should not be
+refused my very life if he asks it. But do you not think, Ribot, that
+there is something between us that ought to stop us, something that
+would overshadow the happiness that you have a right to? Remember the
+circumstances when we first knew each other. Examine the secret impulses
+that brought you to this place, those that you have felt since, your
+struggles, your thoughts, your joys and pains during these three years
+and a half. And tell me frankly if you do not imagine that conscience
+would not whisper to us that we had not acted with perfect delicacy. I
+believe it would; and I think I know you well enough to know that it
+would be enough to disturb the serenity of your life. This is what I
+hear speaking within my secret heart. While it is there, do you not
+think that if we were united there might rise in our world an infamous
+suspicion that would wound, even in his grave, our cherished one?"
+
+I understood the truth of these words and my heart sank. The tears
+rushed to my eyes. I hid my face in my hands to conceal them.
+
+"What? Do you weep, Ribot?" she exclaimed, leaning her head upon mine.
+"No, in God's name! no, do not weep, my friend! I have no right to cause
+you the slightest pain. I will do as you wish."
+
+I shook my head and answered:
+
+"Let me weep for a moment. It will pass."
+
+My tears fell abundantly. When I lifted my head I saw that they were
+also streaming down her cheeks. I stood up and, drawing out my
+pocket-handkerchief, said smiling:
+
+"Do you see! It's over! Sadness and I were never very constant friends."
+
+Then she took my hands and, pressing them warmly, looked into my eyes,
+exclaiming:
+
+"Yet, truly, I would not hurt you! After my husband, no man has ever
+inspired me with so deep an affection!"
+
+"These noble words not only give me strength to live," I answered, "but
+they make life lovely to me. How many times, leaning on the bridge of my
+ship, I have felt happy gazing at the shining stars! And why not now,
+when I can see these sweet eyes, so frank and so serene? Let me see them
+all my days, and I promise you I will always live in joy and peace!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+
+I kept my promise. Since then my days go on, happy and full of peace. I
+fixed my residence in Alicante, but for long spaces of time, indeed
+during almost half the year, I am in Valencia. And when I am there, I am
+looked upon at Cristina's house not merely as a friend, but as a member
+of the family. Nobody fails to show delight when I am seen arriving, but
+most of all does my coming please my god-daughter, an enchanting little
+girl of five years, with eyes as luminous as her mother's. As soon as
+she hears my step, she comes running to meet me, laughing and jumping,
+throws herself upon my neck, covers me with kisses, and pulls my beard
+in a way to bring tears--of pleasure.
+
+I can hear her voice on the stair at this moment calling:
+
+"Uncle Ribot! Uncle Ribot!" While I stay in Valencia she comes to the
+hotel for me every morning with her nurse. We go out together. We walk
+about the streets and in the Glorieta. We go into the confectioners'
+shops (Julianita knows all the best ones that are to be found in the
+Hacienda) and buy sweets. We go to the flower-market and buy flowers.
+And when luncheon time comes, we go to the house loaded with parcels and
+sprays of flowers. The mamma comes and opens the door for us. Her
+beautiful eyes shine with joy, and always glisten with gratitude.
+
+There is nothing more that I long for. Secure in the affection of these
+beings that I love, and in my own self-respect, I watch calmly the
+fleeting of the hours. Snow has begun to show slowly about my temples,
+but it does not touch my heart. Neither envy nor boredom enters it. And
+if, as I have heard Castell say many times, life has no flavor, I am
+persuaded that he does not know what it can give. For me it has a
+delicate, exquisite savor. I am an artist in happiness. This thought
+increases my pleasures.
+
+And when inexorable death knocks at my door I shall not wait for him to
+call twice. With firm step and tranquil heart, I will go to meet him,
+and giving him my hand say:
+
+"I have done my duty, and I have lived happily. Nobody has suffered
+because of me. Whether I am led to a sweet eternal sleep, or to a new
+incarnation of this impalpable force that fills me, I have no fear. Here
+I am!"
+
+But, no! it is not death that will in that moment knock at my door. It
+is life, radiant, immortal, divine! From my opened window I feel it and
+see it. The sun rises in the firmament and sheds its rays upon the
+garden. The flowers, shining, exhale their perfume. This light and these
+odors intoxicate me. Everything is riant, stirring, singing, in the
+world that I behold from my balcony. Beautiful is life! Her fruitful
+breath meets my own softly. What joy in the freshness of this springtime
+morning! The birds among the boughs sing joyfully with melodious voices
+in concert with the sunbeams.
+
+But I would not exchange all their melodious voices for one that is now
+calling me impatiently from the stairway:
+
+"Uncle Ribot, I am waiting for you!"
+
+"I am coming, my girlie; I am coming."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Press of J. J. Little & Co.
+
+Astor Place, New York
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The following typographical errors were corrected by the etext
+transcriber:
+
+He had also overcome the ill effects of the chill=>She had also overcome
+the ill effects of the chill
+
+The world bears it goal in it own existence.=>The world bears it goal in
+its own existence.
+
+irresistible impluse of his nature=>irresistible impulse of his nature
+
+Si en la nocha callada=>Si en la noche callada
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Joy of Captain Ribot, by Armando Palacio Valdes
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